Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Wed Aug 10, 2011 10:19 pm  

SaintsFan wrote:

This is why I'm hoping that the group(s) who start off the singing include singing as well as chanting. There will be room for both IMO but so long as it's both. Too many fans will be alienated if only the ultras style chanting is started off.

At the risk of sounding all victor meldrew, if I supported wigan and all that was going on around me and assuming my season ticket was for that stand, I would stop going. The same would apply fo rme if we started doing the same.

I was talking to some wigan fans at the HJ in the east stand after the game and they said they thought it was mindless & awful.
They said we were lucky because we only had to listen to it when we played wigan whereas they get it all the time!

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:51 am  

saint at wire wrote: :CLAP: At the risk of sounding all victor meldrew, if I supported wigan and all that was going on around me and assuming my season ticket was for that stand, I would stop going. The same would apply fo rme if we started doing the same. I was talking to some wigan fans at the HJ in the east stand after the game and they said they thought it was mindless & awful. They said we were lucky because we only had to listen to it when we played wigan whereas they get it all the time! Can I ask what you mean by "if I supported Wigan and all that was going on around me", what exactly is all that? Are you referring to fans singing and waving flags? A few of you talk about alienating other fans, but if you watch this video you can see that everyone joins in. The beauty of rugby league is that fans of all ages are together, I'd guess the Dale Cavese is one of these "ultras style chants" that SaintsFan refers to that will alienate other supporters, yet a couple of thousand fans stayed behind after the game, from young to old, to sing and dance to it? of course not everybody will want to join in, you can never please everybody, but I don't think anything we're doing is alienating or intimidating sections of our support, simply trying to bring some colour and atmosphere to the grounds we visit.

saint at wire wrote: :CLAP: At the risk of sounding all victor meldrew, if I supported wigan and all that was going on around me and assuming my season ticket was for that stand, I would stop going. The same would apply fo rme if we started doing the same. I was talking to some wigan fans at the HJ in the east stand after the game and they said they thought it was mindless & awful. They said we were lucky because we only had to listen to it when we played wigan whereas they get it all the time! Can I ask what you mean by "if I supported Wigan and all that was going on around me", what exactly is all that? Are you referring to fans singing and waving flags? A few of you talk about alienating other fans, but if you watch this video you can see that everyone joins in. The beauty of rugby league is that fans of all ages are together, I'd guess the Dale Cavese is one of these "ultras style chants" that SaintsFan refers to that will alienate other supporters, yet a couple of thousand fans stayed behind after the game, from young to old, to sing and dance to it? of course not everybody will want to join in, you can never please everybody, but I don't think anything we're doing is alienating or intimidating sections of our support, simply trying to bring some colour and atmosphere to the grounds we visit.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:56 am  

saint at wire wrote:

:CLAP:
At the risk of sounding all victor meldrew, if I supported wigan and all that was going on around me and assuming my season ticket was for that stand, I would stop going. The same would apply fo rme if we started doing the same.

I was talking to some wigan fans at the HJ in the east stand after the game and they said they thought it was mindless & awful.
They said we were lucky because we only had to listen to it when we played wigan whereas they get it all the time!

I am a Wigan fan so I know many many other Wigan fans. I have never heard a bad word about what we do, especially the singing. Go on our board, you will struggle to find anyone having a go at what we do.

I also spend alot of time in St Helens (God knows why) and know a lot of saints fans. They were very jealous of our flags on good friday and wished they had something similar. I was also told that our away support at Widnes was some of the best all year and they couldn't believe we sang through half-time.

When we did a collection for the flag fund before the Leeds play-off game, I had Leeds fans asking what it was for and telling me they thought it was great and were putting money in the bucket for OUR flags.

Either you are talking out your a*se, or the people you spoke to are the exception to the norm.

If you don't like singing or chanting or flag waving... infact if yoou don't like the atmosphere then I suggest you don't sit near it.

