Another old thread Oh well. It's interesting that the serving of beer is still as slow as the organ version of John Cage's 'As slow as possible'*...and they still employ people who have to ask you which one 'bitter' is *latest performance started the same year that work on the KC started actually. Just another 600+ years to go so hurry if you want to catch the ending
There is no doubts in my mind BP always was and always will be a clear winner over the KC mausoleum. KC is in the wrong place for a start, Anlaby Road is not going to be 'redeveloped' as promised and looks a mess. All the talk about the beer stuff was never an issue at BP as when I was old enough I joined the club on the North Stand end and had a pint or two of Double Diamond in comfort to discuss the days match. And, until Terry Neil put a stop to it, even have a chat with some of the players. Before that time though it was always Bunkers/South Stand and despite some appalling weather, and appalling matches, the atmosphere, and laughs, were still superior to anything I have experienced at the KC, Premier League or not. And we had Harold Needler a great Chairman, pity we ended up with the others after he died.
The decline at BP started with the owner's son, who dithered with it after his father died in 1975. It was a family heirloom which he felt a duty to keep, but he had no vision or passion for it. This coincided with the rise of rugby and ended up with the Receiver when he decided to stop putting money in. No one else put meaningful money in till it closed in 2002 . That's 27 years of decline for the old place. The decline at the KCOM started with the owner's son... TBC
I always think BP is rose tinted specs-tastic. Great when new (I assume, too young) but it was **** by the time I started going and got progressively worse. Also the atmosphere thing for me is bollocks, it was deathly quiet most of the time. I don't remember it ever being loud, even for big games like the Orient play off or the over-capacity Scarborough game.
Compared to other new grounds i always.think the concourse areas at the KC are incredibly poorly designed. Cramped and chaotic: particularly as a lot of modern day fans want to be in there until a few minutes before kick off. In the BP days the atmosphere would build with most of the fans being on the terraces quite early.
Conversely the orient away game had a brilliant atmosphere but a poor result. Shame to see them have problems.
Except at many continental grounds without a roof, some with running tracks around them, they generate a fantastic atmosphere. It is down to people opening their mouths and joining in instead of sat as if they were at a theatre.
Not to mention Boca Juniors where they wish they had a roof and a fully 4 sided ground so they could create a bit of atmosphere.
I think you're right I went for 26 years and apart from when a club came with 3000 + fans the atmosphere was poor. There was never mass amounts of people singing
The decline in atmosphere at the KC started with Nigel Pearson, it's got gradually worse since then, but his tenure was the start of the decline.
Bring back..'Good afternoon West Stand etc....' to which an army of old geezers immediately turn around and stir as soon as anyone claps...as if to say shut the £uck up..I've just nodded off.
Granted he was reluctant to give the fans a wave, but his tenure coincided with the start of the Allam era. Do the math.
I know I probably sound like a broken record, but I feel the loss of Brown, Ashbee etc. killed a lot of the magic of Hull City around that time, we went from being a fairytale to just another corporate entity. The Pearson's killed our club, the Allams are merely hammering in the nails.
I loved Fer Ark, but when I was going there in the 90s the east stand was derelict and closed and towards the end most of the atmosphere was generated via bile spewed at the owners (actually I miss that, not nearly enough of it now.....)the thing I miss most is standing, and safe standing would go a long way to solving a lot of the stadium issues at the KCOM, it'd mean the more vocal crowd would be pulled together in one place, helping to create a better atmosphere and less bitching between those who like to sit and those who like to stand.
