By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Turn St Mary's Into A Sea Of Red & White Friday, 6th Apr 2012 10:13
When Saints beat Pompey at the Dell in the FA Cup in 1996, Pompey's players in interviews admitted they were beaten before they walked out of the tunnel, time to let history repeat itself.
The truth is this season Pompey's players wont have experienced an atmosphere like St mary's on many occasions, indeed this will only be the second time that they have played in front of a crowd of over 30,000, the other occasion being their trip to Upton Park back in September.
So this is the type of game where the supporters can play there part, not hjust in the Northam End but in every part of the ground, whatever Pompey fans like to try and say about our support, the fact is that for over 50 years we have had far bigger average crowds than those at Fratton, sometimes verging on double their total and the blunt truth is a teams support is not just based on a bit more singing than another club, but on how big your home gate is.
Yes Pompey have Westwood and his crew that drum up (literally) a bit of atmosphere, but the fact is many lower league teams have a little group with a drum or bugle who stand up in games and get the crowd going, Torquay for instance and i have never heard them claim, nor be aclaimed the best supporters in the World.
I have to say that having been to every Championship club, most of them this season, I have rarely seen a singing section elsewhere as big as our group in the Northam, indeed most clubs seem to have a small section of a couple of hundred or so who stand up and sing, augmented by some of those near them who join in from time to time, even the fabled Fratton End is like this.
But nowhere have i seen an "end" where around 2,500 stand up and stay standing throughout the match, singing and encouraging the team, of course we are in good times at the moment, but the core of that group remained in place throughout the bad times and thats why we can be proud of our support, we waste our vocal chords on supporting our team, not shouting to all and sundry how good our support is.
So Saturday is the time to show it, lets make St Mary's rock, in the way we do every game, but this time lets make it loud and lets make it special, we dont need a bell or a drum or a bugle to get us going, all we need is the sight of our own team and our own stadium, if we do this and repeat that FA Cup afternoon of 1996 then we can get the same result.
Photo: Action Images
Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
Same can be said for the 1-4 down there in '05. Looking at our players in the tunnel you could see they were already beaten and like frightened rabbits in the headlights.
''But nowhere have i seen an "end" where around 2,500 stand up and stay standing throughout the match, singing and encouraging the team, of course we are in good times at the moment''
What a load of utter bull!!!! It is VERY easy to sing and be merry when things are going well - as you are proving now But i go back a little while to ,was it ,Leicester? Things don't go so well so you boo the players off- no singing then eh
''and the blunt truth is a teams support is not just based on a bit more singing than another club, but on how big your home gate is.''
Man Utd have large numbers in their crowd - their home gates are by far the largest - have they got the best fans? Your arguments,as always,are built to suit - and utter crap!!!!
We dont like you, presuambly you are a pompey fan who firstly doesnt seem to have read the article very closely and secondly doesnt like the truth.
Where you at the leicester game ? probably not ! so how do you know whether the team was booed off or not, there were signs of disgruntlement, but the Northam end remained firmly behind the team.
Are man Utd the best fans, yes there is this element of all living in surrey etc, but they still have a core in manchester bigger than most other prem clubs, I hate Man Utd, but they have the biggest crowds and have done in living memory even through their lean years, their away support is phenomenal and has the biggest variety of songs in the premier, so do man utd have a claim as the best fans, as much as it pains me to say but yes.
Attendance is what you judge a clubs support on, thats why Utd & Liverpool are constantly cited as the best supported over the years and Wigan arent.
OK Ive built my article to suit, now tell me yours and build me one about how a club that has constantly played in a half empty stadium in all my lifetime can be the best fans in the world
Haha you guys do make me laugh I'll give you that :-) the only way to judge a teams greatness is not by the number that walk through the turnstiles or even where they sit in the also ran numbers, but as every football fan knows its judge by trophies and silverware nothing else, success on the pitch resulting in actually winning something is the only true measure of greatness, and you well know for all your crowing of current circumstances which granted place your team 22 places above my team in the also ran race UNTIL you manage to win 2 top flight championships and another 2 FA cups you will continue to be judged by all partisan fans as inferior to PFC. Hey one day you may do it but until then play catch up and live with it :-)
Or even how!!!!! I spent most of the game listnening to ,and responding,to a load of retarded scummer taunts as i was seated right next to the divide How joyous to see them sneaking out as Norris sent me into heaven I hate you snidey bastards - more than u could EVER know I tried to be civil, had that rammed squarely up my arse so have take SO MUCH pleasure out of witnessing your TOTAL inability today Best bit,apart from our SUPERB goals- hearing the odd Adkins out text sent into Solent WHAT A BUNCH OF CU NTS YOU REALLY REALLY ARE
Ok i think this may prove a little point about how good your fickle fans are Watch this til the end - i think you get the message as the 1st minute or so plays and your jubilant fans are partying - as i have said it is oh so very easy to sing and be ''fans'' when you are winning The last couple of seconds are priceless and prove a point rather well
So what you're saying is that if you conceded a last minute goal against your rivals you'd show no disappoinment/hold your head in your hands/be gutted. Just like in 84...
I would have been gutted Horton- as i was when you scored in the 88th minute But never did i consider leaving !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is my point You have had a great season - but you boo your players when it goes against you and you only sing when you are winning Very easy to support winning sides
Personally I did neither, no-one around me did and can't say I heard any booing. Moral victory for you though if that's what you heard. Why are you so bothered about us anyway it was your moment? You are the best fans in the world after all!