I think part of the reason why many people attend the big games or the derby games when they wouldn't usually attend is because of the atmopshere these games create. I have no doubt that crowds would go up in RL if every single game had a quality atmosphere. It would put the game on the map more and it would catch the eyes of people watching on tv.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 7:50 am  

Odemwingie wrote:

I also spend alot of time in St Helens (God knows why) and know a lot of saints fans. They were very jealous of our flags on good friday and wished they had something similar. I was also told that our away support at Widnes was some of the best all year and they couldn't believe we sang through half-time.

It does look good and the away support at the Stobart was easily the best I've seen there, but, would you expect the party atmosphere to waver if you were in a less successful period?

If fans groups like this increase the gates at the new stadium, then I'm all for it. If other clubs do the same, then it will be good for the sport all over.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 8:40 am  

Although I was very sceptical at the Ultras, and thought it would attract a hooligan element and be imtimidating to other fans, it has done the opposite. They are providing what it says on the bottle "entertainment and support". I am convinced that it gives the Wigan players a 6 point advantage having such support away from home. Wembley this year will be fantastic, hopefully you will be able to compete in the Grand Final in October.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 11:26 am  

Most Wigan supporters I know find this group embarrassing and feel they are ruining the name of Wigan RL. Why do people feel they have to part of a different group from everybody else, do they think they are better supporters than the rest.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:07 pm  

roader wrote:

Most Wigan supporters I know find this group embarrassing and feel they are ruining the name of Wigan RL. Why do people feel they have to part of a different group from everybody else, do they think they are better supporters than the rest.

It's nothing to do with thinking we're better supporters; we're not. It's about expressing our support in a different way. Not everyone will want to wave flags, sing and jump up and down, that's fine and we aren't trying to make them! I'd urge you, or your Wigan supporting friends to get down to one of the meetings and see for yourself the mentality of the group who has organised this, as im sure ski would agree, we want nothing more to than improve the atmosphere and bring more colour to the crowds. As for embarrassing Wigan RL? Would you like to explain how? Because literally no-one else has suggested a similar thing, I'd love to hear the details behind that?

I think a group at saints, coupled with the new stadium and terraced area could be a big success if you can get enough folk behind it, so good luck!

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:24 pm  

All you've done is formed a group that every trouble maker is going to latch onto and sooner or later it will kick off. As for a group at Saints no thanks, I've supported St Helens RLFC for decades and that's good enough for me.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 12:38 pm  

Exactly. I don't care what anyone claims, ultras in football are about intimidation and organised violence.

We don't need that in RL, it's a family sport. You want to bring flags (I noticed that all the Wigan ones are the same colour and SOOOOOOOO bland) and sing, fine, you don't need a borderline terrorist/gang identity to do it under.

Re: Atmosphere for Next Year : Thu Aug 11, 2011 1:52 pm  

roader wrote:

All you've done is formed a group that every trouble maker is going to latch onto and sooner or later it will kick off. As for a group at Saints no thanks, I've supported St Helens RLFC for decades and that's good enough for me.

Whilst I understand that, and it is something we are wary of, it's up to us to police ourselves and ensure that it doesn't. There is no reason why it would "kick off", we aren't agressive, intimidating or violent and nothing we do would suggest otherwise. We've all supported Wigan RL for years, that hasn't and will never change!

Saddened! wrote:

Exactly. I don't care what anyone claims, ultras in football are about intimidation and organised violence.

We don't need that in RL, it's a family sport. You want to bring flags (I noticed that all the Wigan ones are the same colour and SOOOOOOOO bland) and sing, fine, you don't need a borderline terrorist/gang identity to do it under.

That's your opinion, although I think you're getting ultras groups and firms/hooligan groups mixed up.

You're correct, we don't need that in RL, and guess what, we don't have it in RL! This is not football, nothing we do concerns intimidation and organised violence. It all started as a way to make the DW stadium more like home, with thousands being spent on flags to hang from the gantry. Does that sound like it is related to violence? You are making links between two things that are completely unrelated, a group of wigan fans enthusiastic about supporting their club in a loud and vibrant manner, and mindless idiots that use following FOOTBALL teams as an excuse for violence.