The huge Anfield problem

Never going to happen

The profile of people going to games has completely changed in the PL era and hence so has the atmosphere they generate.

To a lot of people going to anfield is like a pilgrimidge you might only do a handful of times in a lifetime and it is understandable that those kind of supporters either can't get involved in singing because they're not familiar enough with words or they prefer just to absorb the atmosphere around them than contribute to it

The club is partly responsible as well because the pricing structure alienates a lot of the category of fans who in the past would have been most vocal (ie - under 25s)

This is my case in point, ticket allocation going more to those who don't visit regularly enough, don't join in with singing, don't know lyrics, don't get the feel of the place, don't understand truly what it means to support LFC, don't understand the culture, are probably in awe of being actually there, too busy taking pics and then burying their heads texting & sending said pics, and before they know it's all f***in over, and back home they go,

Another point is the age group thing, that the average age going is 40, or that under 25's create a better atmosphere, bit if contradiction here me thinks,
I would say that the 'under  25' lot would be the ones with their heads buried in their phones and the '40' + brigade doing the singing ,

I confess it's been a few yrs since I was a regular and that a lot has changed since then, ie attitudes, different psyche etc but the game hasnt changed that much, or at least the whole idea of being a fan hasn't , or has it ?

Back when I did go it was like a ritual, it was an absolute privilege to go to Anfield every two weeks, I remember my first time when I couldn't get out of my head how much smaller it looked compared to my tv screen, I remember looking all round the ground taking it all in and the excitement I felt, then the players took to the field and from then I couldn't take my eyes of them ,

But mostly it was the atmosphere, the laughing the joking, the songs that were sung trying to remember the words waiting for it to be sung again, the camerarderie , the feeling if belonging to something very very special, I'm welling up here, , maybe it's just me , I don't know , but I changed that day, that experience changed me forever, I never wanted to experience anything else except going to Anfield being with those fellow reds, being with what I consider my true family,

Do those day tripper fans & pic takers get the same experience I got do you think, I know the answer to that, but I'll tell you what, I bet there are hundreds out there more localised who most certainly would , and if I'm honest would certainly appreciate it more.


YNWA

A special singing and standing section is the way forward IMO
 Its more likely people will join in a song or chant when its loud and they don't have to feel embarrassed.

Even if no one else joined in, at least there would be an atmosphere for the players to use as motivation.

But we've already got that special singing place mate, it's called the KOP, it's those who are privileged enough to go there and don't contribute to the atmosphere that's the problem , those type don't do the KOP or it's history justice IMO and the quicker that changes along with standing, cheaper tickets etc so to will the atmosphere.

YNWA

I'm in favour of a standing singing section and most other Liverpool fans are aswell but Anfield has been seen were all supporters take part not just one particular section, the whole of Anfield used to be rocking but if it is a start in bring back the atmosphere then so be it.

A special singing and standing section is the way forward IMO
 Its more likely people will join in a song or chant when its loud and they don't have to feel embarrassed.

Even if no one else joined in, at least there would be an atmosphere for the players to use as motivation.

Don't we already have this is some form with 304/305, I think it is, in the Kop?

The problem I feel with having dedicated singing sections is that although it will create an atmosphere in that section of the gorund it encourages those who aren't inclined to sing and shout to sit back even more and 'enjoy the atmosphere' as they think it is the job of the singing section to create the atmsophere.

I've said this before but I don't see this problem going away as it's not even a probel suffered by us at Liverpool. It's a football wide problem in England and mainly due to the type of person going to the game these days. They see it as a day out and almost like any other leisure activity and aren't really bothered about joing in, singing songs and some even aren't that bothered about the game in general.

It's more about getting the right type of person into grounds rather than cherry picking fans form where they are from and the only way I see that ever happening again is by drastically reducing ticket prices.

You can reduce ticket prices, but if there is a subset of people that still see it as a "day out" or an "event" then those tickets will just get resold and you'll still have the same people showing up. The difference will be, there will be a middle man of sorts that makes that extra little profit from scalping the tickets and the club won't get that money. I'm sure that's why they've made the decision to have ticket prices where they are...it's not because they want to price out the "common man", it's because they know that the common man is going to get priced out anyway by the time the tickets are sold, then resold (and maybe resold again).

At least that's the way it is with American sports...maybe I'm wrong but I'm assuming that people can sell their game tickets over there just like they can over here?

