Singing section/Atmosphere

[Silvas' left eyebrow]

Considering this is still being debated, I really hope some of you will join in on our singing section for Basel at home. We are all good lads and possess a potential solution for atmosphere. More than happy to answer any questions as well if you see us about. You can apply for the singing section here:
https://www.1894groupmcfc.co.uk/singingsection

No shame....did people on here really expect you to out sing. 8,000 away fans.
Keep up the good work . Flags ,ticker tape all the stuff you do.
Safe standing the future for you guys......

 

[SouthStander12]

We appreciate all the kind words we get from fellow blues and accept we are far from perfect. Yet more people joining creates more ideas, so If you’re up for it come down to the Basel game with us!

 

[Corky]

Yes they did.

The current "singing section" mainly reflects he cheap seats at Maine Road in 1994 transposed onto the new stadium.

The fact the cheapest seats are now the furthest from the pitch at the back of SS3 should give a clue as to why the atmosphere is getting worse.

 

[Neville Kneville]

The current "singing section" mainly reflects he cheap seats at Maine Road in 1994 transposed onto the new stadium.

The fact the cheapest seats are now the furthest from the pitch at the back of SS3 should give a clue as to why the atmosphere is getting worse.

There was consultation & that area was chosen due to its proximity to the away fans as so many wanted the 'banter' & said it's difficult to get an atmosphere going without it.

I thought it was a stupid idea at the time & still do now. We are the only club which volunteers to have its 'end' taken without even a whimper.

There would be riots at most clubs if people tried to put away fans in their end. We had a brand new ground & still don't have our own end. It's ridiculous.

 

[Corky]

There was consultation & that area was chosen due to its proximity to the away fans as so many wanted the 'banter' & said it's difficult to get an atmosphere going without it.

I thought it was a stupid idea at the time & still do now. We are the only club which volunteers to have its 'end' taken without even a whimper.

There would be riots at most clubs if people tried to put away fans in their end. We had a brand new ground & still don't have our own end. It's ridiculous.

The south stand has remained the same since we moved though, the club re-branding it made no difference, it is the same type of people, just more of them since the away fans were slimmed down. There was no consultation before the move in 2003, and the away fans are never going to be moved now.

Maybe they did consult since but I am South Stand since the move and was unaware, maybe it was like the badge 'consultation' though, and wouldn't make any difference. All the club would have to do to make north stand lower a singing section change it back from being a family stand and make it significantly cheaper than other lower tier areas. Cost is a massive factor on fan location.

 

[mcfcstu]

Exactly. We've tried literally everything within our power over the past few years to try and improve the atmosphere and despite some people on this thread claiming it's been a total failure, that's not the case. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

When the opportunity to move into 115 became available as a result of the re-structuring of the away section due to the 3rd tier of the South Stand opening, we pushed it as much as possible and emphasised the point that those wanting to move there should be up for creating an atmosphere so what happens? Some fans moved there with no intention of getting involved and we now have a situation where, somewhat astonishingly, during one home game last season one of our guys was told to stop singing....in the fucking singing section. What also didn't help was that some that were originally planning to relocate there instead relocated again to SS3 to take advantage of the cheaper ST prices.

We've positioned ourselves at the back of the stand but the songs don't always travel well down and across the block due to both the low overhang and not enough people further down the block not putting any legwork in to help the songs carry, so for CL games we've re-positioned ourselves at the front of the stand and despite the best efforts of some of us there (I say some of us because some of those that relocated to the front with us couldn't be arsed joining in for some weird reason) constantly trying to get things going, the middle rows stayed mainly silent so any link with the singers at the back was fragmented and vice versa. Moving to the middle of the block would probably be the best thing to do but there's never enough seating availability to position a block of 70 or so fans there.

We made the controversial decision to use a drum versus Gladbach last season because their fans had battered ours for atmosphere with the aid of their own drums the season before. It wasn't as disastrous as some predicted but one of the guys using it in the first half got a shit load of disgraceful abuse on the concourse at half time. Now we don't have a problem with people not being in favour of using a drum but what we won't have is someone being called a nonce for having the balls to step up and give it a go. No doubt the **** who came out with that has probably never started a song off in their lives.

