Mr Donald, please move the away fans back to the South Stand

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gipetto said:
It's not, I think the only way it could work is if they had another campaign to try and create a group of like-minded fans that wish to stand in the same section and sing. They probably have to be at the front of the stand to create a visible presence like the Palace fans at Selhurst. The main chanters in the Roker End are right at the very back. Currently it's not working so needs more thought.

Personally I think an acoustic assessment needsundertaking and they should seek recommendations on how best to carry the noise throughout the ground. Perhaps nothing can be done, but it should at least be investigated further.
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The palace ultras stuff is shit , totally contrived , as is the roker end name ,a safe standing area may help , I just find it all a bit cringeworthy , singing sections , safe standing
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
No, what I'm saying that there has never been much singing from areas at the side of the pitch. At Roker, at lot of the atmosphere came from the Roker and Fulwell bouncing chants back and forth. I would say that, in general, there is less singing since all-seat stadia came in. One of the arguments in favour of safe standing.
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Cobblers. The Roker Wing Main Stand rocked with singing in the 70’s and 80’s. You don’t know because you were never at the games. You were restricted to Charles Harrison on Metro in your kitchen.
 
millfield ftm said:
The palace ultras stuff is shit , totally contrived , as is the roker end name ,a safe standing area may help , I just find it all a bit cringeworthy , singing sections , safe standing
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How about trialling a stand where your ticket doesn't come with a seat number so people can sit where they want and group together if they want to sing. Almost a singing section but without the club contriving it.
 
I have to agree to an extent I feel like putting the away fans the opposite end of the stadium and up a height and then the "singing stand" at the other end always thought that having the main noisy fans from us and the away fans miles away means you lose out.

When away fans are in the south stand you have them flanked either side by people who wanted to sing and the North stand had plenty singers in to create noise too. Created a bit more of an atmosphere throughout the ground.
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
No, what I'm saying that there has never been much singing from areas at the side of the pitch. At Roker, at lot of the atmosphere came from the Roker and Fulwell bouncing chants back and forth. I would say that, in general, there is less singing since all-seat stadia came in. One of the arguments in favour of safe standing.
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I agree on most of your points. Both ends at Roker were priced lower than the seated areas, something which carried over to the SoL. I'm guessing there were some significant demographic factors influencing the choice of location within both grounds.

An observation from Roker, the Clock Stand paddocks in the late '80s and early '90s were often vocal, perhaps in response to the away support being within spitting distance.

Safe standing is a whole other debate.
 
Fi Lo Beddow said:
How about trialling a stand where your ticket doesn't come with a seat number so people can sit where they want and group together if they want to sing. Almost a singing section but without the club contriving it.
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Safe standing has to be dealt with ,it's crazy that people stand week in week out but pay seat prices ,ss areas need to be installed asap , I used to stand in the traditional terraces but would rather sit now , but we need to be adult about this , it's nearly impossible to make people sit down , ss areas should be Put in place
 
pele said:
Cobblers. The Roker Wing Main Stand rocked with singing in the 70’s and 80’s. You don’t know because you were never at the games. You were restricted to Charles Harrison on Metro in your kitchen.
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:lol:

Block C was one of the best parts of the ground.
 
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millfield ftm said:
The palace ultras stuff is shit , totally contrived , as is the roker end name ,a safe standing area may help , I just find it all a bit cringeworthy , singing sections , safe standing
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It's not shit at all as it's served a purpose. I'm not saying we have to copy them but they have helped improve the atmosphere in their ground.

It's also not contrived as it's fan-led.

millfield ftm said:
Safe standing has to be dealt with ,it's crazy that people stand week in week out but pay seat prices ,ss areas need to be installed asap , I used to stand in the traditional terraces but would rather sit now , but we need to be adult about this , it's nearly impossible to make people sit down , ss areas should be Put in place
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I agree safe-standing should be introduced, but if fans stand already, it will have no effect on the atmosphere.

The only way it could is if areas were unsllocated and fans could stand wherever they like. I believe Man Utd away fans do this when they travel away and it shows.

Cuddles said:
I have to agree to an extent I feel like putting the away fans the opposite end of the stadium and up a height and then the "singing stand" at the other end always thought that having the main noisy fans from us and the away fans miles away means you lose out.

When away fans are in the south stand you have them flanked either side by people who wanted to sing and the North stand had plenty singers in to create noise too. Created a bit more of an atmosphere throughout the ground.
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Posters on here were booting off about it on a weekly basis.
 
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dred said:
You cant swap them round as you have the sports bar at the back, plus that would mean chasing fans who are already seated in the North Stand. I was sat at the back of the North Stand but had to move to the South Stand to accommodate the fans in the Sports Bar.
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Yeh true. Probably too far gone now but it's far from perfect as it is. Wonder how away fans rate their visit?
 
biilymack said:
If they sold Costa Coffee at the SOL I wouldn't need my flask.They should also turn the seats round to facing the away fans in your proposed corner so you and your pillocks won't go home with a 'Rik in you neck'
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You didn't take much outing! Bet you have secret flasking sessions under the blankets anarl
 
gipetto said:
It's not shit at all as it's served a purpose. I'm not saying we have to copy them but they have helped improve the atmosphere in their ground.

