[Albion] Stadium Observations

[Billy the Fish]

The acoustics at the AMEX are also undoubtedly weird. People at the same game but at different ends of it can say that the North was either quiet or noisy depending on where they sit. It's a shame, as I'm sure it was considered during planning and designed accordingly.

Didn't they say at the time that all the noise gets directed at the pitch so the players get the benefit?

 

[Insel affe]

Didn't they say at the time that all the noise gets directed at the pitch so the players get the benefit?

hmmm, that explains last nights lethargic display then..

 

[Mellotron]

I agree with you on the noise front. It doesn’t travel at all. That’s not to say we make a hell of a noise, because we rarely do. I’ve sat in the south stand before and not heard a peep from the North, when I’m sure they’re trying. I think the problem is that our North Stand is just too small. It’s not like some of the larger kops you see at other grounds, and sticking another tier on it might not make much difference. All these assumptions aside, I agree the sound doesn’t travel much. It’s still a lovely home to have though.

On transport, I still don’t understand why another platform hasn’t been put in at Falmer to allow for a shuttle service. Or why not build a city tram service that can serve the Lewes Road and Falmer. The latter would benefit all the office development up the Lewes Road as well.

I would argue the worst element of the stadium design is the lack of depth of the North Stand.

 

[Heffle Gull]

Transport is likely the worst in the Premier League.

Never been to Spurs?

 

[Rookie]

The food offering in the upper west (and presumably the rest of the stadium) is poor and that’s being kind to it. Bar the pies (which aren’t as good as when first introduced) the selection is just over priced token efforts. Swear when the stadium first opened it was a lot better

 

[Rookie]

Never been to Spurs?

Or Chelsea?

 

[Nicks]

I'm in the North Stand and can honestly say the atmosphere is only bouncing two or three games a season at most.
It was seriously flat last night sadly.

The away fans are always louder at any game and that's because it mainly proper fans and not tourists.
They were debating crowd atmosphere in TALKSPORT this morning and saying the crowds up North are louder than as southern crowds.
I sadly disagree on that one as Man City/ Utd are very quiet and I put Newcastle in that bracket as well, having to been all these grounds with us every time since we have been in the big boys league.

 

[dazzer6666]

Never been to Spurs?

Yep. Not sure there are that many PL grounds that you can get home, say, 5-10 miles away that much quicker. Always seems worse at ours as you're straight into a queue and standing moaning about it for 20 or 30 minutes (or more) rather than having to walk to a station in that time perhaps

 

[Bryanw42]

Last night was extremely quiet.. The two opposing singing sections in the NS were not singing different songs at the same time much at all, because there was not much singing at all. The lethargy spread - the opposite of an atmosphere building, the quiet apathy set in.
Having said all that - it being an especially quiet night....was still not as bad as Chelsea or West Ham..
Forget any acoustic anomalies or adding depth to the NS (building work that will never happen) If the NS all sang at the same time we'd nail it. Frequency of singing is not usually a problem (though it was last night). Basic volume is.

 

[Gully Forever]

Not too sure about totally blaming the acoustics, When I was able to go during the championships seasons You could clearly hear the north end and the west stand singing to each other, While I was in the south corner. I.e The "We're the north stand" and "We're the west stand.

Last year I watched a Youtube video a neutral fan made, He travels around different matches with his friend in the away ends. I can't remember which game it was, But the 'Fans' in the east end were pretty poor. They pointed out how they were just sat there like wax dummies even after we scored.

You could hear the north stand singing "who are you" quite clearly.
Maybe there a lot of armchair fans in the ground now.

 

[Terry Butcher Tribute Act]

Dreadful atmosphere, shit game last night and no 8 coach (or even 6 coach) trains and this thread pops up

 

[jackalbion]

I would have thought that the stadium could claim sufficient use. If the stadium owners would like it to be used for other sporting and entertainment events then you could argue there is definitely sufficient use. As to space, that can be created. Cost, well yes, everything costs. It's about what and how Brighton & Hove want to develop I guess.

Not to bring up this subject because its been done to death, but another platform at Falmer is a non starter, would be better off extending platform 5 at Lewes to accomodate 8 carriages.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Transport is likely the worst in the Premier League.

It’s not even close to the worst.

