Wallsendmag

Very good post and on a subject that is so important. I think most of us would agree that the atmosphere has been pretty poor this season after the initial takeover hype died down and to carry the flat SJP atmosphere all the way down to Wembley was something that really disappointed/shocked me. For me safe standing is a must and on a large scale similar to Chelsea, Spurs, Wolves and a couple of others. When I say a large scale I mean a full end and the ideal end is of course the Gallowgate End. It already has the highest number of "standers" in the corner and also towards the back of the Upper tier. Also noticed that those in the front tier are also more inclined to stand when we are attacking or winning a corner which isn't the case as much down at the Leazes. Your problem is the middle tier. It is seen as the best view from the Gallowgate and as such is mainly long standing season ticket holders (my 71 year old dad has sat in the same seat there since it was built). Most of them would need relocated as they'd have no interest in standing which I'd expect to cause a bit of a fuss. Tbf to my dad he wouldn't be interested in standing but he'd be happy to relocate to allow it to happen but I'm not sure if he'd be in the minority there. Maybe the club could offer some sort of sweetener (free cup tickets or something like that). There's no point in doing it on a small scale like a corner as it would have minimal effect. It needs to be a full end and it's something that they need to start planning for ASAP to get it in place for next season because as things stand the atmosphere is only going one way.

Germany is similar. Been to a few Bundesliga games and at every one there has been a home end behind one of the goals who are just going at it for 90 mins and it's pretty much none stop noise. The rest of the stadium is pretty passive and they'll only join in sporadically but it just seems to work.

I've been going since 1984. Remember the late 80s and very early 90s the crowds weren't great and the atmosphere was pretty rubbish really. The 90/91 season was particularly poor when loads of crowds didn't even hit 15k. You had the lads in the corner and scoreboard trying their best and also those in the Leazes next to the away fans but because there was no roof over either end back then the noise was just lost. Remember when they built the Milburn Stand and the section nearest the Leazes was filled with some absolute lunatics and with them having the advantage of a roof that was definitely the noisiest part of the ground. The back end of the 91/92 season was class as Keegan came in and the fans rallied to cheer us to safety and then the 92/93 season was the best ever for atmosphere. It then started to die off once we got into the Premier League. 93/94 was pretty good but it started to tail off soon after and then it was only really the big games when it would get loud. One thing that was always a constant was that in any neutral venue, and I've seen NUFC play 6 games in Neutral Venues (Wembley x5 plus Millennium Stadium) we were always guaranteed to completely drown out the opposition. Never in my life did I think we'd be outsung by Man Utd with a 50/50 ticket split like we were on Sunday.

I was in block 136 as well. Row 28. It was eerily silent in there almost all the way through. Seen a lass probably in her 20s, at half time going absolutely mental about how bad our support was. A couple of blokes having to calm her down.

We lost 1000s of fans during the Ashley years. We had 2 moments where a lot chucked it at the same time (Keegan leaving and Rafa leaving/Bruce replacing him) plus loads of others who gradually drifted away, yet attendances remained fairly constant as they were replaced by other fans, many of whom I feel don't have quite the same levels of passion for the club as those who they replaced.

We probably lost best part of 10k fans when Refa walked away and Bruce was appointed, and that's in addition to all those who drifted away at various times during the Ashley era. Obviously a load walked away on the back of how Keegan was treated as well. Fortunately for the club they managed to replace most of those fans but in doing so attracted a different type of supporter. I know a lad who started going a few years ago with his son when previously he'd once said "I'd rather watch Coronation Street that a game of football". No doubt there's many more like him. In fact I'm certain there is when you look around on a matchday. There is still a core of what I'd class as genuine, traditional NUFC supporters go and plenty who do want to go and make a racket and get behind the team. Strawberry Corner, NE Corner, Gallowgate Upper and L7 near the away fans all have big pockets of like minded supporters but because they are dotted about it's more difficult to create an atmosphere. If there's a way of bringing all of these together it has to be looked into. As I've said previously I'd rather Wor Flags toon this on, rayher than the Trust as I think they would find a way of cocking it up. Sunday should act as a massive wake up call. I never, ever thought I'd be in a Newcastle crowd that was so flat for a Cup Final. It was like SJP transferred into Wembley.

