Atmosphere....

[CosbehFox]

Apathy and expectation, the biggest curse in football.

 

Add to that a club what seems to be chasing some corporate blandness rather than being unique in any fashion. That’s a smaller factor to that above but it’s alienated some of the fierce supporters. 

 

The Chelsea Q/F needs to be absolute on it. If it’s not, might as well pack up and go home. 

[ajthefox]

6 minutes ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Apathy and expectation, the biggest curse in football.

 

Add to that a club what seems to be chasing some corporate blandness rather than being unique in any fashion. That’s a smaller factor to that above but it’s alienated some of the fierce supporters. 

 

The Chelsea Q/F needs to be absolute on it. If it’s not, might as well pack up and go home. 

This is a large part of it imo.

[foxgas]

5 minutes ago, sylofox said:

I really don't get your point. This is about atmosphere not having a pint. Or do you need to be pissed to sing and support your team?

It's not just about the game it's the build up and what happens afterwards. We want fans who are up for it that's how you get atmosphere not having to drive in because there's no buses or park and ride then you find the council car parks close early because it's a Sunday and thinking why the hell do I bother before kick off. "Going down the football" used to be a great day out on a Saturday and now we are being robbed of it.

[leicesterseddon]

I have to say in previous years I always thought the argument about the 'death of atmosphere' in England had been exaggerated. 

 

However this season in particular I've been struck by how poor it is at almost every ground I've visited. 

 

Watford in particular back in December was awful, I actually only heard the home fans once all game. Anfield was terrible considering it is such a supposedly famous ground. 

 

So yes - the atmosphere is poor but I think it's part of a general trend. 

[Voll Blau]

2 hours ago, foxgas said:

In the 60's and 70's the atmosphere at Filbert st was electric with crowds of 42,000 for big cup games your head was ringing with the noise. Those were the days of  standing with your mates and pay, not much, on the gate. The People who ran the club were butchers rather than billionaires but it was a different world to today's football corporations instead of clubs with the Premier league and Sky/ BT ruining the game for us. Pity we can't emulate the Dortmund fans and protest about game times. We are just high paying props for a TV audience,no wonder it's hard to create an atmosphere. Sorry about the ramble but I so miss the old days.

Union FS did after the Arsenal game was moved to a Sunday lunchtime kick-off at very late notice in the title-winning season. Around 100 stayed in the concourse for the first five minutes of the game, but it was nowhere near enough to have any impact or get noticed sadly.

[HighPeakFox]

Give people enough toys, and they just slip quietly into acquiescence.

[leicesterlad1989]

34 minutes ago, sylofox said:

Oh please. It's people not sky bt or the prem. We still get 30+k whatever time the game is no. Sky bt and the prem have not banned atmosphere its just 95% don't give a toss.

I get where @foxgas is coming from. Football has changed so much and in turn, so have football fans. It's no longer a working class game, we no longer have terracing or standing areas. A lot of football fans now see football as a form of entertainment and you can't blame them really. You look at the money fans pay to watch their team and the money the players earn, so you expect something in return. Not my personal view but I do understand why people think that.

 

Long gone are the days of turning up on the day of the game, knowing you would get a ticket, paying on the gate and standing with your mates. It's just a whole attitude thing. Too many day trippers. Some of the people that managed to get tickets for the Everton game, when we won the league, made me feel sick. I know of people who went and said 'oh is it always like this,' who I am sure have never returned.

 

Sorry I am ranting but football we know and love has long gone. We have to accept that and adapt. But you are 100% right. It's the people but we will never change that.

[sylofox]

2 minutes ago, leicesterlad1989 said:

I get where @foxgas is coming from. Football has changed so much and in turn, so have football fans. It's no longer a working class game, we no longer have terracing or standing areas. A lot of football fans now see football as a form of entertainment and you can't blame them really. You look at the money fans pay to watch their team and the money the players earn, so you expect something in return. Not my personal view but I do 

 

 

Sorry I am ranting but football we know and love has long gone. We have to accept that and adapt. But you are 100% right. It's the people but we will never change that.

No we won't change those people. But I don't get foxgas and his point. Day, KO time have nothing to do with the atmosphere. Some of the greatest atmospheres at either of our grounds where night matches under the lights.

 

It's not like KO time or day or even being live has a huge impact on our attendance. It's still 90% full. Filbert St stood in pen 2 with 15k could be noise from start to finish. It would also be a damn site louder than the KP is full.

[BenTheFox]

1 hour ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Apathy and expectation, the biggest curse in football.

 

Add to that a club what seems to be chasing some corporate blandness rather than being unique in any fashion. That’s a smaller factor to that above but it’s alienated some of the fierce supporters. 

 

The Chelsea Q/F needs to be absolute on it. If it’s not, might as well pack up and go home. 

We couldn't even put in a decent away end for the quarter finals of the Champions League. 

[CosbehFox]

5 minutes ago, BenTheFox said:

We couldn't even put in a decent away end for the quarter finals of the Champions League. 

Given the events of that afternoon, that wasn't a surprise. 

