argyle said:
The ground has become swarmed with the prawn sandwich people.
Has it, though? I look around and see so many grey haired middle aged and elderly men. These don't appear to be glory hunters and I'm sure many have been supporting for years.
It's not like our ground is full of tourists. Wherever I look and listen it seems to be mostly people who have probably supported City most of their lives. But many sit in silence.
I think there are several reasons (it's more like a concert/event than a ritual of people proudly supporting their local team now) but one of them could be that we had a generation, people in my age group, where many chose United because we were quite rubbish. I see a lot more older people and kids/teens than to those around my age.
Unfortunately... while football is a pleasant experience for families now, the kids supporting City seem to be getting introduced to the 'Hugh Ferris, City Square and the Family Stand' version of football, not 'sing with dad on the terraces' version of football (the Family Stand encapsulates it all... almost no noise despite being full of kids with their parents), so I don't know if it'll be any better when they've all grown up.
Let's be honest, unless it's a big occasion singing and standing is now a minority interest at English football. Last week at Wembley, everyone around me was singing at some point but only because it was a grand occasion. Most of them would have been sat in the silent majority against Wigan again.
The best solution IMO is an application-based block or couple of blocks. The 1894 Group could spend the next year or two recruiting for this (as they did for their small projects in cup games) if the club guaranteed them space in the expanded ground. This is the only way to get a devoted area not diluted like the South Stand and Kippax corner are now with people who have the privilege of standing unharassed, but stand quietly with their arms crossed.
If kids looked across from the Family Stand at one or two blocks full of colour and constant noise, they might say "I want to be part of that when I'm older", instead of joining in the apathy that has spread around the ground (unless we score).
