old days v today

[callis]

Was thinking and remebering the good late 90's and the atmosphere. I beleive in moving forward and financially the kp stadium is better long term. I was however thinking that if we had the atmosphere of Filbert st how many points per season would it be worth on top of the last couple of seasons tally ? I remember the support the lads had on those night games especially spurs and leeds at home. I think it would be worth at least an extra 5 points a season.

[Raj]

So what you saying Dave?

[marbelladave]

To me the comparison is not between Filbert St and the KP but between standing and sitting.

It was this that caused the big change, the move from cheap (relatively) standing on the terraces to expensive, allocated seating, the move towards the 'family friendly matchday experience' is what killed football as a mass spectator sport.

There are other factors obviously, but the above, is for me, the clincher. Filbert street regularly saw crowds of 30,000 plus, 40,000 for really big games and the atmosphere generated as the crowd built up on the terraces was immense. The vast majority of the crowd stood, you had to get there reasonably early to get a good 'spot' and there were no bars and concourses to hang about in prior to kick off, so everyone was on the terraces and the buzz generated in all parts of the ground was just fantastic.

It makes the semi organised singing and chanting of the modern era look pathetic in comparison, these days I am not that bothered, I just go and watch the game, If we were in the Prem with regular televised games I doubt I would bother.........

[davieG]

The difference for me is success or lack of it on the pitch, I've spent many a miserable game at Filbert St, even when it was mostly standing when the atmosphere has been dreadful and it's always been when the team has hit a lengthy period of poor results and management.

We've had very little success whilst we've been at the KP and certainly no sustained success just a string of poor managers.

There have been isolated instances of having a decent atmosphere so given a period of sustained success and the anticipation of winning and the atmosphere will improve.

[Corky]

Exactly, Filbert St wasn't always rocking and the King Power isn't always a library.

No doubt there was a better atmosphere at Filbert St but was it worth more points? Look at the last season there.

[Wherethefoxhat?]

Success is a mental attitude that translates into tangible results. When you want to succeed, you will pull out all the stops to achieve your goal. People who succeed put in superhuman effort to meet their target. Once they achieve success, they believe that they are invincible. It is this self-belief that carries them towards the next success. Hence there is no doubt that success will truly bring further success.

[Kitchandro]

To me the comparison is not between Filbert St and the KP but between standing and sitting.

It was this that caused the big change, the move from cheap (relatively) standing on the terraces to expensive, allocated seating, the move towards the 'family friendly matchday experience' is what killed football as a mass spectator sport.

There are other factors obviously, but the above, is for me, the clincher. Filbert street regularly saw crowds of 30,000 plus, 40,000 for really big games and the atmosphere generated as the crowd built up on the terraces was immense. The vast majority of the crowd stood, you had to get there reasonably early to get a good 'spot' and there were no bars and concourses to hang about in prior to kick off, so everyone was on the terraces and the buzz generated in all parts of the ground was just fantastic.

It makes the semi organised singing and chanting of the modern era look pathetic in comparison, these days I am not that bothered, I just go and watch the game, If we were in the Prem with regular televised games I doubt I would bother.........

Pretty much agree with this.

Talk to fans of clubs with old grounds, their atmosphere's are mostly crap too.

[MPH]

The difference for me is success or lack of it on the pitch, I've spent many a miserable game at Filbert St, even when it was mostly standing when the atmosphere has been dreadful and it's always been when the team has hit a lengthy period of poor results and management.

We've had very little success whilst we've been at the KP and certainly no sustained success just a string of poor managers.

There have been isolated instances of having a decent atmosphere so given a period of sustained success and the anticipation of winning and the atmosphere will improve.

The David Pleat era!

*shudders*

[purpleronnie]

I'm surprised you thought the atmosphere was good in the late 90's it got progressively worse and by the mid 90's apart from the odd game filbert street was a shadow of its former glory.

I understand if you didnt go before that thosedays of the late 90's might seem pretty good in relation to today but unfortunately things will just get worse as the years roll on, we all know the reasons why, unless theres a collective get together of fans who want to change things it will only get worse, but fans uniting is highly unlikely, infact I can only think of celtic who have changed there support for the better over recent years. I can bearly even bring myself to watch games as it always seems the tv is on mute. Compare that to the rest of the world and it really hits home on how bad things have got in england.

