Two and a half seasons in. Is the Amex developing a 'character'?

[severnside gull]

Living just a five minute walk from the Goldtsone and a short drive to Withdean I was spoilt and now the whole match experience has changed dramatically. Still getting used to the trains, queues and the fact that it is more of a day out rather than an afternoon. That's not a moan- just a fact.

Thar's a day out?! Wow........

 

[Johnnyboy]

The atmosphere at that Burnley game was incredible (I suppose two early red cards will do that).

I agree, the atmosphere was fantastic. The whole ground was fired up and it helped that the words, stamping and clapping for the great escape were easy to copy for everyone. Even the 1901 were singing for the majority of the match!

 

[trueblue]

Taking into account the fact that we get 26,000 home fans the atmosphere, or lack of it, is embarrassing!!
Our support gets behind the team largely only when we are in front and as for really getting behind the team when we are losing - well, that rarely happens!

That's the same at the majority of grounds though and I reckon that when The Amex gets going, it's a lot better than most.

As for any dewy eyed sentimentality - in reality, the Goldstone was never that great after the early 80s and anyone who mourns Withdean must have a screw loose.

I still get a buzz every time I see the Amex and think I always will. Love it.

 

[Napper]

That's the same at the majority of grounds though and I reckon that when The Amex gets going, it's a lot better than most.

As for any dewy eyed sentimentality - in reality, the Goldstone was never that great after the early 80s and anyone who mourns Withdean must have a screw loose.

I still get a buzz every time I see the Amex and think I always will. Love it.

The Goldstone was shocking most weeks other than about 25 age 16 - 19 year olds

 

[portslade seagull]

The noise levels seem to have dropped form when we first went there, for a large crowd more noise, Also very cheesed of with the same old music played before every game think the format needs to be changed to liven it up again

 

[Willy Dangle]

I used to like driving past grounds and being able to glance the pitch, even on non match days.

My company often hold conferences in stadiums and even when empty some have an atmosphere. St Mary's was good but looking at it now it's design is lifeless.

 

[Husty]

The only grounds I've been to that came anywhere near the Amex in terms of atmosphere were SMS, Selhurst and the City Ground. Pretty much every other ground was loud when they cheered but they quite literally didn't sing a song (all together, at least) all game. There's normally a section - with a f**king drum - that tries to get something going but the rest of the ground is quiet.

Exactly like the Amex then.

 

[Thunder Bolt]

Is character solely defined by atmosphere?

 

[Green Cross Code Man]

I used to like driving past grounds and being able to glance the pitch, even on non match days.

My company often hold conferences in stadiums and even when empty some have an atmosphere. St Mary's was good but looking at it now it's design is lifeless.

How many grounds have pitches you can see whilst driving by?

 

[worthingseagull123]

its the best ground in the championship and i am not just saying that because i am a brighton fan

I am sure fans of other clubs would say the same thing about their own grounds.

It is all subjective opinion TBH.

 

[Braders]

I'm not sure about a character yet, but it has a history now. There are several games that we can say really stand out.

It was built with a strong and fantastic history too

as for character- do ANY new grounds really have a character anymore?

 

[symyjym]

Our away support, and vocally, is one of the best in this division.

We just have to grow into the Amex because we lost a generation of supporters.

The North Stand do an ok job but it does seem split. A united North Stand has to lead the way, and it will given time.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

We are not aided in generating an atmosphere because of 2 factors
1) We sell all tickets in advance and those who may join in with the singing if surrounded by a large group of our fans singing are spread out around the various stands in the ground (our high number of ST tickets also make it harder for these fans to move closer)
2) Seats mean that once in the ground, those that want to sing are unable to move towards groups of fans that are singing. At away games, fans tend to ignore the seating numbers they may have and go where they want but we are unable to do this at a home match, hence a reason why away games can seem to have a better atmosphere, even if we have less of our fans singing)

It's the same for most grounds, when we moved in we didn't have a traditional stand or even an area of a stand for the noisy fans to go (yes it could be argued that the North Stand was at the Goldstone) but we lost something when we went into the wilderness of Gillingham and then Withdean and as a result of our experiences there, viewing position became more important to some rather than noise.

Considering all this, i still think we do well in our ground when it comes to generating an atmosphere and we have noise (at various times) from all stands rather than the traditional one or occasionally 2 that we have had at previous home grounds.

 

[Willet]

I think the key factor is the kind of football we play.
When it's generally thoughtful and steady, it's often not that exciting and it's difficult for us to get excited and get noisy. Only when we start going up through the gears or get a shot on target or a cracking pass do the crowd get going imho. Id be intrigued to see the league positions based on shots on target as I "suspect" that we would be further down the league...

 

[worthingseagull123]

Our away support, and vocally, is one of the best in this division.

This.

Certainly in the top 8 on numbers.

 

[SeagullSongs]

Exactly like the Amex then.

No, you're missing my point. The Amex has long periods of quiet but there are always times where everyone joins in with a chant, be it "Allllbbbiiiooonnn" or "We are Brighton" or whatever. Many of the grounds I've been to fail to do this at all.

 

[West Hoathly Seagull]

I don't think the two small end stands help. Also, when we moved to the Amex, I thought it was important to have a "home" end, where most singers would get together, and the club promoted this in the season ticket presentations. In the end, so much was made of the West Stand Upper that a fair number of singers went there, and mostly adjacent to the North Stand rather than the away fans, so hard to get exchanges of songs going. I wonder if it would have been better to have made the North Stand the family stand (it was just about the right size before the corners were filled in), and to have had the East Stand as the singing stand as, say, Hull do. That way, the singers would probably all have got together in the southern end of the East Stand, leading to exchanges with the away fans (though of course that might make stewarding/policing more difficult - I think being an away fan at Manchester City can be a bit interesting at times). It's true I haven't been to Hull since we played them in the 2005-2006 season, but the place was rocking then and always seems to be when they are on television.

That might help, though I think we forget just how quiet the Goldstone could be. I can remember plenty of games when the North Stand hardly got going at all, particularly when the away club didn't bring many fans with them and they were put down in the east side of the South Stand.

 

[Husty]

I don't think the two small end stands help. Also, when we moved to the Amex, I thought it was important to have a "home" end, where most singers would get together, and the club promoted this in the season ticket presentations. In the end, so much was made of the West Stand Upper that a fair number of singers went there, and mostly adjacent to the North Stand rather than the away fans, so hard to get exchanges of songs going. I wonder if it would have been better to have made the North Stand the family stand (it was just about the right size before the corners were filled in), and to have had the East Stand as the singing stand as, say, Hull do. That way, the singers would probably all have got together in the southern end of the East Stand, leading to exchanges with the away fans (though of course that might make stewarding/policing more difficult - I think being an away fan at Manchester City can be a bit interesting at times). It's true I haven't been to Hull since we played them in the 2005-2006 season, but the place was rocking then and always seems to be when they are on television.

That might help, though I think we forget just how quiet the Goldstone could be. I can remember plenty of games when the North Stand hardly got going at all, particularly when the away club didn't bring many fans with them and they were put down in the east side of the South Stand.

Yes, in hindsight for the best atmosphere the singers should have been next to the away fans.

 

[figgis]

I think the south should become the home end looks bigger and much more pleasing on the eye. for segregation it would be easier and back in the day we would sing can you here the north stand sing no no. Pretty much like now I'm afraid. I really think this will happen and it would improve the atmosphere.

 

[Freddie Goodwin.]

I love the place and even my climb up to the Gods in WSU.