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

[hyperbolic]

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.

Canny bit of patter across two posts, neither of which contain a single suggestion on how to improve the atmosphere at the ground on match day.

 

[The Rat]

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.



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?

Not everything is about money mate, we ain't a bank.

Any decision should be placed on whether its better for the experience, personally I don't want them moved, but it shouldn't be based on cost

 

[KST]

Or rather the Roker End as it is now called.

The atmosphere is crap. Move the away fans back to where they used to be to generate a proper atmosphere. Get the South West Corner bouncing again. Or better still...shift away fans into the family end of the South Stand and then we could have the SWC and section of South Stand to make more noise.

Martin O'Neil pushed for the away fans to move up a height to gain an advantage. Well it's done fuck all, we lost more home games than anyone else in the football league the last 3 or 4 seasons before this one and the atmosphere is shite.

Aye lets move away fans to the part of the ground where a most people are season ticket holders. Great idea.

 

[tunstallhill]

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.

completely agree, and with your post above.

if people are that concerned about the 'lack of atmosphere' - then do something about it. i bet most of those in the south stand who sing on and off during the games, who shout and bawl all match and can't hear the away fans, don't think their is no atmosphere.

it doesnt even take people singing to drown out away fans, just needs people to be a bit more vocal. a bit more shouting and bellowing would do.

 

[Roker Mackem]

I dont really see how the away fans in the South make too much difference.

I hated it as I felt away teams had more of an incentive with the fans being right there behind the goal

 

[tunstallhill]

Move fans to se corner- tv viewers love to see the back and forth banters of home and away fans

couldnt give a fuck what people on TV think to be honest. i want SAFC to win footy matches

 

[houst69]

To be honest, it was way better when the away fans were in the South Stand

 

[Hank Scorpio]

Move fans to se corner- tv viewers love to see the back and forth banters of home and away fans

The SE corner is the family stand. It’s been all done out and families won’t be relocated. The reality is; if people really want the away fans back downstairs, they can only go in the South stand

 

[Left For Dead]

The SE corner is the family stand. It’s been all done out and families won’t be relocated. The reality is; if people really want the away fans back downstairs, they can only go in the South stand

So be it

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

Move fans to se corner- tv viewers love to see the back and forth banters of home and away fans

That area has been set aside by the club as the family corner. It has play stations and stuff there for the kids and is right opposite the fanzone which I suspect is largely used by familes. Changing that will just cost us money and all the families in there will have to be moved somewhere meaning yet more season card holders somewhere else will then have to be forcibly displaced to accommodate them.

How about we just leave things how they are and win more games?

Nobody moaned about the atmosphere when Defoe volleyed in v the mags or at the Everton game for e,g. Maybe its the poor quality of football that is the real atmosphere killer? Just a thought.

 

[tunstallhill]

Canny bit of patter across two posts, neither of which contain a single suggestion on how to improve the atmosphere at the ground on match day.

the thread isn't just about that. its about the position of the away fans in the ground, and he makes a number of very valid points. we can improve the atmosphere in loads of ways, but mainly by winning matches.

people wanting the away fans downstairs to 'improve the atmosphere' still won't join in with chants or shout their heads off, so all we have is the potential for 3000 away fans to influence their team more effectively.

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

So be it

And where do you put the current South Stand season card holders who are pretty much the only ones creating any atmosphere at all?

 

[Deleted member 37458]

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.



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?

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.



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?

B) piss off a large number of season ticket holders.
Especially ones like myself who were moved out of the back of the North Stand to make room for the Sports Bar. Remembering that the back rows were nearly all lads that had been Fulwell End lads that decided to go in North Stand as it was supposed to be the home end. Suddenly the hard core of chanters were dispersed all over the stadium. This is exactly what would happen again if it was decided to put the away supporters in the South Stand.

 

[tunstallhill]

That area has been set aside by the club as the family corner. It has play stations and stuff there for the kids and is right opposite the fanzone which I suspect is largely used by familes. Changing that will just cost us money and all the families in there will have to be moved somewhere meaning yet more season card holders somewhere else will then have to be forcibly displaced to accommodate them.

How about we just leave things how they are and win more games?

Nobody moaned about the atmosphere when Defoe volleyed in v the mags or at the Everton game for e,g. Maybe its the poor quality of football that is the real atmosphere killer? Just a thought.

exactly.

imagine that defoe game, 1-0 up and the whole second half the mags are shooting towards a goal that had 3000 of the scruffy twats behind it. not saying we wouldn't have still have won, but it certainly would make a difference.

again, if people want the atmosphere to improve, then start singing and shouting. it'll sharp catch on

 

[Left For Dead]

And where do you put the current South Stand season card holders who are pretty much the only ones creating any atmosphere at all?

North stand

 

[tunstallhill]

B) piss off a large number of season ticket holders.
Especially ones like myself who were moved out of the back of the North Stand to make room for the Sports Bar. Remembering that the back rows were nearly all lads that had been Fulwell End lads that decided to go in North Stand as it was supposed to be the home end. Suddenly the hard core of chanters were dispersed all over the stadium. This is exactly what would happen again if it was decided to put the away supporters in the South Stand.

its a shit idea, suggested only by those who want to be part of an 'atmosphere', without actually adding anything to it.

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

completely agree, and with your post above.

if people are that concerned about the 'lack of atmosphere' - then do something about it. i bet most of those in the south stand who sing on and off during the games, who shout and bawl all match and can't hear the away fans, don't think their is no atmosphere.

it doesnt even take people singing to drown out away fans, just needs people to be a bit more vocal. a bit more shouting and bellowing would do.

I only heard the Luton fans twice yesterday.

 

[Deleted member 37458]

The SE corner is the family stand. It’s been all done out and families won’t be relocated. The reality is; if people really want the away fans back downstairs, they can only go in the South stand

Why not the North Stand, that's where they park the away coaches

 

[KST]

Agree with the op. Current set up is a shambles. Away fans should be at ground level and our singing section should be North stand. Players currently run to the North Stand where the only noise comes from the away fans. There's also zero crack between the home and away fans which is shit

Why should it be the North Stand? When was the last time the North Stand made any noise?

 

[tynevalleyblackcat]

its a shit idea, suggested only by those who want to be part of an 'atmosphere', without actually adding anything to it.

Exactly. If anyone currently in the South stand thinks this is a good idea then I am all ears?

No thought not, and that's the area with the people who actually try to create an atmosphere, so yeah, lets piss them off and moved them here there and everywhere to improve the atmosphere (as voted for by people in other parts of the ground who create no atmosphere whatsoever!!). You couldn't make it up really. It makes Brexit look sensible.