Atmosphere 2024/25

[jrb]

For our games, Spurs, Arsenal and dippers atmosphere is completely destroyed by the number of tourists/corporate. Trafford is really only one tier with a few accessible rows in front. From 102 (where I sit/stand/shout) it’s difficult to tell where our SS noise comes from but it’s not obviously L3. Rarely hear away fans unless we’re getting battered.
Best recent aways have been palace Leicester and Luton (cup), no corporate or tourists. Personally I think it’s more about the people than the roof or seating arrangements.
Happy New year and keep the NS pic updates coming!

Even without the tourists it’s not easy getting an audible atmosphere going at Spurs, Arsenal, and Liverpool where everyone joins in, as the fans are spread around the corner, are in the corner, and are pitch side. United might be one tier, but it’s still relatively high up, and under a low roof. Newcastle, Everton, Villa, etc?

The majority of the away end noise comes from SSL3. There is little or no noise that comes from the away end on SSL1, albeit when certain away fans come to the Etihad, like Newcastle for an example. I stand on SSL1, block 115, so I know how much noise comes from the away end on SSL1 as a rule. I’ve sat in other parts of the ground, and I can always hear most of the away noise coming from SSL3.

I agree, there are lots of reasons why some away ends are better than other away ends. The Stadium, the away end location in the stadium, single, double, triple tiers, roof height, in the corner, behind the goal, high up, low down, etc, As Leicester showed, having mainly legacy City fans in the away end does improve the away end atmosphere, as we all know. :-)

Thanks.

 

[shnaghaicityfish]

Even without the tourists it’s not easy getting an audible atmosphere going at Spurs, Arsenal, and Liverpool where everyone joins in, as the fans are spread around the corner, are in the corner, and are pitch side. United might be one tier, but it’s still relatively high up, and under a low roof. Newcastle, Everton, Villa, etc?

The majority of the away end noise comes from SSL3. There is little or no noise that comes from the away end on SSL1, albeit when certain away fans come to the Etihad, like Newcastle for an example. I stand on SSL1, block 115, so I know how much noise comes from the away end on SSL1 as a rule. I’ve sat in other parts of the ground, and I can always hear most of the away noise coming from SSL3.

I agree, there are lots of reasons why some away ends are better than other away ends. The Stadium, the away end location in the stadium, single, double, triple tiers, roof height, in the corner, behind the goal, high up, low down, etc, As Leicester showed, having mainly legacy City fans in the away end does improve the away end atmosphere, as we all know. :-)

Thanks.

Well I remain completely unconvinced, from where I sit (which is quite close to where the players are on the pitch!) the main body of away fan support is from SSL1. Plus, as SSL3 is already 80% City, can’t see that 1 more block will make much difference to our support, given you remove the “trigger” of the away fans. ESL2 already has a big block of hospitality in the middle (and Mr Burton sees the potential to increase this ?!)
I shall protest long and hard against any plans to piss about with ESL1, which after all is the Kippax!
HNYE CTID

 

[East Level 2]

Brentford is one of the absolute worst away ends for tourists for some reason

Didn't notice many when we played them in the FA Cup in 96-97.
But these days it's a tiny allocation and would be a fucking disgrace if tourists got priority. I've only seen is once at their new ground (3 years ago?) and it seemed to be mainly regular blues.

 

[East Level 2]

And most of the articles regarding the relocation is so that Brighton can gain small advantages over an away team. For example not having to take a penalty at the away end. City need to relocate the away fans as a matter of urgency although it’s something that has been discussed many times and apparently GMP won’t allow it.

Is the correct answer. It's a line that should end further discussion as GMP will always have the final say no matter what fans say. - The only way they will listen is if City (club or fans) come up with a suitable plan meeting all GMP's criteria. That is unlikely as they are probably happy with the current layout and won't want to study the implications of suggested changes.

 

[lancs blue]

Didn't notice many when we played them in the FA Cup in 96-97.
But these days it's a tiny allocation and would be a fucking disgrace if tourists got priority. I've only seen is once at their new ground (3 years ago?) and it seemed to be mainly regular blues.

