Wallsendmag

We were talking to a few York fans outside after the match on Boxing Day and every one of them said the same thing. A totally miserable and soulless experience watching football there. Very hard to disagree with.

We got the train up to Berwick yesterday and watched Berwick v Gala Fairydean. Game was played in absolute horrendous conditions, some of the very worst I've experienced in 40 years of watching live football. Gale force winds and the rain horizontal going down the pitch. Not a chance that game goes ahead in those conditions down here in the Northern League! Despite that, a very entertaining game. Finished 3-3 and Berwick had what would have been a winner controversially ruled out for offside. Also a sending off and 3 penalties. Well worth the £10 admission fee for me (I paid £15 which got me a Scotch Pie and a pint of Estrella Galacia at the bar) and the bairn was allowed in for free and also told to help himself to a handful of sweets at the gate. They also issued me with a voucher giving me half price admission for the next home game. Couldn't really knock it! Been to 3 games over the holidays; Gateshead v York, Chelsea v Crystal Palace and Berwick yesterday, and Berwick was the most enjoyable by far. Called into a couple of nice pubs as well on the walk from the station to the ground. Crowd 411. Well worth the 50 minute train ride!

Absolutely criminal this mind. It amounts to theft. That mackem chairman they had should be strung up by the bollocks. He's milked £1000s out of that club over the years.

"If we were playing Rotherham and Burton Albion week in week out we'd be top of the league as well"

They don't have a choice. It isn't their seat.

I do but that's hard lines. Offer them a seat move to an area of their choice. Ultimately the atmosphere and the support and encouragement for the team is more important than any individual though.

Ultimately I don't think it's a case of asking people to move. They rent a seat on a seasonal basis. If they are required to shift next season, then they have to shift. Make the entire Gallowgate safe standing and maybe extend the L7 safe standing all the way round into the old L7 singing corner and see how that goes.

We were at Chelsea v Crystal Palace on Wednesday. We were sat at the back of the West Stand, just slightly off the halfway line. Surrounded mainly by Chinese tourists tbh but one thing that stood out a mile from the off is how much better the acoustics are at Stamford Bridge compared to SJP. If the fans to our right in the Shed End started singing, the fans to our left in the Matthew Harding stand could almost immediately pick up on it and join in so within a few seconds you had both ends singing the same songs at the same time. Really made a difference. Also it was noticeable that even fairly small groups of fans singing was still pretty audible compared to when that happens at SJP. They have around 12,000 safe standing places there, so over 25% of the capacity, and it does make a massive difference but one thing that definitely stood out is that if the stadium design is right a relatively low amount of fans can make a decent noise that can be heard throughout the stadium. Larger safe standing areas definitely need to be a priority at SJP. Need 10k as a minimum.

We've taken, and sold out, the full away allocation for every game since October 2021.

Nah.

We went to watch them yesterday. They play some smashing football but York clearly came for a point and couldn't believe their luck when they broke away to make it 1-0 after about half an hour. After that they just packed 11 men behind the ball which ruined the game as a spectacle with Gateshead struggling to break them down. Fairly certain Gateshead would have won 3 or 4-0 if they'd scored early on. Crowd of over 1,600 with 542 York fans there.

Difference being of course that assuming we get our usual defeat at Anfield, losing to Sunderland would be our 5th loss in a row and our 8th in 10 games. We'd be out of the cup and our season would effectively be over. Aside from that, Liverpool and Everton play in the same league whereas Sunderland are a lower league game so as things stand it's not really all that comparable.

Barnes, Tonali and Hall go down as flops as things stand. Livramento a big success. Only other player we paid money for was Minteh who seems to be doing OK at Feyenoord. 5/10.

My season ticket in the family enclosure in 91/92 was £45 (23 games). My dad's was £90! Pricing plays a massive part as you are effectively stopping a huge part, and probably the most vocal, of your fanbase from attending if the tickets are too high.

Exactly. 32,000 season ticket holders means that's where your problem lies when it comes to a lack of atmosphere.

Assuming we lose at Anfield as we nearly always do, that derby match looks massive for him now. If they knock us out the Cup the knives will be well and truely out.

Sick of Almiron now like.

Going to watch Gateshead v York on Boxing Day and Berwick Rangers v Gala Fairydean on Saturday. First visit to Shieldfield Park for me. The bairn gets in for nowt as he's U16 and it's a tenner for me to get in or you can pay £15 instead and get a voucher for a pie and a pint which is probably what I'll do.

Had £15 on Luton @4/1 today. Just didn't fancy us at all. We are abysmal away from SJP. So whilst I'm disappointed with the result Paddy Power are paying for tonight's takeaway.

https://twitter.com/_harrymcbeth/status/1738574428961730771?t=XKnzvLjxL6-rarCR2P1t2w&s=19

Watching it now on SSN. To be honest it doesn't seem too bad at all and from a fans perspective, extra European games and extra European away trips could even mean that mere members like myself could be in with a sniff of tickets for some of the away games as those who currently hoover up the tickets will have to be a bit more selective. Football sold out a long time ago so I'm not suddenly going to act all outraged now.

I was also at the 2nd 4-3 game and yes that was pretty good, as you'd expect from a 4-3 game. I was at the LC game when Steve Watson scored and we totally outsung them when we had the full end behind the goal. Same when we played them in the FA Cup a few years later. Probably done another 8 or 9 games at Anfield other than those I've mentioned and always came away totally underwhelmed with the place.

It's always been a myth. It was dead v Man Utd as well. First time I went there was in 1993 for Ronnie Whelans Testimonial. The place was completely silent but I remember thinking I suppose it's just a friendly it must be totally different for a league game. Went back there in 1994 for a league game. Kop was still a terrace at the time. It was the Hillsborough 5 year anniversary and emotions were running high. Remember going down on the old Armstrong Galley bus and being so excited for it. Guess what, it was completely dead again, save for the 3,000 away fans there. Kop sang at the very start and then stood in silence for the rest of the afternoon, apart from a very half arse rendition of YNWA right at the end.

Sat in the Miburn Paddocks yesterday near the Gallowgate and thought it was really good. The Strawberry Corner was excellent as usual and good noise from the NE Corner as well. Lots of people stood for the full 90 mins in the usual away area which had NUFC fans in it as Fulham returned 1,500 tickets. Had a lad come up to us in a NUFC top as we were walking to the ground and asked us where the Strawberry was (we were at the corner outside where Barker and Stonehouse used to be at the time so he was about 80 yards away from it). Had 2 Welsh lads sat to my left and a couple from Ireland sat behind me.

The daft sods have picked the 70th minute to do it as well, which is around the same time most of them start leaving anyway