As we're unlikely to see terraces again at football, this is the virtual equivalent where you can chat to your hearts content about all football matters and, obviously, Arsenal in particular. This forum encourages all Gooners to visit and contribute so please keep it respectful, clean and topical.
Macca wrote:
Then I heard a faint 'by far the greatest team' now and then as we tried to get some noise going which made me guffaw...
Rather then guffawing ever consider joining in to make the atmosphere better?
Too many people at Arsenal nowadays complaining about atmosphere but doing fuck all to help the situation.
I think most feel slightly embarassed at the "by far the greatest team" chant so I can understand macca's comments tbf
Re the atmosphere I suppose it comes back to the old chicken or egg question - is it up to the fans to get the players going or is it up to the players to get the fans going ? Personally I would be very much a singing and chanting person but I have been at games where the crowd have tried to create an atmosphere but the slow lethargic passionless play from the team drains the life out of the fans
Macca wrote:
Then I heard a faint 'by far the greatest team' now and then as we tried to get some noise going which made me guffaw...
Rather then guffawing ever consider joining in to make the atmosphere better?
Too many people at Arsenal nowadays complaining about atmosphere but doing fuck all to help the situation.
I think most feel slightly embarassed at the "by far the greatest team" chant so I can understand macca's comments tbf
Re the atmosphere I suppose it comes back to the old chicken or egg question - is it up to the fans to get the players going or is it up to the players to get the fans going ? Personally I would be very much a singing and chanting person but I have been at games where the crowd have tried to create an atmosphere but the slow lethargic passionless play from the team drains the life out of the fans
The problem is that the people who want to make noise, predominantly younger fans, can't afford to go. Or if they can, they can't get hold of tickets. Look around next time your at the bowl & see what proportion of fans are below the age of 45, it can't be more than 10% tops. It's like a retirement home in there most of the time. We've got a geriatric crowd, with flasks & knee blankets, not exactly what you need for creating a raucous, intimidating atmosphere.
This is the one thing that always strikes me when watching football on the continent, where the tickets are invariably cheaper & the crowd is a lot younger, as a result the atmosphere is better.
Wengerball wrote:You can buy a season ticket at Bayern for £100- it can cost you more than that for a ticket to one game at the bowl.
That just about says it all
What the... really? I'm not sure what to say really, i'd heard it was cheap but... not a bad seat in the house at the Allianz, either, so it's not like you'd get a duff view or anything.
I hate what Arsenal has become.
Last edited by N1Goon on Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:01 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Are we also gonna point out that there are far too many women at football these days too?
To be honest I dont even care if that is offensive , it is the truth. Football is much better if its just for men and boys, with a dozen or so exceptions allowed (Im not a complete dinosaur ) so they cannot effect the dynamic of the crowd.
I dont care how passionate of knowlegable they are, when it comes to football, I do wish women would find something else to do.
Last edited by Clash on Wed Feb 20, 2013 4:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Clash wrote:Are we also gonna point out that there are far too many women at football these days too?
To be honest I dont even care if that is offensive , it is the truth. Football is much better if its just for men and boys, with a dozen or so exceptions allowed (Im not a complete dinosaur ). In truth though I dont care how passionate of knowlegable they are, when it comes to football, I do wish women would find something else to do.
Being an "oldie" I sometimes feel that the crowd is too young Seriously though, the younger people have grown up in an enviroment which is far from hostile so imo they know no different. Older fans grew up in a terrace culture where all those on the terraces joined in but nowadays young fans are not allowed stand up, not allowed to sing anything vaguely offensive and generally have nobody to take their lead from as used to be the case.
Many (most) disagree with me but I do like the strategy of having a leader at the front "orchestrating" the rest of the fans like bayern did last night or like what happens in italian games although they sometimes use megaphones (which I am not adverse to btw) - I believe that most fans want to sing in the grove (young and old) but just need somebody to instigate/get them going and for me whether it appears fake or not I dont care as long as it makes a positive contribution to our games
augie wrote:Being an "oldie" I sometimes feel that the crowd is too young Seriously though, the younger people have grown up in an enviroment which is far from hostile so imo they know no different. Older fans grew up in a terrace culture where all those on the terraces joined in but nowadays young fans are not allowed stand up, not allowed to sing anything vaguely offensive and generally have nobody to take their lead from as used to be the case.
