I'm all up for singing and creating an atmosphere - fantastic - go for it!
HOWEVER - when you get to situations like Barnsley away last season (Linz, was it you that also brought that up?) that just takes the piss. It's not a friendly atmosphere, it doesn't make anyone feel like Blades together, it feels like Blades & idiots. (For the record, I'm not saying this is the aforementioned group, I've no idea who they were)
I remember your original post after the Barnsley match Sam, and remember the points that you made, and after reading this thread i think there valid points from all sides.
I was also at the barnsley match and it was my daughters first away match, and without knowing got tickets at the front left corner about 10 feet from the Barnsley Fans. This was a fantastic atmosphere and if nothing else was a baptism of fire for my daughter, especially after being herded from the station by the police and walking to the ground surrounded by a huge proportion of the away support all singing their hearts out. This alone took me back to what i remember of matches when i was younger.
Yes the atmosphere has reduced alot from those times and the atmosphere increasing would be welcomed by me. But by that same account there has to be consideration to others. If someone doesnt want to stand and sing, then thats upto them. As sam has said, noone can be slated for not supporting our team simply by not singing, if they werent supporting the team then they wouldnt have paid the money they have (Which at the moment for many is not alot) by being there in the first place.
Swearing is a contentious subject in itself. For me personally, and as i was discussing with one member here on the walk to the ground on tuesday, i dont particularly have an issue with swearing during matches within moderation. I take my daughter to all the home matches i can when she is with me, and to this extent i knowingly understand that i cant possibly stop everyone around me from swearing. For this reason i dont "Usually" mention it and have taken the stance that as long as she doesnt hear it from me, then she has no defence in using said words that she is likely to hear. On the flip side i DO take exception to the few and far between that are incapable of uttering a sentence without using "f*****g" and the like. At the Port Vale match I encountered four such idiots, all of which couldnt say more than three words without one of them being some incarnation of the above, and so i took exception to this. Funilly enough they didnt come back in the second half and sat elsewhere. If something happens on the pitch that gets you riled, and you strongly object to them by all means fill your boots.
For me the atmosphere follows the game, and to be more specific, the incidents on the pitch. Tuesday was the perfect example. The first half was relatively mute by all accounts, but the second was a different thing entirely. We all complain about the officials performance, and i agree they were shocking, but without their inept performance the atmosphere wouldnt have raised like it did. Everyone was getting increasingly angry and as a result the atmosphere increased.
If these "ultras" are aiming at increasing the atmosphere then fine, but they need to be very careful that what they are proposing doesnt get marred by firstly the name, and secondly a choice few that see this as a pathway back to what they understand as the glory days. Believe me they werent glorious at all.
