Confirmed: Northam Stand to go home fans only, plus ST details for 2024/25

Absolutely ****ing terrible. Moving the away fans is the worst thing SR have done. At least then, in the quiet periods, you still had that away/home fan banter going. Now, its just silence.

"Oh but when we're playing well it'll be bouncing" ... like **** will it. Never heard that place so ****ing quiet as I did last night. Genuinely terrible.

 

Depends on the game but the Kingsland side sometimes is worse because the seats are more expensive.

I don't see them changing it back either sadly but it's clear to me that it hasn't worked and they should be open to some sort of change at least.

The problem is the fanzones have made it difficult to change anything now.

The least they can do is put some standing rails in the Chapel. I know quite a few people that hate the northam but won't move cos are worried about being able to stand.

It'll be interesting to see if any more move over next season.

 

Yeah, if you made the back 5 or so rows safe standing I think that would make a huge difference.

 

Yeah I remember when this was being discussed being surprised at how many people were convinced that doing this would suddenly improve atmosphere. Doesn't change the fact that our support is simply a bit ****.

We do get a bit of away banter at the back of the Chapel which definitely helps during dull stages of the game. A lot of it is taking the piss out of the generic library chants tbh which I enjoy quite a lot as I hate that song when our fans sing it.

 

It would be interesting to know what the players hear on the pitch, because the Northam were pretty loud from where I was sitting and they came up with a number of variations of chants. You must be in a sound proof bunker wherever you are in the ground.

 

I usually sit in the Itchen North, right next to the Northam.

 

You are saying that the Northam didn't make any noise last night?

 

I didn't say that, no.

I said in the main, it was very, very quiet. One of the quietest games I've ever heard.

 

OK not what my experience was, the Kingsland North were somewhat louder than usual, there was nothing coming from the Itchen North, there used to be a loud contingent there, before the changes. Didn't hear much from the away support even when they improved in the 2nd half.

 

Yep, the Itchen North used to be banging before the changes, and the club got all uppity that their hospitality guests were getting upset at the "loud louts" below them.

Used to have the Itchen North, the away fans & the Northam all sparring with each other ... much better atmosphere regardless of what was going on on the pitch.

 

Sorry I think you are being a bit obsessive, we will never match the Kop, or even Crystal Palace for making a decent noise. We aren't all blessed with vocals made for chanting, my own voice good for descants, hopeless for outright cacophony.

 

There's probably a few overlapping things at play too.

Previously you had the away fans between northam and itchen north so all the "instigators" were in in the same space so all the noise generation was in one place.

Now with the move the away fans are the opposite end of the stadium so you have the following issues:
* there isn't the 2 dividing lines between the groups to give twice as much opportunity for banter (yes technically there still is but chapel and kingsland south are historically quieter)
* the northam and itchen north fans have started to break up as some moved to chapel etc to be near the away and some stayed put to be in the standing zones, so there isn't the same quantity of instigators all together so harder to get things going
* other areas of the ground don't get involved so easily so when someone in chapel or kingsland south try to get something going it doesn't gain traction as easily as it would have in northam / itchen previously
* less old school fans due to pricing / ticket availability / general financial downturn?
* bigger hospitality areas where raucous behaviour would be frowned on?
* generally younger audience that just aren't as willing to be noisy? Where I'm sat the noisy fans are all of the older persuasion

 

There were some newish chants last evening, mostly spontaneous and unrehearsed, they can only improve with practice. Southampton fans over the years have proved that they can make a noise, short memory if you have forgotten our recent Wembley experience. However they need motivation, our recent experiences have not encouraged any sort of reason to be cheerful. Our (temporary?) run of wins may help to build up some improvement in the atmosphere, but the flat pack stadium acoustics are not helpful.
The speaker system isn't great either, I couldn't understand much of what Ian Dowey or the Foundation people were saying last night, it was loud, but incoherent, it also tends to drown out the chants. As for the pre match entertainment and the half time debacles (Zorba football?), there is a lot that can be improved.

 

Obsessive? Weird comment tbh. We all care about different things and for me atmosphere is the best part of going to football, if every crowd sat in silence every game then I wouldn't attend.

It's not about comparing to other teams either, although I think the two clubs you mention aren't great by any stretch anyway, but comparing to ourselves and the last 4/5 years is probably the worst I can remember it.

The reason I bump this thread a lot is that I think these changes have made it significantly worse, and previously I was told it's cos we're not very good but even after the recent run it's still dreadful.

Atmosphere isn't just chants and songs either, it's noise in general, cheering a tackle or roaring the team forward etc. It feels to me like the vast majority of people at St Mary's are simply quite disengaged.

 

Interesting point about saying we'll never be the Kop as that was one of my arguments against it in the first place - we're not one of those types of clubs with a big end and we're therefore trying to be something we're not.

We previously had little pockets in different parts of the ground and they were all slightly different in terms of song choice/culture. Before my time but lots of older fans I know say the Dell was very similar.

 

Some really good points here. Good post.

Pricing is definitely a big factor I think, and in a way modern football clubs don't want the old school type of fan who turn up 5 minutes before and spend little/no money.

Agree massively with your last point too, probably the biggest factor and I spent all season last year moaning about all the snippets near me spending all game on their phones and only joining in with OWTS, the liverpool rip off song or Onuachu's penis.

For what it's worth I didn't move to the chapel to go near the away fans, I did it to get away from the northam. I just knew the chapel near the away fans was probably the only other place I'd be able to stand.

 

Sorry for the spam of posts but one simple thing I think could make a big difference is switching the wifi off during the actual game. The club say they want better atmosphere but actively take steps which hinder it.

Take last night for example, getting towards the end of game whist we're under pressure and a tannoy announcement comes telling people to vote for motm on the app.

So at a crucial point of the match when the team needs the fans the most they're actively wanting people to turn their attention away from the game and towards their phone instead? I honestly find that absolutely mental.

 

A bit of an oxymoron, your favourite quote is "I can't be arsed", I don't believe you, if you can't be arsed, you wouldn't ever be on here making your opinions? Which of course, are valued by the majority.
One good thing about it, is the improvement in general behaviour, if that means getting rid of the lunatic fringe, that's OK by me, this may result in a loss of real exitement which is a shame, can't have it both ways.

The Dell at it's finest was very special, there is no going back to that, this Stadium can never match that.

 

Yeah, 100% agree on that.

 

Is it? I thought my favourite quotes were "**** VAR" and "game's gone"

Agree massively on the final point, newly built stadiums will never be able to match the intimacy of old ones which Everton are finding out this season. Our flat pack design makes this even worse too as you alluded to earlier.

We should be able to match how St Mary's was say 15 years ago though?