Quiet Old Trafford

[SkeppyRed]

I don't get to old Trafford every game but have been six times so far this season and have to say been really disappointed with the atmosphere. Me and my lad where stood up in south stand during a recent europa league game and was told to sit down by the guy behind. When I explained to him that we were standing up trying to create atmosphere he looked at me gone out ffs. I am aware of singing section but can anyone think of any ways to get OT rocking?

Block seating so big groups of mates sit/stand together at games. This and cheaper ticket prices.

Also, whatever you think of flags/banners, sitting/standing or even chanting; A vocal, passionate, knowledgeable and partisan home support will win your side a number of extra points over the course of the season and could be the difference in whether you win the league/cup or not.

 

[Peyroteo]

Why is it that clubs in the UK don't organize themselves like the rest of Europe?

I guess it's part of the culture of the clubs now, so I'm not saying to try and recreate it but being a bit more organized surely would only help.

 

[SkeppyRed]

Why is it that clubs in the UK don't organize themselves like the rest of Europe?

I guess it's part of the culture of the clubs now, so I'm not saying to try and recreate it but being a bit more organized surely would only help.

Organise in what way mate?

 

[Crashoutcassius]

It's been very poor - does fame bring that? Best atmospheres ive been at in last few years have been Dublin gaa crowds by a million miles. 80,000+ and still able to fill the ground.

 

[Peyroteo]

Organise in what way mate?

Yeah, my question sounds weird reading it back.

I meant that most european clubs have supporter groups that take care of flags, drums, tifos, starting the chants, etc., whilst in England it seems like it's more random. The one exception I've seen is Crystal Palace.

 

[Jaxdan]

Just watching on TV, Bundesliga crowds appear to really rock, even those bottom table.

 

[SkeppyRed]

Yeah, my question sounds weird reading it back.

I meant that most european clubs have supporter groups that take care of flags, drums, tifos, starting the chants, etc., whilst in England it seems like it's more random. The one exception I've seen is Crystal Palace.

It wasn't weird, interested to know what you meant.

United do have fans groups that organise similar things but the culture is different. You'd be laughed at if you brought a drum into the Streford end(not that security would allow it). Flagpoles are also banned.

Ultimately different supporters have different opinions on what should be done. There isn't one big unified supporter movement.

If your interested in what OT looked like in the relatively modern era full of colour; scarves, flags, banners, pyro, etc check out footage of the title party's in 93, 94, and 99. Its a very different place nowadays.


Look at 23.53-31.59

Another issue is the demand from people all over the world to go to OT and how the club accommodates that puts off a lot of working class fans.

Also the age demographic of old trafford is very high. Not enough young people (16-25) in the stadium, for various reasons.

 

[Blatzo]

Can I address the elephant in the room?

Some people who want to attend football matches can't stand/scream/shout/sing for 90 minutes (even with a 20 minute break) and I think some of the people who aren't in that situation fail to recognise it.

Sure the guy behind you might be a lithe, spritely young gentlemen and the same can be said for everyone in the row behind that... but when you take into account a crowd of 70,000+ there are going to be many who are physically unable to stand and sing for the whole match or would be in discomfort doing so.

Safe standing is something which I'm an advocate of and I've sat in (and next to) the singing section at Old Trafford. I'm known for being someone who will sing and shout and join in and I love nothing more than a great atmosphere at a football game. I have fond memories of being in the South Stand (I know!) as a child and having back and forths with the away section and there is nothing more magical than the occasional moments when the whole of Old Trafford bursts in to song - part of the magic is that it happens naturally - like a wildfire instead of a controlled blaze.

All I'm saying here, really, is that I'm all for anything that will add to the atmosphere at Old Trafford; but enforcing standing by refusing to sit down overlooks many of the match going fans whose experience would be ruined, through no fault of their own.

 

[FC Ronaldo]

I really like the brass band England has. It's in no way annoying and creates a super atmosphere.

Vuvuzela is an option too I guess.

Dion Dublin is missing a trick with his Dube here.

 

[Gopher Brown]

Erm....I'll whisper this....does it really matter?

 

[pacifictheme]

Yeah. You seem pretty special though, perhaps you should tell me whether I have or not.

Well i imagine you've stuffed a few prawn sandwiches into your gob a few times.

 

[MataFanatic]

I don't get to old Trafford every game but have been six times so far this season and have to say been really disappointed with the atmosphere. Me and my lad where stood up in south stand during a recent europa league game and was told to sit down by the guy behind. When I explained to him that we were standing up trying to create atmosphere he looked at me gone out ffs. I am aware of singing section but can anyone think of any ways to get OT rocking?

I've been shocked at how bad it's gotten to be honest. Best atmosphere this season was probably Southampton at home or else Leicester home. Every other game was dirt. Only atmosphere left seems to be in Tier 2 of the Stretty. Singing section make an effort but noise can't travel across the stadium.