Yes I was at that match, it was their first season in the PL and the match was, like Leicester, between Xmas and New Year so possibly not as attractive to the usual tourist crew.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

Agreed, but I think we both know the club will pay absolutely no attention to any campaigns for or against. The total lack of support after Istanbul told us all we need to know about supporter engagement.
At the end of the day the atmosphere is down to us as fans shouting more, wherever we sit. I’ll be doing that on Saturday (from 102, apparently “shit seats”). CTID

They abandoned the decision to charge for disabled parking following a fans campaign/protests.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

Is the correct answer. It's a line that should end further discussion as GMP will always have the final say no matter what fans say. - The only way they will listen is if City (club or fans) come up with a suitable plan meeting all GMP's criteria. That is unlikely as they are probably happy with the current layout and won't want to study the implications of suggested changes.

The proposal meets ALL of the current GMP & licence protocols and enhances some.

Putting the club's position on one side the only 'authority' issue is of
obstinacy, ineptitude, bone idleness,red tape and 'couldnt give a fuck cos we're far too busy doling parking tickets out'.

Imo, there is no genuine reason for GMP etc not to approve the change.

Finally, imo, the logic behind the proposal is clear,compelling and beneficial.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

All I’m going to say is let’s see. You’re probably right though. But the new North stand does give City the opportunity to look at, evaluate, and possibly relocate the away fans. (as well as home fans)

What I will say is, there is little or no away support or noise from the away fans at Spurs, Arsenal, and Liverpool, who are shoved in the corner, near the corner flag. Whilst at United, Newcastle, Everton, Villa, etc, you always hear the away fans because they are mostly in the upper tiers. That’s where the vast majority of the away noise and away support also comes from at the Etihad.

Correctissimo.

An SSL3/2 full of 8000 City fans under the roof, will make MORE noise than the current set up.

ESL110/111 low down & round the corner for away fans ,will make LESS noise than the current set up.

Factissimo.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

You have to admit that there’s a lot of season ticket holders in South Stand lower, who are there to be part of a singing section, but can’t actually be arsed to sing - atmosphere tourists.

The noise doesn’t travel well either from lower tier, so for me the more singers in upper tiers the better. Whatever happens, we need to have noise coming from both ends of the ground, something we don’t have now - that in itself would be a game changer.

It can’t be long until we hear more details about the plans for next season, as once announced, it will need time for fans to consider options, work through logistics like relocations etc.

Fundamentally correcto.

 

[Gone for a Burton]

It’s a close call and I don’t do every away these days but from my own experience I think Leicester away when Bernardo scored in a 1-0 win in September 2021 just about edged yesterday. It genuinely was non-stop all afternoon that day, whereas yesterday had a quiet spell in the second half.

But it’s no coincidence that both games were at Leicester. It’s the best ground in the league for getting an atmosphere going. I probably try 10 times harder at home games to get an atmosphere going than I had to yesterday and that’s in SS1 Block 115 where plenty do join in but all too often the sound doesn’t travel beyond more than a few blocks. Yesterday I was starting songs off and literally within 2-3 seconds the whole away end were at it. Of course, it helps that there were so many like-minded fans prepared to join in but the single tier design of the whole stadium makes it conducive to getting an atmosphere going. As good as we were yesterday, for that reason it surprises me a little that a lot of Leicester fans think we’re the best away fans at their ground as surely other fanbases are equally loud when they go there? Or maybe not?

I’ll be seriously gutted if Leicester go down as it the best away day of the lot for me.

....and at the Etihad two ends under the roofs will be better than one.

8000 Vity fans at each end ,with the away fans shifted down to the shit seats in ESL110/111 should provide the atmosphere that most have been wanting since the stadium was opened over two decades ago


In reality, whats the problem ?

 

[Gone for a Burton]

....and at the Etihad two ends under the roofs will be better than one.

8000 Vity fans at each end ,with the away fans shifted down to the shit seats in ESL110/111 should provide the atmosphere that most have been wanting since the stadium was opened over two decades ago


In reality, whats the problem ?

City not Vity !!

