Honest discussion about the atmosphere

[diplomat]

Have we forgotten how to be loud after the awful depressing seasons in the prem? Some games it gets going, normally when the ref is crap and it seems like going against us or if the opposition are shithousing and then there are some games like last night when it’s really flat - you can sense it even before kick off. It’s not just us though is it - most grounds that you visit are fairly quiet. The ones that stand out as seeming to be quite loud are Leeds and Newcastle.

Agreed I love a shit ref, gets everyone going

 

[Stretch]

I started going in the Basset era and whilst it was normally a great atmosphere, I still remember a few games where it was quite and all you could hear was folk moaning. Since then the only seasons I remember it being consistently raucous was the Warnock PL promotion, Clough's 1st season towards the end and especially the cup games, and Wilder seasons 1-4. Everything in between and since has felt quite flat, including now.

What I have always felt though is that we are fanbase that either needs a Blades team that is going hell for leather, or something/someone in a game that pisses us off (normally a stupid ref or a shithouse like James Maddision) before we get fired up.

But are we really any different? Very few 'big' or even 'biggish' clubs generate atmospheres like they did in the good old days. Not sure why, it's just how it seems to be. Places like Fratton Park and Kenilworth Road seem to be the exception to the rule nowadays, until you get into the real lower leagues.

 

[diplomat]

Just a central section towards the back would cure it. The kop is now fill of older people (me included) most of who sit where they used to stand and create an atmosphere, and now behave like cardboard cutouts. Those who want to build an atmospthere (and there are plenty) are pushed out in small separate sections.

A section for those who want to chant is the only way safe standing will add atmosphere. With space for non season ticket holders to be able to join it. Safe standing alone won’t change anything, it’s still an allocated seat, but with no seat, you can’t just go where you want to

 

[FriethBlade]

The club have actively stopped the atmosphere. The best atmosphere is normally generated near the away fans as you get the too and fro chanting.

Donkeys years ago you went on the JS terrace if you wanted an atmosphere and wanted to goad the away fans. It wasn't a coincidence that when the current John Street stand was built it was made a family stand to stop this behaviour. In the meantime everyone moved to G and H block which became the area to be if u wanted to sing and 'engage' with the away fans. As that 'kind of behaviour' became unacceptable various closures and measures were introduced to stop fans congregating there.

Also back ' then' it was easier to move around and sit/stand where you wanted so if you liked thst kind of atmosphere you could just move there. Nowadays you can't.

The only decent atmosphere now watching us is at away games. Even the Wednesday game will be half dead after the GCB and until something happens in the game.

 

[JJBlade]

Sitting next to a complete stranger and having to be on your quietest and most placid behaviour because you can only get one fucking ticket is another reason.

 

[FinchleyBlade]

Like I said in the other thread, it's not just United/Bramall Lane and it's not a recent thing. It goes back long before Covid - even when we were romping LG1, Championship and Prem 1st season I remember thinking how quiet it was for most of the games. The last time I remember the atmosphere being regularly good at The Lane was under Warnocks tenure. It's the same at 90% of English league grounds.

I can only put it down to a different generation of fans, working class fans being priced out, and the general sanitisation of football.

 

[Houston_Blade]

The youngsters who are in, and participating in, the more organised English Ends, Middlesbrough, Bristol City, Nottingham Forest, Crystal Palace, will be having the time of their lives.
It's self fulfilling. Get a fan set up which people love, other people will want a piece of it.

But. It's not for us ... apparently.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that a lot of the grounds where decent atmospheres are generated have away fans and home fans immediately at the side of each other. A lot of these are the newer ‘soulless bowls’ that are actually a lot more conducive to a good atmosphere than traditional grounds with ends and sides.

There’s no chance of this at BDTBL unless we shift away fans to G&H block and give home fans the shitty view from the lower BL end. It won’t happen.