You can reduce ticket prices, but if there is a subset of people that still see it as a "day out" or an "event" then those tickets will just get resold and you'll still have the same people showing up. The difference will be, there will be a middle man of sorts that makes that extra little profit from scalping the tickets and the club won't get that money. I'm sure that's why they've made the decision to have ticket prices where they are...it's not because they want to price out the "common man", it's because they know that the common man is going to get priced out anyway by the time the tickets are sold, then resold (and maybe resold again).

At least that's the way it is with American sports...maybe I'm wrong but I'm assuming that people can sell their game tickets over there just like they can over here?

You could be right FL.

Which is why I don't really see this getting any better.

The atmosphere will come back when they make the Kop all standing again (via safe standing). I believe it really is a simple as that. Tourists and blerts won't want to go on in a stand that's essentially a terrace.

Safe standing is the future and hopefully we as a club embrace it when it finally enters this league.

I wonder if putting a percentage of tickets on sale half a week before the game would work?
You then would be giving scousers/locals first dibs as "daytrippers" don't usually arrive until the day before the game. 

This isnt just an Anfield problem...ALL premier league clubs have the same problem, with the possible exception of newly promoted sides. Premier league clubs are massive and have supporters from all over the world, if they weren't so successful they wouldn't have these supporters, they would have a half empty stadium with no atmosphere whatsoever.

So is the answer to only sell tickets to locals. As an 'out of towner' I am grossly offended by this statement, and lets look at it, the massive majority of fans attending games are still scousers and the majority of those dont make a noise either.
Lets just face the facts, we have massive support from all over the world, fans come to make the pilgrimage, its not just another match for these people, its often a once in a lifetime experience, it will be the memory they talk to their grand-kids about. That's how important it is to some 'out of towners', thats why they take photos throughout the game. To deny them this is just wrong.
And lets not forget that a lot of  out of towners have season tickets and have had for years. Do we tell them they wont be getting their season ticket next year because they dont live in Liverpool?
The 'out of towners' argument smells like pure Xenophobia to me, and you would be a brave man to tell me I cant come to the game any more because I dont come from Liverpool. Is my love for LFC any less than yours because you come from Liverpool and I dont, stand in front of me and say that, I dare you.

OK, so lets reduce ticket prices, fine, and then the revenue drops and we cant affords the big wages that get the best players. I will go further, this is Liverpool FC we are talking about, they could double the ticket prices and still get a full stadium, so theres no way are ticket prices going to be lowered any time soon.

Average age of supporters is to old, we need more young people who make more noise. I actually think there is some truth in this, but we go back to ticket prices again as well as the availability of tickets.

Bring back terraces?...I don't know about this one, maybe this is the answer, its a fact that the kop doesn't make as much noise as it did when it was terraced. But I think we will all agree that terracing isn't coming back to Anfield.

So what is the answer....the days of fans coming to the game and singing their hearts our for 90 minutes has gone, its gone from almost every club in England..there is no answer, there's nothing we can do about it because its a bygone era we're talking about, football has moved on in the last 20 years and we just have to get used to it.

As an afterthought tho, I still hear most of the stadium singing YNWA at the start and end of the game, I still hear the noise when we have come back from 2 - 0 down, there's 5 mins left and we are hammering the opposition goal, and I still think European nights are special.

The difference will be, there will be a middle man of sorts that makes that extra little profit from scalping the tickets and the club won't get that money. I'm sure that's why they've made the decision to have ticket prices where they are...it's not because they want to price out the "common man", it's because they know that the common man is going to get priced out anyway by the time the tickets are sold, then resold (and maybe resold again).

At least that's the way it is with American sports...maybe I'm wrong but I'm assuming that people can sell their game tickets over there just like they can over here?

It's about money money money mate don't kid yourself

It's about money money money mate don't kid yourself

Not kidding anyone...in fact I think my post makes that point precisely.

Not kidding anyone...in fact I think my post makes that point precisely.

You think when tickets prices are set the over riding thought isn't "how much can we squeeze out of them this year?"

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-21747116

This isnt just an Anfield problem...ALL premier league clubs have the same problem, with the possible exception of newly promoted sides. Premier league clubs are massive and have supporters from all over the world, if they weren't so successful they wouldn't have these supporters, they would have a half empty stadium with no atmosphere whatsoever.

