Etihad Atmosphere - 2021/22

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

1. Apart from when they want to open a new corporate section. They are quite happy to move existing ST holders then!

The mistake they made was SS3. They had a great opportunity to make that the stand for singing etc. it’s noisy up there when people can be bothered. They should have made the back 25 rows £250 (as I think it was priced “) but only for 18-30’s. No kids etc. Instead they didn’t think about it and offered those cheap seats to anyone who wanted them so the fella who only goes to 8 games a season thought “great I’ll have a bit of that and then the other 11 games I miss don’t matter. I don’t even need to sell them”

I’ve heard stories of people selling their seat up in the gods to tourists for the Liverpool match for £500! Paying for next years ST!

Biggest mistake they have made with the stadium for me.

im not sure I agree. SS3 is great for acoustics and when everyone joins in, but it feels so far removed from the rest of the stadium. The corporate section in between is the biggest joke, as the three tiers aren’t joined up.

the north stand is the area where we should have a proper home end. I think if you could merge the first and second tier that would be perfect. Create a smaller section above that for relocated fans. Then you would have two singing/ standing areas behind the goals

ss3 level 3 is a welcome addition, but it’s meant lots of the cheaper seats and singers forced out of the way and the lower tiers lacking in singers

 

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

im not sure I agree. SS3 is great for acoustics and when everyone joins in, but it feels so far removed from the rest of the stadium. The corporate section in between is the biggest joke, as the three tiers aren’t joined up.

the north stand is the area where we should have a proper home end. I think if you could merge the first and second tier that would be perfect. Create a smaller section above that for relocated fans. Then you would have two singing/ standing areas behind the goals

ss3 level 3 is a welcome addition, but it’s meant lots of the cheaper seats and singers forced out of the way and the lower tiers lacking in singers

They are certainly never going to move families. Where would they put them? SS3 is not safe for young kids. It’s too steep. Whatever the answer is, it should have been thought about when they moved into the stadium, added a new tier. Not now. It’s too late.

 

[Elliot houghton]

We’re also very good away from home, and we don’t have as many 30-50 year old blokes as they do. That’s the entire demographic of that away end, ours are mostly families and we’re still mint away from home.

And he’s twatting fuck out of that drum. It’s not being done properly. After five minutes of that I’d be up smashing the drum over his head and putting the sticks up his arse.

Our fans, same stand, no drum:

Best stadium in England Leicester for away fans always a good atmosphere

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

They are certainly never going to move families. Where would they put them? SS3 is not safe for young kids. It’s too steep. Whatever the answer is, it should have been thought about when they moved into the stadium, added a new tier. Not now. It’s too late.

why not? They’ve already removed lots of families/ young adults when they stopped the cheap kids season tickets everywhere around the ground or when they forced people out of there seats (tunnel club). also lots of talk of safe standing in north stand level 1, so it’s entirely possible

My suggestion would be to create another smaller tier above ss2 and allow people to move there. A lot of people sat in the family stand aren’t families anyway

they could bring back the cheaper kids tickets throughout the ground then we wouldn’t need a family stand.

it would be good if they introduced safe standing to the back ten rows of ss3. Chelsea currently have it in the upper tiers

 

[trevorriley]

I was in my 20s then and daft as a fu*king brush
Majority of fans on both occasions in 81 were late teens late 20s early 30s
40 years on the prioitys & passion change
Fair play to you for sticking at it
That's why we need a section for youngsters paying £15-£20 a game not the crazy prices the club charges

correct
how good would it be if we could control the sale of tickets so that when a block comes back on sale like tonight with real madrid handing back lower tier, we could offer to juniors at £20, fill it with young or older lads.

one big fault is the sale of tickets, using agents has meant a ticket can literally go to anybody in any end, there is no control... A fan with a kid coming to see a game ends up in 115 rather than family stand. A fan wanting to sing and go mad ends up in tier three and thinks its a shit atmosphere.... The ticketing is a huge issue, its all targeted sales to hit.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

Best stadium in England Leicester for away fans always a good atmosphere

Agreed, it was mint this season, best away day I’ve had in a long time.

 

[Tim of the Oak]

Atalanta and Atlético fans didn’t bring a drum and they made a much better sounding noise than any fans who bring drums (Atalanta are my favourite fans who’ve been to the Etihad, I thought they sounded incredible, great original songs that were sung sporadically instead of monotonously and no drum). Neither of those sets of fans brought their full allocation neither.

I’ve been to see Atalanta play half a dozen times and they have a great vocal following ( apart from at Old Trafford this season when many of the regulars couldn’t travel because of Covid restrictions).

A lot of the words in their songs (not all) are similar so there’s not all that much too learn. For example, a number of songs include “Vinci per noi” that translates to we win together. The tune changes quite a bit and can range from anywhere between the “Sound of Silence” and “Moonlight Shadow”

 

[trevorriley]

Why do the singers stand in the worst possible spot though?

