Two faced city fans

There's loads of City fans who won't/don't turn up for CL games (reasons have been covered previously). That being the case perhaps only 20k of our usual crowd show up the rest are casual/tourist supporters.

We've had enough games now for the club to know this and City should either bite the bullet and accept piss poor crowds or give the aways a proper bigger allocation.

All the outcome will be from the game is that some regulars will be pissed off and stay away and the ones already missing aren't likely to return if they think they'll be in the middle of away fans.
 
I don't know if anyone has discussed this in the thread already, but isn't there a chance the poor segregation is also partly a cause of the poor attendance from City fans? I went to the Juve game and it was a similar issue. Having German fans behind me was one thing, I'm not sure I'll be too happy if we get Roma next round and it's the same, what with their history. I'm sure plenty will feel the same and stay away - I noticed the Family Stand was half empty on Tuesday, it's just not worth the aggro with kids in tow, I suppose.

The ground needs re-configuring for CL games. It'll have to go like FA Cup games until we finally sort out the North Stand.
 
blue b4 the moon said:
There's loads of City fans who won't/don't turn up for CL games (reasons have been covered previously). That being the case perhaps only 20k of our usual crowd show up the rest are casual/tourist supporters.

We've had enough games now for the club to know this and City should either bite the bullet and accept piss poor crowds or give the aways a proper bigger allocation.
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That's all fine and well, but I would think City were quite surprised by the number that gladbach were able/wanted to bring, not many teams in the CL will fill our normal away end, let alone exceed it. I know its a while since they played in England, but even so, they weren't qualifying for the CL.

It would be interesting to know from City, how the whole of block 314 was given over to them, were season card holders told about this, or was it a reaction on the night ? not to mention the other areas in 115, 211, etc, but there were numbers all over the place. I'm in 315, and there were quite a few around us, though most seemed to move, after the stewards spoke to them. It would also be interesting to know what the police thought of the arrangements, no sign of them first half apart from a token one near the 314/315 tunnel, but in the second half they put a line of them on the steps between 314 and 315, though I hadn't seen any trouble local to me previous to that, and I didn't go down on the concourse at half time, so don't know if there was an issue there ?

Whatever you think of them being there (personally I'm not bothered so long as they don't take the piss), the organisation wasn't great by City, There were enough empty seats that they could have asked people to move, however unpopular, to accommodate them better together, and reduce the potential for tension.
 
It really is this simple, home end, away end. Fencing, segregation, stewarding, policing, it's all there for a reason, why the shock and horror when this is not adhered to is beyond me.
If you do sneak into a home end stay stum.
 
Are there any blocks in the stadium that do not include season card holders? If they kept a couple of blocks free from season card holders they might be able to use them as "overflow" blocks when there is high demand from away fans. I expect that some season card holders may object if they asked to move to allow the away fans to be given an increased allocation. Which could deter the club from adopting a flexible policy.

There is also the issue of the sponsors allocations. A large chunk of 105 is given over to sponsors. Nearly all of these seats end up with away fans (incl CSKA when they were banned).
 
cibaman said:
Are there any blocks in the stadium that do not include season card holders? If they kept a couple of blocks free from season card holders they might be able to use them as "overflow" blocks when there is high demand from away fans. I expect that some season card holders may object if they asked to move to allow the away fans to be given an increased allocation. Which could deter the club from adopting a flexible policy.

There is also the issue of the sponsors allocations. A large chunk of 105 is given over to sponsors. Nearly all of these seats end up with away fans (incl CSKA when they were banned).
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I would give the away fans the whole of the south stand lower tier and all or part of the second if needed, and move the displaced to the North Stand lower tier. Those in the North stand can either stay or move anywhere in the stadium at the normal FS price. It's not that difficult. I know people get attached to their seat, but the FS is the least filled for night games. Away fans must be told they will be ejected if they wear their own colours or cause a fuss in the home ends. They should only be sold tickets through their own club and they should cost the same as what the home fans pay. This should be the norm across Europe - it's the safest way to manage fans.


And half and half scarves should be banned.
 
Innsbruckblue said:
At Bayern in the CL in 2013, me and the missus got tickets for the Bayern end. Walked in amongst them all with our City scarves on, no hassle. Went two down inside 5 minutes and had a crack with the home fans. We scored our first, I jumped out of my seat, cheering. Same for the second. When the third went in, I went mental. No hassle, no trouble, just had a good craic with the home fans.
The way it should be, and the majority of German football fans are brilliant.
So what if they were in our end? Get a fuckin life, and enjoy the football and meeting people from other cultures.
Anyone who feels the need to fight them, needs to grow up.
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Were you making abusive gestures though? I don't think most have an issue with away fans getting tickets in our end but taking the piss is not accepted and quite rightly so.
 
cheddar404 said:
Were you making abusive gestures though? I don't think most have an issue with away fans getting tickets in our end but taking the piss is not accepted and quite rightly so.
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I wasn't, no. Gave that up when I left my teens. What exactly were the Mönchengladbach fans doing that was so abusive and upsetting to fellow Blues?
 
