Stand leaders

[The Pink Panther]

Where as I believe that the singing section is where the atmosphere should be generated from and as I said in a previous post, the singing section doesn't sing enough

Yeah mate, a couple of hundred people in the 111-109 corner should make the noise for the entire 47,000 seater stadium. It's everyone else who doesn't sing enough.

and according to JRB's post, not many more in a 76,000 stadium managed it

 

[AntiUnited]

Somehow I don't think even this guy could make it work for us...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fotmpIa0-EQ[/youtube]

Shivers man that shit is intense.

 

[moomba]

oh ffs. Why does the club employ such fucking clueless knobheads. They want to please the fucking mums with children under 8, yet they are pissing off the rest of the fans at the same time. 100% of responses on this thread are against this, so SURELY there isn't a chance that this will go through?

still, just the fact that someone thinks this is a good idea blows my mind

Where do you get 100% from? And this forum whilst it may be the biggest and best City forum going is not always a good barometer of the feelings of the majority of City fans

This is why i asked -and was roundly ignored- how the survey was done on page 4.

The only half fair way to do it is to ask ST holders and those going into the stadium on match days. Forums and private e-mail or online surveys are there to be manipulated by those who don't even go.

Membership of City Voice (as far as I can see) is available to anyone in the world. I was asked my favourite player and favourite City moment but as far as I can remember havent specified whether I am a matchgoer, and where I sit.


Didnt do this survey but have done 1 and it was all multiple choice.

 

[Stretford Born Blue]

This isn't about stand leaders as such, but is a warning as to the type of person the idea may attract.

Back in the 60s, when following City with Joe and Big Mal in charge following years in the doldrums, it became easy to open up new branches of the official supporters club, and one of these was at Moston. It went OK for the first two or three meetings, but a match got rearranged at short notice for an evening that clashed with the club meeting. I'm not sure if it was a cup replay that was being played at Maine Road, but naturally enough, most of us went to the game. Anyway, the upshot of it was that because the meeting wasn't called off, a handful of dopes attended the meeting while the rest of us were at the game. It may astound some that the following meeting was held under a bit of a storm cloud and the Branch Secretary was giving the attendees a right old bollocking for attending the game and not the meeting. Needless to say, I dropped out and I think almost the rest did too.

And this is the warning. You won't be seeing some loud mouth trying to get the noise up and running at each game, you'll instead see a bunch of upstarts with a bit of a title who somehow think they are important and a part of the management structure, and if they don't like you or they see you as rocking the boat, they'll have you out and banned forever.

Are you Mystic Meg or something...?!<br /><br />-- Wed Dec 04, 2013 7:23 pm --<br /><br />

If they want more atmosphere they should drop the ticket prices by 70% and make football a cheap form of entertainment like it was when crowds were noisy.

TV money and sponsorship makes that entirely possible.

A stadium full of middle aged men is never going to get too lively.

Don't you believe it son!
They would chew you youngsters up and spit you out for breakfast! ;-)

I'll join you pal...!

 

[LoveCity]

The fans are to blame as much as the club.(there you go, I've said it)

The apathy is legendary amongst City fans, bar the odd original terrace idea and chant.

How long have we banded the *improving the atmosphere* subject about? It seems like an eternity, or at least since moving to the City of Manchester Stadium/Etihad Stadium. Yet we're no closer to solving this on-going problem.(sigh)

Rewind: I was involved to some extent when this subject was first looked at and discussed by the club and a select group of fans. I got lucky and got involved by chance. I posted about it on here, sent the odd email to City, and got talking to........(you know who you are)

My initial enthusiasm was shorted livid, replaced by quiet frustration. Yes, the fans and the club were in dialogue, and many ideas on improving the atmosphere were discussed and banded about. However, I eventually came to the conclusion, rightly or wrongly, that the meetings were more of a talking shop. That's no disrespect to the People who took part in those meetings/discussions.

The feeling I got was this. Those that took part in the meetings/discussions were genuine, honest, and enthusiastic People. Everybody wanted to find a solution to the on-going problem, or it seemed that way? But I always had that nagging feeling that once the meetings were over and the fans had gone home, many of the ideas were discarded by the club. Not only that, but those ideas that weren't discarded got little or no further the higher they went up the pecking order at the club. That's just my take on it. I could be completely wrong. And if I am, I apologise.

Fast forward x-amount of years, meetings between the fans and the club, the Blue Alliance, the 1894 Group, etc. Over the years numerous ideas have been trialled with varying degrees of success. Operation One End, banners, confetti, streamers and flags(on-going), the odd loon with a megaphone ;-), turning the stadium lights out, erm....... And TBH, bar the odd success, most have not achieved the aim of improving the atmosphere for the duration of the matches. They've had minimal impact at the start of the matches, with little or no longevity during the matches.

Cast your mind back to Operation One End. The plan was to fill the vacated lower tier of the away end with City fans who wanted to sing and support the team during a certain Europa League match. Can't remember who it was against. What happened? Nothing. The club didn't push the idea or make it happen, the singing fans/blocks didn't relocate, and the away end was filled with City fans who sat for the whole of the match in silence. Great!

