NTUA - club support

[sammydog]

In one breath it's be like WSW, in the other it is adopt and English style of support.

I don't get it.

Marketers say people don't know what they want. Maybe they are right

On this not let's sing "oH when the jets" at every chance. Between that and New car smell we will be the envy of every other active support group!

I'm not saying be a copy of WSW. But surely you can look at other groups and see what has worked and what hasn't. how they have engaged other parts of the crowd and so on.

Every group would have lessons for others to think about and learn/adapt from.

We have a number of very simple chants.
On the larger games in the past few seasons we stuck with repeating these simple chants to engage the crowd, and then we cop criticism that we are boring and people are sick of the same old chants.
So half of the criticisers want more chants cause we are boring, the other half want the same simple chants because they engage the crowd more.
Do people understand now the issues we have had trying to please everyone? It gets to a point where you just have to take a path and stick to it, and then you get accused of not engaging with the rest of the supporters and being a closed shop.

And that I guess it where the squadron has to decide what they want as a group. Obviously from this they have taken a path and would be right to stick to it. But then people who want the more complex and varied chants have no right to describe other sections of the crowd as cardboard cutouts when they don't/can't get involved.

Does the criticism of the boring chants come from within the group or external?

[furns]

both criticisms come from within but mostly from external
I am not picking on you btw mate, but its a common question and it seems the best thread to answer it in

Problem is that the majority who need to read these posts arent on this site

[Blackmac79]

Also not having a go at you. As I am sure you could have gathered. As you pointed out it wasn't you saying lets be more like WSW.

[sammydog]

Nothing has been taken as a shot, just asking questions and giving observations from other sides of the stadium.

I'd love nothing more than to see the stadium going nuts on match day. Obviously for those in the active support its a mix of keeping it interesting for themselves while also attracting new people.

My kids couldn't care less what you sing, they get into the stuff where you clap. And sing what they can understand.

[Superdylan]

it's happened before, i distinctly remember it from time to time

SD will back me up

A couple times I can remember from memory. Definitely worked at the a-league grand final.
Considering a majority of the squadron aren't knights supporters I don't think the new-cas-tle would go well. I personally don't mind if it gets adopted at games being a supporter of both clubs. We have had come on Newcastle chants at knights games before, not really many options for simple team chants.

Anyways back on the topic of never tear us apart you would need every supporter to own a scarf to make it really good.

[BodyNovo]

the used car sales chant, was very special at the gf & other big moments (prelim final and one of the acl games in memory)

its not something I would be first to scream out in the chance of getting the crowd going, always thought the "come on newcastle" was more deafening with the drum beat as well, at the same time I wouldn't not yell it out if 10,000 people were singing it.

Anyways back on the topic of never tear us apart you would need every supporter to own a scarf to make it really good.

its not about the scarf at the moment sd, its about getting the set mentality in every fans head that ntua is our song & that it is just common knowledge/perception that as the players walk out to sing it.

when that happens than you can further it by encouraging people to buy scarves (hopefully squadron ones) and before you know it 20,000 novocastrians are all holding scarves above singing ntua.

[q-money]

put out a decent team and watch everyone get around them

[BodyNovo]

put out a decent team and watch everyone get around them

basically what every a league team has done when they have won the premiership/championship bar gypos.

was more talking about the base we work from at the moment which at the moment is probably 10-15k

[Jetmaster]

put out a decent team and watch everyone get around them

A hint of truth there - do you notice how much louder and involved the general public is when there is excitement on the field ?

GF day was the day that everyone laid aside their inhibitions - I yelled and screamed and banged on seats, I never do it at our matches.

So how do you tap into that passion week in, week out ? I do feel that using the success of YNWA the other week is something that should be pushed to make NTUA its equivalent.

[hausmann]

Technically, I think NTUA is a pretty hard song to sing.

The lyrics have big gaps in them, which makes people unsure about when to come in with the next line, the verses aren't very melodic, then you've got that really high part with the lyrics "Some of us don't know Whyyyyyyyyyy". Your average person may not be brave enough to punch that tune out with passion atm.

YNWA is far more melodic.

Don't stop trying but I can see why there is not a great uptake from the general crowd. Really, what I think you are going to need is another Grand Final moment, where everyone is full of passion and prepared to sing it, and then they might continue singing it in memory of that day.

But keep the fire burning. Lets hope that day comes.

[furns]

I am never watching that NTUA video package played as the teams line up - are the lyrics on the screen as well?

[BodyNovo]

Of memory the last line of never tear us apart flashes on the screen.

[sammydog]

Don't recall ever seeing the words up there.

[q-money]

tbh the last line is the easiest bit to remember

people still get it wrong though, cause it's got the "ever" after the last "never" ay

[furns]

Do people want the Jets to put the lyrics up with the video as well? Might help people get involved.

[GazFish35]

i think they need to.


a letter bomb at the gates might be worthwhile too.

