Etihad Atmosphere - 2022/23

[pride in battle]

Can't see the club not going for a 3 tier stand, if only to ensure more hospitality dollars, but if they do go for a 2 tier stand, I expect the development of more hospitality areas in the centralised areas of the East and CB stands and relocations of supporters to the new stand. Imagine the atmosphere then !

You are right though, the year drums and megaphones wielded by wonks on ladders arrives is the year the ST gets given up unfortunately. I'll leave supporting in person to the half and half scarf wearing fan who watch the game on their phone screen and posts on social media about the City 'Ultras' !

Out of interest do you sing at the ground ?

 

[PPT]

You can't rinse young, local and vocal fans for hundreds and hundreds of pounds for each and every game. That's why it will never happen unfortunately. The focus of the club is 100% revenue / profitability. Nothing wrong with that either. The bills have to be paid. However, it is incompatible with attracting young, local and vocal fans. I think we have to start accepting what we have become and what we now are.

 

[Citizen of Legoland]

You can't rinse young, local and vocal fans for hundreds and hundreds of pounds for each and every game. That's why it will never happen unfortunately. The focus of the club is 100% revenue / profitability. Nothing wrong with that either. The bills have to be paid. However, it is incompatible with attracting young, local and vocal fans. I think we have to start accepting what we have become and what we now are.

Is it just about money though? Lots of youngsters seem to prioritise other things rather than be at the game regularly. There’s just so much to spend money on for them these days, I see and know loads driving new cars, even students. Then there’s £1000 every two years on new phones, expensive clothes, ripoff takeaway food, regular holidays, daft concert ticket prices. I had none of that in the eighties. I just don’t think simply reducing ticket costs will work, some will just not turn up, write it off because they can afford to do so. You’d need to identify those that will make a noise AND turn up regularly. Not saying it’s not worth a try, I just think it’s more complicated than it looks.

 

[Betterdeedthan red]

It's like going to altona towers .
Too may tourists .
To expensive .
Footballs gone from the working man.

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

Is it just about money though? Lots of youngsters seem to prioritise other things rather than be at the game regularly. There’s just so much to spend money on for them these days, I see and know loads driving new cars, even students. Then there’s £1000 every two years on new phones, expensive clothes, ripoff takeaway food, regular holidays, daft concert ticket prices. I had none of that in the eighties. I just don’t think simply reducing ticket costs will work, some will just not turn up, write it off because they can afford to do so. You’d need to identify those that will make a noise AND turn up regularly. Not saying it’s not worth a try, I just think it’s more complicated than it looks.

Not sure I agree with that. In cup games and champions league games there are way more young people. I often see groups of young lads going to those games - I don’t see that in league games.

Away games with the cheaper tickets and percentage going to younger fans has also made a big difference.

Not all young people do things you mentioned above either. Expensive phones, regular holidays are a luxury for most. Plenty would gladly come to more games if it was cheaper. Obviously as you say it’s a lot more complicated than that and is just one part of a wider topic

I think they should of be reduced regardless, in particular the eye watering match day tickets

 

[Northerndave]

Out of interest do you sing at the ground ?

I sing, I shout, I swear and I do it all without a drum or a megaphone.

I'll point to Copenhagen away as the absolute low point of what organised ultras can do to an atmosphere

 

[trevorriley]

one last time, the north stand is looking extremely likely to be two tier. It is not going to be a stand focused on corporate. There will be enough room in the massive new stand to offer various ways to watch the game. We are having meetings with the club on what we can do to help it improve the atmosphere, but of course there are no official new shape plans submitted yet therefore it is early days.

i dont think we will improve the singing until fans realise that the reason why the atmosphere is quiet is because fans dont join in and choose not to sing. Cheap beer, getting rid of neon signs, not playing concourse music and so on wont change the atmosphere. Fans wishing to sing / improve atmosphere need to move in to areas where singers congregate and sing rather than rushing to the bar or looking at mobiles.

It is a culture in the premier league that we seem to have, tourists arent to blame, we have enough passionate noisy singers amongst the 55k crowd to make it work.


