Thetownend.com

Topic about passionate support:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fotmpIa0-EQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFUZZUE3bJM&feature=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHykUmwI01g

How is a clip of Danny Dyer off his head passionate?

Those Lazio cunts want shooting.

This place has been mentioned on here already today and I really must go there - Westfalenstadion, Borussia Dortmund:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pugl2X3-7UU&feature=related

And here. St Pauli:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1A2r8vsEnko

This was at Hampden, but I've heard it sung at Easter Road before the Edinburgh Derby and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkSD0_xAVgA&feature=related

2 out of 3 ain't bad OST!!

Which Edinburgh derby game were you at? I must say that even though I'm a jambo, Sunshine on Leith song sounds pretty good belted out prior to the derby.

It was in March '07. Just after they won at Hampden in fact. You will be pleased to know that I was in the Hearts end and they (Hearts) won 1-0 and my ears were fucking ringing afterwards.  Sunshine On Leith was great though.

Now this is what i call passionate support...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ndV-zZRVCA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE_V9Sl84NU&feature=related

And apparently that was a friendly...insane 8)

Surprised no one has posted the video of lech Poznans under 12s, now that is support

Now that is a good call

As someone whi is born in Germany that is a good shout but i disagree with your Lazio comments. They are fantastic team

I've done a couple of Edinburgh derbies in recent years. First was at Easter Road when Hearts were in the title race under Burley and Hibs won 2-0 to give Hearts their first defeat. Other game was a dogshit 0-0 at Tynecastle last season.

The atmosphere/hatred at these games pisses all over any Swindon derby game I've been to.

Sunshine on Leith is a superb club anthem.  Was in the Hibs Club the night they win the League Cup and that song was played about 20 times much to the delight off 200 pissed Scotsmen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1UfViPhMCo&feature=fvsr

Crazy Greeks!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FUYUi7xQN4

Imagine the scene in the H&S offices over here if they saw any of that in England.

They would have a fit over the ticker-tape, fuck knows what they would make of the flares & fireworks

Just think back to Leyton Orient last season!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvOWAR3u8iI

That was the Hibs 'party' which the Jambos ruined. Was it when the Hearts fans stayed behind at the end when Hibs were parading the league cup? Basically taking the piss that Hibs had won the 'wee' cup and Hearts had won the 'Big' cup which Hibs haven't won since 1902, a fact they hate down Leith way!!

That Hibs thing is great... i never knew Sunshine on Leith was their song. Some impressive singing there, in time and everything!

At the derby at ER, they stop the music when they sing the 'Sunshine on Leith' part which makes it sound better.

And then Hearts win, rule of thumb.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ib70m35Pc5Q
kicks in about 2.00min

Those pesky East Europeans.

On the Left side, On the Right side....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct6wE10mqJI

You can't underestimate the importance of a good song.  'Sunshine on Leith' lends itself lends itself perfectly to being belted out by the whole ground.  How could you not join in with that if you were a Hibs fan and you were there?  Much less inspiring, but still useful to demonstrate the point, was Millwall's 'Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii' (I don't think it ever gets past the first syllable) at Wembley.  Dead easy to latch on to.

The only song we have that has ever come remotely close to this is Wise Men Say...which you can really welly out after a few beers and sounds quite impressive.

That was the one. Except they cleared out all the Hearts fans before they paraded the cup round the stadium. This was quite qood from our point of view because all the Hibs fans stayed behind and there was no trouble outside the ground at all which I am quite sure there would normally have been.

I wasn't talking about the team for fuck sake, I was talking about all that Moussolini, faschist bull shit  ::)

I've been to 4 or 5 derbies and after the ground, both sets of fans file out to meet each other on Easter Road. I have never seen any trouble myself personally but walking up Easter Road with the Hibs fans is pretty intense.

We could do with matey boy at the CG doing the same as the guy in the centre circle (about 1 minute in) before our games  :)

The bit at the end translates roughly as "The big eagle anytime, anywhere"  :sherlock:

I quite like how Italians take megaphones in.