Whatever happened to the rumour that the powers that be were looking into moving the away fans up to North Stand tier 3? Need to put the singing section in where the away fans currently are now.

Also bring back standing!!!! And cheaper ticket prices.

 

[Cascarino]

Is the south stand at old trafford the de facto family stand?

 

[sosolid4u09]

I love what they do at bayern where the crowd all scream the goalscorers name together with the announcer

 

[Woeisme]

Well i imagine you've stuffed a few prawn sandwiches into your gob a few times.

I imagine it's something other than prawn sandwiches you have had stuffed into your gob. But each to their own

 

[Snowjoe]

Well i imagine you've stuffed a few prawn sandwiches into your gob a few times.

I imagine it's something other than prawn sandwiches you have had stuffed into your gob. But each to their own

Guys can you cut it out please and thanks.

 

[Rood]

This used to be the norm (60s and 70s), stretty split left side and right side baiting each other and then a shot at the scoreboard to sing a song . Those were the days.
I think stretty end regulars should start this going again, and then call on the singing section to sing a song. Obviously, the stands in those days echoed enormously and the noise was very impressive.
Main reason away fans are heard is because of the proximity to the roof.

the redesign of the stadium means that you cant even hear the Stretford End from the Singing Section nowadays - that is a big part of the problem and one the reasons we will never get the whole stadium bouncing in unison like in the past

 

[Rood]

I've been shocked at how bad it's gotten to be honest. Best atmosphere this season was probably Southampton at home or else Leicester home. Every other game was dirt. Only atmosphere left seems to be in Tier 2 of the Stretty. Singing section make an effort but noise can't travel across the stadium.

Whatever happened to the rumour that the powers that be were looking into moving the away fans up to North Stand tier 3? Need to put the singing section in where the away fans currently are now.

Also bring back standing!!!! And cheaper ticket prices.

the police scuppered the plan to move the away fans - hence singing section went to J Stand instead.

Safe standing is slowly becoming a possibility rather than a pipedream - the sooner, the better.

 

[BringNaniBack]

Something really needs to be done as it is embarrassing how quiet Old Trafford is nowadays.

 

[RedDevilCanuck]

On my television feed the spurs go marching in song drowned out our fans completely prior to kickoff.

 

[711]

the redesign of the stadium means that you cant even hear the Stretford End from the Singing Section nowadays - that is a big part of the problem and one the reasons we will never get the whole stadium bouncing in unison like in the past

True, you can barely hear the stretty from the scoreboard.
Meanwhile tier 3 is in a world of it's own, sometimes the atmos is quite good up there, which is astonishing considering they can't even see half the crowd, let alone be heard by them.

 

[Xcited]

The fans appear to be unmotivated at times. The only way this will change is if we start playing more exciting football, with a higher success rate.

I just think alot of fans find it hard to be excited about a chance of a top 4 battle and europa league football.

The dedication and passion of the fans are unquestionable especially with some of the dross we have been served at times these past years. They still attend.

Haven't managed to get down to OT in 18 months, but I noticed there was a drop in atmosphere, you can notice it watching our games on television.

It will change, the fans just need a boost.

Look at the crowd during the successful FA cup win.

Atleast its not Arsenal you can hear a pin drop in there

 

[711]

So how come the likes of Stoke have a great atmosphere then, when they've won feck-all for years?

 

[M4YON]

Atmosphere at Old Trafford... what atmosphere. I love how people make excuses on here for it but in reality there are none. Teams all over the world over shadow the atmospheres created over here in England and we are one of the worst, from Dortmund to Galatasaray we get outshone, we're a joke! Even Celtic have a better atmosphere up in sunny Scotland.

I will address the elephant in the room though the difference between the EPL and other leagues is standing accommodation and it always will be. Hillsborough changed that for english football and its a shame because that tradegy had nothing to do with standing accommodation it was the police failing to do there jobs. Also the place being full of African football experts here for a day trip doesn't help.

The place is full of tourists thanks to the way the club runs its ticketing policies, old trafford used to be full of mainly local fans who would sing from almost every stand not anymore all you get now is stewards and whinging entitled morons telling you to sit down and shut up every 5 minutes.

You want to fix the atmosphere at old trafford? Bring back standing accommodation, allow seated fans to stand and sing, prioritise tickets to local fans and stop hiking the prices up.

 

[Xcited]

So how come the likes of Stoke have a great atmosphere then, when they've won feck-all for years?

It's pretty obvious..

Fans expectations at different clubs vary. If the club fails to meet these expectations, whether it be result or performance based, the fans will be dissapointed. The silence of some fans is how they convey their discontent.

Thats my view on it anyway.