[yorkie1999]

Victims of our own success. The atmosphere gradually got better and better from the championship winning year( even then there was sometimes a sense of just needing to turn up to win) and peaked at the Everton game, then a few highs at champions league home games, but in the main a decline to what we have now, rubbish. I think the clappers are a waste of time now, and the drum in sk1 is ridiculous, i've never heard a drummer try to play the lyrics before, there's only one note on a drum. Sad to say but i think it needs a megaphone to get a group of fans going and someone with the balls to stand at the front with it, not hiding at the back of the bus, so to speak.

[Bluetintedspecs]

15 hours ago, Bert said:

Doesn't drum anymore. 

 

The biggest problem with L1 these days is that it's filling up more with 16-23 year olds that think they're full on football hooligans who think they can take on every man and his dog. 

Time they got a slap then Joking aside, the nature of this game, potential Wembley Semi Final and the opposition. If the ground isn't rocking and up for this I'll look for a tartan rug myself ? COYB

[ScouseFox]

3 hours ago, sylofox said:

Really?

 

Would you care to explain the whole kop at filbert st going nuts 30mins before KO.

 

It's not the football or the winning it's the mentality of the people in the ground. So many now just don't care.

i bet you a billion pounds that didn't happen every week though. that's like in 20 years time saying that the day we won the league, the first CL game and the sevilla game were amazing so we're just gonna gloss over everything else. I wasn't there but I'm pretty sure I could find times at filbert street where there was 10k there and it was silent and the game and atmosphere were both rubbish. 

 

our atmosphere is just meh cos most of our games are meh and our situation for the last 18 months or so has been a bit meh. no coincidence the cup games are a better craic cos they actually matter a bit more. if in 5 games time we're going into must win home games to get into Europe then it'll improve cos that's what people do. 

 

this post is not helpful in any way just stating the obvious. cheers. 

[sylofox]

3 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

i bet you a billion pounds that didn't happen every week though. that's like in 20 years time saying that the day we won the league, the first CL game and the sevilla game were amazing so we're just gonna gloss over everything else. I wasn't there but I'm pretty sure I could find times at filbert street where there was 10k there and it was silent and the game and atmosphere were both rubbish. 

 

our atmosphere is just meh cos most of our games are meh and our situation for the last 18 months or so has been a bit meh. no coincidence the cup games are a better craic cos they actually matter a bit more. if in 5 games time we're going into must win home games to get into Europe then it'll improve cos that's what people do. 

 

this post is not helpful in any way just stating the obvious. cheers. 

Your right not in every game i never claimed that. But it did in a lot. Games that now get feck all would have been alive.

 

Even in div 2 and not derby games.

[Sammy]

Realistically our atmosphere will be good in the near future if there is an exciting game and/or a sustained period of success which leads to us having the potential to push for something (whether it is Europe or a trophy)

 

Long term I would say we need a complete reshuffle which I'd like to see SK1 and SK2 taken over by anyone expecting to stand (hopefully with the use of safe standing at some point). Can't see that happening at any time soon though

[sylofox]

3 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

i bet you a billion pounds that didn't happen every week though. that's like in 20 years time saying that the day we won the league, the first CL game and the sevilla game were amazing so we're just gonna gloss over everything else. I wasn't there but I'm pretty sure I could find times at filbert street where there was 10k there and it was silent and the game and atmosphere were both rubbish. 

 

our atmosphere is just meh cos most of our games are meh and our situation for the last 18 months or so has been a bit meh. no coincidence the cup games are a better craic cos they actually matter a bit more. if in 5 games time we're going into must win home games to get into Europe then it'll improve cos that's what people do. 

 

this post is not helpful in any way just stating the obvious. cheers. 

You try to call me out. I doubt you have been to many games if any less than 18/20k. I've been to many 12/15k attendance but the kop sang loud n proud not like now.

[foxinsocks]

6 minutes ago, sylofox said:

You try to call me out. I doubt you have been to many games if any less than 18/20k. I've been to many 12/15k attendance but the kop sang loud n proud not like now.

Even in games with 18k.... if it wss exciting the crowd resonded.

I love cheering our lads on..feeling the crowd get behind the team.

However lately i feel we just arent creative or ponning clubs down... i am wary we are going to be hit against the run of play  (eg stoke... swansea etc).  I am not excited i am fearful

[ScouseFox]

1 hour ago, sylofox said:

You try to call me out. I doubt you have been to many games if any less than 18/20k. I've been to many 12/15k attendance but the kop sang loud n proud not like now.

 alright calm down. i wasn’t calling anyone out, just saying your comment made it sound like from 1884-2002 every game had a sell out crowd rocking away before the team news had even been announced, when in reality that’s probably just you remembering one or two random big games just like it is now. 

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

1 hour ago, sylofox said:

You try to call me out. I doubt you have been to many games if any less than 18/20k. I've been to many 12/15k attendance but the kop sang loud n proud not like now.

 

Just ignore him, he calls me out non stop

[Dan LCFC]

7 hours ago, Cardiff_Fox said:

Given the events of that afternoon, that wasn't a surprise. 