This was my point exactly a couple of months ago when u took it the wrong way. I understand the group have tried everything they can to improve the atmosphere but like I said at the time to many fans had no intention of joining in when moving to the singing section all they moved for was to be able to sit with mates again after being split up from the other moves around the ground or from Maine road days.

 

[dom]

Some of my thoughts on last night:

- If you weren't there, you can't really whinge about the atmosphere.
- Away fans were very loud, hard to outsing 7,000 fans in the biggest game in their history.
- 115 is the only block that consistently tries to get songs going.
- If YOU don't sing, wherever you are in the ground, how can you expect the atmosphere to improve?
- We will comfortably outsing them when we go to Ashton Gate - that's how it works in the country.

1894 Group are going to organise a singing section for the Basel game. If you're actually bothered about the atmosphere (which you must be, otherwise you wouldn't be on this thread) then pull your finger out and make the effort! If you can't be arsed, stop whinging.

Good post..

 

[Neville Kneville]

The south stand has remained the same since we moved though, the club re-branding it made no difference, it is the same type of people, just more of them since the away fans were slimmed down. There was no consultation before the move in 2003, and the away fans are never going to be moved now.

Maybe they did consult since but I am South Stand since the move and was unaware, maybe it was like the badge 'consultation' though, and wouldn't make any difference. All the club would have to do to make north stand lower a singing section change it back from being a family stand and make it significantly cheaper than other lower tier areas. Cost is a massive factor on fan location.

There was a lot of talk about it at the time & the vote went for being next to the away fans.

I agree, fuck the family stand off somewhere else & make the North Stand the home fans end.

Those who want to look at fat Geordies can stay where they are.

 

[mcfcstu]

This is what we need to do but I’ve heard it’s for policing reasons they are there..the best solution is to move the main home stand to the North stand and redevelop it accordingly..moving the families next to the away support in the South Stand

What a great idea !! Move a load of young kids next to away fans so that they can face all the abuse.

The mind boggles sometimes with the amazing ideas of some of our fans.

 

[Prophet of Doom]

This thread amuses me as every week there is a different excuse for the lame atmosphere. Now we are back to the shit atmosphere being due to not having our own end which is comical.
Last week it was due to shit acoustics. The week before it was down to ticket prices. The week before down to not having safe standing. All complete bollocks. The acoustics sounded fine for the away fans in the past week. Cheap tickets last night and the mythical fans that make a noise but don't come cause of high prices didn't bother turning up. The South Stand stand all game but don't make a peep.

We have won god knows how many home games on the trot - yet the atmosphere at the three home games in 2018 has been an utter disgrace.

No idea what the answer is. But please give up on making dreadful excuses which just don't wash.

 

[Neville Kneville]

What a great idea !! Move a load of young kids next to away fans so that they can face all the abuse.

The mind boggles sometimes with the amazing ideas of some of our fans.

They could be at that end without being right next to the away fans.

 

[dom]

It was always going to be the case, if away fans are housed at one end & we put the singing section near there, that they would end up with thousands of away fans stood next to them, at a cup game. No way the police are going to suddenly change their operations.

How often, in the history of football, have a huge away contingent of City fans, been housed next to the home singers ?

In the days when I used to go, it only ever happened at small time clubs.

The singing section from that club would be at the other end, singing, then the brain dead moron section, who spend all the game throwing darts etc, would be housed at the other end, next to the City fans.

Even Leeds had an opposite singing 'end' .

P

The fuck? And nobody had a dig at him?!

I sit on row M in 116..if he’d have piped up that shit near us he’d have been sparked..thought 115 was supposed to be moody?

You need to nip that shit in the bud

report the twunt to the club...maybe cctv can pick out the knuckle-dragger

 

[Neville Kneville]

This thread amuses me as every week there is a different excuse for the lame atmosphere. Now we are back to the shit atmosphere being due to not having our own end which is comical.
Last week it was due to shit acoustics. The week before it was down to ticket prices. The week before down to not having safe standing. All complete bollocks. The acoustics sounded fine for the away fans in the past week. Cheap tickets last night and the mythical fans that make a noise but don't come cause of high prices didn't bother turning up. The South Stand stand all game but don't make a peep.

