I must confess Midway, I too fail to see the glamour in standing, it means that some poor short-arses have no chance of watching the match!
Social. Bar work doesn't call for much over seas travelling I'm going to be helping people to practice their English (And getting a free stay at a rather nice hotel) via an organisation called Angloville. Me and a friend thought it'd be a pretty great experience and it's definitely an interesting part of the world. I'm off to Uni this September so I thought I'd get a bit of travelling in before hand and this seemed like the perfect thing to do!
Was in Budapest last year it's a fantastic city. So brilliantly lively, full of culture and history but feels really youthful and vibrant. In fact I've got a week booked in Porto next month, I shall report back on it.
Personally I dislike having to sit down at games, I sit down in an office for seven and half hours per day, five days a week so I do enough sitting thank you. People should be given a choice there should be seating and standing area's so everyone is catered for, if the majority of the Lower Barclay and the Snakepit want to stand then I have absolutely no problem making it a designated standing area. In my opinion seating destroys the atmosphere, I'm not saying let it return to the chaos of the 70's or 80's but if you look at Bundesliga games for an example the crowds are brilliant, in comparison England has plenty of 25,000+ capacity libraries these days, seating has sanitised football stadiums a little too much, it needs to get it's soul back.
Well said, Northampton Historically, the atmosphere generated by the standing areas has always set the tone for the level / volume of 'support' around the ground. The River end used to have some of that, but since all seater was introduced - and I fully understand why, it's turned into a knit one, pearl one mentality. Unless we're 3 - 0 up, and then they may well drop a stitch!!
Presumably as standing is desired, wanted and needed and it also such a pleasure then bearing in mind you are seeing the same game as us 'knitting brigade' sitting down you have no objection paying the same price as us unfortunates sitting down. Now this is beginning to make sense. Replace 10k seats with 20k standing up all paying the same price as us poor souls sitting down and you have the same financial result as increasing the existing stadium to 37k all seater. I am beginning to warm to the idea.
I paid £60 for a seat at wembley i didn't sit in. In general i would expect a saving, but i doubt it would be half price despite doubling the efficiency of the space so there will be a financial gain. In general I'm just supporting choice for the fans.
1950 has a point though. It's always going to be contentious, because some like to stand and some like to sit. I've done my time standing, from the days when the river end toilets were 'down the garden' in the open air. Nowadays I like a bit of comfort. I can still sing and shout, despite those saying that can always be done standing up. I haven't enjoyed the feeling of guys pressing up behind me since I was at Catholic school, and not really much then. There surely has to be some common ground.
Yes, but the point is the 5 - 10% minority, who would prefer to stand / sing / chant. etc would be as welcome as the seated brigade. It's not a question of all or nothing. Most of the lower Barclay tends to stand - whatever the rules
Why would you expect a price reduction? You are seeing the same game as I am and you allege that you would stand because that is your choice and is something you prefer to do. I go into a Pub for a pint and I can either stand at the bar or sit down. I've never heard a person who prefers to stand at the bar ask for a price reduction on his pint.
And there I was knitting you a nice warm blue and white jumper!! With the wind off the sea in the last few days I thought you might need it.
Likewise in France - especially rip off Paris. One price to stand at the bar, more if you have the audacity to sit down - and dearer still if you sit on the terrace outside?!
My company has corporate tickets in there 1950 and while I never turn down the chance of a free lunch and a free ticket, in my opinion watching the football from 'behind the glass' with the noise from the crowd piped in is dreadful. The whole experience epitomises how the game has been taken away from the working man and given to the 'prawn sandwich brigade'. I respect your view 1950 and if that's how you prefer to attend football fine, but I think you'll find that at the very least most supporters want to sit outside experiencing a proper match atmosphere regardless of the weather. I doubt we'll ever get 'safe standing' in the Premier League but I live in hope, it's certainly not safe at the moment with practically all of the Lower Barclay and Snakepit standing throughout the match
But you are not consuming the product on the premises taking up space and using the facilities and by ' taking away ' you are allowing Costa to sell your space to somebody else. What you seem to want is consume the same football product as the rest of us, use the same facilities as the rest of us, consume the product in the way that you prefer and find more enjoyable but, for some unknown reason, want to pay less than the rest of us for the pleasure.
You've answered your own question there 1950. Safe standing allows a greater capacity, so the club can quite literally sell your space to someone else. I don't think anybody is saying it should suddenly be a fiver if you want to stand, and the club shouldn't increase capacity but keep ticket income the same, but whilst the club are doing you a favour by allowing you to stand, equally it seems fair for them to account for the fact more standing increases capacity. Is it any different to expecting to pay more for the exclusivity and space of a box? The argument certainly isn't for an all-standing stadium either, in doubt any move by the club would be backed by heavy consultation with the fans, to ensure the balance is right. And certainly to begin with you'd expect them to err on the side of caution and have fewer standing spaces than their surveys predict could be filled.