Surely that’s a choice and there are better places for spreading noise?

we dont have a choice, we cant move, its where safestand is to... It is impossible to re seat 10 fans never mind a thousand. We are there and there for good unless we expand the north stand. Also tier 3 in SS is no good at all.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

1. Apart from when they want to open a new corporate section. They are quite happy to move existing ST holders then!

The mistake they made was SS3. They had a great opportunity to make that the stand for singing etc. it’s noisy up there when people can be bothered. They should have made the back 25 rows £250 (as I think it was priced “) but only for 18-30’s. No kids etc. Instead they didn’t think about it and offered those cheap seats to anyone who wanted them so the fella who only goes to 8 games a season thought “great I’ll have a bit of that and then the other 11 games I miss don’t matter. I don’t even need to sell them”

I’ve heard stories of people selling their seat up in the gods to tourists for the Liverpool match for £500! Paying for next years ST!

Biggest mistake they have made with the stadium for me.

You're dead right that was the opportunity lost.

The should have called it "The New Kippax" and marketed it hard and allowed standing and banners. Made the tickets cheap. They should have given a block to 1894 right at the back. Then they should have offered season ticket holders in the two existing singing areas first refusal on half price tickets to move up there. One that was done they could have then sold season tickets and match tickets to people who were people told outright that this was the new atmosphere area.

That would have sorted it massively. You always get that arms-folded/bottom lip out/ I'm-not-moving element who would stay in the existing singing areas too, but they would be taking their lead from the roaring noise behind them which would spread both ways around them at the same time instead of the one way which songs currently spread. Think about it: both singing areas have away fans on one side.

Now they've put rail seating in the lower tiers that ship has sadly sailed but that was the chance, and loads of us pushed hard for it at the time.

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

We’re also very good away from home, and we don’t have as many 30-50 year old blokes as they do. That’s the entire demographic of that away end, ours are mostly families and we’re still mint away from home.

And he’s twatting fuck out of that drum. It’s not being done properly. After five minutes of that I’d be up smashing the drum over his head and putting the sticks up his arse.

Our fans, same stand, no drum:

I don't condone violence at a footy match but drum violence to a drummer with the inane brain of the Duracell Bunny is justified mate; )

 

[trevorriley]

A few good points, will try to answer with what i have found over last 9 years of trying.

ATALANTA FANS & SONGS - Agree they made good noise, their songs are geared up for long chants and hand clapping, its not 60 songs in 60 minutes. We need to spread out songs for longer periods so fans dont get confused. Do we do this ? No we sing the 5th song about john stones or calling a song about a united player, songs nobody knows the words to and doesnt have a beat. Fans then get confused and dont sing.

TRY TO MOVE - It is always brought up but impossible, we suggest a move but to many areas are now controlled by corporate, family and so on. Plus when we do get an opportunity of say 200 in a block about 25 turn up, nobody likes to move.

Same season we expanded SS3 and created lower 115. It totally messed up the singers going in 115, about 40% last minute moved to SS3 for cheaper tickets and cant blame them. This meant the 300 spare seats in 115 went on sale to agents as no singing fans would move, therefore we ended up with non singers in there.

LEICESTER AWAY - I was at that game, great atmosphere. There was a good percentage of singers, we sang songs about the club not john stones and we built up momentum, it got going so fans stood there not singing felt daft and started singing. Thats what the good European fans do, they feel like they are in a group together.

Ive said this so many times and we all know it, when city score we get the "Guradiola" song going, we sing it for two rounds and there are 2,000 fans singing and clapping. So where do they all go rest of game ?

 

[jrb]

The problem is, even if the club created a genuine singing section where they allowed banners, flags, a drum, a megapahone(go along with it for arguments sake), and made it a cheap standing area for 500-1000 fans, you’d still get people of all ages going in there not to sing and to support the team, but to get a cheap safe standing seat/season ticket.

Unless City can ’separate the wheat from the chaff’, there will never be a proper singing section at City. I doubt very much the club can be arsed doing that given the clamour for cheap tickets in any proper singing section.

One of the ways the club could do it is by making it a ballot only season ticket block/s. Where people have to apply to move in their. With the season ticket prices at the beginning being on par with the rest of the stadium, but decreasing season after season for those who decide to stay in there long-term. Keeping the season tickets on a par with the rest of the ground initially may deter people who would only want to go into the singing section because of cheap season tickets. I don’t know, but there has to be a way that the club can fill a proper singing section with singers. United have done it.(cough, splutter, arf,)

 

[Del_Bosque]

I sit in SSL3, not sure it's geared up for standing regularly tbh, it's really, really steep and a long way to fall.

That and the bar area is carnage as it is, nevermind with a younger crowd.

Getting out at full time is a disgrace too.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

The problem is, even if the club created a genuine singing section where they allowed banners, flags, a drum, a megapahone(go along with it for arguments sake), and made it a cheap standing area for 500-1000 fans, you’d still get people of all ages going in there not to sing and to support the team, but to get a cheap safe standing seat/season ticket.

