Terrace clique

[alexiano]

Was watching the Sydney derby and it kinda got me thinking. "Wow. The rBB have a solid number of members there"

Then it made me wonder. Do they have such specific ideals and almost requirements of how to look, act and dress as what appears to happen in Yarraside.

I don't want this to turn into a flame war but is it possible that some of this rigidness puts people off for joining in or feeling comfortable in truly being part of the terrace.

I'm a stubborn prick at the best of times and know that sometimes my chant suggestions suck but I feel like sometimes the terrace is shooting themselves in the foot with these double standards. I'll keep suggesting chants that are original but Yarraside needs to be a little more open minded to those not in "the core".

Discuss....

[yelawolf]

honey moon period. wait til they get all the local lebs joining in.

[Ando]

There are no requirements really, and your suggestions are quite ok tbh.

To be honest, there is a trend of dress amongst some terrace members, but in no way should that be seen as an obstacle to participation.

As always, the only requirement in Yside is that you stand and sing.

[spain82]

agree to a point, you don't want 20 people yelling out stupid shit, which generally happens, and a lot of it is stupid.

We have plenty of good chants and good ideas do get voiced but when no one else picks them up, it doesn't work. So its the same old chants every week as thats what the punters know.

As for how to dress, people are free to dress how ever they like, it shouldn't stop anyone from joining in and chanting.

because most of the guys don't wear merchandise shouldn't mean you can't relate to them, we all follow the same club we all want to succeed, become stronger, more passionate and essentially grow.

when you walk onto the Yarraside, your among friends, you may not know them yet but get along to the Imperial pre-game and you soon will.

T

90 minutes of Pride in Our Colours, 90 minutes of unrelenting support and passion for the lads on the park. That is all that is required on the terrace

MON YOU BOYS IN RED! FIRE UP CHAPS, Not just for the derby, but the next game and also the game after that and so on..

[Heart of Melbourne]

Imagine all the stand on the yarra side signing "you are in my heart " that would be awesome.

[alexiano]

Reception to new chants is one thing. Even if a chant is endorsed and blessed by the forum members, unless its actively pursued by Terrace on the day or capo it'll fail (recent example is the "happy together " rendition).

Sometimes it feels like Groundhog Day (which might be a combination of how the team has been playing of late) where sure, it's the same ole recycled chants from other clubs. We need some simple and original material.

This is not merely a discussion of chants, but a feeling I get from the conduct of people on forum dictating somewhat what people should (and shouldn't ) wear and do.

Sure, you could say that it's honeymoon period for WSW but something tells me it's not.

[theresonlyonebzamora]

it's a vicious cycle - i said elsewhere when someone mentioned getting a new person on the megaphone (ridiculous theory) that some people want 'non chanters' singled out until they eventually leave and then others decide they don't want to get involved for fear of not knowing the chants.then when these same fans leave fingers are pointed that it was too harsh.

ultimately i think ando's comments hit the spot, let's not forget that in first season RBB will always have extra numbers because it's a 'new' thing' and the chants are new as well. plus they actually look like they're interested on the pitch.

and last of all let's not forget it WAS a derby after all...

[True Until I die]

cannot remember fully, but at one game last year, the back of yarraside (or another part of the stadium al together) was not singing. Hammer went across and got them involved with the chants and listened to what they wanted and we did some of the ones they wanted. If senior members of yarraside went to the othewr bays and encouraged it on saturday, that would have a major impact. Also I am very aware of the 'we only sing when where winning' theory which applieas to most others. Another strong possibility we can look into is getting the other supporters to sing but not make them stand up. escpecially the little kids who sing and clap to all the chants. My little cousin is 10 and he knows almost all of the chants, from being next to yarraside.

[Joel21]

Imagine all the stand on the yarra side signing "you are in my heart " that would be awesome.

I'd imagine "Heart go marching in" to be the best sung real slow

[theresonlyonebzamora]

Another strong possibility we can look into is getting the other supporters to sing but not make them stand up. escpecially the little kids who sing and clap to all the chants. My little cousin is 10 and he knows almost all of the chants, from being next to yarraside.

hence simple, easy to catch on songs. it feels like we're going through a bit of regrowth at the moment and we'll come out on the other side better for it

or we could just drink more beer

[alexiano]

For those that know me IRL would know and have seen how much my 8 and 5 year olds know. My eldest has been there multiple times.