Contrast and compare.(this won't go down well with some, but f*** it)

Across town, at the Theatre of Silence, something similar happened. United and their fans got together and decided to create a singing section for a recent CL match. Fans were asked and encouraged by the club to relocate to the away end, which was turned into a standing/singing section for the night. Read on.

United, badgered by several fans groups, are trying to do something about it. The singing section at Old Trafford has long been called for and organisers were delighted with the concession made by the club to put around 1500 supporters together in the corner of the stadium which normally houses the away fans for Premier League games. That the area was heavily oversubscribed when tickets went on sale illustrates there are plenty of United fans out there who want to bring back the noise.

So there you have it. They managed to do in months, if not weeks, what we haven't managed to do in years, given similar circumstances. I appreciate it's not as black and white as that, but the club and fans we deride for their lack of support and atmosphere, did something about it, and it worked.(take note City) Hence my apathy shot at our fans(minus the BA AND 1894), and to some extent our club.

So what's the solution? Currently there isn't one in my opinion. The current stadium layout and mixture of fans in the official and unofficial singing sections means things will stay as they are until the stadium is expanded. In a nutshell, nothing will change in the next 15 months. However, there is a glimmer of hope. A small shaft of light 15 months away. And that is...... The relocation of the away fans when the South Stand is expanded, which will free up the whole of block 115 and half of block 114, roughly 750 seats.

The club has 15 months and a(nother) once in a lifetime opportunity to create an official and dedicated singing section at the Etihad. If they want, they can make this happen, in conjunction with the fans.(United have proved this is possible at OT) Apart from bringing fans together who want to stand and sing throughout the match, it would also improve the atmosphere throughout the stadium(Crystal Place and their fans being the prime example)

It would also group the majority of the singers together, instead of the current situation, where singers and non-singers are mixed in together throughout the singing sections/blocks. It would also free up seats for those that don't want to stand and sing, but would rather watch the match.(fans vacating some of the current singing sections)

As we all know, the club will do what it see's fit. It will take ideas forward, regardless. Idea's that it think's will benefit the club, the fans, and the *MATCHDAY EXPERIENCE*. In my humble opinion you can add the above to that list. Not only will it be supported by the majority of fans, it will improve the atmosphere at the Etihad.

Over to you City.

Very well put, jrb.

I wrote yesterday (<a class="postlink-local" href="http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=293996&p=7319246&hilit=united+singing#p7319246" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">viewtopic.php?f=1&t=293996&p=7319246&hilit=united+singing#p7319246</a>) that United's singing section idea had worked. The plan got mocked and taunted all over Twitter, yet it turned a lifeless stadium into one that felt alive for a mid-grade Champions League game against Sociedad.

The very fact they had to organise such a collaboration made it the butt of jokes, and yet it worked. Old Trafford had persistent singing for the better part of 90 minutes. Unfortunately for United, they will apparently find it difficult to make this a permanent thing. But...

WE HAVE THE OPPORTUNITY WITH STADIUM EXPANSION TO MAKE SOMETHING LIKE THIS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE AND THOSE SEATS ARE FILLED.

Pardon the caps, just had to emphasize it.

 

[Grieffymcfcctid]

something needs to happen, dont care what we do but the atmosphere needs to improve a lot, its shockingly bad at the minute an doesnt look like its gonna be improving antime soon!

 

[pottsy]

The worst decision the club has made since appointing alan ball

so cheesy so sad. Megaphones were lifted from groclin and tried the following game. No one joined in

you have to set the conditions to build the atmosphere. Do it discreetly and subtlety. Let fans suggest things not the club

 

[jrb]

Put it this way.

If those vacated away blocks aren't turned into a dedicated and official singing section, it will be filled with City fans who would rather sit and watch the match. Similar to those at the Swansea game last week. In essence, a sort of neutral zone, like Fulham have.

And yes, before anyone mentions it, I'm not having a pop at those City fans. They are City fans and bought up unsold away seats.

However, if that happens when the stadium is expanded and the away fans are moved, it will make a quiet/sterile zone between the away fans and the singing sections in the SS. In essence it will create a barrier.

That is another thing the club need to look at and think about.

 

[welsh_andy]

i remember the leaders in kippax, them were the days. was always a few on their feet leading the way, memories

 

[CatMan]

Somehow I don't think even this guy could make it work for us...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fotmpIa0-EQ[/youtube]

Shivers man that shit is intense.

Watched that twice and haven't spotted a single female or child.

Quite simply, football in Turkey is clearly very much an all male preserve as it once was here!

The other thing you will notice was that before the teams arrived, all the supporters were already on the terrace, not too busy buying that season's 5th shirt or waiting to be served with one of Jamie's Pies.

In short, the club have got to make a decision; The Etihad is either a football ground or a retail experience for the family with a soccer sideshow to amuse the dads!