We should do that.

Theyve always had leaders of their fans groups in Italy.

We dont tend to have that here. English football supporters tend to be more anarchic.

We don't need megaphones. We've got Fred

Marseille tonight should be special

Town End in the 70sand 80s was great....like all that shit above but boiled down ....i fucking loved match day then...win or lose....

I've thought about our support alot recently. It is a shame that we aren't more vocal at home, it sounded quality when the town end started singing along to 'falling in love with you' at the start of Carlisle. That should be our song as the teams walk out, every time loud as fuck. I've always been a bit jealous of teams that have their own distinctive song/chant or quirk. Don't get me wrong when in full voice our support is good, just wish it was like that every game. While I'm on it, would be good to see more red flags/scarfs about too... ... and a winning team :toocool:

This might sound a bit stupid but I think the way the teams come out is partly to blame.

Teams used to come out the tunnel then sprint across the pitch, all the fans cheering them on - it just gets the crowd going from the start.

Now the teams walk out, line up, shake hands, then jog round the corner. Seems some fans welcome them onto the pitch when they come out the tunnel, other when they come round the corner from the handshake - just seems to make us flat from the start.

Its not the main reason far from it...but...

yea I see your point DV.... I used love it when players charged across the pitch... Would be good to just get loud from when they appear right up to kick off. I'm a firm believer that as fans we should set the tone from the off.

Its a good point DV.

Fact is in the old days players were paid on Win,lose or draw.....for many players winning meant doubling there wages.........players are financially sound now before a ball is kicked in the season in most cases....not saying players are not hungry for success......but they are not hungry for food on the table and a the mortgage to be paid.

You need a song.  Something that's instantly recognised as Swindon; something rousing and even tuneful that you can welly out (think Sunshine on Leith, Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer etc.)  Unfortunately, you can't really manufacture this.  It either happens or it doesn't.

Once you've got your song, everything else will flow from that.

Senses working overtime by XTC

Good song.  Like the Swindon connection as well.  But I'm worried it could fall victim to 'fast clapping' disease when aired in the Town End.

Not really conducive to terrace chanting either.  You start it Ill join in.

1-2-3-4-5.....Lucas working overtime :eek:

How times have changed from the start of the season.. The "Wise Men Say" at 3:00 still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stick up..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8SAaDyT9z0

Last Sunday I attended the Bundesliga 2 game between Fortuna Dusseldorf v FC Ingolstadt 04.  Our match tickets cost 11 Euros which also covered the cost of using public transport from the city centre to the Espirit Arena.  The train took us straight to the Stadium on time and we took our places to watch the game.  It was a pretty entertaining game, Fortuna coming out 3-1 winners however I noticed numerous things that were different to watching a game in England...

-11 Euros to watch the second tier of German football is excellent value.  Added to this, the transport to the ground was effectively free of charge was a total bonus.
-You were able to drink beer on the terraces whilst watching the game and there was no trouble.
- Safe standing was in place and once again, there was no trouble.
-The Fortuna Ultras were located in a couple of blocks towards the corner flag.  These fans were led by a chap with a microphone and loud speaker leading the chanting which pretty much continued non stop for the 90 minutes + half time.  It was a pleasure to see and hear.
- Although there were only 20,000 there (in a stadium which can hold 50,000) it was a cracking atmosphere.
- The Fortuna players had a lap of honour at the end thanking the supporters which resulted in the Man of the Match taking a microphone and thanking the fans direct.  He then embarked on leading a singalong between himself and the Ultras, something I would love to see Jonathan Douglas do after we win a game.

Overall my experience of watching football in Germany has been excellent and has led me to believe that this country could learn a great deal from our European neighbours.  If only games at Swindon could be more like that!

One of the guys at my work lives in Dusseldorf and goes to some of the games saying how much better it is than going to a game in England. However he is from Brighton which is frankly an awful matchday experience!