I'll probably get pelters for this and I hope people don't take it the wrong way as I believe these lads, along with the new ownership are the best thing to happen to the club in a very long time, and their displays are just jaw dropping, but I think they have turned a lot of our fans lazy. Noticed at home games these days everyone seems bang up for it and gets involved in the pre match displays but as soon as the match kicks off they pack their scarf/flag away and it's almost a case of "well I've done my bit" and they proceed to sit there in silence. Unbelievably exactly the same thing happened at Wembley. The display pre match was simply spine tingling and there's not another fans group out there who could have pulled that off (certainly put Man Utds efforts to shame) but then it was the same thing. "That looked spectacular, job done", and most people around me packed their flags away and proceeded to stand there in complete silence. Then 2 mins before the end everyone gets there flags out, sing "Toon Toon black and white army" and there's loads of back slapping and people congratulating themselves on an incredible atmosphere when in fact it was absolutely shite! I think now the focus from Wor Flags needs to be less about the visual and more about the vocal. They'll need the club on board and ultimately it's down to the fans to make a noise, but everything they touch seems to turn to gold so I'm 100% confident if anyone can pull it off, they can. I was at Wembley in 96, 98, 99 and 00, and also Cardiff in 05 and our crowd was on another level. Easily drowned out our opponents on all 3 occasions. Sunday was a pale imitation of that. Undoubtedly we lost a load of the more passionate fans during the Ashley regime and now they can't get back in which is probably the biggest problem, and a lot of these newer fans who have replaced them need to realise that creating a good atmosphere for the players isn't just about the pre match spectacle, it also needs carried into the game. Was talking to a lad afterwards who was in the safe standing section amd he said the atmosphere in there was dire as well so people hanging their hat on that being able to transform the atmosphere may be in for a disappointment. Apologies for the long rant but coming away from there I was as disappointed with our efforts in the stands as I was the result.

They are far more clinical than we are, simple as that.

They have escalators.

https://twitter.com/Bartgeordie/status/1628328671374192641?t=smKzDrWT4BNuxvJYmagQ2Q&s=19

We were up in the old L7 singing corner and I found it very distracting.

Trawling through my football history books here and I can't find 2 worse consecutive results for Barcelona ever than a draw with Bristol City and a loss to Rotherham.

Barcelona must be absolutely fucking shite like.

That's double digit defeats now for the seagull shaggers in the Championship this season.

NE corner has been excellent this season mind. Very good noise in there again yesterday.

Used to but I noticed the crowd at Dortmund v Chelsea was over 81,000 so they must have scrapped that rule now.

And that's a good thing. Affordable football.

We could already fill 62k every week now. Even for cup games it would be full. This is on the back of 14 years of Mike Ashley completely ruining the club, whereas we now have owners who are commited to growing the fanbase to far more than what it currently is.

I very much doubt the extra 30,000 fans who can now go and watch them would rather go back to Upton Park like and miss out.

It's hard to say. We could sell out 62k every week right now and when you say "it wasn't that long ago" it was actually 20 years ago. The popularity of football is just growing all the time. Ot's far mlre popular than it was 20 years ago. 19 of the 20 Premier League clubs sell out every single home game now. It's unprecidented. I hark back to West Ham but I find it astonishing that people think we need to build a stadium smaller than what they currently have because anything else would be too big!

Happy 72nd Birthday to The King!

At the moment you're looking at £90-£100 for a return train ticket from Kings Cross to Newcastle. Journey time is 3 hours.

Think Wilson has had the same problem recently as well. I'd like to see them both playing together when fit. Thought they looked a right handful v Fulham when they were on the pitch at the same time.

Feeding on scraps yesterday. Not really the game to be judging him on. Worrying how much our performance levels have dropped off with the Cup Final being 2 weeks today.

Looks like a centre half playing left back. Simple as that. Until Targett is fit though he's the only option.