 

[Gone for a Burton]

I think that's a really good point, I bet most teams have their best away end of the season at Leicester. Although I agree they won't see many better sets of support as they on Sunday.

On that point, I'd be really interested to see how our fans would manage in the Etihad away end, I bet we'd give it a much better go than most!

Down in the shit seats in ESL110/11 is where the away fans should be.

Shit views & shit acoustics, which is why spuds, arse etc put away fans in a similar position.

Brighton are shifting away fans soon to create two home ends under the roof behind the goals.

Such forward, innovative thinking eh ??

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

Down in the shit seats in ESL110/11 is where the away fans should be.

Shit views & shit acoustics, which is why spuds, arse etc put away fans in a similar position.

Brighton are shifting away fans soon to create two home ends under the roof behind the goals.

Such forward, innovative thinking eh ??

WTF are you on about, you're talking shite(again ; )

110 and 111 are 2 of the best sections of the stadium for atmosphere, often more noise created than SS1.

You're like a stuck record keep banging on moving away fans there. It's down to whether GMP and Manchester City Council will allow, or not. That's if the club have plans to move away fans.

 

[shnaghaicityfish]

Down in the shit seats in ESL110/11 is where the away fans should be.

Shit views & shit acoustics, which is why spuds, arse etc put away fans in a similar position.

Brighton are shifting away fans soon to create two home ends under the roof behind the goals.

Such forward, innovative thinking eh ??

There’s only you thinks 110/111 are “shit seats”. Me, the club and the 1000 people who sit/stand there think they’re premium seats, which are priced accordingly. Your proposal would mean the club losing the revenue from 1000 premium seats (to give the away fans a better view at £30 a pop), and replacing that with the revenue from much cheaper seats in SSL3. Roughly £0.5m a year in lost revenue by my rough calc. Not very likely to appeal to City’s bean counters methinks?
Oh and Brighton are splitting away fans over 2 tiers “to quieten them down” according to their guy being interviewed on tv. I agree it’s innovative thinking, City were ahead of the curve when we did this 10 years ago! Happy New Year!

 

[blue_jess]

Even without the tourists it’s not easy getting an audible atmosphere going at Spurs, Arsenal, and Liverpool where everyone joins in, as the fans are spread around the corner, are in the corner, and are pitch side

In the seasons I went to Liverpool away before I stopped qualifying for tickets (maybe 2015ish - think last time was a NYE game) I remember the away end atmosphere being good. The game just before sven was sacked comes to mind, but i remember every time thinking we'd outsung Liverpool fans easily once they'd done their pre match ynwa. Feel like the change reported there might be more to do with the make up of our away end gradually being diluted in the years since, and the home fans upping their game maybe, more than anything to do with location of fans.

Wouldn't deny the structures of stadium have some impact as when ss3 get going en masse under that roof it is noticeable how loud it gets and then is able to spread (thinking particularly the first season it opened) but it requires more of them to be involved for that as more often in ss1 we can hear sometimes that they are singing in ss3 but only really make out what when we realise they are singing the same song as us but out of sync with each other.
Must clearly be issues with ss1 noise being heard in other parts of ground too as when you're in it (116 for us) the singing is honestly near constant and usually feels like a decent atmosphere and loud enough to be heard but then you have people in other parts of ground saying there was little noise from there all game.
If it's heard less than previous seasons though then fewer people getting involved has to be more of a reason. Do feel like 115 and 111 get less involved since some of them relocated up to ss3, to be replaced by those in some cases who like being in a singing section but like singing not so much.
Either way, if enough people are singing in these areas, it can overcome any structural obstacles. More tourists obviously adds to issue of non involvement (the Mexicans next to us at the recent derby for example had a great day out but didn't join in at all) but there are not enough of them in the south stand to be the only 'problem' at home games- plenty of long term supporters don't join in either.

Going off their reactions the players do seem to hear and appreciate ss1 at least (if not pep over in the dugout!)

 

[lancs blue]

WTF are you on about, you're talking shite(again ; )

110 and 111 are 2 of the best sections of the stadium for atmosphere, often more noise created than SS1.

