About a month ago a friend of mine told me he had a spare ticket to a PSG game, and would I be up for it? I said yes, and was excited to hear the spare ticket was for PSG vs Valencia, in the Champions League...last night. So off I went to the Parc des Princes for an 8.45 kick off. En route, I thought that as well as hopefully enjoying a good game of football, I might try and observe anything new/different that they do that might work for my beloved Rangers. These are my observations; Firstly, the stadium is fantastic. Nestled in-between a few blocks of flats the stadium is directly on top of the Peripherique (M25 equivelant) and has a good amount of space around it. Getting in wasn't a problem, queues were about 5 minutes, and once inside it is spacious and lots of room for refreshment stands, toilets and program stands. The capacity is just under 50,000, which I'd imagine is slightly bigger than what QPR would need, but we can dream for the future! Then we got in and got to our seats; The view was fantastic. I managed to get pretty good seats, but even so, you get the impression that with the design of the stadium there isn't really a bad seat in the place. I got to my seat to find a red piece of flimsy plastic on my chair. Everyone had one...at as the players walked out they were met by a stadium full showing their bits of plastic to show the PSG colours running round the stadium. Couldn't help but think that walking out of a stadium to sea of blue and white hoops surrounding you would be brilliant...both at raising the spirits and intimidating the opposition. Then, to add to the intimidation, when the teams were read out, the announcer read the first names of all the PSG players (sadly Beckham was on the bench and remained there throughout) but he only read the first names...and the crowd bellowed back surnames of all the players. This both showed support for each PSG team member, but it also utterly belittled the Valencia players when their names were read normally to a quiet cheer from the few away supporters in one corner of the ground. Then we kicked off, and as well as having the brilliant view, we had video replays of all the key moments on the big screens, plus highlights of the other champions league game at half-time. The game itself was pretty scrappy in the first half, then after half time Valencia's Jonas scored a really good goal, and it all got a bit nervous. Then PSG equalised through a scrappy goal by Lavezzi; It finished 1 all, with PSG progressing to the next round. Also worth noting it was good to see Parejo again. Nearly cheered the 'wonder kid from Real Madrid' but he was on the wrong side. He played well, good on the ball and always looking for an attacking pass. He probably picked up most of his ability from playing with Gavin Mahon when at Rangers... So...lessons from PSG for me are firstly that you can have a dome style stadium that fits more people in and generate a very good atmosphere. I don't think there would be enough space for a running track and so we were only a little further from the pitch, but the two ends are certainly a lot further away, but it didn't seem to have an adverse effect on the atmosphere, and if anything it meant we had a better view of the pitch. I'm sure if QPR built a dome style stadium and filled it, the atmosphere would take care of itself. Secondly, the little things they did to welcome their own players, must have been intimidating for their opposition. I know we do our bit at Loftus Road, but it's mostly the fans. The stadium announcer seemed to be up for it at PSG as well. A great night out...not the excitement I get when watching QPR, but I would say that as two inner city clubs, there are certainly things we can learn from PSG and their set up. COYRS!!!!!
That's a great write up Dave. I enjoyed your insights into what the Rs can become, in terms of the Stadium and the matchday experience. I like the idea of reading out the players name and the crowd shouting out the surname.
Great write up, thanks for that. Sounds like you had a good night out. Love the idea of 5 min queues to get in too.
Nice one Dave. That's the Parc de Princes isn't it? Will always be associated with rugby union for me, didn't even realise PSG have been there 40 years....
Thanks Dave! PSG have always been my favourite French team, and working for a French Company I've met quite a few likeable PSG fans down the years!
Good write up Dave. Having seen Parejo do very little when he was with us ( except, admittedly, for the odd flash of quality), it's typical that he's excelling now he's left- I bet Granero does the same
Great write up there mate. Enjoyed reading that. I really hope QPR do ask the fans about things like the new stadium. I have e-mailed Phil Beard about it numerous times but have never had a response. Would be a shame if the fans didnt get a decent input.
I've made sure my mate who works for the club knows what we want. Its his fault if we get an SMS type stadium!
Exactly. Being an architecture student who wants to get into the stadia side of things in the future I spoke to Phil Beard at the Sponsors Evening last season about me getting involved in the process. He told me to e-mail him regularly, which I have, but have had zero response so far which is very disappointing. Seems like a great opportunity to me!
If it's done into what is already a good atmosphere then it can work. In England we play the stadium music too loudly for any atmosphere to get going pre-match so doing stuff like that inevitably sounds naff, and dare I say it americanised.
This is so true at Lotus Road. The music is stupidly loud before the game. Can't here the crowd at all.
Point taken. I wished I had self moderated now, I knew I didn't really agree with it but hit send anyway. I just felt that I had to respond to something in DaveR's terrific post. I didn't think it would really get picked up, but what with so many super-eyed hawks on here I shoulda known better.
Palace have stolen cheerleaders from the US, the name thing from Germany, banners and the "ultras" (snigger) from Italy. Its all very tacky and embarrassing. Next think you know they will haver a bloke on a megaphone! I like our music now weve starting playing Metallica, ACDC and GnR. Not some cheesy pop. Im hoping it gets heavier, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory etc Really blast that at the away fans.