 

[Blade56]

Think we’re a bit scarred from last season and ironically scared of getting promoted again.

 

[Bladezz]

I have seen this crop up a few times on here, particularly since COVID, but we need to start having a proper, open and honest discussion about the atmosphere at Bramall Lane at the moment and we need to do it without getting touchy and defensive.

I know this is quite a delicate subject because it is not a nice thing to have to admit and I think that is probably why the recent posts about this have been met with some negativity and so many excuses.

We need to come to the terms with the fact that the atmosphere at home games over the past 3/4 years has just not good enough and it is becoming borderline embarrassing.

I know people want different matchday experiences and it is not for everyone to be stood in the Kop singing for 90 minutes, and I know that many bring their young families and do not want it to be too rowdy.

But since COVID, for the most part, it has been truly awful and I think over the past year or so even the sections of the ground that have been doing their best to inject a bit of noise have slowly started to give up.

I personally want a raucous atmosphere for my matchday experience and I, like many others, probably fell in love with this club as a kid for that reason.

I know our identity as blades is built around the fact we support a proper club, with proper, honest down-to-earth, loyal fans, hailing from what I think is the best stadium in the world and I love us and our fans to bits. But the fiery cauldron, which only 9 years ago, Mauricio Pochettino described as the best atmosphere has ever experienced in England, is slowly becoming a myth that at the moment feels so far away.

I completely get that it can’t be amazing every week and when its 0-0 or cold or a midweek game it might not lend itself to being lively in the stands but since COVID I can probably count on one hand the amount of times when I have left thinking wow that was class today. And why should we only make noise when Man City are in town or when our centre half is clattering someone or the ref is bad? Or only when we are playing a brand of football we deem ‘proper’? I just don’t see it as valid to say ‘ah well we need to be entertained first…’.

What are we going to do about it? Obviously a club like ours should and would never go down the cringe faux ultras route of clubs like Boro, which is just not compatible with English fan culture in my opinion. But this issue is not going to be resolved by excuses and getting touchy about this.

I think the only solution I can see is if safe standing is brought in, which by all accounts is absolutely miles off, but at least this way, those that want this sort of matchday experience can be catered for and those that don’t can also be catered for.

Would be good to hear some honest thoughts on this.

UTB

I do agree. Atmosphere has been appalling since Covid. We would be joint top of the league on Wednesday and it was so quiet.

Back of the kop use to get things going but that seems to have stopped.

You go to some grounds like Coventry / Middlesbrough etc and the noise they make it what we use to be like.

Don’t have many a solution but it’s something we could do with addressing.

 

[Loco Blade]

We are all just waiting for it to go bang aren’t we .. For our jewels to be robbed once again at the critic moment or some cross dressing psycho to take full ownership. It’s the blades way

 

[CrookesBlade]

 

[TJB.]

Turf out anyone daft enough to sit in the wonky McCabe corner, fill it with 300 18-30 year olds who care more about the craic than the match and fill them with beer. Problem solved.

It'd also get a few of the little shits off the Kop. Everyone wins!

 

[Wapping Blade]

There were loads of “no atmosphere” games in the past, even with the standing Kop, it’s just that people forget about them.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Times are different. People (and not just the Yoof) are more inclined to post on their phones than speak to real people.
There was a survey on BBC that said 25% of under 25 year olds never pick their phone up if it rings, they'll just text back. Person-person stuff is deteriorating all over in lots of situations, lockdowns played a part as well.

 

[BiggerBladeThanThou]

I have seen this crop up a few times on here, particularly since COVID, but we need to start having a proper, open and honest discussion about the atmosphere at Bramall Lane at the moment and we need to do it without getting touchy and defensive.

I know this is quite a delicate subject because it is not a nice thing to have to admit and I think that is probably why the recent posts about this have been met with some negativity and so many excuses.

We need to come to the terms with the fact that the atmosphere at home games over the past 3/4 years has just not good enough and it is becoming borderline embarrassing.