Its all very sad we were once envied for our passionate atmosphere now we are mocked. Heck if I got the piss ripped out of my by americans about the atmosphere in england you know it must be bad.

[Fox92]

I don't think it has anything to do with standing and sitting. I just think older grounds generate a much better atmosphere, mainly because the fans are closer to the pitch for one. Stadiums nowadays are generally the same, and don't generate a good atmosphere, so don't think it is just Leicester, because it isn't. Arsenal are the same; Highbury was buzzing but the atmosphere at their new ground doesn't seem to be too good.

[marbelladave]

I don't think it has anything to do with standing and sitting. I just think older grounds generate a much better atmosphere, mainly because the fans are closer to the pitch for one. Stadiums nowadays are generally the same, and don't generate a good atmosphere, so don't think it is just Leicester, because it isn't. Arsenal are the same; Highbury was buzzing but the atmosphere at their new ground doesn't seem to be too good.

It is not actually the standing or the sitting that is important, it is the difference this makes to the make up of the crowd. Higher prices, allocated seats and an emphasis on families have changed football, probably for ever.

Modern stadiums do have an effect, the 'corporate' sections do nothing for the atmosphere and the inclusion of concourses and bars keep people out of their seats until the last minute, but the big difference is the change in the demographic of the crowd.

[purpleronnie]

I don't think it has anything to do with standing and sitting. I just think older grounds generate a much better atmosphere, mainly because the fans are closer to the pitch for one. Stadiums nowadays are generally the same, and don't generate a good atmosphere, so don't think it is just Leicester, because it isn't. Arsenal are the same; Highbury was buzzing but the atmosphere at their new ground doesn't seem to be too good.

Highbury was buzzing? Are you sure? Highbury the library?

[marbelladave]

Highbury was buzzing? Are you sure? Highbury the library?

This is another ground where the switch to all seater stadium made all the difference. Standing in the Clock End in my youth (pre segregation) was a fantastic experience, on a par with anywhere in the country. After the seats went in and health and safety people had their say it was gone and Highbury the Library was born.

What makes it sad is that Highbury was regularly sold out, yet the atmosphere was nothing like the old days, 60,000 + mostly standing against 35,000 - 37,000 all seated, no contest.......

[Weller in Tights]

As has been said by me and others before.

The make up of your average fan has changed.

In the 70's when the atmosphere really was like what you see from Greek and Polish fans now, the vast majority of the kop was 16-30yr old and male. I don't remember seeing a woman in Pen 3 or 4 (back then pen 2 was kept empty and the away support was bunged in Pen 1). Foreign clubs like Feyenord and Ajax who had a similar type of following, saw English teams fans in Europe and on TV and modelled themselves on us. That is why in the late 80's and 90's, when England went abroad all the foreign fans wanted to have a go at the top of the tree boys, the English.

Modern grounds with relatively higher prices have changed the demographics. More women and more kids, more families more people with disposable income. Many will argue that this is a good thing and that it is more of a family sport. Fair play. But that is why you don't get the atmosphere.

Watch some euro football, look carefully when the telly focuses in on Polish club fans and Greek or Turkish fans, look at the average punter in that crowd making all that noise. Male, 16-30 (ok maybe 40).

What do I prefer.????

To be honest I would love to be part of a fanatical set of fans singing all game no matter what the result. The comradeship and the common cause all part of it, watch videos of the Boca Juniors fans or the St Pauli fans, I would love that to happen at my club.

But hey I'm just an old git who remembers the 'bad old days' of the troubled late 70's with some affection.

Bertie Mee

Said to Bill Shankly

Have you heard of the North Bank Highbury?

Shanks says no, I don't think so

But I've heard of the Leicester ...... Boot Boys

But

[Fox1651]

The difference for me is success or lack of it on the pitch, I've spent many a miserable game at Filbert St, even when it was mostly standing when the atmosphere has been dreadful and it's always been when the team has hit a lengthy period of poor results and management.

