Adam Dennehey WAFU manager
If there is one old tradition in the English game of football that seems to be disappearing at an alarming rate, it has to be the match day atmospheres at stadiums in my opinion.
I have been a regular spectator at Old Trafford over the last twenty plus years, and have recently been trying to get to the bottom of why the atmosphere in the English stadiums has changed so much as to my early experiences when I was a young child standing in the Stretford End with my father.
The first main contributing factor to the change in the English stadium atmosphere has to be that we now have all seater stadiums throughout the top tier of the English football.
I remember my experiences as a youngster with my dad in the Stretford end very fondly, and remember that the atmosphere was always electric, it was like being in the standing section of a concert. You would not want to be in the seating section of a rock and roll gig would you? Standing instantly creates its own atmosphere.
So I started to ask people the question, do you think that we should look at bringing back standing sections at English football games, and at least give the supporters the option to stand? And it got a mixed response.
The majority were in favour of it and agreed with me, but I also had people who were very sceptical of it, mainly explaining that their reason for disagreeing with me was the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, which resulted in the death of ninety six people, and seven hundred and sixty six injuries.
My argument was that surly we could look at bringing back ‘safe” standing areas in the lower tiers behind the goals? Many Man United away trips that I have been on result in me paying for a seat that I never use? We all stand for ninety minutes without any trouble or security issues so why could it not work? If you had a designated standing area, and purchase a ticket that corresponds with a row and a number to stand at, with a safety bar running along each row, what problems could arise?
I am also not that naive to think that this will ever be introduced back into our stadiums. It is something that would cost the clubs financially to do, and they will bring up the safety aspect of it but it has worked successfully in the German Bundesliga so why not at least consider it and get the supporters thoughts on it?
The second contributing factor to the change in the English stadium atmosphere has to be the corporate side to our football stadiums. Corporate bigwigs use our stadiums to wine and dine clients at football fixtures.
I would say the majority of these fat cats are more concerned with sealing business deals and what cheese and wine will be on the half time menu than the outcome of the teams result. This is something that worries me because our stadiums are now changing to accommodate these business men.
So how can you expect to create an atmosphere from the corporate sections of our stadiums? Simple answer, you cannot, because these are the people who tell others to sit down when they stand up in front of them from the comfort of their heated padded seats.
Roy Keane knocked the nail on the head when he addressed the problem back in 2000. Keane was quoted as saying:
“Away from home our fans are fantastic, I’d call them the hardcore fans. But at home they have a few drinks and probably the prawn sandwiches, and they don’t realise what’s going on out on the pitch.”
I always thought it was ironic that Old Trafford was given the name ‘The Theatre of Dreams’ as most of the people in the corporate section would probably be better suited to going to the theatre!
It is not just Old Trafford that suffers this problem, Chelsea, Liverpool and Arsenal all spring to mind. Our football clubs are well aware that these are the people who they make the most revenue off each season, so looking at it money is another big factor on how our stadium atmosphere has changed. Many dedicated fans are being put off by rising ticket prices that will continue to rise with the rise in players wages.
Unfortunately this is the way that the English game has turned out to be, it’s a rich man’s playground, and billionaire owners are buying clubs as play things. But as the price of season tickets increases every season, the demand to watch football is still strong and attendances are not affected. It is just the clientele that is attending the games that has changed, and that has had a massive decline in our stadium atmosphere.
So to sum this up, your average working class person is now being priced out of going to watch the team that they are so passionate about, by corporate bigwigs who sit on padded seats, eat prawn sandwiches, and could not care less if the team win, lose or draw.
All that matters to them is that their business meeting, at our football stadium is successful and that the wine and cheese board was up to their usual high sophisticated standards.
By Kevin Ashford @kevinashford7
