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[Coffee_Johnny]

On 17/09/2022 at 20:43, Shadow Puppets said:

Perhaps, but in addition to that there was no music or anything. Not even local hero. It was just dead. A forced mourning for a family that most don’t really give a shit about.

Yep, mood vacuum. Hope noise fills the space next home match. Silence angsting/waiting for the team to lift you, rather than vice versa, can too easily become a habit. 

[Kid Icarus]

7 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

I tend to think it's the crowd's job to lift the team. We've been shite for years and WF have taken the gauntlet and are doing a great job, but the average football fan is no longer the average football fan. The average football fan is now just the average person who goes to the match.

I think the reality is that it's a two-way thing and has been for as long as I've been watching football. 

[Happinesstan]

2 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

I think the reality is that it's a two-way thing and has been for as long as I've been watching football. 

When i used to go you could hear the stadium singing as you walked up to the ground. Even in the shittest of years the fans still started things.

[HaydnNUFC]

31 minutes ago, Kid Icarus said:

It was my first time back in years but it felt unique like and the match didn't help to get the crowd in the right mood. Weird atmosphere among fans pre-match, weird atmosphere in SJP, strange pre-match music, subdued feeling with the minute's silence, a mixed reaction to the national anthem with very few singing it and some sitting down.

 

All of it contributed to a feeling of things just being a bit off.

 

Then it just continued throughout the match with all of the things that are annoying, people coming in 5-10 minutes late, leaving on 40 minutes then the same again 2nd half. Absolute never-has-beens telling Kieran Trippier what is and isn't a good ball or decision.  Players doing something positive and winning a corner and instead of encouraging them, whinging because it wasn't the perfect ball. Far too many go on like football consumers rather than supporters.

 

Like I say though the match itself did little to lift the crowd and take them away from that. Maybe if it had no one would have been leaving, whinging and so on.

 

Saturday was the worst atmosphere post takeover but the circumstances and game itself didn't help. All the queen shit resulted in no music pre game (from what I remember), no flags, no Local Hero etc. On top of that, we're playing a side we were all expecting to beat and beat fairly comfortably. The kick off time as well, I've always found the best atmospheres are night time or late TV kick offs rather than the classic 3pm. And the game itself, when you're bossing possession against a side we were odds on favourites to beat but creating few clear cut chances it's no wonder. Probably why Man City's home atmospheres are so regularly poor only they actually break those teams down 999/1000. 

 

The consumer like analogy you make is a probably a fair one but I wasn't surprised by it tbh given the aforementioned factors. Real shame, could tell the players knew it was flat as fuck too given Isak's celebration. It'll be 100x better in the next 4 home games given there won't be any forced mourning but there will be unreal displays and the games and opposition we're up against will gee the crowd up especially in the latter 3.

[jack j]

The atmosphere was just as poor against palace tbh

[Kid Icarus]

40 minutes ago, Happinesstan said:

When i used to go you could hear the stadium singing as you walked up to the ground. Even in the shittest of years the fans still started things.

That happens now, it's just a two-way thing in terms of how vociferous it is.

[Happinesstan]

Too many go to be entertained. They've watched from afar, and thought "Oh Jerry, that football looks like a fun day out, what? Maybe we could take a picnic and make a day of it, by jove".

It's a wholly symbiotic experience in which the fan plays a far more important role than they are given credit for, so new fans don't appreciate their role.

[HaydnNUFC]

12 minutes ago, jack j said:

The atmosphere was just as poor against palace tbh

 

Aye tbf. Rise in expectations/aspirations coincides with a decrease in the level of the atmospheres at games. Was the same going from 1993-94 to 1994-95 apparently.

[Cattletrucked]

I’ve sat next to/near countless people over the years who have never sang, got behind the team etc…but booed at half time and full time at times, and basically whinged on. Now to me if you can use that energy to boo…I’m sure a little bit sing a long and clap can be managed at some point ffs. Away support is and always has been brilliant though, course there’s been great atmospheres at home too, it just seems to fizzle out after 5 - 10 minutes atm,  also much better when we had the Leazes/Gallowgate terraces, those days are gone though I know. 

[Happinesstan]

13 minutes ago, Cattletrucked said:

I’ve sat next to/near countless people over the years who have never sang, got behind the team etc…but booed at half time and full time at times, and basically whinged on. Now to me if you can use that energy to boo…I’m sure a little bit sing a long and clap can be managed at some point ffs. Away support is and always has been brilliant though, course there’s been great atmospheres at home too, it just seems to fizzle out after 5 - 10 minutes atm,  also much better when we had the Leazes/Gallowgate terraces, those days are gone though I know. 

