Promise me Falmer will be NOTHING like stadium:mk

[Tesco in Disguise]

my unbridled optimism and excitement about the falmer project has been punctuated with a soupcon of trepidation after visiting the inspirationally-named stadium:mk at the weekend, and i seek words to allay my fears.

with the sporting spectacle on offer, it's difficult to view the experience with much objectivity, but i can safely say it's one of the, if not the, worst grounds i've ever visited. the albion travelled in good numbers and in the away end at, say, peterborough or brentford that number would have caused chaos. as it was, you could hear individual voices coming from the back row when stading at the front, and there would have been more atmos had the game been played on the surface of the moon.

the mcdonald's, kfc, and GIANT domino's warehouse outside the ground completed the most souless sporting arena i've ever had the misfortune to visit. thankfully, i need never go there again. falmer, on the other hand, i hope to be a virtual resident of. please reassure me that they will be world's apart.

many thanks,

TiD.

 

[Scotty Mac]

i quite like stadium mk

 

[jezzer]

some mate of mine`s been banging on that falmer is based om mks stadium but i didnt believe him and from the look of the falmer stadium so far im sure it isnt, hope not cos although ive never been, my brother said it was crap when he went there last yr.

 

[The Grockle]

The main difference at Falmer will be that the two goal ends (traditionally where the noise comes from) will have low roofs. If you look at the roof at stadium MK it’s is so far above the terracing a lot of the noise gets lost.

I’m no expert in acoustics but with Falmer’s low roofs on the South and North and the curved roofs over the East and West stand I feel the atmosphere will be far superior to stadium MK providing of course we don’t just sit there in silence.

 

[Cheeky Monkey]

The main difference at Falmer will be that the two goal ends (traditionally where the noise comes from) will have low roofs. If you look at the roof at stadium MK it’s is so far above the terracing a lot of the noise gets lost.

I’m no expert in acoustics but with Falmer’s low roofs on the South and North and the curved roofs over the East and West stand I feel the atmosphere will be far superior to stadium MK providing of course we don’t just sit there in silence.

The only problem is that those two ridiculous stands only house about one hundred and twenty two people each so there won't be much noise being generated in the first place.

 

[adrian29uk]

One of my business partners is actually a MK Dons supporter and I was invited to a corporate day out. I was sitting with the core of dons supporters and I have got to say that is a very strange experience. Most annoying I could not shout for the Albion. I would have done anything to come over to the corner, but I had to shut up.

Sitting with the MK Dons supporters they seemed clueless to me about football in general. None of them showed any real passion hence the atmosphere. It makes me wonder if these MK Dons supporters have been given too much too quickly. Let be honest, they have never had to fight for anything which is what makes a club strong.

They got a new stadium on a plate with great facilities, and I get the impression they expect to be in the premiership by now and because it has not worked out, they cannot accept this.

This is what happens when you manufacturer a club. In my opinion its going to take the MK Dons at least 20-30 years to become established and respected by other clubs. I have no respect from MK Dons whatsoever, simply because they have no history yet. Again this is not the supporters fault.

From where I was sitting I was proud to be Brighton supporter because the noise coming from the corner was great. It was also mentioned by some of the regulars that we bought a good crowd.

 

[Lady Whistledown]

There's two ways of looking at Stadium:MK as far as I can see.

In terms of facilities, it's pretty good. The seats are the most comfortable I've sat on at a football game. There's loads of leg room and they're actually set at a height that normal people would sit at, as opposed to a foot off the floor like 99% of other stadiums. I like the fact that the concourse allows you to view the pitch, which makes for an impressive entrance to the place. The toilets are most pleasant indeed and the bars serve both alcohol and chicken balti pies, which works for me.

On the other hand, it is an atmosphere-free zone, a stadium designed on an aspirational basis rather than the reality (which is that MK are a made-up Noddy club). It looks crap where they haven't finished it off on the upper tier, and I suppose if I'm being snobbish, the fact that three sides of the place have no finish whatsoever on the outside, just open steelwork, make it rather ugly. But then again stadiums in the USA and Europe tend to be all about the interior not the exterior.

The problem for MK is that they have no history or tradition as a football club, just a handful of former Wimbledon fans and a few thousand locals who used to take their kids to White Hart Lane or Stamford Bridge on a Saturday afternoon. Add a chairman whose idea of creating an atmosphere is to issue all the kids with cardboard clackers and there you have it. I suppose they can't just magic up a load of proper football fans, whatever that means.

On balance, I like the place. But it might as well be a retail park for all the excitement and feeling it generates.

 

[adrian29uk]

There's two ways of looking at Stadium:MK as far as I can see.

In terms of facilities, it's pretty good. The seats are the most comfortable I've sat on at a football game. There's loads of leg room and they're actually set at a height that normal people would sit at, as opposed to a foot off the floor like 99% of other stadiums. I like the fact that the concourse allows you to view the pitch, which makes for an impressive entrance to the place. The toilets are most pleasant indeed and the bars serve both alcohol and chicken balti pies, which works for me.

