The president of an American football club in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs is suing Gridiron Victoria over an email he claims depicted him as a thief and accused him of online bullying.
As Melbourne prepares to host Australia’s first NFL game later this year, the state league is embroiled in a bitter feud that escalated this month. South Eastern Predators Gridiron Club president Matthew Herridge filed a writ in Victoria’s County Court accusing Gridiron Victoria and its former president Lynn Spence of defaming him.
A legal stoush has developed in Victoria’s American football community.Credit: Getty Images
Gridiron Victoria is the governing body for American football in the state and oversees several clubs, including the Predators who are based in Clayton.
The South Eastern Predators were booted from the league for the 2026 season in September last year, when Gridiron Victoria posted a statement on its Facebook page saying the club had been placed into administration after “a prolonged series of behavioural and governance breaches”.
“These include the usage of fake social networking accounts targeting other clubs, a number of SEP officials handed lifetime bans, and continuing governance and administrative shortcomings,” the Gridiron Victoria statement said at the time.
“It is regrettable that instead of dealing with these issues, individuals have turned to social media to spread misinformation and foster division among the gridiron community.”
The Predators responded with a statement of their own on Facebook, saying the claims made by Gridiron Victoria were “not a fair or truthful representation of our club”.
The subject of the writ, obtained by this masthead, is a letter from Gridiron Victoria to Herridge on February 21 last year informing him he had received a five-year suspended sentence for breaching the league’s code of conduct.
The charges included “the use of threatening language to other person [sic], disputing decisions, harassment, insulting language, verbal/written abuse, bringing the game into disrepute, frivolous, mischievous or without substance, tribunal requests, theft of and misuse of state team monies collected (since paid)” .
“Matthew Herridge, president of the Southeastern Predators, is to receive a five-year suspended sentence with a five-year ban for next offence and a lifetime ban for a next offence after that,” the letter stated.
According to the writ, a copy of the letter addressed to Herridge was then sent from Gridiron Victoria’s admin email address and distributed to six board members within the organisation on February 23.
The legal action, submitted by M Joseph & Associates-Melbourne Defamation Lawyers, said the email was defamatory of Herridge in that it “meant and was understood to mean that: a. Matthew Herridge is a thief. b. There are reasonable grounds to suggest that Matthew Herridge has
stolen money he was entrusted to keep and used it for the benefits of one of the state teams.”
The documents also say the email implied Herridge had “used threatening language, harassment and verbal abuse to attack” two rival clubs on social media, and had “bullied on Facebook members of the league, board members and officials”.
Herridge’s legal team said their client had suffered reputational damage that impacted his role with Dingley Village Financial Services (DVFS) and also his future employment opportunities.
The writ said Herridge was investigated by DVFS and banned from attending any activities or events run by or on behalf of DVFS and later resigned from his position as director within the organisation.
Herridge’s legal team said they had sent a concerns notice to Gridiron Victoria and were seeking damages. Gridiron Victoria have not yet submitted a defence to the County Court in response.
When contacted by The Age, former Gridiron Victoria president Spence said he had stepped down in 2025.
“I can’t comment on specifics of the case; however, I can say all due processes from Gridiron’s Victoria’s constitution were followed to the letter and overseen by American Football Australia, the national governing body,” he said.
The LA Rams are coming to Australia in 2026, for a regular-season NFL match at the MCG.Credit: Getty Images
Spence said it was normal practice and process to inform board members of suspension decisions.
South Eastern Predators have been contacted for comment.
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