That was fun. Probably not so much for the women, kids, old people or non-reprobates but football is made for stadia like little Griffin Park, not warehouses on retail parks somewhere near Coventry, Cardiff or Derby.
Bet you had plenty of room around you. Old style terraces when packed like sardines were both brilliant and terrifying. I’ve done safe standing in Europe a few times and really like it. And unsafe standing at Dynamo Dresden which was epically good.
We have standing in the lower leagues up here, and I love it - a much better atmosphere than being cooped up in a seated stand. My local team, Morton are in the Championship, and although the crowds average 2-2.5K, most are in the terracing, with only one stand all-seater and the crowd do generate far more noise than when seated at some away games in all-seater stadiums. When the Old Firm come to visit on cup days their fans love the old style of stadium that Cappielow is, and when it's rammed for those games the atmosphere is electric - bring it back down there.....
No actually Stan I didn't have much room...we sold out standing room too I actually asked Simon if he was clapping ironically as I had no idea Ingram's had save the penalty. I saw only bits and pieces of match...mostly Bidwell in the first half and wzolech in the second. Standing was not made for 5 foot 1 women Sent from my STF-L09 using Tapatalk
Have you ever been in a properly rammed terrace Beth? I remember the Cup Final in 82 when you literally couldn’t move from about 45 minutes before kick off. If we had safe standing it wouldn’t be compulsory to use it, unlike the compulsory sitting down we have at the moment, even in seats which are built for children like we have at LR. Unless you sit with Ninesy, in the kids section, where there is plenty of leg room.
Yes I have been in rammed standing Stan. Liverpool vs QPR 1976, both FA Cup finals 1982 and Wales vs England rugby.....and a few other random places. I did not feel safe and I couldn't see buggerall.. Yesterday we sold out but it was not rammed due to the different safety constraints we now have It was the only ticket I could get yesterday and was glad I got it..(yup my marbles are going) But standing doesn't work for everyone (me and other vertically challenged people), but agree we need choice... I would not choose it..but each to their own
I recall being incredibly crammed on the terraces at the old Lansdowne Road. I was too pissed to be concerned at the time, but thinking back later it could have been very dangerous. If the crowd moved you had to go with it, sometimes almost losing your feet. I'm in favour of safe standing though.
I was in the Loft in Jan 1974 when the R's beat ManU 3 -0, and George Best played his last game for them. From memory, the crowd was 33,000 that day. No control when each goal went in, you just went with the flow... A couple of months later, Leeds came to LR and the attendance was 35,000, the biggest ever.
I hope we never go back to the stupid days Plus not sure English culture could take it nowadays as they can’t handle personal space issues anymore. I would never take a child into a football stadium and expect them to stand ... horrific deaths also ... seats only imo
Many of us in the seats went downstairs in the 2nd half, so limited was the leg room. Maybe the experience will be more pleasurable when we eventually win again there unless they get promoted and we see them in their new ground.
I was at both those games and it was like sardines. When the crowd surged you just literally lifted off. It happened at quite a few big games in the mid 70s and I wouldn't like to see anything that dangerous again but the German system looks pretty decent and is better than standing amongst seats...
Most stadiums in Germany have some standing areas - there are a few exceptions. At Cologne they have room for about 8,000 standing in the home end and 4,000 in the away end - this from a ground capacity of 50,000. It definitely adds to the atmosphere on match days, but has the disadvantage that these parts of the ground have to be restructured for European games (for Cologne every 20 years or so !). Entry to stand is 10 Euros and the cheapest seats are around 25 Euros. If you add to this by saying that public transport to the ground is free within the City and surrounding areas for anyone who has a ticket - the same as it would be for theatre, concerts or any other cultural event - yes, football is seen as culture in Germany. There is also no problem with beer in the stadium, and still some smoking areas. All in all not a bad deal. If you don't feel safe standing then don't do it - simple as that.
