About English fans

[masto22]

I am not from England. So I would like to know, if the clubs haven´t got enough places in their stadiums for all their fans, why they reserve places for the away team fans?

Regards,
Tom

[Prenn]

I am not from England. So I would like to know, if the clubs haven´t got enough places in their stadiums for all their fans, why they reserve places for the away team fans?

Regards,
Tom

Away fans make the game. There's also a rule where a certain percentage of the stadium has to be given over to away fans.

[act smiley]

Because its part of the culture, and as far as I'm aware it is throughout the rest of Europe too, that fans will try and go to both home and away games. While at non-league games there's no real need for segregation between fans when maybe 40 out of 300 have travelled, there is at a higher level. If there weren't properly designated away areas, there would be crowd control issues, especially at big games, so a certain size allocation (10% or 2000, whichever is less, I think) is required for the away fans.

[Devil_78]

Because if the game is boring, the fans get to shout at each other! As an away fan, entering someone elses home does bring in a siege mentality, and gets you to do your best to support your team. And of course, for the home fans, its a little bit of an invasion. After all, you have these 'foreign' types, entering your house! Well, better shout louder than them! OK, given 90% of the ground is home fans thats doable! Hopefully it a cycles upwards. Fans cheer. Players try harder. Fans cheer more, etc.

Also, unlike America, away trips are entirely possible for every game of the season. We dont need to make 5-6 hour trans-continental plane flights for some of our domestic games (European games are not 'regular' since you have to qualify) I think the longest away game has been Plymouth - Carlisle, at 325.9 miles, as the crow flys. For driving, I'd say maybe another 50 to 100(?). In the Premier league, its Newcastly to Portsmouth, at 290 miles. All of which can be done in a day (If you like hurting yourself!).

[BoltonMassiv]

I went from Bolton to Marseille in one day you women.

[Devil_78]

Now, I would be impressed if you said that you drove... However, if you flew, then it does not count.

(Besides, drove non-stop with a mate to Greece once!)

[BoltonMassiv]

We drove otherwise I wouldn't have said it, you can get pretty much anywhere in a day on a plane. :D

[Devil_78]

Actually, not entirely true. Its about 26 hours from Singapore to New York. (BTW, I aint the geek. My brother works for Singapore Air!) Its a flight I dont think I want to do mind...

Anyhoo. If there is one thing to be sure of. If you look at the largest visiting contingent of fans at any tournament (That England are in) The English are one of the biggest, if not THE biggest. We do like to travel.

[BoltonMassiv]

It's always the biggest, we fill every stadium that we are assigned, but it's not just for football, I remember the Rugby World Cup in Australia and we had masses of people over there for that aswell, in the final itself there were more English fans in the Stadium than Australian. :D

[Devil_78]

I would be interested to know how many of those at Stadium Australia travelled, or are ex-pats. People who buggered off because the weather there is better! (And in many ways, I agree. The weather here in Japan is pretty darn good at the moment, Id take it over the north west, despite the occasional nuclear power station threatening earthquake...)

Though it is was so very cool to hear swing low be belted out nice and clear, in a big shiny proudly Aussie venue...

[BoltonMassiv]

I reckon many of them were English people that travelled I remember a figure of something like 30,000 but I'm most likely wrong. :D I don't think there are very many Australians who still say they are English, mainly because we dumped them on an island because they broke the law. :D

[Devil_78]

Sometimes I wonder if we did right. Lets boot them out of a soggy little island, and send them to a sunny paradise...

Did we do right with that?

[BoltonMassiv]

Of course, when you own 2/3rd's of the World you can't really go wrong. :D They have to put up with all the retarded animals over there, whereas we just have to put up with rain and cold, I'm fine with that.

[Devil_78]

Thats true. Mostly dodgy weather, and docile animals, against fantastic weather, and most of the dangerous critters on the face of the earth willing to hurt you...

Can see why our ancestors maybe stuck at home...