tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15083755.post8757478067016099236..comments2023-10-30T10:30:06.191+00:00Comments on Cheer Up Alan Shearer: Carlos Tevez for Manchester United (v Birmingham City), 1 January 2008LBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06234702470107953581noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15083755.post-18358015205682866072008-01-09T17:39:00.000+00:002008-01-09T17:39:00.000+00:00I pretty much thought the same when I read the rel...I pretty much thought the same when I read the related articles. NUFC is pretty much in the same boat, though thankfully we're not being monetarily skinned to such a degree as the MUFC lot.<BR/><BR/>I don't have a season ticket at Newcastle any more for several reasons - being out of the country for 2 years is just one - but before I left I can tell you that the atmosphere sucked.<BR/><BR/>It's not like the money's any good for the football either. I can't remember the last game I really *enjoyed* at St James'. There's a line (not a fine one) between devotion and being taken for a ride. I wasn't paying several hundred quid a season to watch crap football.<BR/><BR/>As for the Man U noise factor thing, I went to the FA Cup semi-final a few years back in Cardiff where we got walloped by them. The Man U fans made noise exactly six times - all four goals, half time whistle, full time whistle. The rest of the time they may as well not have been there - they were *rubbish*. If you base teams deserving a win on fan support then we should have walked out of there having crushed you by double-figures.<BR/><BR/>Not bitter at all. And not as annoyed as I was driving to Norwich the week after to get beaten 1-0 by relegation-fodder. Again.Mosherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00374548021605224698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15083755.post-3896230410245449822008-01-04T12:09:00.000+00:002008-01-04T12:09:00.000+00:00In a domestic sense, I'm probably a football touri...In a domestic sense, I'm probably a football tourist. Father-in-law and self have determined that the best way to see his <I>beloved</I> Arsenal is to not jump and pay through umpteen hoops to get seats at the Emirates, but to wait until they're playing at grounds that are within striking distance from us - Blackburn, Wigan, Bolton, Birmingham, Villa, etc (though Villa refused us tickets this season as they spotted that our 'history' was of only buying tickets for the Arsenal games - well sleuthed, Villa).<BR/><BR/>On the atmosphere and Old Trafford: the first time that I went there (98/99), I was stunned at how quite almost 70,000 people could be. It so struck me, that I wrote a small piece on it for a local newspaper. It didn't prove to be a seminal piece in football journalism. I think Fergie's comment is something that will be recognisable to a lot of people, though it's good that you raise the broader issue of the high and multiple demands that are placed on MU's supporters, or pawns. [Book Suggestion - From Pawns to Prawns: Manchester United Supporters in the Third Millenia]<BR/><BR/>As for atmosphere elsewhere, as a general rule, the busier small grounds are what appeal to me: Stafford Rangers versus Burton Albion on Boxing Day was the highlight of the holiday period.<BR/><BR/>Hope everyone's 2008 has started well.Shanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07827981433386542298noreply@blogger.com