Doc H Ball wrote: ↑Mon Jan 10, 2022 6:54 pm
I think it’s unarguable that the stadium itself does not help the atmosphere.
There’s the identity/ownership issues which I think we have cause for optimism because coming back this season after the break made for a fresh start in attitude,perhaps.
But the ground itself needs completely changing to generate a proper atmosphere. I understand the Leeds fans were having a good time but I could hear them only a couple of times from the opposite end. There’s no holding in of the sound to create a feeling of being as one, which is fundamental. Well, to me anyway.
None of us had the chance to see West Ham v Leeds in the Cup at the Boleyn in front of 37,000 and 6,000 Leeds fans, but I would bet my Founders badge that it would have made yesterday feel like a seance. What would it have been like at Elland Road instead?
I did hear the old You’re Not West Ham Anymore which still has no retort.
It's not a football stadium, but if it was, it's a night stadium. Everything good about it is amplified at night under the lights. Everything bad about it is magnified in the dreary daylight.
Squaring off the West stand as is reportedly soon to happen will make a difference like it did behind the goals. It's inarguable that the stadium configuration doesn't help the atmosphere but it's also inarguable that the changes behind the goals made a difference. The chasm where the technical area lies is currently one of the biggest issues with the stadium as it not only looks ridiculous but serves to isolate that whole stand.
City in the Cup was a good atmosphere. Even Chelsea in the Cup in one of the early years was a good atmosphere, and that was at a time where the resentment and bitterness towards the club from the fans was at fever pitch. Not a good time in our history. Both games were night games. Liverpool the other week was a fantastic atmosphere, again as the lights came on. For whatever reason, night games make the stadium look and feel so much better. Probably helps to hide all of the scaffolding, tarpaulin and dreary detailing around the place.
If we played all our home games at night, I think we'd be even more dynamite and hard to beat.