Friendlies - no-one cares. Man U is a bad example anyway possibly the worst ground for atmosphere in the premiership, most hard core man u fans only travel to away games and of course 1000's of them left to start FC United which attract around 3,000 fans and has a better atmosphere than 70,000 at old trafford.
Well then what exactly is your point? In the Nou Camp, for example, a small section of fans lead the singing, because it seems no one else will. What is it you think ultras do?
When I go to a match I'm often in with all the hooligans chanting at the other fans and telling the oposition how we had their mum last night etc. The attitude is fueld with violence, especially in the lower division teams.
true, but with that many people, it was eerily quiet despite that it was a friendly. i probably couldve dropped a pin and everyone wouldve probably been able to hear it. the players on the pitch made more noises than those thousands of people at the game i do agree with you that Man U seems to have the worst atmosphere in the Premiership. they do make more noise during the season than a meaningless friendly, but even then, the United supporters make it seem like football is a luxury. no hardcore fans pounding drums or flares. heard they are banned in England, pity, but at least some jumping around would be decent once in a while. Man Utd do have the passion and an immense amount of support, just wish some more activity was in the stands and people standing up and cheering on their team, instead you got them only standing up when their team is about to score and those applauses. they're great and all but id like to see more intense chanting i mean just these few koreans http://dory.mncast.com/mncHMovie.swf?movieID=10004764920060813051120 probably wouldve made the games for United more interesting
What's the pity about no flares? The C.L. final was delayed because of all the smoke from the flares. How does delaying the game add to the atmosphere?
I've seen the Lens fans in action against Nantes - in Nantes and i must admit they were fantastic. I was sitting next to them and they put the Nantes fans to shame. Although, the chanting was dictated by a guy with a megaphone.
I can't think of a reason there'd be any atmosphere for a club friendly match. Korea fans are crap, it's just mindless noise that has nothing to do with the match. I'm not sure if they even know the rules.
Well the person who started this thread does have a point. This from the BBC website. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/5268360.stm I have to admit out of the games I have watched this has to have been the quietest Prem season ever.
im a season ticket holder at blackburn rovers and the atmosphere is terrible apart from the blackburn end were i sit.thats why i like going to away games the most where you can out sing the home side especially at old trafford were 2000 rovers fans can out sing 68000 united fans.
The Blackburn fans that came saturday didn't seem too bad, although the team didn't exactly give them a lot to shout about. that seems to be the case with most fans though, the ones that travel ae the ones who make the most noise.
You think the english are reserved. Man, visit Canada we'll change your mind before you leave the terminal. Any back on topic, I think you have the right idea, the cost of tickets has forced the "poorer" foke out of the game. Weither those people are the ones who cheered loudest I can't say, but I think quieting down is a trend in all sports, in most countries. Hell, the K-league, and J-league are even getting a little quieter, and I would have put them as the two best leagues for atmosphere bar none. People are simply less inclinded to scream themselves hourse once a week.
fratton park is the most atmosphiric ground in the country i didnt go on saturday because i limit my away games as far as the midlands clubs only due to transport but it is properbly due to it being an old ground these new grounds are crap for atmospheres
I agree, I hope after they redevelop or move that the atmosphere remains. I think it would be eay to recreate good atmospheres in new grounds if the clubs told fans that if you want to be part of creating a good atmosphere then you should buy tickets in certain areas of the ground. It dosen't really need the club if the fans just organise themselves like they do in the rest of the world.
