"Come on, let's see those flags waving - this is a great start! Keep it up!"

[Day]

2 minutes ago, uttoxram75 said:

You'd just have more turning up at the turnstiles 3 minutes before kick off....

You tee'd me up but I'll leave this one, far more fun poking at your biscuit choices in other topics  

[Anag Ram]

I think the flags are okay, but I felt a lemon holding up my piece of card (with instructions).

More drummers would be good.

I also thought that Wednesday’s loud support encouraged our fans to be noisier.

i agree that closing the bar earlier would get bums on seats and help generate noise.

[needles]

2 minutes ago, Anag Ram said:

I think the flags are okay, but I felt a lemon holding up my piece of card (with instructions).

More drummers would be good.

I also thought that Wednesday’s loud support encouraged our fans to be noisier.

i agree that closing the bar earlier would get bums on seats and help generate noise.

I'm not sure you've grasped the mentality of the pre-match drinker here AG. If they close the bars earlier, buy shares in F&B's. 

[Day]

2 minutes ago, needles said:

I'm not sure you've grasped the mentality of the pre-match drinker here AG. If they close the bars earlier, buy shares in F&B's. 

Not sure you've grasped the idea of replacing milk for Stella on your cornflakes, just gotta start earlier!

[needles]

Stella? On Cornflakes? 

Why didn't I think of that? Amateur. 

[kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong]

Must admit,I've found that the flags and stuff really do help the atmosphere...it gets fans other than the south standers involved...

Plus it's currently the most exciting thing about attending derby matches at the minute!

[Sith Happens]

4 minutes ago, kash_a_ram_a_ding_dong said:

Must admit,I've found that the flags and stuff really do help the atmosphere...it gets fans other than the south standers involved...

Plus it's currently the most exciting thing about attending derby matches at the minute!

I don't know, I thought the walking football at half time was good, although clearly the players thought so too and tried to emulate our ex stars in the second half.

[Van der MoodHoover]

My recollection of the bbg when I first started going regularly in the reign of Tommy doc was buying a programme to see who the heck was in the team that week.

Then setting light to it on the popsicle when you didn't recognise the names and they turned out to be hopeless. 

Atmosphere could be pretty poor at the bbg too y'know 

[Ewe Ram]

My memories of the BBG weren’t that great. You left with bruises because of the crowd surge when we scored and you hoped you didn’t get smacked on the way home. What’s great about that? 

I think people expect to be entertained now, they want the venue to provide something for them. I like the flags and cards, it looks good. It’s a bit like American sport, you go to watch basketball in USA and you get some big name singer belting out the national anthem whipping up the atmosphere. Trouble is, that mic guy is making it sound more Disney On Ice than basketball. He should just announce the players are in the tunnel and a ‘come on you rams’, that would be enough. 

[Van der MoodHoover]

Just now, Ewe Ram said:

My memories of the BBG weren’t that great. You left with bruises because of the crowd surge when we scored and you hoped you didn’t get smacked on the way home. What’s great about that? 

I think people expect to be entertained now, they want the venue to provide something for them. I like the flags and cards, it looks good. It’s a bit like American sport, you go to watch basketball in USA and you get some big name singer belting out the national anthem whipping up the atmosphere. Trouble is, that mic guy is making it sound more Disney On Ice than basketball. He should just announce the players are in the tunnel and a ‘come on you rams’, that would be enough. 

Remember when the USA won the rights to the wc in 1994 - there was uproar that the Americans would introduce all sorts of gimmicks to make the games appealing thus ruining the "proper " match day experience. 

In the end minimal gimmicks and the attendances were the highest for any world cup.

I don't think people need continuous in your face gimmicky stuff but some creature comforts and pleasant surroundings are a minimum standard. 

You could smell the old bbg lavs at about 200 paces. And coming back from the match smelling of fags and others' bo is thankfully a thing of the past. 

[Duracell]

The flags themselves I have no issue with - I'm far too pathetic and miserable to wave one myself, but clearly, a lot of people appreciate them.

My main issue is being instructed how to use them.

[loweman2]

15 minutes ago, HantsRam said:

You could smell the old bbg lavs at about 200 paces. And coming back from the match smelling of fags and others' bo is thankfully a thing of the past. 

Perhaps it wasn’t as far away as you think, it was quite normal practice (for some) to roll up your program and urinate some of it going onto the floor and some of it onto the back of the guys jeans in front, the dirty filthy swines !

You certainly don’t get that sort of nostalgia in the West Stand Upper

[Doodle]

3 hours ago, Duracell said:

I'd like a bit of a discussion about the atmosphere before kick off.

Never been a massive fan of organised "fun", and that's why I'm having trouble with being told how to wave a flag (which, incidentally, I never do because I'm miserable).

