Looks like a big crowd turned out but watching on the Web cast it seemed like a VERY quiet one. Would be interesting to hear from some of the folks who were there. Was this at all a soccer crowd or mainly people coming to gawk at the new stadium? Also, how many do you expect the Sounders will drawl next home match when they return to that horrible pitch at Memorial?
Wow I agree with a Portland fan. When the sounders score the fans applaud as if they just watched a golfer have a good tee off.
Watching the Fox Sports Northwest report- they did a live remote from the stadium. They let you know that the stadium was the star of this show; that people were agog, looking like they'd been let out of the Kingdome prison. Of course, even "big 3" fans don't like the FSNW crew for various reasons. 28-30K according to FSNW. The Allen people (First & Goal) made some comments to the media about how they want to use this crowd as a benchmark, and think they can get MLS to overlook the FieldTurf issue. Shouldn't give me the giggles...
FieldTurf won't even be one of the top 10 issues for Seattle getting MLS. It's a non-issue. It's better than any pitch in MLS already except probably Dallas and Columbus. I'd say New England, but wait until the Patriots destroy it. Same for KC and LA with pro and college gridiron teams reducing it to mud in a week.
The announced crowd was 25,515. Enough to sustain the wave. Long lines of walkups at the ticket booths. There were reportedly about 5,000 in walkup sales.
I was part of the 5,000 walk-up. Stadium: beautiful, but just not intimate enough for soccer. Great sight-lines. Pitch played a tad fast, but other than that, you'd think it was grass. Seemed to me that most folks were there for the stadium. Pretty quiet crowd. They did "oooh" and "aahhhh" at the right times, though. I'm not sure if I went to see a soccer game or a test of the stadium's PA system. Jock rock at every single dead ball. Bad jock rock, too. Mullet rock. ugh.
Scoey's about right. Although, the pre-game music was good . (Clash, Beatles, White Stripes) There was some element of traditional soccer crowd. There was a group with drums going for most of the game in the SW corner. Certainly there were a LOT of people who were long-time Sounders fans. I saw lots of older guys with old-school Sounders stuff on. Also, the walk-up could have been even better had the weather been like the rest of the week. Alas, it was misty-to-rainy most of the day. Remember, American sports fans cheer when things get exciting, and not throughout the game like other countries...regardless of the sport. There is nothing wrong with this. I have been to many, many games overseas, and it's just a different culture. Just like how the Japanese cheer baseball differently than we do. It was a lively crowd for an American crowd, but not lively relative to, say, a Liverpool crowd drunk and rowdy for an Everton match.
I was there last night and think the stadium is quite nice and doesn't feel enormous. What I particularly liked is that the seats come right down to the sideline with no expanse in between. I was in row two, the best seats I've ever had for any sporting event. Regarding the crowd, a game beginning with about 400 8 year-olds parading around the field in their cute youth, soccer uniforms does not portend a raucous, testoserone-driven and alchohol-fueled crowd. That's just not Seattle soccer as I've experienced it. I really dislike rock music at sporting events. The implicit message is that what's happening on the field isn't interesting or captivating enough so there needs to be a music side-show. It cheapens the whole experience for me. I also like to talk with people and ampliflied music makes that difficult. The drums were great.
The jock rock was a lot worse than at Memorial. Actually the past couple of games there they had toned it down, but y'day was as bad as it's ever been. I do wonder about the "test of the PA system" thing. Being as how there's jock rock galore at NFL games and especially how Seahack games have been presented the past 3 or 4 years with "snippets" in between plays. One has to wonder if the helmetball boys got their wish to play with the system a bit as a dry run.
Just to clarify: I do think most folks were there to see the stadium. But most also seemed to enjoy and understand the game, too. I stood in line for tickets for a good half hour, and everybody around me was talking soccer, it seemed. This only highlights the problems the Sounders have, IMHO. There is obviously a huge resevoir of interest in soccer here (USNT game sold, this drew 25k on a drizzly Sunday afternoon), yet the Sounders can't tap it. Its a shame. By the way: does anybody know what the largest regular season attendance is in A-League history? Just curious...