Innsbruckblue said:
I wasn't, no. Gave that up when I left my teens. What exactly were the Mönchengladbach fans doing that was so abusive and upsetting to fellow Blues?
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Turning round from the pitch, goading and taunting City fans, two fingers etc; the usual that happens at a football match when you're in the away end. Most of us have sat in the opposition's home end when we've not been able to get a ticket and either sat on our hands and kept quiet or at the very most jump up if we score but I think if you're deliberately goading their fans then you deserve what you get. Unfortunately, this stirs everyone up and the decent ones elsewhere in the stand get picked out in the hope that they will be thrown out. There was a German lad in front of us with a BM cap on who said he was here supporting his team but respected the fact that he was in the City section so would keep quiet and watch the game. As a result, he was chatting and having a laugh with the lads around him. Thankfully, we've moved on from just battering away fans because they're in the home end but football is tribal and for those 90 minutes it's us against them. I can't stand any team we're playing for those 90 minutes and that's one of the things that separates football from most other sports and if that's taken away then we may as well give up. Going to the match has already been sanitised far too much.
 
blue b4 the moon said:
@ Innsbruckblue are you British?

If not rightly or wrongly with respect you won't understand the local fan mentally.
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Of course I'm British! I grew up in Chorlton, been a blue since my first game in 1981. Had a season ticket for the Kippax for 10 years before I started working for City.
I think I do understand the 'local' fan mentality; however, what I don't understand is why it's fine for Blues to go in other teams' home ends and cheer, but we have to scrap with them when they go in our end. There was a scrap in our end at the last game in Munich because some Bayern fans were in with us. Yet it was completely acceptable for Blues to sit, sing and cheer on the home end at Stuttgart.
 
I was in Block 222 on Tuesday, and there were a lot of Borussia fans in that section. They celebrated their goals loudly, but on the whole were pretty respectful and well behaved. They were getting a bit of stick when City scored but it was fairly good natured.

I think the club could have organised it better, either by giving a bigger allocation in the first place or trying to group the Borussia fans in the City end together somewhere rather than having them dotted all over the place.

I didn't really mind though, the ones I saw weren't taking the piss and we've been in similar positions ourselves before when Blues have had to go in the home end on Euro aways. Live and let live, and all that.
 
Innsbruckblue said:
Of course I'm British! I grew up in Chorlton, been a blue since my first game in 1981. Had a season ticket for the Kippax for 10 years before I started working for City.
I think I do understand the 'local' fan mentality; however, what I don't understand is why it's fine for Blues to go in other teams' home ends and cheer, but we have to scrap with them when they go in our end. There was a scrap in our end at the last game in Munich because some Bayern fans were in with us. Yet it was completely acceptable for Blues to sit, sing and cheer on the home end at Stuttgart.
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Fair enough I was only asking as I thought you may have a European outlook for want of a better phrase, I certainly wasn't doubting your blueness.
 
cheddar404 said:
Turning round from the pitch, goading and taunting City fans, two fingers etc; the usual that happens at a football match when you're in the away end. Most of us have sat in the opposition's home end when we've not been able to get a ticket and either sat on our hands and kept quiet or at the very most jump up if we score but I think if you're deliberately goading their fans then you deserve what you get. Unfortunately, this stirs everyone up and the decent ones elsewhere in the stand get picked out in the hope that they will be thrown out. There was a German lad in front of us with a BM cap on who said he was here supporting his team but respected the fact that he was in the City section so would keep quiet and watch the game. As a result, he was chatting and having a laugh with the lads around him. Thankfully, we've moved on from just battering away fans because they're in the home end but football is tribal and for those 90 minutes it's us against them. I can't stand any team we're playing for those 90 minutes and that's one of the things that separates football from most other sports and if that's taken away then we may as well give up. Going to the match has already been sanitised far too much.
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Fair enough. I wasn't at the game so had no idea.
 
Innsbruckblue said:
Of course I'm British! I grew up in Chorlton, been a blue since my first game in 1981. Had a season ticket for the Kippax for 10 years before I started working for City.
I think I do understand the 'local' fan mentality; however, what I don't understand is why it's fine for Blues to go in other teams' home ends and cheer, but we have to scrap with them when they go in our end. There was a scrap in our end at the last game in Munich because some Bayern fans were in with us. Yet it was completely acceptable for Blues to sit, sing and cheer on the home end at Stuttgart.
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As a few people, like myself stated throughout the thread, it didn't kick off because they were singing, or because they were cheering. It kicked off because they were all being dicks trying to threaten and intimidate City fans who were in their own section! I got into the ground for 6:30 and was with one other English person. Because I was organising the banners and flags in 115 the hundreds of Germans on the concourse were already trying to intimidate me. Then 15 mins before kick off when they were out numbered they all fucked off to the seats, proper shithouse mentality.

When it kicked off, one Borussia fan jumped on to his chair, started climbing up the stand pointing at a City fan who he obviously wanted a scrap with. He got to an aisle with a couple of kids on, probably 10 years old, by which point the rest of the city fans intervened. His mates obviously tried to stick up for him but it was stupid, by this point, everyone's fuming, police are no where to be seen and it starts going off. They weren't just in the home end cheering, they were in the home end intimidating young children and innocent football fans who were sat in the correct area! If they'd acted in a civilized way nothing would have happened, but they provoked us!

I was in the home end in Borussia, with about 500 other blues (because our club sold us tickets there) there was no fighting but there were a lot of them trying to intimidate us there as well, so I'm not having it that they all sit together singing kum ba yah. You put any, non Dortmund fan in the yellow wall and they'd get leathered. Remember these fans were in 115, our singing section, not the family stand!

On a completely different subject though, you've done well moving from Chorlton to Innsbruck, probably the nicest place I've ever been too!
 
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