We have won god knows how many home games on the trot - yet the atmosphere at the three home games in 2018 has been an utter disgrace.

No idea what the answer is. But please give up on making dreadful excuses which just don't wash.

The acoustics are poor from the bottom tier compared to the upper & it would be better if we had our own end.

And if we were shite & Bristol were top of the League under Pep after being in the Prem for years our 8k would wipe the floor with their home fans.

It is what it is now & these are ways to possibly improve it, not to make it perfect.

 

[mcfcstu]

Maybe we are at a point now that possibly 80% of our fans aren’t interested in singing and no matter how many moves we try this is never going to work. Sadly gone are the days when football was a way of venting your frustration from a shit week at work by having a bloody good sing song at a game but today’s new fans seem to want to just sit and admire the game and not get involved. Very sad indeed but I feel this is the way it is now. As for reducing prices to make it more appealing to the old fans that have left this all you are basically doing is making it cheaper for the fans that actually go now and will still be stuck with the same scenario. Proof last night and many cup games before when the club have lowered price dramatically but the ground is still not sold out and a poor atmosphere.

I’m all for a standing section as I think this is the final attempt to create an atmosphere but the club don’t seem to be pushing for it. I am in the family stand level 1 (and I do sing [emoji3]) and im sure if the club really looked into the family stands they would see now that there are lots of groups of adults in there now whose children have now outgrown the minimum age in there but for some reason the club aren’t moving these fans out as was originally part of the deal in there. Im sure if they looked into this with the amount that would need to be relocated they could just use level 2as the family stand and convert level 1 into the standing/singing section offering the fans that are needed to move out 1st option if they want to remain in there in a standing section or move elsewhere in the ground to seats available maybe in the south stand as fans move from there to the north stand level 1.

Only my thoughts and ideas.

 

[typicalcity...]

To the people who think the family stand is pathetic next to away fans. Watford has the family stand next to the away fans and I’m sure Rotherham does? I imagine there’s others as well.

 

[1.618034]

After being in 115 last night it's obvious that despite the efforts of 1894 and those that do actually join in (yes I did), when the away fans have the whole 3rd tier it's like bows and arrows against the lightning.

The away section isn't moving, for lots of reasons and there's little we can do about that, so keep them where they are over 3 tiers in the SS and the whole of SS3 for cups.

So, I reckon the last chance we have of having our own end is with a North Stand 3rd tier. I'm assuming that when it's built it'll be a copy of the current SS3...

Give 1894 the front/middle of that new 3rd tier and designate it all as "singing/standing section", give it rail seating if at all possible, but just don't allow the extra people in which increases capacity, yet. That can wait. I say rail seating for NS3 because it'd be pretty steep so having the rail would make it much safer to stand up there than normal seats.

Because it'll be a new stand then it's a clean slate, so notify anyone who wants to be part of it to relocate there for reasonable money. Say £300-£400.

Give discounts for U25s or U30s or something. Encourage groups of friends to relocate together by giving them priority. Groups are more likely to start or join in with songs.

Give us bars inside and out at that end that offer pre-match discounts to drag people out of Mary D's etc. With the Beswick regeneration plan most of them might go anyway(?) and since most boozers are at the south then potential singers like that end. Singing in concourses etc translates to singing in the stands.

Allow/encourage banners to cover the adverts etc. Give it character.

We don't need a family stand. Just make it really cheap for juniors everywhere and let the parents decide where's best for them and their sprogs. But if we must have one then leave it where it is. Just make it smaller. It's way too big as it is and there's loads of people in there without any kids. Shove them to one or both corners. Or relocate to the SW corner. Therefore make NS1 another "singing section" and others from SS1 will move there if they don't want to lose the ring-side seat view, if that's important to them. IMO the view is far better from the front half of SS3 than it is from anywhere in SS1. But that's an opinion and others will disagree..

