I am not one of those who think that the owners have been all bad, and generally speaking I applaud any innovation aimed at improving the match day atmosphere at the Valley....BUT.....the so called Singing Corner really is a painful, self inflicted own goal I fully understand that for fans short of cash, the enticement to buy a ST for £150 is tempting, but the reality of this policy is that for the first time since we returned to our shrine, the North Upper has large, ugly gaps in it. These are our hardcore supporters and singers, alongside the drummer, and the Club have needlessly ****ed about with a tradition that works. Imagine Liverpool asking hard core Koppites to move to the family enclosure to have a sing song. The atmosphere generated by the so called Singing Corner in the East is zero. I don't blame them for that as the acoustics over there are terrible, and they are positioned next to a large gap! Katrien & Co need to consult quickly on this, hold their hands up, and ask the bribed ex- Upper Northers to return to where they are best suited.
The atmosphere was woeful on Saturday. It is an idea that only a woman can come up with. It like "go on Charles, wear those braces and bow tie I bought you for your first day of term at Brixton Comprehensive." Football supporting is all about location. You earn your right to sit in the North Upper, you don't get the blue cross seats in the East, it's like wearing Kalvin Clein.
The Singing Corner is the most ridiculous own goal since Gary Mabbutt's in the 1987 Cup Final. What is the business case for keeping the East Stand open? You could move them all to the West and the North, and have the added bonus of the stadium not looking empty on TV. They cannot make much from commercial revenues in the East.
I agree that the 150 pound season tickets have not worked in the East Stand. I can see what the idea was,but it dilutes the support in the North Upper. Next Season I would discount the North upper season tickets and put the prices of Block A in the East Stand back to what they were. As to the main problem of where are the missing fans. I hope those that have dropped out of supporting us, for whatever reason, have a rethink and come back to the Valley. It has got to be better than shopping with the Missus.
There's a lot of lentil boilers out there in Blackheath land that refuse to come back until we appoint another manager that is a woman, black or overweight. I am expecting Oprah Winfrey to get appointed any day now. More worrying is the loss of the 18-30's crowd. Where were they all? its looking like a SAGA holiday in the West Stand.
I sat next to three particularly irritating Blackheath types on the train (not going to the football, of course). Mummy and Daddy in their late 20s, achingly cool, with little 5 yr old Jonny. Insisted on leaving his expensive scooter across the doors, so every time they opened some poor bugger either tripped and nearly fell onto the rail, or else had to move them across to the otherside. All the while Mummy and Daddy boomed at the top of their voices about how inferior the 3G signal was in Blackheath compared to their holiday home in Tuscany, in between loudly admiring the fact that little Jonny was *apparently* already studying for a Masters in PPE despite only being 5 years old. I managed to give them at least half a dozen dirty looks and actually loudly gawfffed at one especially ludicrous statement about how they had survived a journey to Glastonbury (wherever that is?) this year while still picking up a "roaming signal"
It was a good idea in principle, but it is yet to bare fruits. I'm sure it will be something they're already looking at and hopefully find a way to make it work. The last thing we want is for them to open up another cheap area and have the singers sporadically placed around the ground.
I would have slung it out just as the doors were closing. The scooter can be folded down and put on the rack.