I know people want different matchday experiences and it is not for everyone to be stood in the Kop singing for 90 minutes, and I know that many bring their young families and do not want it to be too rowdy.

But since COVID, for the most part, it has been truly awful and I think over the past year or so even the sections of the ground that have been doing their best to inject a bit of noise have slowly started to give up.

I personally want a raucous atmosphere for my matchday experience and I, like many others, probably fell in love with this club as a kid for that reason.

I know our identity as blades is built around the fact we support a proper club, with proper, honest down-to-earth, loyal fans, hailing from what I think is the best stadium in the world and I love us and our fans to bits. But the fiery cauldron, which only 9 years ago, Mauricio Pochettino described as the best atmosphere has ever experienced in England, is slowly becoming a myth that at the moment feels so far away.

I completely get that it can’t be amazing every week and when its 0-0 or cold or a midweek game it might not lend itself to being lively in the stands but since COVID I can probably count on one hand the amount of times when I have left thinking wow that was class today. And why should we only make noise when Man City are in town or when our centre half is clattering someone or the ref is bad? Or only when we are playing a brand of football we deem ‘proper’? I just don’t see it as valid to say ‘ah well we need to be entertained first…’.

What are we going to do about it? Obviously a club like ours should and would never go down the cringe faux ultras route of clubs like Boro, which is just not compatible with English fan culture in my opinion. But this issue is not going to be resolved by excuses and getting touchy about this.

I think the only solution I can see is if safe standing is brought in, which by all accounts is absolutely miles off, but at least this way, those that want this sort of matchday experience can be catered for and those that don’t can also be catered for.

Would be good to hear some honest thoughts on this.

UTB

Someone on here was in contact with the Club just this year I believe and made some in-roads about creating a better atmosphere and matchday experience.

If you feel like nothing’s changing then do it yourself. Find out the right contact at the club and book yourself a meeting with them. I’d suggest creating a pitch deck full of examples (including videos) of when you believe the atmosphere was at its best and how that type of atmosphere can help what happens on the pitch. I’d also come up with some realistic suggestions on how you believe it could be improved alongside written testimony (maybe a petition with at least 500 signatures) from fans expressing the need for things to change.

If you want action and change, be the change you want to see, be proactive.

Good luck to you, I’ll sign your petition.

 

[s20Blade]

Personly I think if you're someone that likes a good atmosphere and loves to chant and wants to be part of the solution to the current problem... then the answer is to get yourself a seat at the back of the kop and lead by example.

I currently attend with people who refuse to move seats so I'm not able to do that, but if it wasn't for them I definitely would.

Also if you sit at the back of the Kop and no longer want to get involved with the chanting, do the decent thing and start sitting elsewhere.

I don't mind joining in with abit of atmosphere but being at the back of the kop is one of the worst experiences in my life. Not been there for a good 15 years but it's like being stuck in the jobcentre when they announce the giros will be late and they are stopping the crisis loans.

Scumbag pandemonium.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

Personly I think if you're someone that likes a good atmosphere and loves to chant and wants to be part of the solution to the current problem... then the answer is to get yourself a seat at the back of the kop and lead by example.

I currently attend with people who refuse to move seats so I'm not able to do that, but if it wasn't for them I definitely would.

Also if you sit at the back of the Kop and no longer want to get involved with the chanting, do the decent thing and start sitting elsewhere.

The back of the kop is very good for noise. Problem is it isn't one area,.in terms of groups.
Very often left side and right side are singing different things over each other and both die out.
Pulling them together would help. How that's done, asking big seat blocks to move seats, I don't know.

