The last year or so I've started taking my dad to matches. He hadn't been since the 90s when he used to take me; he picked up a membership at the start of last season and we've probably been to 10 matches together.
The problem is, he can't really deal with standing throughout a match and isn't a singer (rather the opposite of me in those regards). As a result, blocks 33/34/35 are rather out of the picture. I've tried South Upper a couple of times but usually we end up in the West. He much prefers it over there, and I'd rather he was comfortable (both with the seats and the local company). Sitting near the Chelski fans last season wasn't his favourite experience (due to their comments and our responses), even if the game itself was decent.
Anyway, the point is I've had a chance, an opportunity (lets be positive about this!) to see what it's like "over there" in the West, to experience it first hand across a number of games. You know what? The atmosphere didn't seem much different from there to the South Upper. Or the East Upper. Or the North. Little occasions of chants but mostly talking, to each other and to the players. Some people moaning throughout, some positive. Same as anywhere else, bar the PL/Shelf. And what killed me was that there were people there who wanted to sing, you could feel it, just as I did. But they didn't seem like they could, like they were embarrassed to do so as they'd be the only ones, and everyone would look at them.
And the real kick in the nuts? I didn't sing either.
It's odd, and if you cast your mind back to Woolwich games, to the Inter game... everyone sings, including the West. They want to, they just fall into social norms like everyone else does. If lots of people stand up and sing they will too, but most of the time lots of people sit down and watch the game, passing comment rather than actively supporting.
I don't have the answer to the problem but it's not as clean cut as a middle class prawn sandwich West vs a working class pie & pint South. It's largely the same people but different expectations; different etiquette. Like what you'd say down the pub vs what you'd say at your nan's house. Perhaps the new stadium will herald a new era, an era where we make our own boundaries and the whole stadium can fall into one group...
...it'll be the nan's house group though, obviously. Just sayin'.
The problem is, he can't really deal with standing throughout a match and isn't a singer (rather the opposite of me in those regards). As a result, blocks 33/34/35 are rather out of the picture. I've tried South Upper a couple of times but usually we end up in the West. He much prefers it over there, and I'd rather he was comfortable (both with the seats and the local company). Sitting near the Chelski fans last season wasn't his favourite experience (due to their comments and our responses), even if the game itself was decent.
Anyway, the point is I've had a chance, an opportunity (lets be positive about this!) to see what it's like "over there" in the West, to experience it first hand across a number of games. You know what? The atmosphere didn't seem much different from there to the South Upper. Or the East Upper. Or the North. Little occasions of chants but mostly talking, to each other and to the players. Some people moaning throughout, some positive. Same as anywhere else, bar the PL/Shelf. And what killed me was that there were people there who wanted to sing, you could feel it, just as I did. But they didn't seem like they could, like they were embarrassed to do so as they'd be the only ones, and everyone would look at them.
And the real kick in the nuts? I didn't sing either.
It's odd, and if you cast your mind back to Woolwich games, to the Inter game... everyone sings, including the West. They want to, they just fall into social norms like everyone else does. If lots of people stand up and sing they will too, but most of the time lots of people sit down and watch the game, passing comment rather than actively supporting.
I don't have the answer to the problem but it's not as clean cut as a middle class prawn sandwich West vs a working class pie & pint South. It's largely the same people but different expectations; different etiquette. Like what you'd say down the pub vs what you'd say at your nan's house. Perhaps the new stadium will herald a new era, an era where we make our own boundaries and the whole stadium can fall into one group...
...it'll be the nan's house group though, obviously. Just sayin'.
