[Albion] Atmosphere today

[dazzer6666]

I think there's a lot of truth in that; as you say we've got nothing to 'fight' for any more. Yesterday was just a bog-standard, humdrum league game against opponents who are a good side but not one of the top clubs. And there was nothing really riding on the result as we're not even halfway through the season so there's plenty more matches in which to pickup/drop points. Consequently there was no sense of anticipation or expectation, so basically what was there to get excited about?

Plus of course the Brighton fans that attend matches (along with fans of other PL clubs) are nearly all nice comfortable middle class people with nice comfortable middle class lifestyles who can afford to spend £25+ on a match ticket. I'm no sociologist, but I think these people tend to view it more as ninety minutes entertainment that elicits polite applause as opposed to a tribal encounter that demands passionate, unconditional support..

Nailed it - would just add that we've got a large cohort (obviously) that can afford to spend £25 on a ticket and not go..................

 

[rippleman]

The club have banned all the over boisterous fans, a mum was moaning for others to sit down in the North ffs. Sit in the West or east love.

We are in the era of "Sit Down & Shut Up". Barber is more interested in the corporates and the football tourist and that has gone a considerable way to pricing out your traditional football fan who would have helped the atmos along. But it's not just us. It's the PL way.

Add that to the egos of the dispirate singing groups in the North so that when we do sing we are singing at least two different songs at the same time and it all contributes to the poor atmos. We could of course sling out many hundreds of people behind the NS goal in the hope that bringing the two main singing groups together would improve things but we are better than that. Leave that kind of thing to the scummy yoof from up the road!

 

[Bold Seagull]

I don't think it helps that Wolverhampton are hardly a big draw, a club of probably equal stature and as a home game one we probably expect to win.

Really? Most people I spoke to knew it would be tight, and I'd say a fair few were happy with a draw before the game.

Wolves have played 54 Premier League games now and only lost 15. To put that in some kind of perspective, in that same period Spurs & Leicester have lost 18, ManU and Arsenal 14 each, Chelsea 13.

Expecting to win games like that purely on historical stature is probably why people come away disappointed rather than realising we more than matched a very very good side and enjoying a hard fought contest.

 

[RossyG]

I don't think it helps that Wolverhampton are hardly a big draw, a club of probably equal stature and as a home game one we probably expect to win.

If that’s true - and it may well be - then it doesn’t reflect well on our fanbase.

 

[Clive Walker]

drum?

 

[Bold Seagull]

We are in the era of "Sit Down & Shut Up". Barber is more interested in the corporates and the football tourist and that has gone a considerable way to pricing out your traditional football fan who would have helped the atmos along. But it's not just us. It's the PL way.

Add that to the egos of the dispirate singing groups in the North so that when we do sing we are singing at least two different songs at the same time and it all contributes to the poor atmos. We could of course sling out many hundreds of people behind the NS goal in the hope that bringing the two main singing groups together would improve things but we are better than that. Leave that kind of thing to the scummy yoof from up the road!

I've always thought from the day the Amex opened that making the North Stand tickets the cheapest in the ground with no other areas to match that price was a mistake that has always effected the atmosphere. You have a fair portion of the North Stand who wanted a nice central seat with the best view at the cheapest price with no intention of joining in with the atmosphere. All that 'we'll tolerate the back 4 rows or so standing' was never going to really create the tribal atmosphere you need and many grounds struggle for the same reason. IMHO should have made sections of East and West lower the same price as the North giving non singing fans an alternative equal price ticket option.

As for them up the road, their atmosphere has massively improved. Any club that actively looks to move singing sections together and work to make that happen will create a better atmosphere. Someone asking you to sit down when we have a corner in the supposed noisiest section of the ground isn't what you want.

 

[Justice]

Not just the Amex crowd. I looked around on Thursday and I was surrounded by people who fit your description. 10 years ago if we'd taken 3k to a midweek London game the atmosphere would have been buzzing. There would have been a 30 page thread on here about people turning up drunk or standing in aisles.