 

[MagnifiqueShorehamStreet]

My heyday of chanting and vocally supporting the Blades was the 70’s.As a kid and teenager it was the thing I loved most about supporting the Blades, and that was a special era, Currie and all.
Gradually as I got older, the singing,had less and less to do with it, but still loved to be amongst a crowd that was noisy, and sometimes intimidating for the opposition.l guess I expected the younger ones who replaced me to do their bit.
It all changed with the all seater grounds.People who were no longer season ticket holders, could no longer rock up and stand together with other like minded, singers/chanters, and it all fell apart, to some degree.I even remember the first game on the kop, v West Ham,when it went all seater, sat behind a post, with regulars who I used to meet scattered all over the place, without anyone able to get a chant going.It definitely lost something.
When I got to my 50’s I’d feel a bit of a prat, chanting come and have a go, if you think you’re hard enough, and did the decent thing, and moved to the `South Stand.I enjoy and join in the Great Chip butty song at the start of the game and that’s it from me, except for, shouting the occasional,come on blades, and clapping.
The answer must surely be designating an area on the kop,where like minded people, probably mostly under 30, but not necessarily, can band together on a match day, and sing and be raucous if they want to.What’s wrong with that, even if it requires a bit of organisation, ultra style.We we’re organised back in the day, if more informally.You never know, I might even roll back the years, and join in with a full throated Shoreham boys, from the South Stand.
Up the Blades.

 

[CrookesBlade]

Times are different. People (and not just the Yoof) are more inclined to post on their phones than speak to real people.
There was a survey on BBC that said 25% of under 25 year olds never pick their phone up if it rings, they'll just text back. Person-person stuff is deteriorating all over in lots of situations, lockdowns played a part as well.

To be fair I’m 41 and hate speaking to anyone on the phone. At least a minute is taken up with saying “bye, cheers, bye, thanks, see you next week” and unless I have a pen I can never remember what I phoned up for.

 

[Greasy Chap Butty]

To be fair I’m 41 and hate speaking to anyone on the phone. At least a minute is taken up with saying “bye, cheers, bye, thanks, see you next week” and unless I have a pen I can never remember what I phoned up for.

Text and WhatsApp is handy to rember dates / times of things and I do the same. But in general face-face and real life communication is diminishing.
If I'm out somewhere, wife and kids will look something up in the internet about the place we are actually in. I just ask the staff. That way of living ripples out I think. It doesn't lend itself to joining in a group singing and chanting. People seem afraid to have their voice heard.

 

[sufc323]

To be fair I’m 41 and hate speaking to anyone on the phone. At least a minute is taken up with saying “bye, cheers, bye, thanks, see you next week” and unless I have a pen I can never remember what I phoned up for.

I often watch my phone ring out and text that person what's up rather than answer

 

[ColinHill]

Multiple reasons for it, phones, changes in society, ageing demographics at football, issues around sitting / standing together and tickets, culture of people going to football / indigenous population being more reserved. Then throw in football factors, become a yo-yo style club, win majority of champ games comfortably for a few years, shite in prem, style of football in general (possession based across the back) all come together to be a factor. Also, social media and people terming fan groups ala palace as sad and pathetic when actually that's what you need if you want a continuous atmosphere and backing, never quite understood the resistance in English football (as most scottish teams have a 'ultras' section) to this.

For me, section off as someone mentioned re Man U a few blocks / areas of seating and give those that want to try and create atmosphere the chance to do so

 

[Snake]

I don't do social media or any internet socialising at all. I look at this forum for Blades related info and news and post occasionally, if I feel I have something to add.

I hate mobile phones. Until very recently I had an old relic of a phone that was used for emergency calls and texts. Now unfortunately a phone (or mobile device) is forced upon you. Increasingly a phone is more or less essential......... match ticket is on the phone, go to a restaurant - menu and ordering is on phone, go on holiday, info and updates on the phone, etc etc etc. It's a fucking nightmare. Until a couple of years ago I went on holiday to escape the real world and have 2 weeks or whatever, completely out of the loop and living in the moment. My family knew my hotel details and would only contact me in the case of an absolute emergency. I used to go out with just cash in my pocket - if I got mugged or lost it, so what? That's life, no massive drama. Now if you lose your phone - ffs your whole life is on there.

