It’s time to have an honest discussion about our home support and the SJ Ultras

The Ultras aren't Antifa, either. And for that I'm thankful.

 

By the way, the Quakes this year have an excellent home record in front of the Ultras, and are pretty decent one on the road when the Ultras travel in numbers (win at Galaxy, draw in Seattle and loss at LAFC).

 

Point-by-point:

(1) It's not difficult to stand with the Ultras. Wear black, ask a security attendant for a wrist band and you're in. I do it regularly even when not using my Ultras ticket.

(2) Reputation? "Exclusive and antagonistic." Is that your excuse for not wearing black and joining in? (See #1 above.)

(3) There are fewer tifos of late for several reasons, the least of which is lack of funds.

(4) Marketing. Who by this point has not heard of the Ultras? Indeed, I hear they have a "reputation." (See #2 above).

 

When's the last time the Quakes had a winning record?

If it were so easy to form a Quakes supporters group, why has none supplanted the Ultras over the past decade?

 

Looks pretty straightforward to get tickets to stand with the Ultras for their next away trip. Not sure what the issue is.

If you need tickets in our section for the October 6th game in Portland, email us at membership@1906ultras.com . pic.twitter.com/RIIhknV1bw

— San Jose Ultras (@SanJoseUltras) September 10, 2019

 

I envy Seattle, LAFC, and LAG, who seem to have good well-managed relationships with hierarchical supporters councils. I only realized recently that LAFC’s 3252 refers to the capacity of the standing section, and the 3,252 STH members are spread across 9 groups.

The only way to have a seething mass of fans like that is to have more SGs who work together. That doesn’t seem likely to happen when the major SG’s most recognizable cheer is “We are Ultras”. It seems like at least 2 SG’s disbanded after conflicting with the Ultras. I also totally lost respect for the Ultras after they refused to say anything in support of SaveTheCrew,

Right now it feels like the Ultras retain a monopoly even though they are shrinking. Frankly, I think the only way atmosphere increases in Avaya is if the FO wipes the SG slate clean and starts over, hoping that new young people step up to organize new SGs who will work within a council.

 

Names of these formerly vibrant but now defunct supporters groups? And please explain how the Ultras forced their being disbanded.

 

You envy bureaucracy?

The Ultras' capo has a direct line to every high-ranking Quakes official.

 

What did those other San Jose supporters say?

 

The Faultline are down at the other end with the re-constituted Imperio. Some monopoly when the Quakes have as many or more supporters groups as any team in the league.

Why is that we never try to have an honest conversation about these other groups and why they are shrinking, or more pointedly, never really grew to begin with?

You don't need the antitrust division to build a bigger supporters group. The Ultras aren't stopping any other Quakes fans from eclipsing them. Other Quakes fans are.

 

The FO already tried and failed at this. They really ought to try winning consistently, instead.

Which reminds me: what ever happened to #FisherOut ?

 

The reason for their existence is to support the Earthquakes, not to compete with other supporters groups. When other groups have fallen silent because their team has fallen behind, the Ultras keep singing regardless the scoreline.

 

Great idea! Let's "wipe the SG slate clean" and hope "new young people step up to organize new SG's". If that happens I nominate you to hold your breath until new SG's arrive on the scene.
If you think the Quakes need better supporter groups then why don't you start one, but, you will need to make sure a council is in place first.

 

I thought someone on here said that Imperico kept conflicting with the Ultras when they were sitting below them, and that Imperico had then disbanded this season. I thought Faultline had gone through the same thing, I.e., moving to a part of the field where they didn’t conflict with Ultras.

Based on what I thought I heard, it sounded like our supporters groups spend more time fighting with each other. The Ultras have definitely fought with the FO every season. So yes, I think the Quakes need to start all over with new SGs. Find young people (not old people like me) who want to step forward and work with the FO in an organized structure. Give them money or favors or exclusive deals to reward loyalty. Make them feel valued but also leave them free to express themselves within league rules. Help SGs have a good time.

Look, it’s pretty obvious that our SG fan support is as bad as in HOU, COL, NE, FCD, etc. We can’t just blame our field product any more, because it has gotten better. If the Quakes want better SGs, they need to go out and cultivate a lot of new ones in an organized structure where all SGs work together.

 

Bring it on.

 

Black t-shirt worn by the San Jose Ultras' capo against Orlando last home game (evidently in telepathic anticipation of this thread):

"F*ck You We Do What We Want."

 

So start your own supporters group.

 

I never heard what happened to the Casbah?

 

BTW, I met a couple new Ultras members at the Orlando tailgate.