Normally agree with about everything you put on these types of threads but can't agree with that. I thought if anything it would fire us up even more.

 

Given the circumstances it was the most pitiful attempt at an away end I've ever been in.

[yorkie1999]

4 hours ago, sylofox said:

You try to call me out. I doubt you have been to many games if any less than 18/20k. I've been to many 12/15k attendance but the kop sang loud n proud not like now.

Because all the singers ran down to be near the away fans not long after we moved. Kop should have been in the north stand.

[sylofox]

6 hours ago, ScouseFox said:

 alright calm down. i wasn’t calling hi anyone out, just saying your comment made it sound like from 1884-2002 every game had a sell out crowd rocking away before the team news had even been announced, when in reality that’s probably just you remembering one or two random big games just like it is now. 

Remembering random big games with 12/15k in the ground. Do you read peoples comments at all.

[CosbehFox]

8 hours ago, Dan LCFC said:

Normally agree with about everything you put on these types of threads but can't agree with that. I thought if anything it would fire us up even more.

 

Given the circumstances it was the most pitiful attempt at an away end I've ever been in.

You’ll always have a section what will try to create an atmosphere and there was. But you think a load of mid aged, 40 plus are gonna start singing when they just been ducking and diving batons? Remember as well that a fair few of the away end in Madrid will have seen how the horrid Policia work in Sevilla inside a stadium. 

 

On the whole our CL away ends were crap bar Bruges with Sevilla okay but Madrid was half understandable. 

[Mr Weller]

I started watching in 1973 and from then until the early 90s there was a decline in atmosphere and attendances. Yes, there were a few great exceptions but it is simply false memory to say the lop sang loud and proud at every match; they didn't.

 

Furthermore, there was an ugly, violent atmosphere at many games, inside and out. That's why families didn't go. Racism, sexism and homophobia were the norm. Football was dying. I remember being at FS with 7000 for a top flight game against WBA and there was an atmosphere of decay and emptiness.

 

Do our memories also extend to the regular 'S**t ground no fans' chant we got from away fans at FS?

 

It's true the demographic has changed at matches. There are far more families and it's less openly aggressive and prejudiced. That's why attendances are so much higher but crowds are a little quieter in that sense, but that's a good thing.

 

Its also true our atmosphere has tailed off recently, inevitable to an extent given what happened in 2016 but a bit of a shame nevertheless. It's about momentum, excitement and the style of play mostly and we seem to have hit a plateau.

 

It would help enormously if L1 were in place 20 mins before kick-off instead of boozing until the last minute. It's very noticeable that the area if half empty when the build up begins and that's when the atmosphere should begin.

 

On the whole though, watching live football is miles better than in the 70s and 80s which is why it is miles more popular. A few older blokes may lament 'the old FS' but really they're just lamenting the loss of their youth. To them, everything was better then and always will be.

[ian_marshall]

The dynamics of the crowd have changed since we won the league that's for sure but I think it's a combination of factors including expectation levels, but mainly the influence of the media. 

 

I often listen to TalkSh*te as I spend most of my working day in the car and it passes the time, but the amount of nonsense that their presenters spout, particularly Jim White, about how football is an entertainment business and that fans have an entitlement to see there team not only win but play entertaining football is embarrassing, and makes me wonder if this is starting to influence people's thinking as I genuinely can't believe how many people now leave the ground 10/15 minutes before the end of a game.

 

Whilst people have paid their money and they are entitled to do as they see fit I find it hard to comprehend that people are actually at the ground to support the team when you look at the KP on 80 minutes in a 1-1 draw and 25% of the crowd have disappeared even though there is 10 minutes to play with the possibility of seeing a winning goal. 

 

This isn't isolated to us, virtually every ground up and down the country is now following this trend, but if not the media where has this mentality come from? 

 

For us I think the only true fix to create a better atmosphere is sadly for us to get relegated, which will see those who come for an afternoon's entertainment to see the PL's so-called stars drop away and those who are genuinely there to support the team turn out to get behind them. Of course I don't want this as I want the club to be as successful as possible, but I think it's no coincidence that two of the best atmospheres I've experienced in the last 5 or so years have been the Middlesbrough home game where only about 8,000 turned out due to the snow, and the Bruges away game where we were restricted to 1,600 tickets. In both games virtually everyone to a man, woman, and child; old and young, sang their hearts out until the very end which makes me think it's because those in attendance wanted to be there and actually support the team. 

 

Maybe it's a natural sign of progression and comes with the territory of being a successful club, that new fans who aren't ingrained in the culture of the club are drawn to attending, after all it probably is no coincidence that the atmosphere at all of the top 6 teams is some of the worst in the country, but how do you integrate new fans to ensure that you maintain the longevity of their support not only when you're at the top but also during the more difficult times? 

 

Sadly, the longer this perception of football as entertainment continues the more it becomes embedded in the culture of the sport, as the emerging PlayStation generation of fans coming through will replicate what they witness both at the ground and on TV and accept it as the norm as they themselves know no different. 

Edited 2 March 2018 by ian_marshall