So is the answer to only sell tickets to locals. As an 'out of towner' I am grossly offended by this statement, and lets look at it, the massive majority of fans attending games are still scousers and the majority of those dont make a noise either.
Lets just face the facts, we have massive support from all over the world, fans come to make the pilgrimage, its not just another match for these people, its often a once in a lifetime experience, it will be the memory they talk to their grand-kids about. That's how important it is to some 'out of towners', thats why they take photos throughout the game. To deny them this is just wrong.
And lets not forget that a lot of  out of towners have season tickets and have had for years. Do we tell them they wont be getting their season ticket next year because they dont live in Liverpool?
The 'out of towners' argument smells like pure Xenophobia to me, and you would be a brave man to tell me I cant come to the game any more because I dont come from Liverpool. Is my love for LFC any less than yours because you come from Liverpool and I dont, stand in front of me and say that, I dare you.

OK, so lets reduce ticket prices, fine, and then the revenue drops and we cant affords the big wages that get the best players. I will go further, this is Liverpool FC we are talking about, they could double the ticket prices and still get a full stadium, so theres no way are ticket prices going to be lowered any time soon.

Average age of supporters is to old, we need more young people who make more noise. I actually think there is some truth in this, but we go back to ticket prices again as well as the availability of tickets.

Bring back terraces?...I don't know about this one, maybe this is the answer, its a fact that the kop doesn't make as much noise as it did when it was terraced. But I think we will all agree that terracing isn't coming back to Anfield.

So what is the answer....the days of fans coming to the game and singing their hearts our for 90 minutes has gone, its gone from almost every club in England..there is no answer, there's nothing we can do about it because its a bygone era we're talking about, football has moved on in the last 20 years and we just have to get used to it.

As an afterthought tho, I still hear most of the stadium singing YNWA at the start and end of the game, I still hear the noise when we have come back from 2 - 0 down, there's 5 mins left and we are hammering the opposition goal, and I still think European nights are special.

Spot on mate, superb post.

The atmosphere will come back when they make the Kop all standing again (via safe standing). I believe it really is a simple as that. Tourists and blerts won't want to go on in a stand that's essentially a terrace.

Safe standing is the future and hopefully we as a club embrace it when it finally enters this league.

Be boss if we were the first PL club to adopt it.

Ideally the whole ground would sing and support but I've long since accepted that the Centenary and Main Stand won't contribute much on this front.

This leaves the Anfield Road end and the Kop. As a minimum these should be vocal and colourful throughout. In time to come we could do with it becoming unacceptable to sit in these stands and not support the team ie individuals who don't support are made to feel very uncomfortable about having seats in these stands and not vocally supporting the team.

Each of these stands need an area where the songs are kick-started and I am in favour of a safe standing area. Sitting is less conducive to singing and we mustn't forget that standing did not cause our loss, shameful mismanagement did.

This might appear a tad sarcastic but a Liverpool team that is a winning team and is regularly winning the league, F.A Cup and doing well in European competitions would work wonders on the atmosphere at Anfield

This isnt just an Anfield problem...ALL premier league clubs have the same problem, with the possible exception of newly promoted sides. Premier league clubs are massive and have supporters from all over the world, if they weren't so successful they wouldn't have these supporters, they would have a half empty stadium with no atmosphere whatsoever.

So is the answer to only sell tickets to locals. As an 'out of towner' I am grossly offended by this statement, and lets look at it, the massive majority of fans attending games are still scousers and the majority of those dont make a noise either.
Lets just face the facts, we have massive support from all over the world, fans come to make the pilgrimage, its not just another match for these people, its often a once in a lifetime experience, it will be the memory they talk to their grand-kids about. That's how important it is to some 'out of towners', thats why they take photos throughout the game. To deny them this is just wrong.
And lets not forget that a lot of  out of towners have season tickets and have had for years. Do we tell them they wont be getting their season ticket next year because they dont live in Liverpool?
The 'out of towners' argument smells like pure Xenophobia to me, and you would be a brave man to tell me I cant come to the game any more because I dont come from Liverpool. Is my love for LFC any less than yours because you come from Liverpool and I dont, stand in front of me and say that, I dare you.

OK, so lets reduce ticket prices, fine, and then the revenue drops and we cant affords the big wages that get the best players. I will go further, this is Liverpool FC we are talking about, they could double the ticket prices and still get a full stadium, so theres no way are ticket prices going to be lowered any time soon.