Over the next 12 / 18 months we will arrange meetings to discuss ideas, pre offer tickets in the redeveloped north stand. Please everyone buy in to it because this will be our last chance.

 

[John Wayne]

Is it just about money though? Lots of youngsters seem to prioritise other things rather than be at the game regularly. There’s just so much to spend money on for them these days, I see and know loads driving new cars, even students. Then there’s £1000 every two years on new phones, expensive clothes, ripoff takeaway food, regular holidays, daft concert ticket prices. I had none of that in the eighties. I just don’t think simply reducing ticket costs will work, some will just not turn up, write it off because they can afford to do so. You’d need to identify those that will make a noise AND turn up regularly. Not saying it’s not worth a try, I just think it’s more complicated than it looks.

Yes, I see what you are saying. Our cup tickets are relatively cheap, so there are opportunities for people to attend on a low budget. I'm a season ticket holder but when I can't get to a game, I'd happily give the ticket to someone who cannot normally afford to go to games.

I think that there are societal changes, as you have outlined. Saturated football coverage has perhaps made it seem less imperative to attend games. As a kid, I'd have given up eating before giving up my season ticket.

 

[East Level 2]

There are a number of issues and their resolutions seem mutually incompatible.
The police want away fans where they are at present.
Our vocal support want to be as close to the visitors as possible hence making the North Stand a singing area is going to be tricky, but I think that area has been louder for the past season and a half.
The club insists on putting corporate areas where they split the support. I believe the South Stand would be much louder if it wasn't for the corporate bit in the middle of the second tier preventing any link between the top and bottom tiers. Similar corporate bits split the support in the East and CB stands.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

one last time, the north stand is looking extremely likely to be two tier. It is not going to be a stand focused on corporate. There will be enough room in the massive new stand to offer various ways to watch the game. We are having meetings with the club on what we can do to help it improve the atmosphere, but of course there are no official new shape plans submitted yet therefore it is early days.

i dont think we will improve the singing until fans realise that the reason why the atmosphere is quiet is because fans dont join in and choose not to sing. Cheap beer, getting rid of neon signs, not playing concourse music and so on wont change the atmosphere. Fans wishing to sing / improve atmosphere need to move in to areas where singers congregate and sing rather than rushing to the bar or looking at mobiles.

It is a culture in the premier league that we seem to have, tourists arent to blame, we have enough passionate noisy singers amongst the 55k crowd to make it work.


Over the next 12 / 18 months we will arrange meetings to discuss ideas, pre offer tickets in the redeveloped north stand. Please everyone buy in to it because this will be our last chance.

Great post mate. Appreciate everything you are doing and agree it won’t work without buy-in.

On a side note, any chance you can twist a few arms and get the club to stop playing the fast version of Blue Moon?! Not the most pressing priority by any means I know, it’s just a bug bear of mine and a number of others on here!! :)

 

[GaudinoMotors]

And he painted matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs
He painted kids on the corner of the street that were sparking clogs
Now he takes his brush, and he waits outside them factory gates
To paint his matchstalk men and matchstalk cats and dogs

 

[Resurrection Joe...]

Great post mate. Appreciate everything you are doing and agree it won’t work without buy-in.

On a side note, any chance you can twist a few arms and get the club to stop playing the fast version of Blue Moon?! Not the most pressing priority by any means I know, it’s just a bug bear of mine and a number of others on here!! :)

you wouldn't recommend that in the workplace Eric?

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Well, it sounds like the club doesn't want to help itself, other clubs like Rangers, and Celtic are encouraging it. The Bundesliga encourage it, City has loads of young supporters so why can't they do it?

Two secs I am away to find my cloth cap so I sent it to Dave ...... so he can go to the game after he had been down the pit

Why o why are we calling parts of the ground singing sections, the whole ground should be signing

Well done Crystal Palace and Arsenal fans who want to make a change and improve their atmosphere!!!!!

PPD said it right that the only games city fans get up for are Liverpool and Man Utd, we have amazing away support.

I totally agree with @jrb embrace the future or we going to get left in the past

Have you been to Palace? One little part of their ground sings, fewer than sing at the Etihad, and we nearly always outsing them in our away end. 90% of the rest of their ground sit in total silence all game.