My youngest has taken to sticking these on his backpack

The Mrs is making her first appearance this weekend so it will be a whole new experience for her

Admittedly we've always been within earshot of YS so we know the chants.

Sometimes the chants get stuck in a rut which is why I built the rotation feature in the Yarraside app to tell the capo which chant to do.

There also still seems to be a disjoint between the regular YSers and those on the forum

[schrecky]

Imagine all the stand on the yarra side signing "you are in my heart " that would be awesome.

I'd imagine "Heart go marching in" to be the best sung real slow

First home game i ever missed was last home game - The "heart go marching in chant" was the one that stood out on TV

Chant of the season so far goes to this one. See if we can sing this a few times perhaps on Saturday

[F95]

First post, so apologies if this is covered elsewhere.

I'm a casual attendee after moving to Melbourne last year (with a 1 yr old and a 3 yr old there's no way I could go all the time). Went to home games against Adelaide, Victory (0-0) last season and CCM this season, also away game vs Victory at Etihad. For all games I've tried to take as many new people as possible (none of those I've dragged along have ever been to an A-League game before).

IMO - especially for the derby games where the casual support is much boosted - I would say that there was benefit in YS starting a few more "basic" chants, so that the newbies can easilly grab the atmosphere / join in (admittedly there is a question of how likely you think that this is from other parts of GA / the rest of the ground). As an example, the newbie I took to the Etihad game picked up "Archie Thompson beats up his wife" straight away and ran with that (we'd got tickets in GA). The other regular YS chants took him a bit longer (I'm not claiming its rocket science, but the point is there will be plenty of people at derby games who don't know any of the songs).

I can see that there is a desire to have chants which are principally home grown, but I don't see what harm it would do to drop in something simpler for this Saturday night to hopefully help convert the casual attendees to something more regular by giving them chants they can latch onto - and to hopefully get songs going across more of the ground.

FWIW I would have thought:

- "Mel-bourne Heart, Mel-bourne Heart" (as per A-FC-Wimbledon at the start of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vi9XzW3Pc5g)

- "We are Melbourne Heart, We are Melbourne Heart" (as per main chant at 0:20 in this

)

would do the trick. Just my opinion, though

[F95]

NB I should say Archie Thompson *allegedly* beats up his wife....

[Melburnian]

Well said F95.

I always think the K.I.S.S principle is the best method. Hearts go marching in is the prime example. So easy, everyone knows it and it has the best results.

[KSK_47]

Hi F95. Although the YS do look to have as many original chants as possible we certainly have no issue borrowing chants either. Particularly if they are easy and catch on. Although sometimes (for reasons unknown) some of the more basic chants dont seem to catch on, while the more complex ones do. You never know until you try trough.

The second one you posted we already do. "WE HATE VICTORY, SAY WE HATE VICTORY!" Feel free to start this one up if things get a bit quiet, as you are pretty much guaranteed it will catch on every time.

Having a young family myself, I know how difficult it can be juggling family and football. Good to see you on here mate and hope to see you around when you are able.

[F95]

Thanks KSK... I *do* recall that now from the last derby....must have been the pre-match lubrication that made the memory hazy....

[KSK_47]

Thanks KSK... I *do* recall that now from the last derby....must have been the pre-match lubrication that made the memory hazy....

We have all been there mate!

[jw1739]

Well said F95.

I always think the K.I.S.S principle is the best method. Hearts go marching in is the prime example. So easy, everyone knows it and it has the best results.

I said this many times in the first two seasons. If you want any chanting or singing, or even clapping to a rhythm, to spread around the ground it will have to be simple, and a tune/song etc. that is already known to all the various demographics.

[F95]

Thanks KSK... I *do* recall that now from the last derby....must have been the pre-match lubrication that made the memory hazy....

We have all been there mate!

Well, got to make the most of a night without the kids eh? This Saturday night has been in the diary for months, then off to the casino after the game etc etc....... before back to nappies and story telling on Sunday!

[DutchPride]

Fuck Off Heart, this city is ours.

[Liberta per gli FB.]

Will probably get shot down for saying this, but to be honest there isn't much wrong in what was said in the opening post.

We might not all be aware of it, but there is a bit of a 'boys group' or 'terrace clique' if you will that follows our active support and makes it hard for new people to break in and get involved. You needn't look further then the way established posters on this forum often shoot down new chant suggestions or suggestions to make new banners or flags, by telling them to "go kill themselves" or posting a million " " smilies: etc. etc. which is absolutely kills any chance of us developing a larger and more pro-active terrace community.

