Standing areas appeal to certain supporters.All Football has done well without it for 30 years, with a huge reduction in violence. Will you see, after the trial, that the most of the "standers" are male, 16 - 65, no females, no kids, no families? Of course you will. If that's not a recipe for going back to the testosterone fuelled agro of the 60s and 70s then what is? Dumb, dumb, dumb and dumber. That sort of crap was cleaned out of football and will now be back in the blink of an eye.
Not a single comment ?? That's disappointing. I remember in the late 60s, early 70s, some Chelsea Rock Apes were actually throwing darts from the standing areas into other parts of the ground. I was once involved in a bloodbath fight at a local Pub after a match, and saw violence beyond believable from "Chelsea thugs" against anyone not in blue colours. Fired up by testosterone overladen blokes from the standing/ heaving/ tribal safety of the standing areas, who had a couple of hours to work themselves into a frenzy, and this will happen again. I will be amazed if history doesn't repeat.
How does standing up equate to a decline in behaviour? It’s not like everyone will be shoulder to shoulder and the capacity won’t increase either as everyone has an allocated spot. It can’t hurt to trial it and may well improve atmosphere.
Your post started badly CP and ended up worse. I have highlighted the main part I disagree with, and think you are wrong on every level, especially considering where you live, you really do not know what it is like inside a modern English football ground.
absolute rubbish CP where do you get this stuff from? Some tabloid talk show Come on mate, you are better than this
mate really what are you on about. we were throwing darts from the Shed into the West Stand? or North Stand to East stand.. this sounds like some urban myth… why would be throw darts at our own fans in the 60s and early 70s pre segregation
Happy to accept your criticism, but you're not correct about where I live. For 25 years I lived half a kilometre from the Bridge and 2 doors from Frank Lampard. I have been to many hundreds of games , and visit UK friends for 3 months every year, including at games. Haven't been to Arsenal or Spurs stadiums though. While you might well see an improvement in "atmosphere " I think sooner or later that atmosphere will turn pear shaped.. No other sport I am aware of wants or needs standing crowds for atmosphere, in my opinion, neither does football. Time will tell, it always does, and I hope I'm wrong.
It's just some journalist's opinion mate you dont need to belive it or repeat it but if it's your view then fine but i'm going on record to say you are completely wrong on this. The only troubles nowadays are outside the grounds.The standing areas will have no influence what happens after the game The standing areas are being trialled in home areas only and will never be allowed in the opposition areas, lets not even talk about cctv that can identify anyone in the ground chucking darts and agro is the stuff of The Championship.
No I said "look at the posts from the times" meaning press from the 60s and 70s. Not difficult, and full of evidence of extreme violence at football matches with standing areas generating tribal behaviour, which has not been repeated in seating areas in 30 years. Gordon Strachan showed a famous picture of a a spectator with a dart stuck in his forehead, for the disbelievers. The anger fuelled by this simplistic post shows that the problem is not the stadium, or current modern venues, but the volatility and very short fuses of supporters who simply won't acknowledge human behaviour at football matches as predictable.
Only that I am not unfamiliar nor uninformed about venues as you suggest, nor that I don't have a valid point of view because I no longer live in Chelsea. Yes Iv'e been to away games, but not at Spurs nor Arsenal since their upgrades. As someone who rates your posts, this seems more angry than required? I hate the idea of standing areas, backward looking, macho bullshit in my opinion, but not most posters. That's fine , I like being in the minority, that's where all the good ideas originate, never the majority.. Next topic ?
I completely see your point and can't attest to 60s/70s/80s as it was before my time but in the short term I get the feeling fans are just happy to be back in stadiums, there doesn't seem to be an appetite for the type of violence we've seen in the past or recently at the Euros.
Every football fan from our era knows that pic, it was from Liverpool Manchester United Feb 78, nothing to do with Chelsea whatsoever. Where do you access a database of articles from The Times from 60s and 70s by the way? Do you need a Times subscription? Is there a firewall
I was unfortunate enough in my teens to witness violence on a rather sickening scale. Birmingham V Chelsea 1971ish Darts bottles and a man with his face almost hanging off dressed in the clockwork orange outfit still screaming for more violence, we will take your end he cried. He was lucky he never died from loss of blood. I know what CP is worried about but it will not happen inside the PL stadiums again.
…….these days you’ve got to go through many hoops and pay a lot of money to watch Chelsea home and away. I remember when you could get into Chelsea games for a few quid pay on the day in the late 70s, early 80s, with no questions asked about who you were - unlike today where there is CCTV and heavy Policing and Stewarding. I really can’t see the trouble of the 70s and 80s returning for those reasons.