Going down and getting out of this division wouldn't be the end of the world in my eyes.

Yep I’m glad I did all the 80’s 90’s football to young for the 70’s, away games used to be sometimes scary but exciting at the same time love an edge to a game, OB dogs foaming at the mouth shoved into an escort to the ground majority of fans working class lads on the piss. Never be the same even if we did go down. Some will say how terrible it was but was it really? Or do they prefer sitting in a library?

Met some great guys that I still see today all had your back if got a bit tasty, all I see is teens still having mummy wipe a bit of pie of their face. I mean going to football with your mum ffs.

 

[Recidivist]

Again by implication what you're actually saying is the atmosphere was better last season and all the season's that went before.

That just isn't the case.

Was being slightly tongue in cheek with my comment! Don't think our support has ever been particularly vocal in the seasons I've been going except on rare occasions like the Wednesday play off.

I do think goal celebrations have been more muted while we all wait for the VAR verdict but that's probably been true across the whole of the Premier League....


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[Napper]

Have a look about at the amex.

THere are a lot of middle class people there that simply don't care enough. You only have to listen in the train queue after a loss to hear a lot of discussuions , topics such as

work
family
the weather
etc etc etv

Often barely hear football chat from a lot of these types.

They also tend to glare when you start any songs up , like you are some sort of nutcase.

The north is pi55 poor at the moemnt too. Not in unison and the volume levels are the generally lowest I can recall.

West used to be a good back up but thats more sporadic now. Can be ok for the Albion Albion chants though. If the North was louder I suspect they would get more involved too.

North need to raise game.

 

[RossyG]

If the North isn’t satisfactory, the West and East are welcome to give it a shot. Show us how it’s done.

 

[Justice]

Have a look about at the amex.

THere are a lot of middle class people there that simply don't care enough. You only have to listen in the train queue after a loss to hear a lot of discussuions , topics such as

work
family
the weather
etc etc etv

Often barely hear football chat from a lot of these types.

They also tend to glare when you start any songs up , like you are some sort of nutcase.

The north is pi55 poor at the moemnt too. Not in unison and the volume levels are the generally lowest I can recall.

West used to be a good back up but thats more sporadic now. Can be ok for the Albion Albion chants though. If the North was louder I suspect they would get more involved too.

North need to raise game.

spot on, it’s like two guys have been forced to do something together because the wives are best friends. One probably hates football but has to go to please the overly bearing missus. .

 

[amexer]

I must be in minority because after years at Withdean I think atmosphere at the Amex is very good and is a good part of my enjoyment in going to games.
I have been to many games in Germany and a large standing section sing throughout game. Very strangely so many dont watch the game just conduct the singing. To create this at Amex you would need safe standing behind goal and something to replace GOSBTS. In Germany they all have own Anthems that go on for at least 10mins and in England only Liverpool can match this.
I would be no good singing all the time as I am to busy hiding my bottle top.

 

[Questions]

I thought the North was dreadful yesterday but then again I think they are most games. WSU is ok but it’s your ‘end’ that needs to do the donkey work......... pardon the expression.

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Yep I’m glad I did all the 80’s 90’s football to young for the 70’s, away games used to be sometimes scary but exciting at the same time love an edge to a game, OB dogs foaming at the mouth shoved into an escort to the ground majority of fans working class lads on the piss. Never be the same even if we did go down. Some will say how terrible it was but was it really? Or do they prefer sitting in a library?.

This with bells on, there was an edge to match day, that is lacking in today's game. It is not just us though many grounds and crowds are similar.
The days of being chased too or from the station home or away are gone, the chatter about a mob turning up and tall tales about Billy getting smacked about by 28 blokes are all but gone too. In many ways thank god, but it did add to match day, but it is not just football, in general the pubs are different the out of town mentality is slightly different the sub cultures have all but gone. We here in Brighton also suffer because of the influx of London over spill, and you have to admit a sizeable portion of the crowd at the Amex Brighton are their second or adopted team ever since they moved down from wherever they originally came from, you can say this is bollox, but it is true and everyone knows season ticket holders who's main team is not Brighton.