Watch the video on the link above - the point is that as soon as we score the retards go home!!!! TRUE FANS DONT DO THAT - that is why,despite your higher numbers,you will NEVER surpass US Good luck for the rest of the season, try to be less fickle We will go down,whether we won lost or drew against you i believe other shite results lately have cost us - but we might have messed you up and that is why it was so much fun after 94 mins yesterday
I didn't dispute the bit about those the video leaving early just said I didn't leave early and heard no booing. You make some rational points than go into rants, why the anger, you are the ones who are so confident that you have the best fans around, we've never actually claimed that but you use every opportunity to claim your superiority. Is it small man's syndrome because your crowds are so tiny? In all the time I've supported Saints all I've ever heard from you lot is'we got the passion'. Most Saints fans I know are frankly not remotely bothered about your 'greatness' when it comes to support-is that what irks you? Do you just want a big pat on the back and well done from us and you'd be over it? And by the way if you had higher numbers you'd stand a much better chance of attracting a new owner but you lot just believe someone else will be seduced by Pom'ey passion moosh don't you? In this day and age numbers count for a lot and you don't have them.
I don't want .or need,any pats on the back I guess you don't know the clowns who write the articles for this rag then? They are ALWAYS bothered about our 'GREATNESS' and are ALWAYS writing nonsense articles trying to belittle us in any way they can dream That just makes me laugh - if you or they were not bothered you would not even mention it!!!! If we were top of the league we would be filling the ground ,you have a nice ground,bigger than ours but there are a lot of empty seats in in every week and that is with you winning most weeks
No I don't know Nick but if it offends you: a) Why do you bother to read it? b) The writers on this 'rag' are a tiny representation of our support c) I am not on a Pompey website debating this but responding to you on ours who goes to the lenght of posting links to prove this point. You are the one you hate us more than we could know, you went to a derby to be civil and had it rammed up your arse so get angry? What did you expect??? I had the misfortune to be right next to your finest in the North corner at Fratton but the bile just amused me it didn't upset me! d) It's in response to years of being told about how great you all are. I am certain of this and it's no coincidence that now you are on the wain again it is a return to the 90s when I grew up and all I ever heard was either how passionate/loyal you were (despite attendances dropping 8k averages) and your history because you had nothing else to shout about. Can you not see that to the average Saints fan the notion that you have some of best fans in the country is frankly ridiculous based on your gates? On top of this Saturday was the first time I've really thought you've 'performed' at St Mary's in a manner befitting of 'passionate fans'. So for most Saints fans it is a mystery and it gets very boring believe me! Also it's worth saying that whilst we were pretty quiet at Fratton, when in the away end you cannot hear your crowd noise very well and whilst on TV you sounded loud, when there it's not impressive. So again when we came out people are asking what the fuss is all about. Remember Fratton was not always full in your PL days. I remember you played Wigan shortly before the FA cup final and twitcher was moaning about the lack of atmosphere and empty seats which he couldn't understand. You could then quote some of our dodgy attendances in the early 90s, I could respond by saying that lots of empty seats in our ground still equates to an average of 25k which you haven't managed in living memory. It goes on and can we at least agree that there are two sides to this story? Yes you are vocal, your hardcore is pretty unrelenting but I'm still not sure what you want Saints fans to say? I still reckon you want acknowledgement of some form otherwise why go to the lengths you have?
You argue well scummer I don't mention the ''old days'' , i don't mention the fact your crowds are larger than ours BUT i do say fans should not be gauged on numbers alone I am sure you took lots more fans than us up to Doncaster - but did their chairman make a point of telling YOUR club how wonderful YOUR fans were? NO!!!!!!!!!1 WHY???????????????????? Read above,because you boo when you are losing,you go home when it goes against you
Read on, and best wishes for next year as i am not a twitcher and i am not a retard!!!!
‘I feel compelled to write to you to say what an absolute pleasure it was to host Portsmouth FC on Saturday.
‘I was so impressed by the conduct of your fans and indeed the atmosphere that they created.
‘I am obviously upset at some of the decisions made by the match officials when I thought we were dominant, however recognise that this is not a fault of Portsmouth as a club or indeed the fans themselves and I do not blame them for taking full advantage of our misfortune.
‘I would go as far as to say that if any set of fans deserve to stay up and benefit from such decisions then it is the Portsmouth fans.
‘I would really appreciate it if you could thank your fans for creating such a good atmosphere and wish them luck for the rest of the season from myself.’
I don't boo or leave early so stop levelling that at me!! Well perhaps you should consider the old days and realise that your level of vocal support does very little except earn praise in certain quarters butdecent numbers=revenue=makes a difference to a club's fortunes. I'll take the numbers thanks I know what your fans are like, I've acknowledged it but what do you get apart from patronising praise from pundits and the number 13 shirt dedicated to you???? Wow the Donny chairman heaps praise on you, but if it makes your day.....sorry who is he? But yes our support was dire up there with 1800 there so I'll give you that point and again make your day! Numbers=revenue=better prospects=fact! What do you mean you are not a twitcher? I was referring to Redknapp and I didn't mention retard anyway? By the way do you reckon anyone else has bothered reading this 'dialogue'?!! Best of luck to you too, I wish Pompey no ill funnily enough, know some great people that support you and we banter about this all the time, just wish you would recognise how boring it gets to hear how great you lot are all the time!!