I have to put mz two cents in this : I am not English and have never been to a game in England so i can't comment on what atmosphere is like there in stadiums, but i feel here alot of people here don't understand alot of things concerning the ultras : - first of all, it is no doubt that ultras do help their side a great amount. They aid to intimidate the other team(contrary to popular opinion here, this is almost always peaceful), they spur their own side on THROUGHOUT a game and follow their team no matter where they travel and no matter how well thez are doing. I believe ultras in Europe are what make the big difference in most home games. Why is it that the home side almost always has some sort of an advantage? Is it 'cause the other team is tired 'cause of the travelling to the town where they'll be playing? I doubt it. I think it's because of the atmosphere created in the stadium supporting the home team : and that atmosphere doesn't come from the VIP tribunes... Ultras also add alot of creativity and some fun to matches : for example through occasional coreographies or tifos which can look really beautiful and no doubt motivate a team. Flares also add to the flair(sorry for the word choice there), and no doubt work in intimidating an opposing side, furthermore i don't remember ever hearing of any fans getting into any danger caused by flares). Once Dida of Milan got hit by one, which was obviously a horrible thing to do from the Inter fans and luckily Dida was not seriously harmed. but that is an exception to the norm(half of the ultra groups in Europe don't use flares anyway), and anyway, with all of England's hooligan problems, i don't see why that is such a problem. I don't defend those actions, i just think it hypocritical of an English person to criticize ultra scenes when there is a far bigger problem in their country : hooliganism. this brings me to my next point : ultras are not hooligans. Ultra movements are predominantly peaceful and should not be considered the same as a Firm group. Hooligans cause a far bigger mess and much more problems due to their acts of violence, yet i don't see anyone here mentioning the fact that if England has such a big problem with ultras and their way of support, why don't they reflect on this issue of "support" in their own country. I know i said i've never been to a game in England so i didn't wanna comment on atmosphere in stadiums there, but i DO remember vividly how in late June the English "fans" proceeded to try and destroy Stuttgart while they were in the city for the Ecuador game. I'm sure most would agree that an ultra group is far better to have than hooligan issues. One person said "what about the mom and three kids who are sitting next ultras?" This personwas not from Europe and unfortunately without being aware of it said something pretty silly here. Ultras in european stadiums are separate from the family fans, they aren't anywhere near each other. Ultras have their separate blocks away from others where you can go watch a game if you wanna participate, and if you don't wanna participate in stuff like that, then go to any of the other 80% parts of the stadium where ultras aren't around. and everyone knows the blocks where ultras are, so you'd have to be pretty silly to accidentally end up in one of the blocks... finally, if ultras really don't help the team in any way and don't motivate their sides players in any way, then why is it that at the end of almost every win of a team in Europe, the players will go to the ultra block to thank them and celebrate with them? This often happens after goals are scored too, and if the ultras aren't any help to a side, i don't think players would show such appreciation of them...
yet.... ...and... You admit to having never been to an English match, and demonstrate that so perfectly with those two paragraphs. There is not a hooligan problem in English grounds. There hasn't been for a very long time. We don't even have fences at English grounds, not even to separate the home and away sections. What a few English pissheads do abroad is hopelessly misleading - games themselves bear no similarity. they do that in England too, even without ultras. still, to show I'm not totally against the idea of ultras, here's a clip of some Ultra-led Panathinaikos fans (taking time out for a sodding basketball game!). I wish a few more english grounds were like this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtQAJH_JoXM
i have been following rovers up and down the country and not seen any trouble at groundsthe only trouble ive seen is when we played celtic in the uefa cup and thats because their fans got into our end.just because of a few england fans at the world cup kick off doesnt mean we are all like that.thats how weve endid up with a bad reputation and pisses me off that people think we english always cause trouble were ever we go which is not true
come to a lazio-roma game, you'll understand the defination of ultra(that it is not neo-nazi bullcrap like some idiots say, of course they know nothing, why am i not surprised, ignorant).
you may be right there. The Easy stand at Stamford bridge has a lousy atmosphere, but there are a lot of fur coats and fake suntans, maybe that has something to do with it. One of the reasons why Fratton Park, or Pompey fans in particular get credit, is that Portsmouth is very much a working class city and it is not a trendy yuppy type of place. When you walk around Portsmouth, inlike other cities, you will not see Man U, Arsenal or Chelsea shirts, everyone in the city supports Pompey. Again, it is fairly unique in that respect. One thing we do have, which shames our club, is more than our fair share of hooligans and we probably have the worst reputation in the premiership, however, with the exception of the Pompey v Southampton game three years ago, I have not seen any trouble at a pompey game for years. To call the English hooligans is outrageous, there are a lot of countries in Europe with a bigger hooligan problem than us, you will also never hear racist chants or facist salutes as you do in games in Italy and Spain.
ooohkay. that would have been me who said it.. you want to see my british passport, coz I have one... I have moved to the USA just a year ago... When I go to home games I can buy tickets in any part of the stadium (bar the visiting fan section), and guess what, lots of famalies go, lots of kids. Ive seen kids and famalies behind the goal next to the visiting fans section..
every sort of person goes to games not just middle class i earn minimum wage and still able to afford a season ticket and go to away games
since there aren't any ultras in Great Britain(that's what this topic is about after all), you obviously can buy tickets wherever you want. I apologize for being unaware that you're british(or an Australian who lived in Britain), but that doesn't change the fact that since there are no ultras in Britain, whether you can buy tickets wherever you want or not is not relevant because it has nothing to do with my point. My point was that in COUNTRIES THAT HAVE ULTRAS(that would be almost every european country OUTSIDE of the united kingdom), its almost impossible to get tickets there and you are reminded that it's an ultra section when you buy it. That doesn't happen in England, because there aren't any ultras there.