Atmosphere 2024/25

[TheGhost]

Absolute tripe!

The reason why we have a soulless stadium is also because long term city fans have got bored of winning, they take it for granted, there is apathy that is plain to see. The vast majority of the people sat there apparently disinterested are not tourists, or day trippers, they are people who have been season card holders for decades, l see them with my own eyes week in week out, both near where I sit and also where my family sits when I've swapped seats with them.

It's an easy deflective tactic for fans and fans groups like 1894 to blame the club, blame the prices, blame the tourists. Yes, most definitely those situations need looking at and I'm thankful for 1894 for trying to open dialogue. However, simply blaming the current woeful atmosphere on everything but long term apathetic fans is unfair and will not fully resolve the problem.

If you want to bury your head in the sand and think we have the 'best fans in the land and all the world', you do that, but I simply do not recognise that anymore. Sadly, we have collectively become the spoilt brat fanbase that we so often slated the rags for when they were top dogs.

Can’t it be both - middle class tourists and the usual season card holders who are now apathetic?

The club can fix it though if they wanted to.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

Our door remains open ;)

"We have set out the demands we will not compromise on. If you decide to grant us these then give us a call."

No wonder the club have disengaged.

 

[M18CTID]

"We have set out the demands we will not compromise on. If you decide to grant us these then give us a call."

No wonder the club have disengaged.

I don't see that anywhere in the statement! I did see this though:

"We asked the club not to be directly referenced in their statement, which was announced today, as we disagree with some of the plans as they currently stand."

Note the focus on disagreeing with "some of the plans" and also as they currently stand. I'm not sure exactly how you think 1894 should've approached this, given that we're an atmosphere group first, second, and third. Do you think if the club came back and offered us, say, 5000-6000 safe standing places as opposed to 3000 that 1894 will knock it back because it doesn't meet with our perfect Utopia of 8000 safe standing? There's this thing called compromise but at the moment that ball is back in the club's court. Our door is still open.

 

[jrb]

Some people think the club is going to roll over when 1894, other fan groups, and fans reps, City Matters, OSC, etc tickle the clubs belly. The club won’t.

At least 1894, other fan groups, and fan reps who are ‘recognised by the club’ are in dialogue with the club on behalf of the fans. Fan groups and reps can’t do anymore than that.

If it wasn’t for the fan groups and fan reps there would be no dialogue with the club at all. People need to cut the fan groups and fan reps a bit of slack. They are trying to their best on behalf of the fans.

 

[Axel Freed]

Absolute tripe!

The reason why we have a soulless stadium is also because long term city fans have got bored of winning, they take it for granted, there is apathy that is plain to see. The vast majority of the people sat there apparently disinterested are not tourists, or day trippers, they are people who have been season card holders for decades, l see them with my own eyes week in week out, both near where I sit and also where my family sits when I've swapped seats with them.

It's an easy deflective tactic for fans and fans groups like 1894 to blame the club, blame the prices, blame the tourists. Yes, most definitely those situations need looking at and I'm thankful for 1894 for trying to open dialogue. However, simply blaming the current woeful atmosphere on everything but long term apathetic fans is unfair and will not fully resolve the problem.

If you want to bury your head in the sand and think we have the 'best fans in the land and all the world', you do that, but I simply do not recognise that anymore. Sadly, we have collectively become the spoilt brat fanbase that we so often slated the rags for when they were top dogs.

I’m not naive enough to think we have the best fans. Tbh one set of fans is pretty much like the next. What has changed is the cohort of fans particularly at successful clubs and the atmosphere dampening policies adopted by City.

I don’t agree that long term blues don’t contribute to the atmosphere like they used to because success has made them apathetic - it’s because they’ve got old. The club should’ve done much much more to attract young happy bouncing energetic under 25s to augment our ageing fanbase but instead they’ve actively deterred them with £70 tickets, force fed corporate cheese pre match at ear splitting volumes, killjoy anti blue stewards and uninterested tourists /away fans all over the place. It’s not a fun place for a young group of lads to be anymore.

The small percentage of young up for it lads at the match who do want to create an atmosphere and the shrinking number of middle aged fans who feel likewise have their vibe crushed by these factors and their enthusiasm wanes. It’s like a nightclub that used to be fun until every other boring fucker heard it was cool and wanted to go there and so it loses the feeling it had and the people who were there when it was fun don’t find it fun anymore cos the place has changed to better suit all the squares now attending.

The game’s gone, I admire the persistence of the 1894 lads and the guys on here who mean well and really want to do what they can to help but sadly I think their efforts are futile, they’re chasing something that slipped away a long time ago

 

[jrb]

I’m not naive enough to think we have the best fans. Tbh one set of fans is pretty much like the next. What has changed is the cohort of fans particularly at successful clubs and the atmosphere dampening policies adopted by City.