This inevitably takes away from the atmosphere when these partisan fans, have not consumed enough alcohol to not care anymore about holding back singing or joining in.....

There I have opened the can of worms.....

 

[MattBackHome]

This is the main reason why I can't wait for the Champions of Europe to come back up next year. The league needs some loud fans.

 

[BBassic]

Away fans are loud.
Home fans are (usually) pretty quiet unless action on the pitch is inciting things.

That's been my experience of football grounds all over the country for 20+ years

 

[Nixonator]

I've always thought from the day the Amex opened that making the North Stand tickets the cheapest in the ground with no other areas to match that price was a mistake that has always effected the atmosphere. You have a fair portion of the North Stand who wanted a nice central seat with the best view at the cheapest price with no intention of joining in with the atmosphere. All that 'we'll tolerate the back 4 rows or so standing' was never going to really create the tribal atmosphere you need and many grounds struggle for the same reason. IMHO should have made sections of East and West lower the same price as the North giving non singing fans an alternative equal price ticket option.

As for them up the road, their atmosphere has massively improved. Any club that actively looks to move singing sections together and work to make that happen will create a better atmosphere. Someone asking you to sit down when we have a corner in the supposed noisiest section of the ground isn't what you want.

Nailed it. The demographic of the North is not what you'd expect in a home end that it very small anyway.

It's unfair to always expect that stand to lead an atmosphere, especially as many of our so called passionate fans are a couple miles up in the clouds.

Little thought went into actually generating an atmosphere in the lead up to our first season at the Amex, they were more concerned with how it sounded if there was one ie. acoustics.

Which is why it sounds so amazing when people can be arsed. All too rare for me though.

 

[Justice]

This with bells on, there was an edge to match day, that is lacking in today's game. It is not just us though many grounds and crowds are similar.
The days of being chased too or from the station home or away are gone, the chatter about a mob turning up and tall tales about Billy getting smacked about by 28 blokes are all but gone too. In many ways thank god, but it did add to match day, but it is not just football, in general the pubs are different the out of town mentality is slightly different the sub cultures have all but gone. We here in Brighton also suffer because of the influx of London over spill, and you have to admit a sizeable portion of the crowd at the Amex Brighton are their second or adopted team ever since they moved down from wherever they originally came from, you can say this is bollox, but it is true and everyone knows season ticket holders who's main team is not Brighton.

This inevitably takes away from the atmosphere when these partisan fans, have not consumed enough alcohol to not care anymore about holding back singing or joining in.....

There I have opened the can of worms.....

Football is not spontaneous anymore who can’t just wake up Saturday morning and decide to go and see Brighton away they used to be some of the best days out. It’s all points and booking weeks in advance. When the tv camera went to the away fans at Arsenal they all looked about 80 years old and miserable as sin

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Nailed it. The demographic of the North is not what you'd expect in a home end that it very small anyway.

It's unfair to always expect that stand to lead an atmosphere, especially as many of our so called passionate fans are a couple miles up in the clouds.

Little thought went into actually generating an atmosphere in the lead up to our first season at the Amex, they were more concerned with how it sounded if there was one ie. acoustics.

Which is why it sounds so amazing when people can be arsed. All too rare for me though.

I always think it's like switching on a mighty TURBINE when the WSU is in full cry. It is genuinely impressive. Rarely happens tho. Might have happened ONCE yesterday

 

[dazzer6666]

This is the main reason why I can't wait for the Champions of Europe to come back up next year. The league needs some loud fans.

Indeed - the last visit of Leeds is the only time at the Amex I've seen purple-faced-with-rage 50 year old fat blokes trying to bust through a line of police to punch women and kids heading home.........................except the Millwall few who tried to invade the SWC once.