Did anyone see the letter in the WO from somebody called "Ken Connolly" basically complaining about the fans standing up throughout the game... and the swearing etc? Now you might think fair enough but he was writing as somebody who sits in the Rookery. Well as the main stand for home supporters you are going to get such behaviour- even if its a bit frustrating and not acceptable for some. I am sure he would be better suited to going into one of the other 3 stands. Said he was going to report the club to the relevant authorities - not sure that will help his case
It's an attitude like this that has made me attend fewer matches (amongst other things) - not only do these people sit there making no noise as if they're at the opera, but then they complain about people who stand, shout, swear and generally let off a bit of steam. Watching football live has to be an emotional event - there is no other reason for going to a match - you might as well watch it on the TV otherwise. If this man has such a problem, then he really needs to look at himself and ask himself why he goes to football at all. If he still wants to go, sit there like a lemon and clap politely whenever somebody (presumably either side) scores, then he should investigate a part of the ground where such behaviour is normal. Or else stay at home, watch Sky and then whinge on about how much footballers are paid these days.
There's a difference between letting off steam and pure obnoxiousness. Football should be exciting to watch but to ban anyone who wants to sit and enjoy it is equally wrong. WFC has always been a family club and as such welcomes everyone from children to the near insane! So that means as a fan I'm free to support my team enthusiastically but I should show consideration for those around me too. I'd rather small children, for example, weren't subjected to violent loud-mouthed abuse and I don't think it's good enough to say if we don't like it we should go elsewhere. What makes me sick is the brainless loud mouths who think they have a right to make everyone else's life a misery...not to mention the criticism of UR fans by those who don't even bother to go to matches. The Sky-watchers advising those of us who continue to turn up despite distance, old age and cost to join them on the sofa? I watched football in the 1950s...50,000 mostly working class men shouting, shaking rattles, letting off steam. They took great care of us kids, seeing us down to the front, minding their language, making sure we left the ground safely. There were plenty among them who stood quiet too...no-one tried to turn them into pariahs. I'd like to think all types are still welcome, even though voices on here sometimes suggest otherwise.
i had people over from the us that i wanted to take to the vic my son in law and his 2 sons aged 7 and 9 so i booked front row upper rous . wfc now has 3 new fans buying gear online every year and watching all live games shown in tv here
Yes I fully agree all fans should be respected as such regardless of what they want to to do (so long as its legal) Would say sometimes the swearing can be too much but you will get that in an area full of younger kids and adults and probably people full of drink... Maybe the Rookery isn't the place for him...now we have the Family stand (SEJ) the club could offer him seats there?
I think the Rookery End should be raucous and, within the law, dare I suggest, hostile? Not a place for the faint hearted nor for young children as that is what the Family Stand is for. The UGT has some pretty passionate fans but not sat together, ditto the LGT. The EJS could probably be more like the Family Stand.
The Rookery is a place for atmosphere. I remember the days when it was partitioned and they were the best times with inter club banter. If folk want quiet we've always had a family enclosure and now we have the Sir Elton John stand as well I'm sure the door mice can find somewhere to sit quietly with their ear muffs on reading their paper whilst the fans enjoy being fans.....
My particular voice has not suggested that this person should be banned or turned into a "pariah". I wouldn't want to ban anyone from coming to Vicarage Road, but they must consider that they are attending a football match, not the ballet. To sit in the Rookery, presumably for match after match, and then complain about the standing and the language is to my mind just plain ludicrous. I am also not suggesting that "obnoxiousness" should be tolerated for a minute. If someone consistently swears throughout a game, or is deliberately offensive then they should politely be told to shut up or offer something constructive in their shouting. If this doesn't work, then there are the stewards obviously. If this person is so against people (in their thousands) showing excitement and emotion, then they have the option to go elsewhere in the ground where folks are calmer - three quarters of the crowd, I suggest. For people with small children (who probably have heard everything anyway these days) they should seriously consider that if it is harming the little ones, then they should indeed look at sitting elsewhere - you are not going to stop hundreds, nay thousands of fans all from swearing for every moment - it's simply not realistic. Even to have this debate must appear to most other clubs' football fans as bizarre and reinforce the idea that us Hornets are delicate, happy-clappy blossoms. Can you imagine Leeds fans discussing this?
I don't like people standing - one of the best things that ever happened for short people like me was affordable seating so I can actually see the match I have paid to watch. However I see nothing wrong if the club wanted to issue guidelines to the effect they will turn a blind eye to people in some areas - the Rookery is an excellent choice - who want to be a little more "active" and vocal". After all their are 4 sides to our ground !! Excessive swearing is something that should be discouraged - however I suspect our children are subjected to as much in their own playgrounds.
Good point about help those vertically challenged folks to see the game, although "affordable seating" is relative of course! If we were to (re)introduce "safe standing" areas then standing in an "all-seater" stand should not be permitted - it is the lack of choice that is a major problem.
I wonder just who are the relevant authorities. The Standing-up-at-a-football-match Nazis - the Noise Nazis - the Swearing Nazis - the 'Orrible Oaf Ombudsman? Surely to God he won't complain to the police - they have enough real crime to attend to without having to deal with someone who can't apply commonsense to his problem and simply move to another part of the ground...
I like to sit at games now and can do without some of the more "passionate" interventions so I sit in the LGT. It's great to have distinct stands that cater for most tastes.
It's "stand uppers" versus "sit downers" the fans are split we have the old guard that are dead quiet eat tangerines, cup cakes who abhore any kind of passionate noise to the new wave of younger louder and stand up supporters. I am a stand upper in the LGT which makes me enemy number 1 to the sit downers and I regularly have confrontations with the downers. I utterly refuse to be quiet and will continue to stand up when play gets exciting
This is the point - there should be some areas of the ground where people who want to stand and sing can do so without reservation - and others where the sitters can do their thing (they are Hornets as well). And if you're in the wrong part of the ground then you just have to live with it. I want areas brought back where I can have a *** at halftime
Cologne, I have no idea why but I wouldn't have had you down as a smoker. I don't mind most aspects of the smoking laws but do wish there was somewhere to go at half time. When you are next over we should have a demo!
Certainly no return to allowing that foul smelling weed! If I had my way that would go for vaping too. In your own home carry on, in the streets too. But not in the ground and adjacent to a hospital.
Fez...how does it disturb you if smoking is allowed in some corner of the stadium at half time ? I mean you don't have to go there and breath it in if you don't want. Also, what does the proximity to a hospital have to do with it ? As a smoker I have always considered the lungs of non smokers (without the law telling me to do it) - which is a lot more than eg. car drivers have ever done for me because never once has a car driver ever got out of his car and asked me if I have an objection to breathing in his fumes.
You couldn't be more wrong as far as I am concerned yv. I am one of the old guard and when I attend a game I am far from "dead quiet", never eat food, (never mind tangerines or cup cakes) in the ground, love as much passionate noise as possible (to which I contribute as long as my voice holds out) and have noticed many a "younger fan" sitting there on their hands without uttering a peep. I do not mind if folks in front of me stand up in the Rookery - then I stand up myself to see. Having been a regular in the days of open shallow terracing and the greyhound track, with the minutest of atmospheres most games, I revel in the closeness to the pitch we now have. I consider standing, shouting (but not necessarily constant swearing) to be all part and parcel of going to a game these days.
I don't know much about you, Aberdeen and I'd hesitate to insult everyone who lives in the granite city. Dormice? Ear muffs? Reading the paper? You clearly don't sit there every week. It's exactly critics like you that make me sick.