Doesn't it all feel a bit...soccer at the minute? I'm too young to have seen any matches at the BBG, but one thing former players always say is that they HATED playing there. The place was intimidating - fans could touch you because they were so close.

Can't imagine the place having the same effect if the announcer gave it the big "That's it C-Stand! Really nice waving of those flags. Let's keep this going! Great job with those white cards, Popside!"

Are we aware that the away fans can hear us being instructed how to show support?!

I really, really miss those organic atmospheres before matches, especially before a match like Forest or Sheffield Wednesday. Past two matches, I couldn't hear the South Stand OR the away fans over The Killers and constant instructions being blasted out over that deafening PA system.

It's all about soccer. A bit plastic. Family friendly, yes, which is great, but there's other ways to show that.

Thanks for reading my rant x

To be honest the C stand were always reactionary. Us proper fans in the popside created the atmosphere and with a prompt of c stand c stand give us a song they would join in ??

[Doodle]

10 minutes ago, loweman2 said:

Perhaps it wasn’t as far away as you think, it was quite normal practice (for some) to roll up your program and urinate some of it going onto the floor and some of it onto the back of the guys jeans in front, the dirty filthy swines !

You certainly don’t get that sort of nostalgia in the West Stand Upper

I would guess at least 70 % of the West stand are of an age where smelling of wee is normal 

[AdamRam]

Football changes, the BBG atmosphere when good was unbelievable, however let’s not kid ourselves that this was all the time.  I remember being stood on the pop side plenty of times in a lifeless ground.

Back then football was also not a family game, women and children did not make up the crowd like they do now, you could sing a song about a size of a willy without it being racist,  and therefore the audience is different now.  The future generation want to have the frills and splits that PP give them, they like the flag waving, the advertising boards telling them what to do and everything that goes with it.

Doesn’t bother me in the slightest, I don’t do it but can see the enjoyment it brings to others, the away fans can see it.....and? what they take the mickey, oh dear what a shame, I’d rather see a packed PP because of the entertainment on and off the pitch rather than them taking the pee because we have a half empty ground.

 

[loweman2]

28 minutes ago, Doodle said:

To be honest the C stand were always reactionary. Us proper fans in the popside created the atmosphere and with a prompt of c stand c stand give us a song they would join in ??

It’s only brief but it sounds like heaven !

[bigbadbob]

33 minutes ago, Doodle said:

To be honest the C stand were always reactionary. Us proper fans in the popside created the atmosphere and with a prompt of c stand c stand give us a song they would join in ??

Ceeeeeeee stand, clap clap clap

[LazloW]

Not a huge fan of the flag waving and the cards myself.  One objection I have to them is that they must actualy reduce the noise to an extent.  Hard to clap while holding a flag or bit of cardboard.  Yes you can shout, but I still prefer to give the team a resounding round of applause when they run on to the pitch (or walk out now).  I do think it looks god on the tele though, and that's probably a lot of the reason for the club pushing it.  A lot of people probably enjoy it too TBF... not everybody's idea of the 'matchday experience' is the same (some people actually want a matchday experience... I don't, I just want to watch a decent game of footy and see my mates).

It has been said time and time again, but the South Stand has been a huge disappointment.  Probably a very good idea, but poorly implemented - and probably now far too long gone to be able to rectify.  Why it should be cheaper because you like to sing was always odd to me.  There are times when they can generate atmosphere, but only really when the conditions are right and most of the crowd are already up for it and reacting to something happening.  It seems rare (but not never) for the South Stand to really start something from nothing.  I'm sure there are many South Standers who would take umbrage at that and I'm sure there are plenty of people who are up for it and try their hardest, but it isn't just me who i've heard commenting about how quiet it often is.

Funnily enough, I thought the Killers thing against Forest seemed very organic and spontaneous.  Took me a bit by surprise and thought it sounded quite good.   

[needles]

2 minutes ago, LazloW said:

Funnily enough, I thought the Killers thing against Forest seemed very organic and spontaneous.  Took me a bit by surprise and thought it sounded quite good.   

I agree. Also, it struck me before kick off yesterday, I thought the PA system is fantastic. 

I understand Mel spent a few bob on it before the season? Well spent.

[Ewe Ram]

Crikey it’s like ‘all our yesterdays’ on here sometimes. It really wasn’t that great years ago. Like has been pointed out, the atmosphere is being strangled by the pc brigade and their ‘no bad language’ etc stance, the old farts who bemoan the plastic flags and the too cool guys who think it’s childish to bounce, clap or cheer. A bloke in front of me brought his young son and they spent most of the game up and down making the whole row keep standing up, more interested in hot dogs and drinks than football. He also moaned every 2 minutes so his son said nothing because his dad was on a massive moany rant. Gets me down!