Away fans go to support the team. You don't travel to Bournemouth on a wet Tuesday night in stoke, to be entertained. You're [pardon the cringe] a soldier of the toon army on a crusade. You're the first call and you blow that bugle like your head of state and country depends on it. Of course these troops also perform their duties on home territory, but they are surrounded by the gawping masses to whom it is nothing more than ceremonial. Something to experience, but not partake. 

 

 

[andyman]

I'm always lost for words when I end up next to people who sit down ten minutes into the game, leaves five minutes before half time, comes back five minutes late to the second half and leaves ten minutes before the game has finished. How dare you treat the love of my life this way man I'm travelling from Norway as often as I can. I'm walking around the ground for hours before kick-off. I'm always in my seat an hour before the game starts, sometimes two. I even moved over for six months back in the days just to live what I would call the dream, having a season ticket and going to all the home games and about half of the away games. What Wor Flags have done to the ground is absolutely phenomenal. I've been blessed by their displays four times now. Last time I was in the stadium I was like "shitness me, I want to move back. This is what it's all about." Nothing can ever triumph the feeling that a rocking SJP gives me. Thanks, Wor Flags

[RS]

The ground has a disproportionate amount of pensioners and as the Ashley era proved, blokes who say “it’s better than going shopping with the missus”; not conducive to a re hot atmosphere. 
 

Saying that the folk who do get behind the team can make a difference, and Wor flags definitely helps

[Wallsendmag]

1 hour ago, RS said:

The ground has a disproportionate amount of pensioners and as the Ashley era proved, blokes who say “it’s better than going shopping with the missus”; not conducive to a re hot atmosphere. 
 

Saying that the folk who do get behind the team can make a difference, and Wor flags definitely helps

 

Not sure about the other 3 stands as I'll only ever go in the Gallowgate End and I was in there for the Crystal Palace match and as a 44 year old I would say more people in there were younger than me, not older. Loads of kids going to the games now as well. Certainly more than I can ever remember in my lifetime so I don't think it's the age profile. I just think football fans generally in our country just aren't as passionate as they used to be.

 

You'd be hard pushed to name a stadium in the UK that regularly has a good atmosphere nowadays.

[enthusiast]

interesting chat about some possible decline in the atmosphere at the ground - my peak matchgoing years will have been ~1994-2002 (gallowgate end seat 1, so a short hop over a wall from the corner), and it definitely went downhill over that time. probably not the cause, but i always associated it with the expansion of the milburn/leazes (too many people too far away from the pitch, too much room for the atmosphere to disappear up into the air instead of being channelled towards the pitch). i mean, ideally you want a stadium to be a seething cauldron of hatred, and that's just not something you really get these days.

 

deep down it's probably all a change in my perception as i change into an awld cunt tbh.

[SteV]

2 hours ago, andyman said:

I'm always lost for words when I end up next to people who sit down ten minutes into the game, leaves five minutes before half time, comes back five minutes late to the second half and leaves ten minutes before the game has finished. How dare you treat the love of my life this way man I'm travelling from Norway as often as I can. I'm walking around the ground for hours before kick-off. I'm always in my seat an hour before the game starts, sometimes two. I even moved over for six months back in the days just to live what I would call the dream, having a season ticket and going to all the home games and about half of the away games. What Wor Flags have done to the ground is absolutely phenomenal. I've been blessed by their displays four times now. Last time I was in the stadium I was like "shitness me, I want to move back. This is what it's all about." Nothing can ever triumph the feeling that a rocking SJP gives me. Thanks, Wor Flags

Out of interest, what do you get out of being in your seat two hours before ko, when, presumably there’s hardly anyone else there, and not a lot happening on the pitch?

[Cookie1892]

2 minutes ago, SteV said:

Out of interest, what do you get out of being in your seat two hours before ko, when, presumably there’s hardly anyone else there, and not a lot happening on the pitch?

 

A sore arse

[Wallsendmag]

8 minutes ago, enthusiast said:

interesting chat about some possible decline in the atmosphere at the ground - my peak matchgoing years will have been ~1994-2002 (gallowgate end seat 1, so a short hop over a wall from the corner), and it definitely went downhill over that time. probably not the cause, but i always associated it with the expansion of the milburn/leazes (too many people too far away from the pitch, too much room for the atmosphere to disappear up into the air instead of being channelled towards the pitch). i mean, ideally you want a stadium to be a seething cauldron of hatred, and that's just not something you really get these days.

 

deep down it's probably all a change in my perception as i change into an awld cunt tbh.

 

Totally agree with you about the stadium. It's lopsided design doesn't make for a good atmosphere and with a lot of the fans so far from the pitch. Also because of this it doesn't hold in the noise particularly well. In fact if your outside the stadium during the match it can actually sound louder as I've experienced myself because so much of the noise escapes.