Average age of supporters is to old, we need more young people who make more noise. I actually think there is some truth in this, but we go back to ticket prices again as well as the availability of tickets.

Bring back terraces?...I don't know about this one, maybe this is the answer, its a fact that the kop doesn't make as much noise as it did when it was terraced. But I think we will all agree that terracing isn't coming back to Anfield.

So what is the answer....the days of fans coming to the game and singing their hearts our for 90 minutes has gone, its gone from almost every club in England..there is no answer, there's nothing we can do about it because its a bygone era we're talking about, football has moved on in the last 20 years and we just have to get used to it.

As an afterthought tho, I still hear most of the stadium singing YNWA at the start and end of the game, I still hear the noise when we have come back from 2 - 0 down, there's 5 mins left and we are hammering the opposition goal, and I still think European nights are special.

I didn't mean to simply target out of towners with my post. I'm Irish myself. I just think that if the locals who have been going since the year dot are now being priced out and we need to include these again. Without regulars ANY football club will lack atmosphere.

Check out this
(Gets good after 53 seconds)

YouTube Aris Thessaloniki Boca Juniors ★ The Ring of Fire

I didn't mean to simply target out of towners with my post. I'm Irish myself. I just think that if the locals who have been going since the year dot are now being priced out and we need to include these again. Without regulars ANY football club will lack atmosphere.

I wasn't having a dig at you mate, I was just sounding off and expressing my opinion because the 'out of towners' discussion has no relevance and is insulting/offensive to other supporters who's love for the club is as great as anyone from Liverpool.

In answer to your reply, we still have the regulars, they will always be there and they are making just as much noise (or lack of) as they have ever done. I don't believe that filling the ground with just locals will make any difference to the atmosphere.

edit After watching the video Alfie posted I looked on youtube to see again the preseason tour, the atmosphere in Australia and Thiland was great, then I realised they had one thing in common...massive stadiums. So I think I have the answer to the 'Anfield problem' make the ground capacity 90,000 and be quick about it.

Waiting for this to come to Anfield. it's brilliant.

Liverpool fans singing pre-match at Man City away Etihad Stadium

I didn't mean to simply target out of towners with my post. I'm Irish myself. I just think that if the locals who have been going since the year dot are now being priced out and we need to include these again. Without regulars ANY football club will lack atmosphere.

I dunno. Quite often at home games it's the daytrippers in jester hats who do a lot of singing. Sometimes with the words a bit wrong, but anyway.

Anfield's (relative) lack of noise is nothing new and it's just as much the "lifers" who've had season-tickets for years that are responsible. And quite understandably. Some 50 year old bloke is hardly going to be as likely to sing as a 16 year old. They're grown men.

The away support is always noisier. Again for obvious reasons.

I wasn't having a dig at you mate, I was just sounding off and expressing my opinion because the 'out of towners' discussion has no relevance and is insulting/offensive to other supporters who's love for the club is as great as anyone from Liverpool.

In answer to your reply, we still have the regulars, they will always be there and they are making just as much noise (or lack of) as they have ever done. I don't believe that filling the ground with just locals will make any difference to the atmosphere.

edit After watching the video Alfie posted I looked on youtube to see again the preseason tour, the atmosphere in Australia and Thiland was great, then I realised they had one thing in common...massive stadiums. So I think I have the answer to the 'Anfield problem' make the ground capacity 90,000 and be quick about it.

Your answer to a lack of atmosphere is to make the stadium BIGGER?
Ermmm.

And the atmosphere in Thailand was probably more to do with the excitable fans finally having a chance to see Liverpool play live, in their own country.

When you look at fans across Europe(Dortmund, Red Star Belgrade, Poznan, Besiktas and Celtic) just a few for example make English fans look like amateurs.

Yes, we need to recreate some of that special atmosphere evidenced by Red Star Belgrade and ensure that a hardcore section of the crowd are always available to sing a lusty, racist, hate-filled diatribe laced with threats of violence.

Just like the good old days when we had terraces.

Yes, we need to recreate some of that special atmosphere evidenced by Red Star Belgrade and ensure that a hardcore section of the crowd are always available to sing a lusty, racist, hate-filled diatribe laced with threats of violence.

Just like the good old days when we had terraces.

Belgrades support is like that week in week out even at the training sessions and at the academy games.