Villa is a huge walk back into town, a very large queue at Witton station or jump in the car in one of the many car parks and sit in a queue for the motorway for an hour. Everton is a two mile walk to Lime St or an hour queue for a bus and then one train an hour to London. Absolutely impossible to get on a tram at Old Trafford and the traffic is gridlocked for an hour.

Let’s hope Coventry don’t get promoted!

Do you not travel away?

 

[Milano]

West Ham is also awful to get away from. However the one thing that really affects us is the lack of choice. Even though the London clubs are mostly a pain you have a choice to walk to a different tube station or bus stop, or park and walk. The Amex lacks transport choice, you can't really decide to walk from Lewes or London Road and there is nowhere to park that is close or that some c**t rip off parking company haven't signposted. As someone else posted, it is leaving the ground straight into a single big queue which is the main issue.

 

[Mellor 3 Ward 4]

Not to bring up this subject because its been done to death, but another platform at Falmer is a non starter, would be better off extending platform 5 at Lewes to accomodate 8 carriages.

But making sure that the available carriages are actually full, rather than having some leave almost completly empty would help too.

 

[Ike and Tina Burner]

Our atmosphere is pretty poor even by the low standards of Premier league crowds. Given we're literally enjoying the best spell in our history, I can't believe how bad it's been at times. Last night was a huge opportunity to make up ground on the European places yet the atmosphere was like a pre-season friendly.

I really don't think the issue is with the bulk of our fans. The North stand organisation is the problem. I never realised how bad it was until I started sitting in it. Having two singing sections is utterly bizzarre. Is there another club in world football that have that? What should happen is that the North should be a bank of uniform noise that draws in everyone else. You support the same f***ing team sing the same f***ing songs!

 

[dazzer6666]

It’s not even close to the worst.

Villa is a huge walk back into town, a very large queue at Witton station or jump in the car in one of the many car parks and sit in a queue for the motorway for an hour. Everton is a two mile walk to Lime St or an hour queue for a bus and then one train an hour to London. Absolutely impossible to get on a tram at Old Trafford and the traffic is gridlocked for an hour.

Let’s hope Coventry don’t get promoted!

Do you not travel away?

Yep.
Man City - tram stations around the ground are closed post-match
Arsenal/Spurs/Chelsea - long queues at nearby tube stations, or a longer walk to a quieter one
Fulham - a fair walk to the tube, then a queue anyway
Bournemouth - worst car park exit ever
Palace - trains
West Ham - sent miles around the stadium back to Stratford station

 

[Gazwag]

Transport is likely the worst in the Premier League.

Hmm, it seems that way but only because its close to the ground

Forest - 25 minute walk to station and shocking train service
Liverpool - 50 minute walk to main line station or 30 minutes and another train to lime Street, Everton slightly shorter walk
Man utd - 20 minutes to the tram queue
Spurs - 20 minutes to the train queue or 30 to tube
Chelsea - 25 minutes to earls court to avoid queues
Brentford - long walk to tube
Bournemouth - long walk to train and have you tried to get away from the ground in a coach or car

 

[jackalbion]

But making sure that the available carriages are actually full, rather than having some leave almost completly empty would help too.

Agree, not sure what is going on there in all honesty, expect its something to with ONTRAK. Not a timetabling matter .

 

[PILTDOWN MAN]

re the short measure pints, that seems to be pretty well the norm in every stand. It’s down to training. What makes it worse is that they use pint to brim glasses not pint to line. PTL means the liquid must go to the line and can have as much head as you like then as you’ve got a full pint. PTB should not have more than 2mm of head, anything more than that then they are serving short measures. I almost always end up asking them to fill the glass properly, much to the staffs annoyance.

To be honest I’m amazed that after all this time the catering/club haven’t had issues with weights and measures.

2mm is impossible. If you fill to the brim up north it would be chucked at you! Use of oversized glasses as a norm is bad for landlords as it has been proved that in practice the glass is overfilled and costs the landlord. Guinness proved many years ago that their stout should be served with 8mm of head. The head in this regard and that of sparkler dispense is known as a dry head (in fact this is the opposite to which many believe it to be). It is dense therefore it actually contains 80% fluid. A wet head, large bubbles, is 80% gas.

Weight and Measures actually do not state what is an allowable head but the industry considers for most beers it should be 95% liquid. This equates to around 5mm of head with a standard ale glass.