You were part of it Buddy. The sound system is very badly designed, probably a cost issue since there are no real acoustics to take advantage of. Huge linear arrays of speakers is what is needed but are probably too expensive and not an easy installation. The designer tried to make up for a poor design by adding more power, that translates to distorted boom. You don't want to go to a game there with a hang-over! I can see complaints coming already about the lights; wide receivers are going to be looking for balls in the glare from the line of lights on the stand roofs. The lower sections of the stands should have been pitched more steeply. A great example of that is the Millennium Stadium in Wales. It provides better viewing and great intimacy with the game. The surface is very good, not grass but the next best thing. I talked with some of the players after the game, they all agreed that the surface was very good to play on. Aesthetically the stadium is impressive. It was a quiet crowd but I think there was lots of soccer appreciation. The US soccer crowd is different, especially for A-League, the people attending don't have the passion yet, soccer does not represent them or their community, in the bigger scheme of things. Watch the Seahawks fans when they are playing KC or LA there is a different level of connection. Soccer is going to take a while to get there, if it ever does!
Well, the whole point was also to get people's foot in the door. If a fraction of those who showed up for the game at the new stadium show up for a "regular" Sounders game, then the thing will be a success. Anyway, just wanted to congratulate the Sounders & Seattle for what seemed to be a success. Cheers. kevin + http://tullamarine.org
Here is a great review of the stadium and a match report. http://www.a-league.com/features/2002/fea,2002,0018.shtml
I am a fan of all the Leagues and its great for the Seattle Sounders, its about time that area deserves it, they been a supporter of Soccer for years. Its Great the A-League play is real improving and I think will see crowds continue to come out. I am happy the way A-League is running there business and I see in the future competing with the MLS for teams and players. The higher attendances in the last couple weeks of all the teams, its only the beginning. I will not be surprise if Tampa Bay Rowdies, Ft. Lauderdale Strikers, the Cosmos, Philadelphia Atoms, will be playing in the A-League in the next couple years.
Great article Allison (I hope you read this). I'm obviously not a Timbers fan but if it were the Timbers there, rather than the Sounders, it would still have been a great night for A-League soccer. I think the fans got treated to an exciting, high quality soccer game, as good or better than you get in the MLS. The setting was terrific, an overall great experience for the fans, and a great night for NW soccer. Great pictures! Keep up the good work Allison. We'll forgive the Celtic jerseys (from a blue nose) and hope you continue to associate and work with with the A-League and in the great NW.
The First and Goal website describes the soccer playing surface as being only 70 yards wide. Is that true? And can it be widened? Let's hope because that is a sharp looking ground.
I just went to the Seahawks' site. They have some overhead views of the surface. My educated guess is that it can accomodate a 75 yard wide field.
Thanks socco, and everybody else. I'm just doing my part to help the league out wherever I can. Being a Seahawks fan as well as a supporter of the A-League, this was one I couldn't miss! As for the width of the field, I guess there is some conflicting information as to how wide the field is. According to the game program from Sunday, the pitch is 110x66. Whether that's true or not is anyone's guess. But what I can say is that the field that was marked out on Sunday is as wide as they can go. At the corners the field was no more than 10 feet from the walls, and I was so close to the field standing on the sideline that I nearly caught a Sounders clear in the face. It's a great facility for soccer though. Whether the USSF, FIFA, and MLS will eventually warm up to the Field Turf remains to be seen.
Since none of these clubs exist anymore, I will be really surprised to see them turn out in any league.
Thanks for clearing that up man...... Someone had mentioned about getting fans"feet in the door" so to speak. I hope it worked. I can tell you that the reason the Rhino's have such a good attendance record is because they were the first to play in our new baseball (yes, baseball) stadium. Over 13,000 showed up the first night (SRO). And we came back from a 2-0 deficit at half-time. I think that bought a few long term fans. There had been sellout crowds at the 5,000 seat field they had previously played at, but I'm sure we would be a few bodies down on the attendance if it wasn't for opening the stadium. Too bad the situation is different in Seattle. But I hope it peaked the intrest of a few fans who will now make the trip to Memorial (?) Staium. P.S. Did you guys put in round goal posts yet? You almost ruined our pretty-boy goalie's face during the '96 finals!!
I hate to break the news to you: Square goals with string wrapped around the square posts to hold the goal on. Is that even up to FIFA standards?
Square posts were the standard that was used in football until recent years. Probably somewhere in the rules it specifies the dimensions of the posts and I'm sure they are meant to be square. Round is recent! I looked particularly at the size of the field in Seahawk Stadium. Clearly 120 yds long and if you use the width of the penalty area as a guage (44yds) there was at least another 15 yds to the sideline, so the field was probably 75 yds wide. Plenty big field!
Well Memorial is (I believe) 64 yards wide, and this was quite a bit wider than that. I'd say 70/72 was about right. Don't think it was 75.