.... part 9.
Wembley announcer today demanding: "Three cheers for City - hip hip ......"
Absolutely shameful
Wembley announcer today demanding: "Three cheers for City - hip hip ......"
Absolutely shameful
Death by a 1000 cuts ...
- Thread starter Smug in Boots
- Start date
-
Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
-
The 'Wembley experience" is poor imo.
It's a dreary trudge through a predictable pre-planned agenda ending up with the same old fireworks and photo opportunity.
This is why the atmosphere in Trafalgar Square/Covent Garden is so much better ...
... just football supporters gathering together making their own entertainment for hours.
The main thing we miss is a celebration because we never win , only won there twice ever . Thankfully I was there in 1973 so am lucky enough to have seen a victory but have witnessed heartbreak seven times . I would love to hear hip hip hooray for Sunderland as corny as it is because it would signal that we had at last won. On the other hand I still hope that we can go up automatically rather than go to the lottery of the play offs . If we don’t go up automatically I still hope that we can do it the hard way . Haway the lads !!!
1985, 1988 or 89 (mercantile credit classic thing!), 1990, 1992, 1998, 2014, 2019 (only got to one last season)
I was at every one of those as I wasn't born till 75 so couldn't make the 73 cup final!! Even that stupid Mercantile thingy we managed to lose as well!!
But one thing's for certain - I'll be back this season if we make it!! Absolute gluttons for punishment.
Agree with @Smug in Boots - the Wembley experience is nowhere near as good as it used to be at the old stadium. Walking up to the stadium all I could think of was "just looks like a fancy modern office block with a curly white thing over it" - You don't feel like you're walking up to a football stadium until you see the turnstiles
Helps a big deal when you win there which we always struggle to do.
That would certainly help mate but it's not really what I'm saying.
It's things like, before the match, when they blast out the same middle of the road songs and make announcements like,
"The attendance today is 82,145 ...
... thank you for your support."
WTF is that supposed to mean, it's idiotic.
That the attendance was eighty two thousand one hundred and forty five and that they are appreciative of the funds raised from the supporters who handed over their hard earned cash to watch the match live rather than watch on TV.
Perhaps Sky should thank TV viewers for handing over their cash as well ...
... it's not for Wembley to thank anyone for their support, people don't go there to support the stadium.
I find it condescending and totally missing the point of what support is.
Be offended as much as you want but IMHO the announcement is hardly something to gripe about. The Coventry game got you all radgie or summat?
I'm not, I just find the whole thing feeble.
No one can seriously claim the Wembley experience is a patch on what it used to be ...
... if you're happy at the way it's gone downhill that's your choice.
Never said I was happy with it, just that the announcement never bothered me.
It's not just the announcement, it's the whole thing which has been made worse, by 'improving it', in my opinion.
It's like most grounds these days where the atmosphere is gradually draining away.
The problem imo is that every game follows the same pattern and the spectators are basically irrelevant ....
... they're even told their money is basically insignificant.
It's run out music followed by goal celebration music followed by end of match music.
Somehow half the number of supporters used to make twice the noise at Roker Park without the help of the stadium announcer.
Last edited:
Standing made a difference. There was something about it that made people join in the shouting and singing. I'm not sure that going to safe standing would regain that experience, there was just something special about being squashed together and being part of the sway of the crowd.
I think you're right.
There's a certain self consciousness in a seating environment and you're much more visible.
Shouting out stuff, or starting chants, was easier when you were part of a throng.
I was in the North Stand, last season, and bellowed out HAWAY THE LADS!!! during a quiet spell. A woman, in front with two kids, turned round and rolled her eyes at me ...
... I could've punched her lights out tbh which sounds extreme but it's what this thread is about.
In the old days we eventually settled on a spot in the Fulwell End where we were surrounded by like minded strangers. We'd laugh at each others daft cracks, join in the songs we liked and fall into one massive heap when we scored. We kept out of the cage, too edgy, but away from the front and sides, too tame.
The difference, then, was that you could shift if there were bellends next to you. I've noticed loads of posts, particularly on RTG, from people whinging about some bloke they sit near. That didn't happen much on the terraces, it was easier to shift a few steps away.
It was also easier to 'have a word' without some tosser calling over a steward. It was self policing in those days and anyone going too far would be checked by someone. They'd be backed up, if generally thought correct, or jeered if people thought they were out of order.
Example, I was at York when a lad was racially abusing Gary Bennett. I let it slide for a while then tapped him on the shoulder. A row started and people, including his mates, became involved. The general consensus was that he'd been pissing everyone off so they moved to another area ... sorted!
If I'd been shouted down we'd have probably shuffled off a wee way. And that's how it was. I believe people now are too timid to shout & scream or start songs that fizzle out before they start.
We were once a town full of daft working class lads who'd do owt for a laugh, often at our own expense ...
... perhaps we have too many self conscious office workers, these days, who get used to 'fitting in'.
Who knows eh?
Last edited:
Watching the Sheff Utd v West Ham game today and there's a massive flag, obviously provided by the club, behind one of the goals ...
... it said 'Bladesmen from The Lane'
I've never heard a United supporter ever say that, is it an internet thing?
... it said 'Bladesmen from The Lane'
I've never heard a United supporter ever say that, is it an internet thing?
Last edited:
Only time I've been to Wembley was 1973, it was the greatest day in my life, I would not go again as it could never be replicated, the only regret I have about that day was that I could'nt be in two places at once and missed the Locarno gig with Rod Stewart and the Small Faces which John Peel said was the most amazing event he had ever attended. Magical days when Sunderland showed the world how to party.
What they are really saying is thank you for supporting this word famous institution we bought into a few years back called Wembley Stadium.
PS. Its the Abide With Me blasted out by some celebrity to bemused onlookers that really sums it up for me.
It's your age Smug. I'm of the same vintage, and I feel mostly the same.
Nothing will ever match the unearthly bedlam of Roker Park on it's mad febrile nights.
But they are gone, and the seats are with us. Supporters often now wait for something to yell at and go quiet after conceding a goal. It's true, that often, a crowd of under 20,000 could be far noisier than over forty at the SOLor any " new " ground.
I'd settle for being in any ground now mind!