People talk about mental health issues - ffs, you used to be able to escape all the shit in the world and live in the moment. Now kids have to be mentally alert 24/7, in case somebody is dissing them on social media or whatever. People can say what the fuck they like about life in the 70s and 80s (and of course there was shit) but life really was so much simpler then - you arranged to meet, then met, had a beer or 6, went home had your tea, then went back out. If you were late - tough, just find your mates further on in the evening. No worries.

 

[ColinHill]

Best english atmosphere ive been in recently was the play off at forest which was electric, and i went to anfield last year against arsenal and that was superb too

 

[YES Blade]

There were loads of “no atmosphere” games in the past, even with the standing Kop, it’s just that people forget about them.

Exactly this, people only seem to remember the great atmospheres in the 80s/90s and come to the conclusion that it was an amazing atmosphere every match.

Atmosphere always has been and always will be linked to what’s happening on the pitch. To expect a great atmosphere every match is frankly ridiculous.

 

[CPB]

Not a problem unique to just Sheffield United.... Welcome to 2024 football.

Absolutely this and it is a sad thing to say but it's across most if not all grounds here!

In fact what you find is away fans ours included generate more atmosphere at times than home fans do despite being outnumbered.

I always think though our issue is often due to fan expectation. For instance we have come back down after being humbled, but we also of the mindset that we are one of the better sides so we are expecting to play well, score and win most of the time so fans seem to be expectant.
It's a bit like Anfield, which is talked about as being this great atmosphere. It can be! But it won't be most of the time when they play us as they expect to just steamroller us.
But them vs Man Utd, it will be etc.

When we have our back to the wall (And actually have a fighting chance unlike last season) it brings out the atmosphere in our support at home. Equally a bad decision/player that winds us up seems to as well.

Of course big matches and derbies will also make the atmosphere much louder. I expect that to be the case on November 10th.

We all know that our support when it's loud is intimidating. It's been talked about many times by fans and players outside of our club.

I agree though safe standing on the kop for part of our support that want it could help too.

 

[The Fox]

There are a few factors that contribute to a great atmosphere.

• A good rivalry with the opponents
• A good number of Travelling support
• Something really resting on the match
• A few bust ups on the pitch
• A dodgy ref we all hate
• A close game full of tension or a absolute pasting of a rival

And so many more

As YES Blade states , expecting that for everygame just isn't realistic . Any combination of the above adds or takes away .just how football is and why we have memories of great games years or decades later .
You have to open alot of oysters to find a pearl

 

[cahill]

I think football crowds/supporters should develop naturally, organically. All the other stuff is naff and cringeworthy. Some pillock on a mic trying to rouse the crowd before kick off and half time. They’ve tried cheerleaders, ( too American).

The noise at the back of the Kop suits me fine. I’d welcome a return to standing but wouldn’t want to be corralled into a corner and forced to act like European or Crystal Palace ultras (cringe).

Force me to sit down however, and I’m done with it. I’d be off to non league, after 60 years a Blade

 

[Lord Eddard Muir]

yes because nothing changes

In which case re-read the old one and save everyone the bother.

 

[Sheffsteel]

but even during the last promotion season it was muted.

I think that's because in many matches we looked a similar standard to the opposition.
Plenty of even games.....then N'Diaye or McAtee would produce some magic....we'd score
Then for the last 20 minutes of every match we'd park the bus and limp over the finishing line with a 1-0 win.
A win is a win but plenty of times in that promotion season I wasn't convinced.
The irony is that negative "park the bus" tactic was successful and helped us squeeze out so many wins.

We've had plenty of 1-0 wins this season but we've not sat back hanging on. We've played trying to make it 2-0.

Regards atmosphere agree it's getting worse but alot depends on expectation and entertainment on the pitch.