We've had very little success whilst we've been at the KP and certainly no sustained success just a string of poor managers.

There have been isolated instances of having a decent atmosphere so given a period of sustained success and the anticipation of winning and the atmosphere will improve.

This times 37 billion

[stockyfox]

Going back to my formative years as a totally dedicated fan with permanent unswerving loyalty to Leicester City, in the 1950's, we had real genuine footballers - Arthur Rowley, Willie Gardiner, Derek Hines, Derek Hogg, Jackie Sinclair, Howard Riley, Johnny Morris, Jack Froggatt, Dave McLaren, Tony Knapp Mal Griffiths, Gordon Banks, Ken Keyworth, Mike Stringfellow plus the magical, brilliant, wonderful Sir Davie Gibson - just to mention a few.

What we didn't have was incompetent refs, disrepute charges, stupid off-side rules, substitutes, fan segregation, red cards, yellow cards, Sky TV, Money, Messageboards, etc. etc.

AND we were priviliged to see players like George Best, Denis Law, Jimmy Greaves, Sir Stanley Matthews.

That really was the Goal-den Era which will never be forgotten by those of us so lucky to have been born to be able to have been there as opposed to those of you who must be fed up of fans like me telling you how good it was.

[Kitchandro]

I don't think it has anything to do with standing and sitting. I just think older grounds generate a much better atmosphere, mainly because the fans are closer to the pitch for one. Stadiums nowadays are generally the same, and don't generate a good atmosphere, so don't think it is just Leicester, because it isn't. Arsenal are the same; Highbury was buzzing but the atmosphere at their new ground doesn't seem to be too good.

I'd like our stadium to be closer to the pitch no doubt, but 'older grounds generate a much better atmosphere'? Which ones?

Really don't get it when people say this, it's a myth. Yes the acoustics are better so it sounds better when there is noise, but grounds do not generate an atmosphere, fans do. I've been to old grounds that have had terrible atmosphere's, some average, none have been impressive.

[ajthefox]

This is another ground where the switch to all seater stadium made all the difference. Standing in the Clock End in my youth (pre segregation) was a fantastic experience, on a par with anywhere in the country. After the seats went in and health and safety people had their say it was gone and Highbury the Library was born.

What makes it sad is that Highbury was regularly sold out, yet the atmosphere was nothing like the old days, 60,000 + mostly standing against 35,000 - 37,000 all seated, no contest.......

Well of course it's not..

[old koppite]

I blame today's fans. Maybe it's just me or the way the mikes were set up for the televised games this season at Brighton's home games, but the singing from their supporters has been very impressive. As for old grounds, the media always go on about the effect of the home support at Norwich, especially for night games, and so it makes it a hard ground for visiting teams - I sometimes tune into Radio Norfolk when bored ( I'm in exile) and there is always a section singing non stop.

From reading loads of threads on here, I know it will never happen but I think you boys going to the home games must just stay in 1 area - probably the kop.

Anyway, shout, sing and clap non stop today - up the city!

[Guest Col city fan]

I'd like our stadium to be closer to the pitch no doubt, but 'older grounds generate a much better atmosphere'? Which ones?

Really don't get it when people say this, it's a myth. Yes the acoustics are better so it sounds better when there is noise, but grounds do not generate an atmosphere, fans do. I've been to old

grounds that have had terrible atmosphere's, some average, none have been impressive.

I've been to some old grounds that have had a great atmosphere to be fair.

The 'roker roar' was very real and St James Park at Newcastle was very loud.

Of the smaller old grounds.... Ewood Park used to be much much better than it is now and Upton Park used to have a great atmosphere. I remember watching a game at Chelsea in the 80's when they played ( and lost) to West Ham at home. Dennis Wise, Slaven Bilic and all. The atmos that day was brilliant.

I don't think it's the grounds per se though.. It's mainly the composition of the fans.

Football fan'ism has been so diluted over the years.

[purpleronnie]

I never understood the excuse of the stands being further away, people seem to think the fans are miles away from the pitch, we're still closer than a lot of european grounds, heck the old stamford bridge when you really were miles from the pitch had a better atmosphere than today.