NMH
Banned
Ha ha no actually, great morning, I'm away for a week tomorrow so in a great mood. Maybe saying "They're shit" was a bit harsh, that's not really what I meant.
But this is my point. Look at the Merseyside derby last night. 5 minutes before kick off and before the teams came out, the Kop were belting out 'Fields of Anfield Road', and the away end was belting out 'We're on the march', and it should have made for an electric atmosphere. But you could hardly hear it because some rubbish pop song was being blared out over the tannoy with some shouty shouty man shouting over the top of it. Why? How exactly does this improve the atmosphere or experience for anyone, children or adults, either in the ground or on the TV? It doesn't, but some Americanised marketing twat somewhere thinks it does, so we have to put up with it. It's like 'Abide with Me' at the Cup Final. When that hymn was sung by 90,000 people together it made grown men cry. Now all you can hear is some fat opera singer wailing it over the top of everyone else. What is the reason for it?
I was 7 when I first went to football. I was hooked on the electrifying atmosphere, the singing, the shouting, the rowdyness, that feeling of the hairs on the back of your neck standing up from thousands of people singing together and the whole emotion of the occasion. The football was secondary to be honest, certainly for the first few games. You don't get that with cheerleaders, ridiculously loud music and a washed up radio presenter drowning out the crowd.
I've got nothing against Gully Girls, and I understand that football has changed, for the better in most parts. But just because the stadiums are safer, people don't run on to the pitch and beat the shit out of each other anymore and the players are paid millions of pounds, it shouldn't mean that we have to turn it into the Superbowl.
I suppose you could argue that having all this 'entertainment' on the pitch before kick off keeps people like myself and thousands of others on the concourses drinking beer and spending money up unti the last second, but this isn't the reason for it in the first place.
I absolutely love the Amex, and I still look forward to every game. It's the first time home games have been good for 15 years, and I am loving every second. And to be fair to the Albion it is a less Americanised / soul-less experience than most new stadiums in the country. Whether that will still be the case in 10 years time, I'm not convinced.
If it was up to me I'd ditch all the pre match fanzone and Gully's Girls nonsense pre kick off, and put it on at half time instead. I used to like half time enetertainment, remember when they used to have penalty shoot-outs between schools and stuff on the pitch at half time at the Goldstone? Great fun. "Sign him up, sign him up, sign him up"...
There's a happy medium to be found, and I would agree we don't want to have presenters or advertisers drowning down the atmosphere, or until we are MLS Mk.II either.
Like has been said - stuff you don't care about that you CAN ignore or avoid, simply ignore and avoid.
Agreed about ht entertainment perhaps including a challenge or skills contest somewhere in that period - no problem with more entertaining distractions that people can watch....or choose to ignore.
Imo the tannoy can be 'tempered' in its' volume to a median that is acceptable for allcomers.
There's no need for a DJ effort at half-times, background music is okay if it needs to be there at all.
The sound of 'Liguidator' at Withdean was always good before the match, so there are times when it CAN work for some.