Away fans away from the pitch?

[aalderton]

Aston villa fans have been given seats away from the pitch for a trial at old trafford today. Hopefully this will not be a knock on effect and start to happen in every stadium. Traveling all the way to Milan and being seated miles away from the pitch was an absolutely joke. I suppose the one good thing would be that arsenal fans would have a couple more thousand seats lower tier and obviously they are the cheapest at the emirates.

[the moog]

Aston villa fans have been given seats away from the pitch for a trial at old trafford today. Hopefully this will not be a knock on effect and start to happen in every stadium. Traveling all the way to Milan and being seated miles away from the pitch was an absolutely joke. I suppose the one good thing would be that arsenal fans would have a couple more thousand seats lower tier and obviously they are the cheapest at the emirates.

we're in the gods next season

[Old Oak Gooner]

Aston villa fans have been given seats away from the pitch for a trial at old trafford today. Hopefully this will not be a knock on effect and start to happen in every stadium. Traveling all the way to Milan and being seated miles away from the pitch was an absolutely joke. I suppose the one good thing would be that arsenal fans would have a couple more thousand seats lower tier and obviously they are the cheapest at the emirates.

It is an attempt to stop Ashley Young from diving into the crowd.

[goonersid]

This is actually a very good tactic, which should be employed at Arsenal, putting the away fans as far away from the pitch as possible would makes them less audible, which can only be of benefit to the home side.

[LyusN1]

Couldn't it also directly affect our atmosphere too though?

I am in favour of cheaper tickets for our own fans... but I fear the dynamic and atmosphere that seems to be building around the ground at the moment could be lost if the away fans are relocated.

Just as a vaguely related aside: I have a mate who recently moved to England from Rome. He has taken us on as his local team and has been all over the ground now - including Block 5-6 where I prefer. Where has his favourite place been? Right next to the Away fans. He said the atmosphere there was closest to what he was used to back in Italy.

[Dan_85]

Away fans should be given the shittiest seats in the ground, no doubt. Provided I get an unobscured view of the pitch I don't have a problem with that as an away fan. I shouldn't be able to rock up at another team's ground & demand the best seats in the house...

[g88ner]

Away fans should be given the shittiest seats in the ground, no doubt. Provided I get an unobscured view of the pitch I don't have a problem with that as an away fan. I shouldn't be able to rock up at another team's ground & demand the best seats in the house...

One of the best things about English football is the fan rivalry that seems lost in other countries.

I've been to the Nou Camp and San Siro, and the fans are put up in the Gods (as they are in Madrid), and that kills any noise from the away fans and ruins any chance of home/away fan interaction that was always of huge importance in English football... especially when we had the terraces

To relegate the away fans to the far reaches of the stadium is another nail in the coffin for the match day rivalry.

If it was up to me, I'd always try and preserve the old idea of having an away END and a home END, where you kick towards your fans in the second half.

It's something we should all be outraged about, and the AWAY END is something we should be fighting hard to protect!
It's very sad that we all don't share that view, and is perhaps indicative of the way we're slowly losing out roots and traditions

[dave75]

Like. As they say on Facebook..

Without away fans it is shite........as much as it can be annoying

[littlefire]

Like.

[skizz_b]

If it was up to me, I'd always try and preserve the old idea of having an away END and a home END, where you kick towards your fans in the second half.

It's something we should all be outraged about, and the AWAY END is something we should be fighting hard to protect!
It's very sad that we all don't share that view, and is perhaps indicative of the way we're slowly losing out roots and traditions

I recall it one of Martin O'Neill's first acts when he came is as Villa manager to move all the away fans from behind the goal as he said it was a motivation to the opposition being able to shoot towards their own fans...anything to gain a bit of an advantage over the opposition nowadays

It will get to the point where you have a view like at Newcastle at every away game and some people wont want to bother wasting their time and money!

[Red Member]

people think that losing away support would be losing a tradition of the game but this is actually not the case.

before WW2 few supporters made away trips as they do now. You supported the team where you lived and used to go every other Saturday. That is actually proper football tradition - not going to every game every week.

[SWLGooner]

Hope we do it -- AISA fight this cause vociferously and are slowly, slowly making progress.

[arsenalmorris]

get them as far and expensively away as possible

[skizz_b]

get them as far and expensively away as possible

Few things fuck me off more than seeing a team score at our ground and go off dancing in front of their fans...putting them up in the top tier would mean more gooners in the lower tier to give them stick

[flash gunner]

people think that losing away support would be losing a tradition of the game but this is actually not the case.

before WW2 few supporters made away trips as they do now. You supported the team where you lived and used to go every other Saturday. That is actually proper football tradition - not going to every game every week.

Yeah i agree this recent tradition of going away has only been since WW2, ok its 73 years since before WW2 which is longer than the club had existed before the war but no way is it a tradition.... yet

Chalk this one up SteveO