Hi Guys - just joined - have been watching in the background for months Avid Swans supporter but unfortunately dont get to attend many games due to working away from home a lot. Have to say something that I have observed - that being the power of the '12th man' i.e. The Home Crowd. Just look at the atmosphere generated in Romania the other day - and the subsequent effect that this had on Petrolul! Last season, we generated that atmosphere - certainly watching the matches on TV the noise was incredible - but with the exception of the opening 30mins during the Man Utd game our crowd seemed far quieter than usual (guess the two goals may have dampened spirits).... Anyway - my first message is really an appeal - to all those fellow swans who are lucky enough to attend our matches - please shout, bang drums, sing like a choir, even blow one of those annoying world cup trumpet things which I am not going to even try spelling - anything to get the atmosphere to a point where our team has its 12th man back.... I think it makes such a difference personally.
the 12 man makes a hell of a difference but when to many mistakes are being made then its human nature not to show a lot of noise and more groans are heard....you can always tell if we are doing well by the amount of singing and the amount of noise coming from the away end.....but yes the 12 man is very important to any team...
Agree with the OP . The Jack faithful need to inspire the players as much as the players inspiring them. Welcome to the board
Thanks guys for the welcomes and responses. And Dai - I agree, it is human nature for spirits to be dampened when things go wrong - but seeing that Petrolul crowd the other day despite being 5-1 down was awe-inspiring. If we could create such an atmosphere regardless of what our game play is currently like or whether we are a goal or two down - it would have a huge negative effect on the opposing team... and could well turn the game around. Intimidating is an understatement - cant have been easy for the swans playing in that atmosphere and I am hopeful that this may be one of the reasons our performance was less than we would like / expect...
And also - did you observe how difficult it was for Tremmel to communicate with the wall when free kicks were being taken! - Lots of noise from our side has 'other' benefits in affecting the opposing team from hearing instructions from their keeper and manager!!
If you're expecting a wall of sound aka North Bank then I'm afraid we won't see the likes of that down the stadium .There are a new breed of "fan" now who moan and groan but any thing than a polite round of applause would be alien to them .The ones who do give vocal support higher than 100 decibels and in unison are scattered around the ground .I sit in the East stand near to the drummer (POG) and thats the area where historically the old Northbankers ended up so theres no embarrassment and the vocal support comes natural.The vocal support in the first season in the PL was good ,dropped off a bit last and the four games at home to date have been poor although admittedly the two European games were not sellouts and a lot of the regulars weren't in attendance .This isn't a phenomenon exclusive to us and I don't have an answer but perhaps the introduction of safe standing could go some way in bringing back the atmosphere so evidently missing from grounds in general . Other than that welcome
If someone was continually banging a drum or blowing one of those ridiculous trumpet things next to me he wont last long he would be decked...
Totally agree ML. however it tends to go quiet when (a) we are winning easily which we have done in the home Europa legs or (b) surprisingly, when matches are extremely tense - people just watch! On the other hand, if Petrolol had scored 5 against us their fans would have been going beserk! While our Jack Army in the East Stand are noist, the rest of the ground can be quiet. Dare I say it, but it reflects the City of Swansea - a noisy working class East side and a more conservative quiet West.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nwSUlIv0XNc&feature=player_embedded Could you imagine the West stand doing this
I don't like this notion that if you don't sing at a football match then you are some sort of second-class supporter. Whether you sing at the game will probably depend on a) your personality and b) how much alcohol you've consumed. I'm not a singer, never have been and never will be. I'm very grateful that there are people who enjoy singing as otherwise the atmosphere would be dead. I will shout if I feel the need, applaud and jump up when we score or have a near miss or a fracca ensues. I don't sit there passively by any means, but I do go primarily to WATCH and I suspect 80% of the people there are the same.