Having witnessed some of the Sydney derby first hand, I'm probably in a unique position to comment on their active support. And although it pains me to say this, the RBB are miles ahead of us in almost every department, from co-ordination, to chants, to organisation, to voice and numbers. What they had going on Saturday was bloody infectious.

Having been a a somewhat regular reader of their forums since their club started (until i was banned by that dweeb mack), they have done very well to establish a decent forum community whereby new people to active support are encouraged to get involved and their ideas are well supported. Very rarely have I seen the same level of vitriol said on their forums as often gets thrown around on ours, and I think that is one of the biggest reasons as to why they are at where they are at today and why they have managed to capture the imaginations of so many.

I have said it before, but I cannot stress enough the importance of having a properly run forum community is too terrace involvement and terrace life. Look at the Mongs and what they had going on their forums 7 years ago, and how that influenced their support to become probably the best in Australia. They encouraged banners to be made, they gave tips and demonstrations on how to make banners, there was mentor-ship, there was teaching of terrace ideals and terrace behaviors to the younger ones. Their forums are shizen nowadays and its probably reflected in how their active support has fallen from those days in season 2 and 3. Same could be said for SFCU aswell.

If we want to get more people involved in the terrace then we need to start running this place professionally That means not turning the forum off for fun when some members go on an away trip, or closing boards down because a member lost a bet, or creating Balotelli sub-boards, or banning users indefinitely without reason, or stickying threads randomly. It an absolute turn off for people wanting to join this place and get involved.

Also attitudes need to change aswell, and we need to be more encouraging and mentoring to those on here who want to get involved and make our home-end better (I don't exclude myself from this, I've probably been a cunt to newbies aswell in the passed).

It's a flow on affect, and having a shitly run forum affects the ability of the terrace to grow, affects the ability of us to make better atmosphere, affects our ability to draw better crowds and ultimately affects whether our club survives and prospers in this competition or not.

Will probably get called a negative cunt because of this. Like I said above, I think things can get better there just needs to be fundamental change in attitudes around here & how the forum is run.

tl;dr stop being negative kents and run the forums properly

Edited December 20, 2012 by Liberta per gli FB.

[kontra.11]

Bravo, great post!

I have said it before, but I cannot stress enough the importance of having a properly run forum community is too terrace involvement and terrace life.

Not just important for yarraside but also important for fans in general who may come here wanting to find out more about the club and get involved.

We have a responsibility as well as the club in how we promote the club, but sadly, if we were to go by this forum, it would seem that the club and its fans stand for negativity, hostility and hoplessness.

[thedukeofhearts]

FB and Kontra.11 hit is on the head.

I have hardly posted in the last 6months- 1year. I'll put my hand up and say the main reason was the attitudes on here. Not as much towards me, but others. It really turned me off. I know others that are the same.

In saying that though I have noticed some changes in attitudes since I have been posting again this week. Reading others posts, people have been a lot more open to ideas and opinions. Although not perfect, it's a positive step.

Working along the lines that FB pointed out could really make a huge difference.

[Jimmy]

As through saying goes, You'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar.

[Peter]

Back in the good old days we didn't have megaphones, social media etc. You simply turned up, stood where you could and chanted as you learnt the words which didn't take that long. Simple stuff really.

I wonder if it has all been made more complicated with the organisation that now seems neccessary to try and get a few hundred people to chant together when we have had thousands with little bother.

Just stand (or sit if you feel awkward and/or are not in active) and open your mouth.

[theresonlyonebzamora]

spot on peter. unfortunately there's people who'd rather play with smartphones, stare at the sky, talk to their mates and make sure their trainers don't get scuffed i know it's probably unfairly tarnishing a lot of people with the same brush but it's really not too hard to get amongst it

[dRoy]

Tbh. It does get very annoying when the same people flame others down for their suggestions every time.

Happens to me, but I couldn't give a fuck what some people think of me. I'm happy with myself.

I like the idea of threads on "how to make a two stick" etc etc. Ando helped me make my "just shoot!" 2stick. Helped me a lot!

[malloy]

We might not all be aware of it, but there is a bit of a 'boys group' or 'terrace clique' if you will that follows our active support and makes it hard for new people to break in and get involved.

