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Is there an alternative to giving Away fans our "loudest" end of the Stadium ?


lambtiss
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Sorry, of this has been raised previously but surely I can't be the only one who is disappointed to take their seat at St. Mary's, glance up, only to see our most vociferous end of the ground totally handed over to the opposition fans rather than our own loyal Northam end contingent.  That must give the away team a life and certainly seems to reduce the level of our own support, thereby handing the away team an advantage.  I've heard previously that it is down to policing and security concerns. If this is true and there is no alternative then so be it. But, it would be great if there was some kind of alternative arrangement. 

 

 

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1 minute ago, lambtiss said:

Sorry, of this has been raised previously but surely I can't be the only one who is disappointed to take their seat at St. Mary's, glance up, only to see our most vociferous end of the ground totally handed over to the opposition fans rather than our own loyal Northam end contingent.  That must give the away team a life and certainly seems to reduce the level of our own support, thereby handing the away team an advantage.  I've heard previously that it is down to policing and security concerns. If this is true and there is no alternative then so be it. But, it would be great if there was some kind of alternative arrangement. 

 

 

How would you resolve it?

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In fairness the Kingsland North and Itchen North were pretty decent last night (certainly much better than during the Coventry match).

Granted, West Ham's lot looked and sounded pretty disinterested. But stick enough vocal fans in the corners and the 'pincer' effect of it is surprisingly effective.

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4 hours ago, lambtiss said:

Sorry, of this has been raised previously but surely I can't be the only one who is disappointed to take their seat at St. Mary's, glance up, only to see our most vociferous end of the ground totally handed over to the opposition fans rather than our own loyal Northam end contingent.  That must give the away team a life and certainly seems to reduce the level of our own support, thereby handing the away team an advantage.  I've heard previously that it is down to policing and security concerns. If this is true and there is no alternative then so be it. But, it would be great if there was some kind of alternative arrangement. 

 

 

Think you are overestimating the Northam support. It's been dead in there for years, that's why I've moved to the Itchen corner. As has alot of others we use to stand with 

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2 minutes ago, Streaky said:

Think you are overestimating the Northam support. It's been dead in there for years, that's why I've moved to the Itchen corner. As has alot of others we use to stand with 

Yes, if certainly isn't as loud as it has been 

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My view for some time is for the club to purchase the gas holders and put the away end on top of these. That way when Saints are in the ascendancy we can effectively inflate the away fans and subsequently deflate when up against it. I would think Sir Norman Foster would fancy this brief having lost out on turning the Vospers site into a version of Manhattan previously.

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Sorry in advance for sounding a bit MLG, but there is no "loudest part of the stadium". The acoustics are the same throughout. There is a part of the stadium where the loudest contingent of fans sit though. And the main reason that the Northam happens to have evolved into the noisiest section of the stadium is BECAUSE its next to the away fans, and not in spite of it.

This discussion has been going on for years. If the noisy fans feel that passionately, all they have to do is buy tickets in a different part of the ground. The club could of course help, when STs go on sale, by suggesting louder fans/those who want to sing, sit the Chapel (and move the family section). But then the louder fans would have to accept the fact that they can't act hard in front of the away fans quite so easily / give them the finger etc.

I'm sure some of those who currently sit in the Northam/Chapel would get a bit uppity ("why should I have to move seats /I like my view" etc) but let's be honest, the ground is pretty much completely symmetrical so shouldn't make any difference to anyone really.

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4 hours ago, jawillwill said:

Sorry in advance for sounding a bit MLG, but there is no "loudest part of the stadium". The acoustics are the same throughout. There is a part of the stadium where the loudest contingent of fans sit though. And the main reason that the Northam happens to have evolved into the noisiest section of the stadium is BECAUSE its next to the away fans, and not in spite of it?

It hasn’t really evolved into that, it was like that from the very beginning at St Mary’s. During the summer when we left the Dell there was lots of activity on the old Saints List about where fans were going to go in the new stadium. So a lot of fans chose to be by the away fans. It wasn’t always like that, back at the Dell the Milton and Archers ends were both full of singers (we made the mad decision to make the Archers away only for a season or two in the all seater before taking it back). Lower east was always a lively place to be in the terracing times too. If anything, the Chapel provided a new home for all those who don’t like the lad culture of football but want to be behind the goal. A comfortable seat where you sit down most of the time, not all that much singing going on, and a ‘safe’ place for the kids section too. 