I honestly believe that the Germans have the best league in Europe.  Don't get me wrong...I think the English league is good as well, but you can't help but think that German football today has many of the attributes that we used to have here, but have now lost.

One of the areas that we score very highly in this country is strength in depth right through the league structure.  Many leagues have a strong top division attracting large crowds, but then it all fizzles out lower down (Spain and Italy being good examples).  Well Germany has that too...but they also have affordable tickets, safe standing and a bond between players and fans that we don't seem to get as much here.

My own view is that this goes right back to the fan ownership structure practised in Germany - where at least 51% of the share capital of every league club is owned by the fans.  Clubs up & down Germany are, therefore, owned by the fans and - by extension - by the towns they are located in.  No dodgy petro-dollars, no Portuguesers lurking in the background, no PIK loans and little City involvement.  Just a competitive, well-supported league run for the benefit of paying customers.  If there was any way at all we could introduce something similar here, I would take it in a shot...but of course, it will never happen.

What did you make of Ingolstadt? Were they any good? Karlsruhe have got them at home on Sunday and desperately need to start putting a run of wins together to avoid the utter humiliation of dropping down to the same league as Stu**gart reserves.

On topic, however, I'm off to 1860 vs. KSC in about 3 weeks. 15,000 people in a 70,000 capacity stadium is going to feel weird. Massively disappointed with the Allianz Arena banning alcohol in the stand for the away fans, and giving us a seated section. This is the first time I've ever been to a German game as an away fan - it's literally going to be 400 Ultras and me and my mate in the 'pen' - I cannot wait, must remember to pack the fireworks.

Were you in a safe standing area? What do you make of it? I've never been in one or seen one in action in person, all the grounds I've been to in Germany have just had standard terracing where you end up a few rows forwards and covered in lager every time a goal goes in.

P.S. the landlord of one of my locals in Keynsham used to play for Fortuna!

Personally I didnt think that Ingolstadt were that bad, they passed the ball about pretty nicely but didnt really have anyone up top to take the game to Fortuna and therefore the Fortuna defence had a pretty comfortable afternoon.  They just seemed to be a typical team struggling at the wrong end of the table.  Fortuna had an excellent season last year, mainly helped along by bringing in Martin Harnik on loan however I believe that he is doing the business at Stuttgart this season and Fortuna have missed a regular goalscorer which is why they have been in mid-table for the majority of the season.  Losing the first 6 games of the season didnt help either.  Fortuna also have a defender called Lukimya who is a cross between Jean-Francois and Jerel Ifil!

You will have a fantastic time with the away fans, the great thing about the Ultras it seems that no matter how far the distance, how many there are of them, they will always create an excellent atmosphere.  After speaking to locals at Fortuna it seems that they took 5000 to the game against Hertha Berlin a couple of weeks ago, they had to get up at 4am to make the journey.  Get the aviators & flares going and you will fit right in!

We were a couple of rows behind the safe standing area but we stood, pretty much as we do in the Town End.  The people in the safe standing area though all kept within their 'zone' and it seemed like everyone obeyed the rules and there were certainly no over crowding in the terracing area.  I am not sure that would happen in England though.

The Espirit Arena is being used for the Eurovision Song Contest in a few months so as I understand Fortuna will not be allowed to play at the stadium as a favour for the local council building the stadium for them.  Instead of using their 'Reserve Stadium' which holds about 7000, they are building a 'Temporary Stadium' which can hold 30,000 just for the remaining 3 home games of the season.  Once again, I am not sure that would happen in England.

I wouldnt be that sorry if the laws on drinking alcohol whilst watching the game in the UK were never relaxed. I dont really miss it, and most of it would end up on the floor anyway.

Regarding the travel, and getting up at 4am, the group savers on the train in Germany must be fantastic for the away fans. Providing you dont use the ICE you can get tickets for 5 of you for the price of 2. In the World Cup we went from Stuttgart to Munich for about 5 Euros each.