Post by leicesterlass on Jan 3, 2007 16:21:49 GMT -1
I think I just about reached my lowest moment since moving to the crisp bowl on Monday against Sunderland. The place didn't feel like the home of Leicester city, it was sterile to the point of disbelief. There seemed to be no reason to stand up and sing anymore, and it seemed everyone felt the same as I did. Sunderland completley outsung us, piss poor performance on the pitch and hardly anyone seemed bothered to rival the endless Sunderland chants (even when score was 0-0).
The Sunderland fans starting a constant chant of red and white army which went on and on. Surely we wouldnt stand and take that would we? In the Kop at Filbo we would have responded with a wall of noise back at them and drowned them out, but no we tried to retort with the most pathetic chant of Rob Kelly's Blue and White Army, I doubt the noise even carried to the away fans. The saddest part came when we started to sing 'When You're Smiling' and so few people joined in that we couldn't even hear ourselves. That is our club song, but that, like the passionate support that we were once famous for seems to have disappeared. I can't remember a single occasion at Filbert Street when if we were singing, the away fans could be heard over the top of our noise.
Got me thinking of times when I used to arrive as a young kid on a train from Syston with my dad and aunite, sometimes you could hear the Kop as you walked out the station. The noise would become louder as we went through Mandella park and by the time we were on Burnmore Street it would get me running to the ground, just wanting to be part of it. Through the turnstile into the Kop corner, up the steps and the noise would be deafening. Our support used to be the talk of other teams. I remember reading a Stoke fanzine a few years ago from shortly after we played them in 1996 play-off first leg. They talked about the wall of noise that was coming from the Kop 30-45 minutes before kick off time. Similar comments came when reading a man-Utd fanzine after O'Neill took us into the prem. They commented that it was their favourite ground and had by far the best atmosphere of anywhere in the premiership. Similar comments came from Chelsea fans that the Kop corner was the most intimidated they had been since playing Millwall. One time that will always stick in my mind was when we were playing against Man U at Filbo as the bastards were relegating us. The chant of 'Stand Up If You Love Leicester' began in the Kop and soon EVERY single Leicester fan that was crammed into Filbo was on their feet. That moment brought tears to my eyes, it was the time I finally realised how much passion I had for this club and those 11 players on the pitch were the same, they never stopped fighting, they never even dared let their heads drop. I doubt I'll ever experience a moment like this again but I feel sorry for the fans younger than me that will grow up thinking our support is pathetic - they too need vivid memories like the ones I have.
Contrast that situation to now.
We never sing before kick off
Most fans regard our ground as being the quietest or one the quietest they have visited in recent years.
We get outsung by small groups of 500-600 visiting fans.
People often mention that the crap atmosphere is simply because we are so poor on the pitch nowadays and that I'm comparing it with one of our most successful periods as a club. Its a fair point in some ways. If we were doing well, the atmosphere would improve but I don't think it would be by any great amount. When we secured promotion under Adams against Brighton I remember commenting at the end about how much better the atmosphere would have been at Filbo. Yes we were singing, but not with the same passion we used to.
We showed that we can produce a spine-tingling atmosphere and recreate our passionate past at the Villa cup game this year - but that was when the players showed they cared for us and the club too. So come on lads, get some bottle, get some fight and give us long-suffering fans something to shout about.
The Sunderland fans starting a constant chant of red and white army which went on and on. Surely we wouldnt stand and take that would we? In the Kop at Filbo we would have responded with a wall of noise back at them and drowned them out, but no we tried to retort with the most pathetic chant of Rob Kelly's Blue and White Army, I doubt the noise even carried to the away fans. The saddest part came when we started to sing 'When You're Smiling' and so few people joined in that we couldn't even hear ourselves. That is our club song, but that, like the passionate support that we were once famous for seems to have disappeared. I can't remember a single occasion at Filbert Street when if we were singing, the away fans could be heard over the top of our noise.
Got me thinking of times when I used to arrive as a young kid on a train from Syston with my dad and aunite, sometimes you could hear the Kop as you walked out the station. The noise would become louder as we went through Mandella park and by the time we were on Burnmore Street it would get me running to the ground, just wanting to be part of it. Through the turnstile into the Kop corner, up the steps and the noise would be deafening. Our support used to be the talk of other teams. I remember reading a Stoke fanzine a few years ago from shortly after we played them in 1996 play-off first leg. They talked about the wall of noise that was coming from the Kop 30-45 minutes before kick off time. Similar comments came when reading a man-Utd fanzine after O'Neill took us into the prem. They commented that it was their favourite ground and had by far the best atmosphere of anywhere in the premiership. Similar comments came from Chelsea fans that the Kop corner was the most intimidated they had been since playing Millwall. One time that will always stick in my mind was when we were playing against Man U at Filbo as the bastards were relegating us. The chant of 'Stand Up If You Love Leicester' began in the Kop and soon EVERY single Leicester fan that was crammed into Filbo was on their feet. That moment brought tears to my eyes, it was the time I finally realised how much passion I had for this club and those 11 players on the pitch were the same, they never stopped fighting, they never even dared let their heads drop. I doubt I'll ever experience a moment like this again but I feel sorry for the fans younger than me that will grow up thinking our support is pathetic - they too need vivid memories like the ones I have.
Contrast that situation to now.
We never sing before kick off
Most fans regard our ground as being the quietest or one the quietest they have visited in recent years.
We get outsung by small groups of 500-600 visiting fans.
People often mention that the crap atmosphere is simply because we are so poor on the pitch nowadays and that I'm comparing it with one of our most successful periods as a club. Its a fair point in some ways. If we were doing well, the atmosphere would improve but I don't think it would be by any great amount. When we secured promotion under Adams against Brighton I remember commenting at the end about how much better the atmosphere would have been at Filbo. Yes we were singing, but not with the same passion we used to.
We showed that we can produce a spine-tingling atmosphere and recreate our passionate past at the Villa cup game this year - but that was when the players showed they cared for us and the club too. So come on lads, get some bottle, get some fight and give us long-suffering fans something to shout about.