[scarfy96]

its not about the scarf at the moment sd, its about getting the set mentality in every fans head that ntua is our song & that it is just common knowledge/perception that as the players walk out to sing it.

when that happens than you can further it by encouraging people to buy scarves (hopefully squadron ones) and before you know it 20,000 novocastrians are all holding scarves above singing ntua.

This is my point in engaging the club to help promote it at the very first post.

It can be seen to be just another squadron song but if the club backs it as the club song sung by the fans to the team then that changes. There are 10,000 members who all have scarves because they get them in their supporters packs.

Handing something out on arrival and/or putting words up on the big screen and announcing for a while (corny as it may seem) for everyone to join in and sing for their team can only help.

The words NEED to be somewhere as most don't know them. If the club publicly endorses it and promotes the singing of it then that can only help too.

Also a cut down version I think with only one verse and punching out the chorus would probably work better but that is just my opinion.

In terms of "activating" the crowd has any thought been given to "seeding" another part of the crowd. ie getting say 20 members of the squadron to sit somewhere in the Western stand or on the western half of the southern hill (probably better as GA) to engage with the squadron at a distance. Allows others to mingle around them if they want to join in and also gives the Squadron some insight into the dynamics of sound delay (it is actually a real issue with clapping because from one end of the ground to the other is about a half second delay due to speed of sound making it hard to sync in with a rhythm) etc and what works in engaging and what doesn't?

[hausmann]

In terms of "activating" the crowd has any thought been given to "seeding" another part of the crowd. ie getting say 20 members of the squadron to sit somewhere in the Western stand or on the western half of the southern hill (probably better as GA) to engage with the squadron at a distance. Allows others to mingle around them if they want to join in and also gives the Squadron some insight into the dynamics of sound delay (it is actually a real issue with clapping because from one end of the ground to the other is about a half second delay due to speed of sound making it hard to sync in with a rhythm) etc and what works in engaging and what doesn't?

"Seeding" was done in season two in the Western Stand because that's where I sat, and I dragged in a person now and then from Bay2. It was successful, but in truth that was only because there was a corporate box full of Greek kids who joined in with everything and made up their own chants. At the start of the season, most of the adults didn't participate, only the kids. Then, when things got exciting at the end of the season, everyone was joining in.

Honestly though, people have minds of their own. A lot simply want to watch the game and not join in with the chants. They get excited when there is something to get excited about. A lot of people in the Western Stand get involved in the "Come on Newcastle" chant at corners when the corner is an important one, like the game is running out of time, or when the Jets are bossing the game. The rest of the time, they know that they Jets aren't going to score from it so what's the point?

I really think the Jets crowd is a pretty educated one. If the club is dishing up shit, they don't give you anything. When they see good play, they do show their appreciation for it. They also boo and groan at the passing around the backs rubbish. When there is energy on the field, there is energy in the stands. And that is the way it should be. The players shouldn't wait until the fans give them a lift before they start to play well. They should play well from the starting whistle. And if they play well, then the supporters will give them more love the next home game.

The problem is the way the team has been playing in the last couple of years. Fix that up and you won't have to worry about atmosphere.

[scarfy96]

Yes I agree with that but I would say that when a group of people start singing others tend to join in around them but few people want to be the "first". That is where kids are great because by and large they don't care, adults however tend to look around and if no-one else is singing they want don't want to be the first.

If you are a block away from a few that are thinking of joining in but are too embarrassed to be the first they wont (unless others around them do). That is why I thought seeding into the GA area at the start of the season may be good. That way people who want to join in will in time migrate to near to you, those that don't will migrate away (over a few games). Those in the stands can't move so you are relying on being around a group that want to join in.

Since the western stand is full of Silver and Gold members who have paid more I suspect you are less likely to get lucky there. Any seating I would target the GA area and the southern hill because at least in that area chances are they have had a couple of beers as well!

[Jeterpool]

Yes I agree with that but I would say that when a group of people start singing others tend to join in around them but few people want to be the "first". That is where kids are great because by and large they don't care, adults however tend to look around and if no-one else is singing they want don't want to be the first.

If you are a block away from a few that are thinking of joining in but are too embarrassed to be the first they wont (unless others around them do). That is why I thought seeding into the GA area at the start of the season may be good. That way people who want to join in will in time migrate to near to you, those that don't will migrate away (over a few games). Those in the stands can't move so you are relying on being around a group that want to join in.

Since the western stand is full of Silver and Gold members who have paid more I suspect you are less likely to get lucky there. Any seating I would target the GA area and the southern hill because at least in that area chances are they have had a couple of beers as well!

My mates and I are seated in Bay 58. We sing religiously every home game. Unforunately nobody has taken up with us so far. Scarves are up and we sing loudly.

Hopefully this season a few more people will join us. However we won't be stopping if they don't

Once we get to a critical mass it will take off. We need to stick with it and one by one they will join in.

Initiatives suggested above certainly can't hurt. Printing off the words, showing them on the screen, giving it it's own air time all will build momentum.