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Why do some games just have a special atmosphere?


Rich

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9 hours ago, JonBez comesock said:

Agreed 

 

loudest game I have ever been to was when I was 5 years old 

 

Home v Brighton (in the cup I think) 

 

1983

 

Referee disallowed two Newcastle goals and gave them every decision 

 

crowd noise was insane , I was physically shaking !!

 

one of my first ever games 

 

never heard noise like it , sure Keegan and varadi , McDermott were all playing 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn't the loudest game,  just seemed like it cos you were 5 and those things stay with you. I was there, I was at the first game, riots in London on the way to the game. Chelsea going from Euston, West Ham from St Pancras, 2 coach loads of NUFC in the middle.

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In terms of the Arsenal game last season and recent games against big teams where we have got a result, I think is down to us smelling blood. Arsenal last year were not in the greatest of form, despite being so high up in the league there were performances where you think they are questionable in quality. We on the other hand were in form, and our poor players were turning in good performances. It meant that we had the prospect of an upset, even though it was predictable by anyone who had seen both teams play recently.

 

In Ashley years, and especially the later stages, I think it’s always been a case that in reality we are only a couple of players away from where the likes of Arsenal and Man Utd are. Even though Ashley wouldn’t sanction those deals, it has been a case of if their big name players don’t turn up, then there is nothing separating us really. Often it has been a case of their big name players not showing up in matches building up to our games, and our crowd and fan base feeding off that.

 

 

Edited by Stifler

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It's usually a combination of alcohol, the opposition, the result and controversy that leads to an incredible atmosphere. I'm lucky to have been in quite a few memorable atmospheres at SJP since I first went in 1984, strangely though I don't remember too many electric atmospheres in the traditional 3pm Saturday games. Portsmouth in 1992 for obvious reasons, the last 25 mins in the 4-4 v Arsenal another but more often they've been night games or even Sunday 4pm ones.

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9 hours ago, madras said:

It wasn't the loudest game,  just seemed like it cos you were 5 and those things stay with you. I was there, I was at the first game, riots in London on the way to the game. Chelsea going from Euston, West Ham from St Pancras, 2 coach loads of NUFC in the middle.

Probably right , it just sticks in my head following the referee decisions and noise thereafter

 

The noise was also insane when tiote smashed in the equaliser v Arsenal 

on my birthday too!! 
 

Comeback v Leicester 5-4 

when mark McGhee got the winner was also great 

 

4-2 down 

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On 13/07/2022 at 11:44, Infinitely Content said:

Most ordinary matches I've attended feel more like a large group of individuals having separate experiences in a shared environment, lost in thought and their own observations of the events taking place on the pitch. However some games, like Arsenal last season, it felt like St James' was breathing as one collective body, that every person in the stadium was taken up out of themselves and became moving parts in something far greater.

I think it's interesting to talk about particular circumstances of why that can happen, and certain things will be contributing factors; but my sense is that it's ultimately unknowable and is something that sweeps through the streets and terraces prior to and during the game like a powerful invisible tide that you can't help but be carried by.

It's beautiful, and is the best thing about this sport in my opinion.

Beautifully put. 

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Just to echo many of the sentiments already in this thread - for me it's the following:

 

- Odds against us/backs to the wall mentality

- Injustice - bad refereeing, etc

- Rivalry

- Expectancy - must win games etc.

-Joy

- Identity

 

They all kinda feed into one another to some degree too. 

 

I think if you want to explore this on a team by team level, games vs Arsenal and Spurs probably stand out most for me.

 

The 4-4 vs Arsenal, I don't know, we just had this air about us at the time. Regardless of peoples thoughts on Pardzilla, the team and a collective sense of responsibility. I remember hating Joey Barton, even when he played for us, up until after a year or so of being with us, but he turned me around. That day I remember texting my Dad at half time, "don't dare leave", many didn't. It wad almost like "it's Arsenal, they're spineless". That's been proven many a time since Vieira etc left and sure enough the fans wete proven right to back them. Backs to the wall in the largest sense, one Joey Barton tackle on around 40mins eas the pre cursor for the 2nd half and that sending off. It was like it gave us a lifeline and after that the sense of restoring identity was there and they shit themselves.

 

Spurs in the 2-0 at Old Trafford, a pure joy thing, was one of the most surreal atmospheres I've felt. I thought the North Stand would collapse that day, that was a pure joy thing and an intense feeling of expectancy. I also felt that when extra time was looming we felt a collective sense of responsibility to 'push the players over the line'.

 

The 5-1 vs Spurs under Rafa is one where odds were stacked against us given the relative quality (or lack of) in both sides. However, I think this was down to hope and idendity. Rafa restored that and that's why he's loved. We were no longer a tin pot, steppy stone club. 90minutes of continuous support that day.

 

Then most recently, the Arsenal game. So many people have said to me that's in their top 10 games for Newcastle. Perhaps because it's me, and they know of my involvement of Wor Flags, etc. But I was genuinely so emotional that day, before and after the game. Defiant, proud, jam packed with identity and just absolutely unstoppable. Arsenal didn't have a fucking clue what had hit them tbh. "Noocarsoo have nuffin to play for", we did. 3 points. A fantastic pre-cursor for this season, "Don't stand still" is the message, cause we're on the move and we will catch you. 

 

I don't recall witnessing an atmosphere like that one for an 'average' game to be honest. Primarily the ownership must take the plaudits for this one, then Howe and his team but I tell you what the fans that day had us pulsating.

 

Despite tryinf to identofy and quantify this is what we now have to consider at Wor Flags - which games do we go that bit further for? And whilst we've already decided on one or two, I guess there sometimes isn't anything better than just acting on a gut feeling, and I think that's been our greatest success overall. 

 

 

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1984 v Liverpool FA Cup 3rd Round

Geordie invasion of Merseyside… what a night, just a pity about the match really…

And the all time classic echoing from the Anfield Road End  ‘we all agree, Oz is harder than Yosser’… piss taking at its finest back in the day…

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On 13/07/2022 at 23:20, Colos Short and Curlies said:


I have a feeling it was Danny Mills and accumulation of naughty hacks that day rather than one specific incident 

It was the early indirect free-kick given to Leeds that they scored from.

Didn't notice that sperm headed c*nt that day.Remember Shola tearing Rio to bits though.

 

 

Edited by Wolfcastle

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21 hours ago, Wolfcastle said:

It was the early indirect free-kick given to Leeds that they scored from.

Didn't notice that sperm headed c*nt that day.Remember Shola tearing Rio to bits though.

 

 

 

Mills was the next year. Bellamy tore him to pieces and it culminated in Mills getting a red for simply kicking him into the air. Another great atmosphere as it happens 

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I thin it's down to many factors but the main one being when you play one of the so-called big clubs. there is no club bigger than your own, in your heart, and these pretenders come and you show them what you think of their big club. Add in the ubiquitous dodgy decision in favour of the "big club" and you're all set for a fiery atmosphere.

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On 14/07/2022 at 09:56, JonBez comesock said:

Probably right , it just sticks in my head following the referee decisions and noise thereafter

 

The noise was also insane when tiote smashed in the equaliser v Arsenal 

on my birthday too!! 
 

Comeback v Leicester 5-4 

when mark McGhee got the winner was also great 

 

4-2 down 

4-2 down with 13 mins to go......

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Y’all keep skirting around it. :lol:

 

Opposition, yeah.

Rivalry, yeah. 
Scoreline, yeah. 
 

It’s about booze, in the end.

 

When the match has the perfect cauldron, and the right time of day, the atmosphere has very much felt electric from a distance. 

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