As for SS1 if the people in there really do want to contribute then they will relocate to NS3 so drop the "singing section" designation for the whole thing except perhaps the sections adjacent to the away fans (115 and or 116)..?

What can't happen is put "1894" up in SS3 because come cup games they'll be moved. That'd be ridiculous.

Anyway having typed all that it's probably futile and it probably, for anything but a really big game, is just the way it is. I think about other traditional "ends" like The Kop, stretford, Gallowgate etc etc and none of them really inspire like they used to and I'm not wanting or expecting anything like Dortmund and the like but I do remain hopeful of some improvement.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

this would be my solution if possible. this is schalkes ground. id merge the first tier and second tier of the family stand and create a bigger home end. move the family stand into a second tier above this and offer cheaper tickets to them. we'd have a bigger home end and the kids would be near the atmosphere. if we build a third tier and do exactly what we did in the south stand it would be a waste in my opinion and wed have the exact same problems we have now, with a stand broken up again.

moving the singing area into ss3 wont happen. the main reason for that is that i don't think they would allow standing in ss3. do something like the picture above. give the 1894 group the middle block and get them near the front instead of at the back now, where you can't hear them. allow megaphones, flags.... id keep level one of the south stand as it is - then wed have two ends almost behind each goal.

right now though the best thing we can do is actually sing. all the people stood in silence in the south stand need to actually sing and get behind the team. if your in a singing section it should almost be a duty in my opinion to sing. ( not just look at the away fans.) also the idea we need away fans to sing is a myth as its made no difference at all in our ground for years now.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Maybe we are at a point now that possibly 80% of our fans aren’t interested in singing and no matter how many moves we try this is never going to work. Sadly gone are the days when football was a way of venting your frustration from a shit week at work by having a bloody good sing song at a game but today’s new fans seem to want to just sit and admire the game and not get involved. Very sad indeed but I feel this is the way it is now. As for reducing prices to make it more appealing to the old fans that have left this all you are basically doing is making it cheaper for the fans that actually go now and will still be stuck with the same scenario. Proof last night and many cup games before when the club have lowered price dramatically but the ground is still not sold out and a poor atmosphere.

I’m all for a standing section as I think this is the final attempt to create an atmosphere but the club don’t seem to be pushing for it. I am in the family stand level 1 (and I do sing [emoji3]) and im sure if the club really looked into the family stands they would see now that there are lots of groups of adults in there now whose children have now outgrown the minimum age in there but for some reason the club aren’t moving these fans out as was originally part of the deal in there. Im sure if they looked into this with the amount that would need to be relocated they could just use level 2as the family stand and convert level 1 into the standing/singing section offering the fans that are needed to move out 1st option if they want to remain in there in a standing section or move elsewhere in the ground to seats available maybe in the south stand as fans move from there to the north stand level 1.

Only my thoughts and ideas.

its not new fans that arent singing or getting behind the team, its people that have been going for years. the majority of people in the south stand aren't new fans, from when i looked around the other night. new fans or people that haven't been in ages actually have enthusiasm and get excited/behind the team. season ticket holders imo dont - i think a lot of people just go out of habit. league games are terrible and much worse then cup games imo.

 

[IWasHere]

The noise travels far better from SS3. Credit to the lads in the singing section but the few at the back of the third tier get the loudest chants going.

I remember against psg in the quarters of the champions league, I was sat at the back of SSL2 and I could hear SSL3 loud and clear but not the bottom tier. The following champions league game against madrid I sat at the back of SSL3 and the atmosphere was mint. Not once did I hear the bottom tier make any noise (they probably did, but I couldn't hear them). That pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the sound acoustics around the stadium.

 

[IWasHere]

What a great idea !! Move a load of young kids next to away fans so that they can face all the abuse.

The mind boggles sometimes with the amazing ideas of some of our fans.

The family stand at the Boleyn ground was next to the away fans, and if I'm not mistaken the family stand is next to the away fans at the Emirates.

Besides, what's difference does it make? They're still gonna hear away fans being abusive regardless of where they sit.