Arsenal, pah, sling it mate. Unless they’re booing us they’ve never made any noise against us since Arteta scored and Balotelli got sent off.

Why are you lying n’all? Where were you when we had fantastic atmospheres in the five home games in a row to end last season and start this against Newcastle, Villa, Bournemouth, Forest and Palace? We were very good against Fulham this season n’all in a game similar to Brentford and Everton where the team were shit in the game and it was 1-1 late in the game, the fans really got behind the team that day to get the 98th minute winner.

We did the total opposite against Brentford and Everton but our atmosphere in 2022 was the best it’s been for about a decade. We’ve just been shit over the last few home Prem games and all the ‘Ultras’ shit gets posted.

What’s all this ‘embrace the future’ stuff? Ultras have been around for 50 years in Italy and that kind of support (not called ‘Ultras’) in Argentina has been a round for even longer. It’s not the future in any way. It’s old-hat.

 

[Eric Hitchmough]

you wouldn't recommend that in the workplace Eric?

Haha I absolutely would not agree with that in the workplace:)

 

[GrumpyLegacyFan]

As I say to the Missus, size doesn't matter. I remember going to Santander away in 2008 (capacity 20,000) - atmosphere was electric in a dead rubber European game.

I go to most away games, and the excellent idea to give tickets to the youngsters has definitely made our already excellent away support even louder (although I would like them to lay off the coke and concourse instagram nonsense). So we know when we are compact and together, we can be as loud as any support.

The problem is all the shite (DJ music rubbish, light shows, announcers, etc) that's become part of modern top flight football. The tourists love it (god bless them and their half and half scarves), and the total saturation of football on every handheld device and TV. The 'uniqueness' of the game has gone for most, and the poor design of the Etihad with the prawn sandwich eaters (who only ever appear 10 mins after half time) slicing through the tiers means its never going to happen. We will never have that sense of the Kippax - or even the old Main Stand at Maine Road (I used to sit) which still rocked on Derby day.

Thats 'progress' I am told. And as much as I love what's happened to us since the take over (and I honestly am very grateful for the last decade), its all about CFG creating a global content platform. A year without fans, showed them its possible to still sell shirts and football TV subscriptions in Malaysia, so as much as I would like to think otherwise, any new stand will just be about more corporate space and more expensive seats for tourists.

Controversial point, but I have always thought we were a 40,000 or so club of loyal, mad, loud fans - and I am very happy with that. I really don't care how big my stadium is, or how many shirts we sell in Singapore. I would have never have built the South Stand - and it recalls a conversation with the great David Bernstein who told me once that the moment a fan sees an empty Blue seat on telly, they know they can more or less pick and choose what game to go to, and both atmosphere and attendance can be impacted. I think he was right, and that is a big worry with the new extension - but then I am just an old grumpy legacy fan who would rather be watching us play Chesterfield in front of 40,000 loud and proud Blues than Barcelona in front of 60,000 silent tourists.

 

[PPT]

As I say to the Missus, size doesn't matter. I remember going to Santander away in 2008 (capacity 20,000) - atmosphere was electric in a dead rubber European game.

I go to most away games, and the excellent idea to give tickets to the youngsters has definitely made our already excellent away support even louder (although I would like them to lay off the coke and concourse instagram nonsense). So we know when we are compact and together, we can be as loud as any support.

The problem is all the shite (DJ music rubbish, light shows, announcers, etc) that's become part of modern top flight football. The tourists love it (god bless them and their half and half scarves), and the total saturation of football on every handheld device and TV. The 'uniqueness' of the game has gone for most, and the poor design of the Etihad with the prawn sandwich eaters (who only ever appear 10 mins after half time) slicing through the tiers means its never going to happen. We will never have that sense of the Kippax - or even the old Main Stand at Maine Road (I used to sit) which still rocked on Derby day.

Thats 'progress' I am told. And as much as I love what's happened to us since the take over (and I honestly am very grateful for the last decade), its all about CFG creating a global content platform. A year without fans, showed them its possible to still sell shirts and football TV subscriptions in Malaysia, so as much as I would like to think otherwise, any new stand will just be about more corporate space and more expensive seats for tourists.