On the other hand, it is an atmosphere-free zone, a stadium designed on an aspirational basis rather than the reality (which is that MK are a made-up Noddy club). It looks crap where they haven't finished it off on the upper tier, and I suppose if I'm being snobbish, the fact that three sides of the place have no finish whatsoever on the outside, just open steelwork, make it rather ugly. But then again stadiums in the USA and Europe tend to be all about the interior not the exterior.

The problem for MK is that they have no history or tradition as a football club, just a handful of former Wimbledon fans and a few thousand locals who used to take their kids to White Hart Lane or Stamford Bridge on a Saturday afternoon. Add a chairman whose idea of creating an atmosphere is to issue all the kids with cardboard clackers and there you have it. I suppose they can't just magic up a load of proper football fans, whatever that means.

On balance, I like the place. But it might as well be a retail park for all the excitement and feeling it generates.

You could not have put it any better.

 

[turienzo's lovechild]

who actually GOES to mk dons games though?

1. adults who used to support someone else, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
2. adults who used to support no-one, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
3. kids

it's no surprise that there's a rubbish atmosphere...........as mentioned in a previous post, i can see it taking a LONG time for them to generate any form of atmosphere......probably when the kids who are currently going get older, as they might have a bit of passion for the club. I can't see how any of the adults can care that much?

 

[The Grockle]

The only problem is that those two ridiculous stands only house about one hundred and twenty two people each so there won't be much noise being generated in the first place.

2500 seats (approx) in both Surely not much smaller than the North stand at the Goldstone and similar size to the away end at Charlton?

 

[Lady Whistledown]

I'd guess they do a lot of cheap deals for kids, to generate interest and build a base.

There seemed to be a fair few school groups there on Saturday.

 

[adrian29uk]

who actually GOES to mk dons games though?

1. adults who used to support someone else, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
2. adults who used to support no-one, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
3. kids

it's no surprise that there's a rubbish atmosphere...........as mentioned in a previous post, i can see it taking a LONG time for them to generate any form of atmosphere......probably when the kids who are currently going get older, as they might have a bit of passion for the club. I can't see how any of the adults can care that much?

Point 1,2 and 3 are absolutely correct from who I spoke too and that's why there is no passion for the club.

Real support will not be generated until the kids have their own kids, that's why I said its going to take 20-30 years before they become established and get some respect. It proves that you just can't upsticks and create a club on the back of a new stadium.

 

[itszamora]

I believe our stadium is built by the same people who built MK's, but that's where the similarities will end.

 

[Notters]

The toilets are most pleasant indeed

The gents weren't, they were far too small.

 

[Gerbil]

I like it, one of mav stadiums

 

[Barry Izbak]

who actually GOES to mk dons games though?

1. adults who used to support someone else, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
2. adults who used to support no-one, moved to MK, and were bored so popped along
3. kids

I actually quite like the stadium too. It was my first time up there. I think if there was a proper team in there, the atmosphere would be good and the plastic franchise business park would be forgotten.

But I was astonished to hear there were 10,000 home fans there Saturday. I couldn't believe it. Didn't look anything like that.

I am also fascinated to know who they are? and what there were doing, for example, on a Saturday afternoon six or seven years ago (or whenever it was)?
In the bar before the game I nearly asked one or two of them. They looked a bit like football fans, but you just couldn't escape the realisation that despite their (doubtless counterfeit) replica football shirts and hats, they really weren't.

 

[westy]

I believe our stadium is built by the same people who built MK's, but that's where the similarities will end.

Spot on.

The fact our home and away ends will be stands in their own right and not part of a big bowl like MK will also help.

Through in the fact we will have lower roofs behind each goal than at MK and a fanbase that have proper passion for the club I wouldn’t fret to much about Falmer being anything like Franchise FC’s B&Q warehouse, i mean stadium.

 

[robbie c]

being reasonably local, they bought their support in the early days offering family of 4 season tckts at a total cost of £100; my neighbours being Liverpool fans thought that it was a relatively cheap way of seeing some good teams in a division and an outside chance of being drawn against a premiership club in Carling/FACups. As prices have increased they actually think it is a good day out for their family except that the attractions of peter kay and Liverpool Chelsea meant they were oop north last saturday! so a typical don fan then.

I thought the ground was empty; came over as empty on the TV yet they had a healthy crowd. That will be Falmer's challenge to make sure that I and others crawl out of the woodwork and become home supporters and not away supporters so that we could be like Norwich/Charlton with 20000+ crowds and not dilute the atmosphere with a half empty stadium

 

[seagullwedgee]

the official crowd was 12200. there were actually about 7.5k in there.

spinmeister chariman pete winkleman likes to big everything up, so he includes all season ticket sales in the attendance, even if they're not there!!!

 

[Gilliver's Travels]

I am also fascinated to know who they are? and what there were doing, for example, on a Saturday afternoon six or seven years ago (or whenever it was)?
In the bar before the game I nearly asked one or two of them. They looked a bit like football fans, but you just couldn't escape the realisation that despite their (doubtless counterfeit) replica football shirts and hats, they really weren't.

Well, next year you'll be able to ask the same questions of several thousand new faces in Falmer's bars...