Interesting discussion in the Hamburg vs St Pauli thread.
So.. while I do understand not everyone likes pyro stuff, I'm a bit curious a lot of people seem to think that the often almost quiet supporter culture is seen by some as a good or at least acceptable thing.
People make fun of German fan culture where a lot of the teams supporters sing and jump for 90 minutes. "They dont care what happens on the pitch", they say, which is of course utter bullshit. Watching Brighton I hear more booing than singing, is that the common feeling about how supporter culture should be?
I understand that football sort of makes people a bit nationalistic. You dont want to admit your own football culture got flaws. And I imagine the people who can afford to go to games these days come from a class that call the authorities if kids laugh too much in the playground, but still... doesnt it sound the least bit exciting to be part of 30, 40 or 50 000 people passionately singing about your team for 90 minutes?
I remember about ten-fifteen years or so a lot of people reacted to how supporter culture in the UK was changing. This seems to be completely dead now. People have accepted the modern PL (and Championship for that matter), they seem to have accepted that 3000 away fans from Czech Republic, Sweden or wherever for 90 minutes can outsing the home team in European games.
The general mentality seems to be "oh look at our world class league, so good, so perfect, its the Mona Lisa of football. That singing, drumming, pyro burning, the banners in other countries... barbaric bullshit". Well I'd like to tell you this: watching a game at Westfalenstadion, Cruyff Arena or likewise is a pretty ****ing nice experience.
To older fans, I'm curious about how you feel the atmosphere has changed over the years, because while English football fans have never been the most passionate or loud, there surely used to be more life, more lively singing and less dead, wealthy tourists. Do you feel something has gone missing, or do you feel it doesnt matter since the football on the pitch has become better and better?
So.. while I do understand not everyone likes pyro stuff, I'm a bit curious a lot of people seem to think that the often almost quiet supporter culture is seen by some as a good or at least acceptable thing.
People make fun of German fan culture where a lot of the teams supporters sing and jump for 90 minutes. "They dont care what happens on the pitch", they say, which is of course utter bullshit. Watching Brighton I hear more booing than singing, is that the common feeling about how supporter culture should be?
I understand that football sort of makes people a bit nationalistic. You dont want to admit your own football culture got flaws. And I imagine the people who can afford to go to games these days come from a class that call the authorities if kids laugh too much in the playground, but still... doesnt it sound the least bit exciting to be part of 30, 40 or 50 000 people passionately singing about your team for 90 minutes?
I remember about ten-fifteen years or so a lot of people reacted to how supporter culture in the UK was changing. This seems to be completely dead now. People have accepted the modern PL (and Championship for that matter), they seem to have accepted that 3000 away fans from Czech Republic, Sweden or wherever for 90 minutes can outsing the home team in European games.
The general mentality seems to be "oh look at our world class league, so good, so perfect, its the Mona Lisa of football. That singing, drumming, pyro burning, the banners in other countries... barbaric bullshit". Well I'd like to tell you this: watching a game at Westfalenstadion, Cruyff Arena or likewise is a pretty ****ing nice experience.
To older fans, I'm curious about how you feel the atmosphere has changed over the years, because while English football fans have never been the most passionate or loud, there surely used to be more life, more lively singing and less dead, wealthy tourists. Do you feel something has gone missing, or do you feel it doesnt matter since the football on the pitch has become better and better?