You're like a stuck record keep banging on moving away fans there. It's down to whether GMP and Manchester City Council will allow, or not. That's if the club have plans to move away fans.

I agree with this, perhaps it's just acoustics (we seem to have a lot of experts on that topic on here!) but where I am in 303 I notice singing from the Blues in 110/111 more than I do from the South stand (home or away sections).

 

[Didsbury Dave]

I agree with this, perhaps it's just acoustics (we seem to have a lot of experts on that topic on here!) but where I am in 303 I notice singing from the Blues in 110/111 more than I do from the South stand (home or away sections).

They do quite a bit of singing but it’s not often that the songs spread as on one side they have away fans. Also there aren’t enough singers there to be heard if the away fans are singing. If the 1000 regular singers there were together with the 1000 in the south stand lower and the other 1000 in the south stand upper, and placed under a roof, the atmosphere would be miles better.

 

[jrb]

Well I remain completely unconvinced, from where I sit (which is quite close to where the players are on the pitch!) the main body of away fan support is from SSL1. Plus, as SSL3 is already 80% City, can’t see that 1 more block will make much difference to our support, given you remove the “trigger” of the away fans. ESL2 already has a big block of hospitality in the middle (and Mr Burton sees the potential to increase this ?!)
I shall protest long and hard against any plans to piss about with ESL1, which after all is the Kippax!
HNYE CTID

As we all know, the Etihad has a weird tiered and seating configuration. No matter where you sit in the Etihad the away fans over 3 tiers will always sound different.

Where I stand on SSL1 you can obviously hear the away fans on SSL1, but you can’t hear the away fans on SSL2 and SSL3. I can hardly hear blocks 111,110, 109 at times. When they all sing together I can just about hear them. I honestly can’t remember a decent away support on SSL1 this season. Maybe Arsenal when they were winning 1-2?

The SSL3 away end has over 1000 safe standing seats installed. If that away end was turned into an official home singing section, and was filled with singers (singers could relocate from their current seats in SSL3), it would make a massive(arf!) difference to the support, noise, and atmosphere that comes from SSL3, and inside the Etihad. People often post on here how loud SSL3 is for the big games, but ask anyone stood on SSL1, and they’d say they can’t hear SSL3, even for the big games.

Don’t forget, the SSL3 roof has been designed to amplify the noise and sound. That mostly helps over 1000+ away fans who sing, not a small section of the SSL3 home end that try’s to get songs going.

I used to stand in 110 for years before I moved to 115. 111, 110, and 109 aren’t as loud and as boisterous as they used to be. They still are for the big games. What I will admit, is having the singers either side of the away end in SSL1 is intimidating for the away fans in SSL1, and on a whole keeps them quiet.

It’s not really the Kippax is it. It never has been. There is and will only ever be one genuine and proper Kippax. It’s East Stand, Level 1.

 

[blue by birth]

For our games, Spurs, Arsenal and dippers atmosphere is completely destroyed by the number of tourists/corporate. Trafford is really only one tier with a few accessible rows in front. From 102 (where I sit/stand/shout) it’s difficult to tell where our SS noise comes from but it’s not obviously L3. Rarely hear away fans unless we’re getting battered.
Best recent aways have been palace Leicester and Luton (cup), no corporate or tourists. Personally I think it’s more about the people than the roof or seating arrangements.
Happy New year and keep the NS pic updates coming!

I sit in SS3 and we can't hear SS1 but when I've been moved to SS1 for cup games it's hard to hear SS3 singing.

 

[jrb]

....and at the Etihad two ends under the roofs will be better than one.

8000 Vity fans at each end ,with the away fans shifted down to the shit seats in ESL110/111 should provide the atmosphere that most have been wanting since the stadium was opened over two decades ago


In reality, whats the problem ?

Exactly.

6000 City fans on SSL3 under a roof that is designed to amplify the sound, with over 1000 safe standing seats already installed.
8000 City fans on NSL2 under a roof that is designed to amplify the sound, with upwards of 3000 safe standing seats that are going to be installed
City attacking bothered ends of the Etihad that are full of City fans, bar a block of away fans on SSL1.
For cup games SSL3 can still be given over to the away fans.