Unless City can ’separate the wheat from the chaff’, there will never be a proper singing section at City. I doubt very much the club can be arsed doing that given the clamour for cheap tickets in any proper singing section.

One of the ways the club could do it is by making it a ballot only season ticket block/s. Where people have to apply to move in their. With the season ticket prices at the beginning being on par with the rest of the stadium, but decreasing season after season for those who decide to stay in there long-term. Keeping the season tickets on a par with the rest of the ground initially may deter people who would only want to go into the singing section because of cheap season tickets. I don’t know, but there has to be a way that the club can fill a proper singing section with singers. United have done it.(cough, splutter, arf,)

See my post above. They should have offered every single season ticket holder in the two existing singing areas first refusal of a half price season ticket in SS3. That would get people moving if it was marketed heavily as the new Kippax.

 

[Didsbury Dave]

A few good points, will try to answer with what i have found over last 9 years of trying.

ATALANTA FANS & SONGS - Agree they made good noise, their songs are geared up for long chants and hand clapping, its not 60 songs in 60 minutes. We need to spread out songs for longer periods so fans dont get confused. Do we do this ? No we sing the 5th song about john stones or calling a song about a united player, songs nobody knows the words to and doesnt have a beat. Fans then get confused and dont sing.

TRY TO MOVE - It is always brought up but impossible, we suggest a move but to many areas are now controlled by corporate, family and so on. Plus when we do get an opportunity of say 200 in a block about 25 turn up, nobody likes to move.

Same season we expanded SS3 and created lower 115. It totally messed up the singers going in 115, about 40% last minute moved to SS3 for cheaper tickets and cant blame them. This meant the 300 spare seats in 115 went on sale to agents as no singing fans would move, therefore we ended up with non singers in there.

LEICESTER AWAY - I was at that game, great atmosphere. There was a good percentage of singers, we sang songs about the club not john stones and we built up momentum, it got going so fans stood there not singing felt daft and started singing. Thats what the good European fans do, they feel like they are in a group together.

Ive said this so many times and we all know it, when city score we get the "Guradiola" song going, we sing it for two rounds and there are 2,000 fans singing and clapping. So where do they all go rest of game ?

You've touched upon some relevant points IMO. Crowd phycology in particular. As someone who sits a long way from the singing areas I can tell you that there are large numbers of occasional singers who would join in if they felt comfortable. They are the ones who will sing after a goal because they know everyone will join in.

The first couple of songs after kick off set the tone in some ways. Often we get both ends singing different songs at the same time and that kills it. Or we will get We never win at home or Empty Seats and they will never spread. If the first couple of songs were Blue Moon, We're Not Really Here and The Best Team In the Land things would be better. I know some of us are making that point repeatedly and it's a hard one to solve. I get the feeling that in the South Stand lower tier to be heard without a roof above you you need to start clapping.

 

[jrb]

If the government allows beer to be drunk on the terraces again, make it a beer singing section, with

See my post above. They should have offered every single season ticket holder in the two existing singing areas first refusal of a half price season ticket in SS3. That would get people moving if it was marketed heavily as the new Kippax.

Here’s what I’m hoping for.

Last home game of the season.

City win the PL title.
Sergio’s statue is unveiled. Sergio is there. Along with Silva and Kompany to see their statues and to meet the fans.
City announce details of the long awaited North Stand expansion, the redevelopment of City Square, and Joe Mercer way, tying in with the new COOP Live Arena.

 

[Corky]

This is how to do it. And with a ‘drum’, that is used properly, in time with the chant, aiding the chant, and not being bashed to death for the sake of it. How many fans? 1000-1500? Everyone singing and making a right racket.

Expand the video and turn on the sound.

Just get rid of all the women, children, old people and non-whites like most European away crowds.

 

[Gingers Dad]

I find the whole stadium design thing being an excuse

 

[Manchester33]

From 1894's instagram account (@weare1894)


Tonight is huge.

Everyone will be against us. UEFA, the officials, the media. They all want their showpiece final between Madrid and Liverpool. They'll all be gutted if little old City comes and ruins the party.

There are no excuses tonight. This is as big as it gets.

Get down early and go to the bus welcoming. Get into your seat and cheer the lads out for their warmup. Boo the shite anthem. Jeer and whistle Madrid. Pressure the referee. Join in with every song. Tell them to do one if you get strange looks or sarcastic comments. I don't care if you're sitting in the family stand or Block 115. If you're in God's own stadium tonight, it's your job to SUPPORT the team. Make it the bear pit we all know it can be.

No excuses. Make it happen, blues. Let's fucking go!

 

[jayfx]

Certainly not the solution but might help if we had more songs about City and less songs about those knob heads in Trafford. As much as I dislike them, I couldn't care less about them. Especially at the moment. I don't want be playing Real Madrid in a Champions League semi final but singing about one game 11 years ago when we beat united.

Lets have some catchy songs about us, and only us.