Many (most) disagree with me but I do like the strategy of having a leader at the front "orchestrating" the rest of the fans like bayern did last night or like what happens in italian games although they sometimes use megaphones (which I am not adverse to btw) - I believe that most fans want to sing in the grove (young and old) but just need somebody to instigate/get them going and for me whether it appears fake or not I dont care as long as it makes a positive contribution to our games
Clash wrote:Are we also gonna point out that there are far too many women at football these days too?
To be honest I dont even care if that is offensive , it is the truth. Football is much better if its just for men and boys, with a dozen or so exceptions allowed (Im not a complete dinosaur ) so they cannot effect the dynamic of the crowd.
I dont care how passionate of knowlegable they are, when it comes to football, I do wish women would find something else to do.
I agree. What's worse, is that many of them who are there have zero interest in football. It's just become something else for couples to do, like going to the cinema or a concert. It's no longer an escape for men, that's for sure.
augie wrote:Being an "oldie" I sometimes feel that the crowd is too young Seriously though, the younger people have grown up in an enviroment which is far from hostile so imo they know no different. Older fans grew up in a terrace culture where all those on the terraces joined in but nowadays young fans are not allowed stand up, not allowed to sing anything vaguely offensive and generally have nobody to take their lead from as used to be the case.
Many (most) disagree with me but I do like the strategy of having a leader at the front "orchestrating" the rest of the fans like bayern did last night or like what happens in italian games although they sometimes use megaphones (which I am not adverse to btw) - I believe that most fans want to sing in the grove (young and old) but just need somebody to instigate/get them going and for me whether it appears fake or not I dont care as long as it makes a positive contribution to our games
The term is often "tifosi" (singular: tifo) and they're definitely an instrumental part of getting the people both motivated and organized. Especially because a lot of fans don't know wtf to do because they haven't grown up going to every game, with the same people, with the same chants and songs.
Even in Canada (and North America), which often provide relatively anemic atmosphere, tifosi manage to get some serious support going at times amongst the fan groups in the MLS.
I think if you did that in the UK, they'd get carted away very quickly as "attempting to start a riot" or some silly thing.
Wengerball wrote:You can buy a season ticket at Bayern for £100- it can cost you more than that for a ticket to one game at the bowl.
That just about says it all
£100 a season ticket to watch a world class team with the ambition to win everything or £1,955 a season ticket to watch an average rudderless team that only aims for 4th place?
Wengerball wrote:You can buy a season ticket at Bayern for £100- it can cost you more than that for a ticket to one game at the bowl.
That just about says it all
£100 a season ticket to watch a world class team with the ambition to win everything or £1,955 a season ticket to watch an average rudderless team that only aims for 4th place?
With a shit atmosphere, £13 fish and chips and Nazi stewards
Macca wrote:
Then I heard a faint 'by far the greatest team' now and then as we tried to get some noise going which made me guffaw...
Rather then guffawing ever consider joining in to make the atmosphere better?
Too many people at Arsenal nowadays complaining about atmosphere but doing fuck all to help the situation.
I think most feel slightly embarassed at the "by far the greatest team" chant so I can understand macca's comments tbf
One of my other favourite things... chant snobbery. If it's not "funny" or "new" then people are just not interested.
Don't get me wrong, I like a witty new chant as much as the next man but if we're talking about creating an atmosphere to sustain at the bowl then it's going to be based on meat & drink chants like "by far the greatest team".
At the bowl I'm always struck not by the amount of tourists, women or children (who are usually the target groups for blame around here) but by the age of the people around me. Essentially Dan is right, only people with money & careers/disposable income can afford tickets at the bowl now and most of those are too reserved or long-in-the-tooth to get involved with such vulgar things as making noise.
) so they cannot effect the dynamic of the crowd. 
