Just finished listening to the Spurs/Arsenal game. Okay I know it was the Arse at the Lane and Spurs won but the noise level was amazing and the 5 Live commentators said their gantry above the Shelf Stand was vibrating with the noise with Spurs fans staying on long after the end singing and cheering their team. However, having been to Spurs a few times in recent years, while the noise levels might have been higher today, their fans stay on in far greater numbers after home games to acknowledge their team and keep the atmosphere going. The only similarities I can think of with us are whenever we beat the Jacks, the famous Leeds game and when we beat Leicester (eventually) in the play offs. Win, lose or draw we see fans leaving our stadium in droves from 10 to 12 minutes before the end of the game which only succeeds in deflating the atmosphere. They have just spent anything up to 2 to 3 hours in travelling to the ground, maybe having a pint or two or a bite to eat before the game, watching the pre-match build up (although we are seeing more people leaving it until the last minute before taking their seats), and watching the game only to disappear probably 15 or so minutes before the end once you account for added time. Why? I just don't get it. After investing 2/3 hours you run away before the most important part of the game (i.e. getting the final result) as though getting back to your car or being first on the bus or train is the most important thing - never mind our result and encouraging the team after the final whistle goes. I appreciate there are a few thousand who hang on applauding the team and waiting for Malky's trademark gesture but the total is only around 20% or a fifth for those of you not getting percentages of the total attendance. I hate to say it but the Swansea fans seem able to create much better noise levels before, during and after games in support of their side. Do we have a defeatist attitude after so many years of promise and failure? "We've been here before, we're not going to succeed so why bother?" This season has the ability to be totally different. Should we get promotion I bet they will mostly stay on after the game that gets us there, if at home. Contrast that with the support given at away games and that the 2,000 extra season tickets for next season have already been sold with, I am told, a waiting list of upwards of 500 people already who will snap up st's should any current st holders fail to renew their ticket. Are they all newbies or plastics who will disappear as quickly as they arrive if we fail to any degree next season? We are such a contradiction. We appear to have many more people wanting tickets than are available and yet the atmosphere at CCS is nowhere near as good as it good be. Some of the comments from Wurzels after their recent outing are quite valid. What do we need to do to address this? Ninian was the "Ring of Fire". We can't go back so have to make the best of what we have.
I agree BfB. It's time we transferred some of the Ninian atmosphere to the new stadium. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets annoyed when their view of the last ten minutes gets interrupted by these selfish 'supporters' leaving before the end. Maybe we should be singing Men of Harlech instead of just making a noise to the tune. That would help the atmosphere and scare off any stray zulus aswell.
ITI - I know what you mean but that's not going to happen. Family Club of the Year and all that, plus the risk of putting home and away fans close together again. We saw what happened when the Wurzels got a tad upset and decided to take it out on the Family Stand. If there had been a couple of thousand of our fans close by who felt the Wurzels were out of order then we would have had the carnage of the 70's and 80's. I can't see the club or South Wales Police considering that option and do we want to revert to netting, no go areas or other obstacles between home and away fans. In saying that it is probably only 7 or 8 clubs who bring enough fans to our place to cause any rumpus. That will change considerably should we get promoted. Also, the vocal support on the Ninian side adjacent to the away fans appears to me to have become more muted. Probably as a result of the no standing policy and Ravenelli and his cronies weeding out regular offenders who have either been banned or told to swap their seats to the Canton End. Either way we seem to have slumped into a state of general lethargy and, in reality, it is only us, the die hard fans, who can do anything to change this.
Fans are nervous, if we can win some more games and they can sense the winning post is not so far away they will raise the roof. jck
The fans seem to waiting for something to happen rather that cheering the team on to the first goal. The drawback of being top
We have a Drummer in the North Bank (East), and in fairness to him, he gets the rhythm going well, so maybe you need to bounce some ideas with your hard core of fans, anyway don't worry, because when you come up, we'll give you plenty of incentive!......
Try a bit Chopin always good for raising the spirits http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=rEX1dYyvmig
we could hire max boyce for the new rugby crowd>>>.aka swansea style leave the drummer in the car park>>>>what a sad european way 2 drag some noise out . lets be honest football`s been sanitised and thats where the atmospheres gone
Sadly since we left Old Nin the old guard have been dispersed all around CCS in pockets. The Canton and top end of The Ninian work their balls off to get an atmosphere going. Around me mid Ninian (Bob Bank) small groups of us try to stimulate others but are looked upon as if we have two heads. The vast majority are there to cheer goals, anything less and they sit and clap politely. Modern all seater stadiums have a lot to answer for. We have lost our identity in so many ways.
Agreed ITI But taking Tottenham as an example, their ground is all seated (as are most Prem and Championship grounds), is effectively a bowl as there are no open corners and they generate strong vocal support from all parts of the ground - maybe not so much from the grandstand, however, the noise from the other 3 areas more than makes up for this. I suppose it helps that they get a minimum of 98%+ full seats for most home Prem games compared to our 85%. That will improve for us if we go up next season provided those who buy st's actually turn up. For us the Ninian and Canton do their best and some in the Family Stand try but the number of regularly empty seats there does not help the cause. There needs to be an injection of enthusiasm from somewhere to improve the atmosphere. I am in Aisle 114 in the Ninian, albeit in Row G close to the front, in the splash zone. As you say there are pockets around us who try to get things going. We need more of that and maybe it will encourgae others to join in.
I think some of the perceived lack of volume is due to the old v new stadia. If you look at old places like spurs, although thoroughly modernised, they are in restricted areas and the stands are more vertical in their seating arrangements, the whole ground more closed in. this will be a large contributing factor to the noise levels. Examples of other places in restricted areas are St James Park, Old Trafford, Boelyn Lane, all places where people comment on the noise levels. (Just like a full Millennium Stadium) That said it could be louder If they put another tier on the CCS you will notice a difference as the extra height closes it in more. The rise in noise level will seem out of proportion to the extra people.
I'm guessing you have the same problem as us at Hull City, with the lack of atmosphere. With us it's down to the main singers at Boothferry Park have now got seats which are more spread out, across the three different stands- maybe to be with families. Therefore, there's a lack of cohesion now with people that want to stand and sing and be more vocal to those, who want to stay seated. Problem is nobody has done anything about it and it's 10 years down the line from when the KC opened- so it might be a while for you lot to get it right. Unless your supporters clubs are better at working with your clubs fans liason manager. We also don't get alot of away fans, so banter between the two tends to be dead. Drums and goal music should be frowned upon. I can't stand going to grounds that have them.
Golaccio Probably right. The problem has been compounded at ours by a strictly enforced no permanent standing policy apart from 2 or 3 blocks behind the goal at the home end. Fans who persistently stand in the Ninian Stand (the other main area of home support) have been threatened with ejection, cancellation of season ticket and black listing. I know some have been ejected but whether the other threas have been carried out I don't know. I appreciate there are some valid reasons for wanting no standing areas but, as you say, there has to be some dialogue between the club and fans to find a best fit situation to keep most happy. I can say with certainty however that if it all comes down to the last game of the season to decide auto promotion places there will be no shortage of Cardiff fans visiting the KC. Likely to be a pretty good atmosphere that day.
Modern buildings are made to soften noise levels, if you had the old Ninian Park bob bank roof it would echo the sound.
The Swans don't seem to have that problem DJR. Also, their roof seems to extend further out over the pitch than ours so has the effect of keeping more noise within. And they don't get as bloody wet as me!!!
Acoustics, hear it all the time when going to places like the CCS. What does it mean? Ask a musician!