 

It's one of the reasons I'm quite comfortable with the thought of a new stadium (location dependent). I've never really been all that keen on SJP post 2000 tbh.

[andyman]

21 minutes ago, SteV said:

Out of interest, what do you get out of being in your seat two hours before ko, when, presumably there’s hardly anyone else there, and not a lot happening on the pitch?

 

I just love being there I'm more likely to be there an hour before, I'm just saying I'm there even before that sometimes. Which is the reason I don't understand why people don't watch the full games. Like, do they go to the cinema and leave half way through the movie as well?

[Rafalove]

It’s weird that people go to games and don’t want to participate in the atmosphere. Surely that’s the main reason you would go to a game instead of watching in the television from the comfort of your home? It’s not just us. I would say Liverpool have the best home fans in the country, but I remember watching their 9-0 win over Bournemouth and I don’t think at any point the Atmosphere really got going.

[Wallsendmag]

5 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

It’s weird that people go to games and don’t want to participate in the atmosphere. Surely that’s the main reason you would go to a game instead of watching in the television from the comfort of your home? It’s not just us. I would say Liverpool have the best home fans in the country, but I remember watching their 9-0 win over Bournemouth and I don’t think at any point the Atmosphere really got going.

 

Having been to Anfield on around 15 occasions since 1993 I can confirm that their home support is abysmal. It really is a media myth that is still peddled to this day. Our home support is genuinely better.

[NE27]

32 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

It’s weird that people go to games and don’t want to participate in the atmosphere. Surely that’s the main reason you would go to a game instead of watching in the television from the comfort of your home? It’s not just us. I would say Liverpool have the best home fans in the country, but I remember watching their 9-0 win over Bournemouth and I don’t think at any point the Atmosphere really got going.

 

I go to the match and generally don't sing tbh, just not that kind of person unfortunately.

 

But I've never booed players off a pitch, mental that. Unless you're in the corner most of the stadium don't sing until it picks up a bit of traction to which I'll join in.

 

[Heron]

On 19/09/2022 at 23:10, Happinesstan said:

Away fans go to support the team. You don't travel to Bournemouth on a wet Tuesday night in stoke, to be entertained. You're [pardon the cringe] a soldier of the toon army on a crusade. You're the first call and you blow that bugle like your head of state and country depends on it. Of course these troops also perform their duties on home territory, but they are surrounded by the gawping masses to whom it is nothing more than ceremonial. Something to experience, but not partake. 

 

 

Beautifully put. 

[Heron]

On 20/09/2022 at 10:02, enthusiast said:

interesting chat about some possible decline in the atmosphere at the ground - my peak matchgoing years will have been ~1994-2002 (gallowgate end seat 1, so a short hop over a wall from the corner), and it definitely went downhill over that time. probably not the cause, but i always associated it with the expansion of the milburn/leazes (too many people too far away from the pitch, too much room for the atmosphere to disappear up into the air instead of being channelled towards the pitch). i mean, ideally you want a stadium to be a seething cauldron of hatred, and that's just not something you really get these days.

 

deep down it's probably all a change in my perception as i change into an awld cunt tbh.

[Heron]

Problem with the corner is that it almost becomes divisive in that, those near or in the corner get sick of churning out the same songs in the hope the rest of the ground join in, so then revert to any old song they know - which half the ground don't, so don't join in and then it becomes difficult to generate an atmosphere like in the Bournemouth game when the team need it. I get irritated by singing Eddie Howe's Black and White Army but it's one of our few songs that fans know to really instill a drum beat and gather momentum. Likewise I get frustrated at people singing some sort of random song like Peter Lovenkrandz in them moments, mean absolutely fuck all and counter intuitive.

 

We really need singing sections behind the goal, or even behind the Gallowgate goal at least to start. 

[TheGuv]

1 hour ago, Heron said:

Problem with the corner is that it almost becomes divisive in that, those near or in the corner get sick of churning out the same songs in the hope the rest of the ground join in, so then revert to any old song they know - which half the ground don't, so don't join in and then it becomes difficult to generate an atmosphere like in the Bournemouth game when the team need it. I get irritated by singing Eddie Howe's Black and White Army but it's one of our few songs that fans know to really instill a drum beat and gather momentum. Likewise I get frustrated at people singing some sort of random song like Peter Lovenkrandz in them moments, mean absolutely fuck all and counter intuitive.

 

We really need singing sections behind the goal, or even behind the Gallowgate goal at least to start. 

Really appreciate the songs the corner try to generate. Even something as basic as “Howay the Lads” ad infinitum seems unknown to many.

 

I was actually surprised how many knew to clap along to the precursor of “get into them and fuck them up” the other week. Unfortunately it seems the vast majority only know 5-6 songs these days.