 

[711]

It's pretty obvious..

Fans expectations at different clubs vary. If the club fails to meet these expectations, whether it be result or performance based, the fans will be dissapointed. The silence of some fans is how they convey their discontent.

Thats my view on it anyway.

Yeah, I thought someone would say that. Except even in the Fergie winning years OT was quite frankly pretty crap a lot of the time, just had more clapping really.

 

[DuncanEd]

In Europe they have people on podiums at the front of the singing stands with loudspeakers. That and big drums. And lots of giant flags.

FIGHT


AND WIN



er... no pal we would be the laughing stock of the league.

Go to the Bishops Blaize and watch pete boyle if your into that kinda nonsense.

 

[DuncanEd]

I go to everything home and away and Old Trafford has been going downhill for years (as has most grounds to be quite frank).

Lot of good points in this thread but money has priced some proper lads out of the game, its cheaper to watch in the pub with a better atmosphere for home games.

Even some away ends this season have been utter dogshit (Watford chocca with tourists never seen anything like it, Fenerbache drowned us out non stop fair play, Zorya just freezing as examples).

 

[VeevaVee]

FIGHT


AND WIN



er... no pal we would be the laughing stock of the league.

Go to the Bishops Blaize and watch pete boyle if your into that kinda nonsense.

As I implied with the sentence you missed out, I wasn't being entirely serious. Somewhere in between would be decent though.
Better than the shite we serve up at the moment anyway. OT is about as intimidating as the local Londis.

 

[matherto]

So how come the likes of Stoke have a great atmosphere then, when they've won feck-all for years?

Probably because they've won feck all for years.

Oh and Stoke natives aren't people, they're some weird species of loud ape-like beings.

 

[Jaxdan]

You want to fix the atmosphere at old trafford? Bring back standing accommodation, allow seated fans to stand and sing, prioritise tickets to local fans and stop hiking the prices up.

What prevents local fans from buying up the tickets? Manchester is the second largest metropolitan area in England. Why isn't it filled with locals? Ticket prices? They cost less than a decent MLS seat, and gobs less than a god awful NFL ticket. I paid 32 pounds for a membership, and 38-41 pounds for the seats that were available to me by being a member. Is that really that expensive? What is stopping 'locals' from doing the same as I do from 4,200 miles away?

 

[Jackylad]

I really like the brass band England has. It's in no way annoying and creates a super atmosphere.

Vuvuzela is an option too I guess.

What about the bloke at Portsmouth with the bell? That never gets old?

 

[Jackylad]

Win titles again!

Atmosphere at OT was better when we were shit in the 80s!

 

[Jaxdan]

On my television feed the spurs go marching in song drowned out our fans completely prior to kickoff.

I record and watch almost every EPL match (yes, a lot of fast forwarding is involved for most), but this is pretty much true at every venue. The supporter side shows up to make noise as much as possible, sometimes so much I don't know how much of the game they actually watch. It's not exclusive to Old Trafford. And why do they sing that anyway? An American written song "The Saints go Marching In"...I can understand Southampton singing it, but don't get why several other squads do. Catchy jingle I guess. "Glory, glory Man United" is actually "The Battle Hymn of The Republic" (American), but I'm perfectly fine with that.

 

[Jaxdan]

Atmosphere at OT was better when we were shit in the 80s!

When you were 2 thru 11 years old? Different time, smaller venue, and probably a kids eye view euphoria. Just a thought.

 

[Jackylad]

When you were 2 thru 11 years old? Different time, smaller venue, and probably a kids eye view euphoria. Just a thought.

You're probably right as well. Doesn't make up for the lack of atmos these days though.

 

[Sad Chris]

Atmosphere at OT was better when we were shit in the 80s!

True, but because we spoilt the shit out of our kids, they feel entitled to receive before needing to give. I don't have any hope it'll get much better if we don't start winning again. Having some bloke banging a drum while missing the game is a type of artificial atmosphere I wouldn't enjoy. If wanted that I'd go see the Blue Man Group.

But no need anyway, I think we're back on track soon. Then I can tell all the spoilt brats about how much better it still was in the 80s and they can kiss my wrinkly old arse while we cheer together.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

If wanted that I'd go see the Blue Man Group.

What happened to those fella's? No idea what they did exactly, but the promotion videos always creeped me out, and I'm still wondering why people would go and pay good money to see a bunch of blue men.

 

[Sad Chris]

I don't know, I only saw the ads with them drumming in blue paint. Legends although nobody ever saw them perform.

 

[Jackylad]

What happened to those fella's? No idea what they did exactly, but the promotion videos always creeped me out, and I'm still wondering why people would go and pay good money to see a bunch of blue men.

Still going as far as I know! Just makes me think of Arrested Development, never had any burning desire to go and see them perform...