All the bollocks that gets spouted by the usual protagonists about how we’re missing out on a home kop consistently overlooks one thing, that a lot of fans sit either in the Northam or in the Itchen 1-3 because they like the interaction with away fans. People don’t want to move to a new area for a kop, if they did want to do that they’d have done it years ago.

It would be better if away fans were off to a side, I don’t doubt that, but given the particular logistics of St Mary’s it just ain’t gonna happen, and there’s a sizeable amount of fans who really like the status quo as it is.

Edited by The Kraken
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I would do similar to what they do at Leicester, stick them more in the corner.  If you look at this pic (Arsenal away at Leicester) and imagine this is the Northam/Itchen corner.  They wouldn't take up anywhere near as much of the Northam and the Itchen North lot would just have to shift along a bit.  

arsenal-fans-leicester-city-00-arsenal-1

Edited by Manuel
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17 hours ago, The Kraken said:

It hasn’t really evolved into that, it was like that from the very beginning at St Mary’s. During the summer when we left the Dell there was lots of activity on the old Saints List about where fans were going to go in the new stadium. So a lot of fans chose to be by the away fans. It wasn’t always like that, back at the Dell the Milton and Archers ends were both full of singers (we made the mad decision to make the Archers away only for a season or two in the all seater before taking it back). Lower east was always a lively place to be in the terracing times too. If anything, the Chapel provided a new home for all those who don’t like the lad culture of football but want to be behind the goal. A comfortable seat where you sit down most of the time, not all that much singing going on, and a ‘safe’ place for the kids section too. 

All the bollocks that gets spouted by the usual protagonists about how we’re missing out on a home kop consistently overlooks one thing, that a lot of fans sit either in the Northam or in the Itchen 1-3 because they like the interaction with away fans. People don’t want to move to a new area for a kop, if they did want to do that they’d have done it years ago.

It would be better if away fans were off to a side, I don’t doubt that, but given the particular logistics of St Mary’s it just ain’t gonna happen, and there’s a sizeable amount of fans who really like the status quo as it is.

Also the club promoted the Northam as the singing end as well, I am out of town so could rarely get a ticket for The Dell, so I didn't know much about what stand was what. So when I bought my ST for the first SMS season from the hut in The Dell car park, I was told by the salesman that the Northam would be the singing end.

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6 minutes ago, Killers Knee said:

Move away fans to the Itchen/Chapel corner

It’s about the most sensible suggestion if the requirement is to make the Northam home only. Won’t happen but yeah, that’s the next best arrangement.

Of course you’d then have a load of our lot who would move just to follow the away fans….

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If we can't move the away fans and we can't get our own vociferous fans to relocate either then i think the following is a viable although costly option:

Expand the Northam - 3k expansion would mean potentially 3k more saints fans for league games (in that stand) and would then help us retain a fair bit of support for cup games if away team bring full allocation.

 

 

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On 04/03/2022 at 08:55, Toadhall Saint said:

Thought you might have given it some thought? 

Well, personally I prefer the idea of squeezing away fans into a corner rather than effectively giving them a whole end. Whether this is possible logistically I don't know.

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2 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Why don't those in the northam relocate? 

 

Yup, this is the best solution. The police have made it clear they're not going to sanction where the away fans are located. The club therefore need to be proactive and tell season ticket holders in the Northam to move to the Chapel. Make that our home end. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot otherwise

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7 hours ago, AlexLaw76 said:

Why don't those in the northam relocate? 

 

For the west ham game, I (northam) moved to the itchen north. Others did too, its not like we didnt attend the game. Important to note 

Long term I would want to sit where the loud fans were, if this was chapel I'd go chapel. However considering some loud fans want to sit near the Away to taunt them etc, can't see the loud support moving. 

5 hours ago, Pamplemousse said:

Yup, this is the best solution. The police have made it clear they're not going to sanction where the away fans are located. The club therefore need to be proactive and tell season ticket holders in the Northam to move to the Chapel. Make that our home end. We're just shooting ourselves in the foot otherwise

Like i say if you are suggesting switch chapel and northam, I think taunting the away is a key factor. And competing with them for noise etc. Look at the who are yaas after goals

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