Does anyone else feel like this?

[Gingers Dad]

Good job we didn't lose yesterday

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

This thread really should be about the away match experience as I don't see huge differences in the home match experience in the last few years. Obviously it's not like the 60s or 70s but that wouldn't be acceptable for the majority of people these days anyway. Pitched battles, Victorian style 'facilities' and quagmire pitches aren't a big attraction I'd suggest.

The atmosphere at many games isn't exactly a cauldron of noise but I think people look back with rose tinted glasses at some very dark and dreadful times. The alternative is the manufactured 'atmosphere' like in Germany where they act like it's a set piece Nazi rally with no genuine excitement at all.

Have you not seen the tourists and half and half morons at home games

 

[Invisible Man's Bandage]

Have you not seen the tourists and half and half morons at home games

Where I sit in SS3 then no (very rarely actually). Yes I see them on the bus and outside but they aren't a big proportion of what I consider to be long term supporters who are attending games.

There is far more scope to manipulate tickets for away games and as it's a maximum of 3000 for any league game then tourists will disproportionately affect the match day experience.

I'm in my 61st consecutive season of match going and I have no intention of stopping.

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

Where I sit in SS3 then no (very rarely actually). Yes I see them on the bus and outside but they aren't a big proportion of what I consider to be long term supporters who are attending games.

There is far more scope to manipulate tickets for away games and as it's a maximum of 3000 for any league game then tourists will disproportionately affect the match day experience.

I'm in my 61st consecutive season of match going and I have no intention of stopping.

SS3 isn’t for tourists! I love it up there for that reason.

 

[burning blue soul]

It would be interesting to know what the age range of most fans than are becoming "tired, bored, not-arsed" about going any more.
I would hazard a guess at late 40s, 50s, and 60s. Chaps who have done the miles and now want to not do that.
It's a tough gig following your team around everywhere. Dedication costs, I suppose, in time and money.
There's nothing startling about feeling your time is better spent not getting herded around, or cramped in a coach, train, or pub. Early morning wake ups and late nights journeying home.
It's essentially a young man's errand.
Respect to the FOCs for still carrying that torch.
This feeling is just natural progression.

 

[Beaker]

I think those who make decisions within the club need to read this thread because when our success dries up(and it will) the tourists who turn up will have left the scene and it'll be down to our regulars to attend games. They won't be able to fill the stadium, especially when the North stand is extended so they'll have to reduce prices accordingly to get decent attendances. Bottom line is football has become too expensive for many and there's no sign of prices freezing or being reduced anytime soon, and that's because we can fill the stadium at the moment, but it won't always be this way...

We can only sometimes fill the stadium at the moment. We haven’t sold out a Champions League game yet, there are thousands of tickets still available for the Newcastle game this weekend and the recent games against Burnley and Brentford have been terrible for empty seats.
A lot of people deny these realities, but realities they are, and when you add a further 8,000 seats into the mix and a possible downturn when Pep leaves God knows what it’s going to be like. The club need to be very careful.

 

[SuttonColdfieldBlue]

Long time lurker/reader here, never posted, but this thread struck a chord.

I'm 39 now and still remember my first game at Maine Road, front row of the Main Stand at home to Oldham in the early 1990s (we lost 2-1), and I was actually looking UP at the pitch! Went frequently in the mid-to-late 90s, particularly the dross years of Neal / Clark / division 2. Unfortunately, as I got older, work - and particularly living abroad for 10 years and working weekends frequently - put paid to going any more. It's not improved since we moved back home - three highly-strung young kids who, try as I might, can't really get properly into football and would have no chance of sitting interested through a 90 minute game. I refuse to take them and have them playing on phones/iPads all the way through like some comments earlier in the thread.

My parents still go frequently. They were on holiday recently and I had a day off so I managed to go up for the Brentford game the other week at the last minute, courtesy of my dad. The last time I managed to get up there was a Europa League game at home to Porto so it must be a fair few years ago now.

I couldn't believe how much it had changed. As a spectacle, a showpiece, it's remarkable what the club have done - the pre-match stuff outside, the lights and pyrotechnics before kick-off, all the investment into the stadium; nothing like I remembered. I also don't ever remember seeing quite so many Chinese fans in particular (nothing against them, just an observation), tourists and half/half scarves outside the ground as I remembered before. Unfortunately, the atmosphere around where I was sitting was flat as a pancake.

Work still prevents me going regularly, but I always thought when the kids get a bit older and more into it and maybe I can afford to drop to part-time, I'll start going much more regularly again. But the main feelings I came away with were:

1) This just isn't worth £100 on match and return train tickets every time; and
2) I miss Maine Road.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

We can only sometimes fill the stadium at the moment. We haven’t sold out a Champions League game yet, there are thousands of tickets still available for the Newcastle game this weekend and the recent games against Burnley and Brentford have been terrible for empty seats.
A lot of people deny these realities, but realities they are, and when you add a further 8,000 seats into the mix and a possible downturn when Pep leaves God knows what it’s going to be like. The club need to be very careful.

And now back to Gary in the studio.

 

[MadchesterCity]

Looking at their phone pictures looks like they were at the swamp yesterday and seem to have visited many grounds. Think they were African. But the point is, if they enjoy watching PL football go in the home end. Being able to but limited away end tickets is a piss take. You wouldn’t go to watch Rangers away at Aberdeen and wear a Celtic hat.

Haha you’d be popular

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

We can only sometimes fill the stadium at the moment. We haven’t sold out a Champions League game yet, there are thousands of tickets still available for the Newcastle game this weekend and the recent games against Burnley and Brentford have been terrible for empty seats.
A lot of people deny these realities, but realities they are, and when you add a further 8,000 seats into the mix and a possible downturn when Pep leaves God knows what it’s going to be like. The club need to be very careful.

Not selling out Newcastle yet should be a real wake up call to the decision makers when it comes to pricing and policy. Especially given 8000 of those in the stadium will be from Newcastle.