Controversial point, but I have always thought we were a 40,000 or so club of loyal, mad, loud fans - and I am very happy with that. I really don't care how big my stadium is, or how many shirts we sell in Singapore. I would have never have built the South Stand - and it recalls a conversation with the great David Bernstein who told me once that the moment a fan sees an empty Blue seat on telly, they know they can more or less pick and choose what game to go to, and both atmosphere and attendance can be impacted. I think he was right, and that is a big worry with the new extension - but then I am just an old grumpy legacy fan who would rather be watching us play Chesterfield in front of 40,000 loud and proud Blues than Barcelona in front of 60,000 silent tourists.

Great post!

 

[pride in battle]

I sing, I shout, I swear and I do it all without a drum or a megaphone.

I'll point to Copenhagen away as the absolute low point of what organised ultras can do to an atmosphere

To be fair Copenhagen was a joke

 

[Cheadle_hulmeBlue]

one last time, the north stand is looking extremely likely to be two tier. It is not going to be a stand focused on corporate. There will be enough room in the massive new stand to offer various ways to watch the game. We are having meetings with the club on what we can do to help it improve the atmosphere, but of course there are no official new shape plans submitted yet therefore it is early days.

i dont think we will improve the singing until fans realise that the reason why the atmosphere is quiet is because fans dont join in and choose not to sing. Cheap beer, getting rid of neon signs, not playing concourse music and so on wont change the atmosphere. Fans wishing to sing / improve atmosphere need to move in to areas where singers congregate and sing rather than rushing to the bar or looking at mobiles.

It is a culture in the premier league that we seem to have, tourists arent to blame, we have enough passionate noisy singers amongst the 55k crowd to make it work.


Over the next 12 / 18 months we will arrange meetings to discuss ideas, pre offer tickets in the redeveloped north stand. Please everyone buy in to it because this will be our last chance.

Great post mate. Fingers crossed what you said about a second tier in the north stand is true. I think that’s our last chance at creating something special ( proper home end). I’d happily move into that tier

 

[supercity88]

Would love it to be a two tier home end and for us to move onto new things to whinge about like "why is our home end atmosphere shite" or "what fucker brought a drum into the home end?"

In all seriousness, the atmosphere is pretty decent and can be electric at times. Sometimes it's a bit flat and that happens. It happens to the players, it happens in the crowd. Just the mood at the time. But when the team need us we usually step up and deliver and it's buzzing. I couldn't think of anything better than the atmosphere when we beat QPR to win the title, or against Villa. I couldn't think of anything worse than a drum banging the same beat and a load of fans singing the same song. The rollercoaster of the game should be matched by the noise. When you're digging in you cheer each tackle, boo each touch from the opposition. When you need a goal you ramp up the Come on City's and Blue Moon's and you drag the team to find another level. That's all part of the theatre of watching football for me. The same song going on for 20 minutes whilst a drum beats and a guy cheerleads is shite, it's not the future and we don't need to copy it.

 

[LEXSTARproject]

one last time, the north stand is looking extremely likely to be two tier. It is not going to be a stand focused on corporate. There will be enough room in the massive new stand to offer various ways to watch the game. We are having meetings with the club on what we can do to help it improve the atmosphere, but of course there are no official new shape plans submitted yet therefore it is early days.

i dont think we will improve the singing until fans realise that the reason why the atmosphere is quiet is because fans dont join in and choose not to sing. Cheap beer, getting rid of neon signs, not playing concourse music and so on wont change the atmosphere. Fans wishing to sing / improve atmosphere need to move in to areas where singers congregate and sing rather than rushing to the bar or looking at mobiles.

It is a culture in the premier league that we seem to have, tourists arent to blame, we have enough passionate noisy singers amongst the 55k crowd to make it work.


Over the next 12 / 18 months we will arrange meetings to discuss ideas, pre offer tickets in the redeveloped north stand. Please everyone buy in to it because this will be our last chance.

Why do the club not come out and say this? An ultra section is needed at the ground, hopefully you are right