The only clique in my opinion is those who turn upto everything and those that don't hence why there seems to be a bit of a clique as these people spend alot of time with each other go through alot of shit and naturally bonds are formed. bit hard to do with people who don't really turn up to stuff.

and no i don't mean to the games, I mean to the pub before the game and after the game, away trips, to the pub if you don't go on away trips, pre season games.

tl;dr stop being negative kents and run the forums properly

whilst I do believe that this is somewhat to blame, it is rather negligible to the actual active scene declining.

this third season slump was bound to happen, the excitement of a new team has died off and only the most keen are still going. it also doesnt help that seccos are lifting there game in only allowing active member holders into the bay, as this imo has caused a serious decline in the numbers in bay 17, and with less numbers there is less noise and excitement

[Braveheart]

^This

[FB.]

The only clique in my opinion is those who turn upto everything and those that don't hence why there seems to be a bit of a clique as these people spend alot of time with each other go through alot of shit and naturally bonds are formed. bit hard to do with people who don't really turn up to stuff.

and no i don't mean to the games, I mean to the pub before the game and after the game, away trips, to the pub if you don't go on away trips, pre season games.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that an intentional clique has been formed in any real sense, hence my comment about most of us being "unaware" of it, I still think one exists however and you can see it with the way most of us talk down to others on here.

Granted supporters don't help themselves by not turning up to stuff, but I don't think we make it very enticing with the way we speak on here. Tbf if I was a newbie and read most of the responses on here, it would probs turn me off getting involved aswell.

whilst I do believe that this is somewhat to blame, it is rather negligible to the actual active scene declining.

this third season slump was bound to happen, the excitement of a new team has died off and only the most keen are still going. it also doesnt help that seccos are lifting there game in only allowing active member holders into the bay, as this imo has caused a serious decline in the numbers in bay 17, and with less numbers there is less noise and excitement

Fair post, but I don't buy into the "inevitable" third season slump.

The third season of the A-League brought the best crowds of the competition's existence and probably represented the peak of the active scene around the country at that time. It was only after Hatamato got involved in season 4 and profiling and surveillance of supporters became common that the scenes at other clubs started to fall apart. It's not something we have experienced on mass yet, and I don't think that explains our scene's drop off (I have a number of other reasons I could go into on that front) and I'm not saying forum culture is solely to blame. But I do believe the forums play a huge part in getting people involved in the active community. It's how we all got involved in yarraside once and having a poorly run forums is one of the biggest hindrances to getting more people posting on these forums, getting them involved in the terrace and getting them indoctrinated into terrace culture.

[alexiano]

We might not all be aware of it, but there is a bit of a 'boys group' or 'terrace clique' if you will that follows our active support and makes it hard for new people to break in and get involved.

The only clique in my opinion is those who turn upto everything and those that don't hence why there seems to be a bit of a clique as these people spend alot of time with each other go through alot of shit and naturally bonds are formed. bit hard to do with people who don't really turn up to stuff.

and no i don't mean to the games, I mean to the pub before the game and after the game, away trips, to the pub if you don't go on away trips, pre season games.

tl;dr stop being negative kents and run the forums properly

whilst I do believe that this is somewhat to blame, it is rather negligible to the actual active scene declining.

this third season slump was bound to happen, the excitement of a new team has died off and only the most keen are still going. it also doesnt help that seccos are lifting there game in only allowing active member holders into the bay, as this imo has caused a serious decline in the numbers in bay 17, and with less numbers there is less noise and excitement

You see the cliques in person and this is only natural. It seems it's the same people at away games, etc.

However, members jump onto the forums to help out somewhat anonymously and give their opinion only to get shot down. They get shut down, and soon they start shutting people down just because it's the "thing to do"..

Soon, everyone's mind is closed to new ideas and the terrace gets stuck in a rut.

[Malcolm77]

I reckon one of the major issues in terms of getting songs and chants going is that the demographic in the terrace is quite young. Don't get me wrong it's great that we have lots of young supporters but the fact is that all the best songs sung by clubs around the world are from classic 70's and 80's songs and I think a lot of the younger guys just don't know the songs.

An example from the other week was when Gol Gol was on and scored we started singing Gold by Spandau Ballet. The older guys were loving it and had it going ok but the younger guys had no idea what we were on about so had trouble joining in. I think it's a similar issue with Happy Together, how many people under 20 know who The Turtles are?

Maybe we just need a better way for people to actually learn the songs everyone can join in with some unique songs and not have us be forced to sing the same old stuff all the time?