I don’t agree that long term blues don’t contribute to the atmosphere like they used to because success has made them apathetic - it’s because they’ve got old. The club should’ve done much much more to attract young happy bouncing energetic under 25s to augment our ageing fanbase but instead they’ve actively deterred them with £70 tickets, force fed corporate cheese pre match at ear splitting volumes, killjoy anti blue stewards and uninterested tourists /away fans all over the place. It’s not a fun place for a young group of lads to be anymore.

The small percentage of young up for it lads at the match who do want to create an atmosphere and the shrinking number of middle aged fans who feel likewise have their vibe crushed by these factors and their enthusiasm wanes. It’s like a nightclub that used to be fun until every other boring fucker heard it was cool and wanted to go there and so it loses the feeling it had and the people who were there when it was fun don’t find it fun anymore cos the place has changed to better suit all the squares now attending.

The game’s gone, I admire the persistence of the 1894 lads and the guys on here who mean well and really want to do what they can to help but sadly I think their efforts are futile, they’re chasing something that slipped away a long time ago

Sums the situation up perfectly, Alex. (repost)

The club should’ve done much much more to attract young happy bouncing energetic under 25s to augment our ageing fanbase but instead they’ve actively deterred them with £70 tickets, force fed corporate cheese pre match at ear splitting volumes, killjoy anti blue stewards and uninterested tourists /away fans all over the place. It’s not a fun place for a young group of lads to be anymore.

 

[ABayBlue]

Sums the situation up perfectly, Alex. (repost)

The club should’ve done much much more to attract young happy bouncing energetic under 25s to augment our ageing fanbase but instead they’ve actively deterred them with £70 tickets, force fed corporate cheese pre match at ear splitting volumes, killjoy anti blue stewards and uninterested tourists /away fans all over the place. It’s not a fun place for a young group of lads to be anymore.

Sadly agree with this as even at 28 years old, I cannot really justify paying £70 for a home ticket. I am more keen on PL away days given £30 but even hard to use my uncle's ST account to get good tickets for that!

 

[jrb]

Is going to be really interesting to see at what price point the NSL2 Flexi Gold season tickets and match day tickets are priced at by the club. Will they be any different to the rest of the stadium, I doubt it.

Bar wanting to increase match day revenue which is the main goal of the North stand expansion, the club HAVE TO FILL AN EXTRA 8000 SEATS for every home match, not just for the big matches. At the current match day seats prices, the club won’t be able to do that.(in my opinion)

The NSL2 tier may well sell out, but there will be swathes of vacated and empty seats in other parts of the stadium, as a consequence of that happening.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I don't see that anywhere in the statement! I did see this though:

"We asked the club not to be directly referenced in their statement, which was announced today, as we disagree with some of the plans as they currently stand."

Note the focus on disagreeing with "some of the plans" and also as they currently stand. I'm not sure exactly how you think 1894 should've approached this, given that we're an atmosphere group first, second, and third. Do you think if the club came back and offered us, say, 5000-6000 safe standing places as opposed to 3000 that 1894 will knock it back because it doesn't meet with our perfect Utopia of 8000 safe standing? There's this thing called compromise but at the moment that ball is back in the club's court. Our door is still open.

We had almost 1,500 supporter responses and our red lines were :

*That the stand should be built with acoustics in mind and the position of "singers" central to the stand.

* Pricing plans for season card and match day prices laid out for the next 5 years for the North Stand and other areas of the ground as a comparison - vital if supporters are expected to make a long term move. 1894's position is two year freeze on season and match day tickets to allow fans to catch up followed by inflationary rises only after the 2 years have been completed.

* Maintaining the current 70% ratio of season card holders amongst the 8,000 extra capacity to reverse the recent trend of not releasing new season tickets. (ie 5,600 season cards - not the extortionate Flexi Gold)

* 7,000 - 8,000 rail seats in North Stand Level 2.

* An 18-25 year old section.

* Additional rail seating in South Level 3 to mirror the noise coming from a higher atmospheric section in North Stand Level 2 so that the two ends are encouraged to sing to each other.

* A re-think from the club on the positioning, indeed the addition of general admission / hospitality seats in an "atmospheric" North Stand from what had been disclosed on images over the last few months.




It's starting to look to me that whoever wrote that statement does not understand what "red lines" are.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Sadly agree with this as even at 28 years old, I cannot really justify paying £70 for a home ticket. I am more keen on PL away days given £30 but even hard to use my uncle's ST account to get good tickets for that!

I’m similar. 30 years old and I can’t really justify paying for tickets now, match day in particular. I’ve stopped attending champions league matches.

In my friend group of mainly city and United fans, most of them don’t attend games regularly. The ones that do are similar to you - using someone else’s ticket.

I honestly think football at the top level is screwed in a few years. Younger people aren’t attending games. Who’s going to replace the older fans we have now?

You can see the difference when you attend cheap cup games compared to league matches.