It's also not contrived as it's fan-led.



I agree safe-standing should be introduced, but if fans stand already, it will have no effect on the atmosphere.

The only way it could is if areas were unsllocated and fans could stand wherever they like. I believe Man Utd away fans do this when they travel away and it shows.



Posters on here were booting off about it on a weekly basis.
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I crave for the old style terrace grounds , with standing prices , standing in seating areas is not the same , never will be , as for atmosphere at sunderland it will return of the football allows but the atmosphere at roker which blanchflower referred to will probably never return
 
Grumpy Old Man said:
No, what I'm saying that there has never been much singing from areas at the side of the pitch. At Roker, at lot of the atmosphere came from the Roker and Fulwell bouncing chants back and forth. I would say that, in general, there is less singing since all-seat stadia came in. One of the arguments in favour of safe standing.
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Tbf some of the more vocal parts of roker in its latter days were in the clock stand paddocks and the roker wing of the main stand (mainly the seated area).
 
wigwams said:
Yeh true. Probably too far gone now but it's far from perfect as it is. Wonder how away fans rate their visit?
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Probably say its rubbish, the same as we call each ground we visit;):lol:

Just get the team to attack the South Stand second half. Problem solved.
 
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Wise Man Says said:
I was never a fan of away fans behind the goal. That’s a prime area, it should be a home end. I used to hate us playing the Mags and them having their fans right behind their twats on the pitch. Would they give us the Gallowgate or the Leazes right behind the goal in the now developed stadium they have? No f***ing chance.

The away fans at the SOL probably should always have been given the SEC or SWC at the SOL from day one of it opening. I wouldn’t be averse to them having an area there now, but no way do I want away fans back behind the goal.
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A million per cent this. It used to piss me off hugely seeing the mag players jumping into their fans and celebrating with them right behind the goal when they scored against us. Especially when they stick us up in the gods at the shit tip. The best thing we ever done was getting rid of away fans from behind the goal. I wouldn't mind them being in the lower bowl but absolutely not behind a goal. We should kick towards our fans both halfs.
 
Is there one single person who currently has a seat in the South stand area who thinks this is a good idea? or is it just people who sit elsewhere and wont be affected by any move?

The club had to offer sweeteners to those relocated from the concourse at the start of this season and would be almost forced to offer similar sweeteners to those moved from the south stand. That would cost us money long term and it would also disperse the only buggers in the stadium who currently try to create any atmosphere.

We have just renamed the end the Roker end after a fans poll and put a mural on the wall there of some ex captains, so yes it would be a great idea to move all the Sunderland fans out and put the away fans in a prime spot behind the goal.

From the clubs point of view, they are saving money by having the concourse closed for league games unless the crowd is large. By moving the away fans down to the lower bowl, you effectively reduce the capacity of the lower bowl for home fans by 3,000 plus the extra segregation required meaning the club would then have to reopen the concourse for smaller crowds than we do now. Yesterday for e.g. would have required us to reopen the concourse requiring extra stewards and extra costs that are better spent on the team.

The suggestion would:

A) Cost the club money
B) Piss off a large number of existing season card holders
C) Disperse those few that currently try to create some atmosphere thereby making it even worse
D) Increase the support at pitch level for our opponents
E) Enable the media to position their camera men at the North Stand end and get action shots during the game with a backdrop of empty seats whenever there was a small away following. This used to happen all the time when the away fans were in the South stand and even at games when the official attendance was 46,000+ they would publish shots like this.

It's quite frankly a terrible idea with no upsides that I can see.

Presumably we would not yesterday have been able to sell an extra 1,000 tickets to Luton which has probably earned the club something like £16,000 as the away end would be 3,000 max in the South stand for league games, unless we also stopped selling season tickets either side to enable the away end to be expanded when required.

Its a mental idea that has no benefits and would cost the club money long term.

dred said:
Probably say its rubbish, the same as we call each ground we visit;):lol:

Just get the team to attack the South Stand second half. Problem solved.
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That is the correct answer. Its madness that we are still kicking the other way when the South stand became the home end what 5 or 6 years back now?
 
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pele said:
Cobblers. The Roker Wing Main Stand rocked with singing in the 70’s and 80’s. You don’t know because you were never at the games. You were restricted to Charles Harrison on Metro in your kitchen.
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For got all about that,
always a good turn out
 
Its not unreasonable to think that we would probably also need more stewards and possibly even some police, to control the away fans in the South stand, that are not currently required when the away fans are isolated on their own in an area with no home fans. There's another cost to the club with no benefit.

Yesterday we had a line of stewards separating the Luton fans from the rest of the concourse. If they were in the South stand you would need twice as many stewards as there would be segregation both sides of them and over more rows as the there are more rows in the South stand than there are in the North stand upper.

When the stadium was first built, we had to put the away fans in the lower bowl, but once the North stand extension was added, they have found their natural place. I have no doubt whatsoever that if the stadium had been built initially with the North stand extension then the away fans would have been where they are now from day one.
 
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