When The Heart Go Marching In is fine and it works because every club in Europe does their own version of it and everyone already knows the song, but it's not exactly original!

Anyway that's my rant done, for anyone who doesn't know it, here is a link for Gold by Spandau Ballet, when you get to the chorus at 0:42 pretty much change the words Gold to Gol and you're done! Hope we can get it going for the whole Terrace in the future!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VQ4qrcHyYj4

[thedukeofhearts]

I think another issue is we have a lot of different personalities. These can be influenced by age, background, football watching experiences. Everyone has a different idea of how they want the terrace to be. Myself, I much prefer the European and South American chants, but I know guys that much prefer the British old school style chants. I guess both of us are a bit reluctant to get in to the other style. We all just have to be open as possible to embracing new ideas. It's just going to take time and we will all realise what's working and what's not. I'll admit, I can be a fickle as the next bastard.

[Ando]

I'm Anglo as (bro) and love the "euro style", whatever the fuck that is.

[thedukeofhearts]

I'm Anglo as (bro) and love the "euro style", whatever the fuck that is.

I'm the same. I'm part english and have been brought up with it, but much prefer hearing and doing the mainland 'euro' style.

[biancorosso7]

A few observations from the match v Newcastle (NYD)

- The Yarraside "contingency" plan may need some help. As I understand, drummer was absent, and Ando stepped in. The new guy on the megaphone was enthusiastic, but lacked rhythm and control of the supporters. He also started some chants at strange times, including competing chants about Redders, "give us a wave" chants (absolutely horrible) and degoratory chants, namely, "how shit must you be, we're winning at home" and one about attendance which I can't remember. Massively poor form.

- This then lead to a group of 13 to 16 year olds in the 3 front rows creating "rebel chants". As Ando and others have said before, listen to the capo, or guy with the megaphone, and follow his lead. We all look stupid otherwise.

- Like the fact the banners are coming back in the terrace.

- Massive dislike that about 40-50% of Yarraside do not wear either 1) Heart merch; or 2) foreign clubs who wear red and/or white or 3) civvies but red and/or white.

- What is the fascination with standing on the concrete barrier/fence if we score? You don't wear merch, so you aren't promoting the club in that sense. You know it's going to attract the ACG wankers' attention and they'll be after you.

[MrAiDaN66]

A few observations from the match v Newcastle (NYD)

- The Yarraside "contingency" plan may need some help. As I understand, drummer was absent, and Ando stepped in. The new guy on the megaphone was enthusiastic, but lacked rhythm and control of the supporters. He also started some chants at strange times, including competing chants about Redders, "give us a wave" chants (absolutely horrible) and degoratory chants, namely, "how shit must you be, we're winning at home" and one about attendance which I can't remember. Massively poor form.

- This then lead to a group of 13 to 16 year olds in the 3 front rows creating "rebel chants". As Ando and others have said before, listen to the capo, or guy with the megaphone, and follow his lead. We all look stupid otherwise.

- Like the fact the banners are coming back in the terrace.

- Massive dislike that about 40-50% of Yarraside do not wear either 1) Heart merch; or 2) foreign clubs who wear red and/or white or 3) civvies but red and/or white.

- What is the fascination with standing on the concrete barrier/fence if we score? You don't wear merch, so you aren't promoting the club in that sense. You know it's going to attract the ACG wankers' attention and they'll be after you.

This! ( I have reached the quota of positive votes for the day)

[Footballism]

He also started some chants at strange times, including competing chants about Redders, "give us a wave" chants (absolutely horrible) and degoratory chants, namely, "how shit must you be, we're winning at home".

Didn't start either actually, just joined in on both. We've done the latter on numerous occasions too, fwiw.

The Redmayne chant was done during a lull in the game, when he was over closer to us (using his towell). Not sure when would have been a "better" time to do it.

Feedback is good though, it's the only way we'll improve.

[biancorosso7]

He also started some chants at strange times, including competing chants about Redders, "give us a wave" chants (absolutely horrible) and degoratory chants, namely, "how shit must you be, we're winning at home".

Didn't start either actually, just joined in on both. We've done the latter on numerous occasions too, fwiw.

The Redmayne chant was done during a lull in the game, when he was over closer to us (using his towell). Not sure when would have been a "better" time to do it.

Feedback is good though, it's the only way we'll improve.

I think the thing about those type of chants are that they just sound a bit childish and completely out of the normal course of what we sing about.