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Old 07-15-2017, 02:40 PM   #59
Addick
Powerplay Quarterback
 
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Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: East London
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shermanator View Post
After 3 years of trying to build a supporters culture from scratch, I think I'm realizing that the interest that was inherently around for the launch is not growing.

For me, the main drawbacks around PDL are lack of any sort of atmosphere outside of what us supporters are trying to bring, a lack of a professionalism from the club and the scheduling itself.

Regarding the atmosphere, I went to a Shamrock Rovers game in Ireland last week, and it's just a completely different culture around the game. I think this is more of a European vs North America thing in general, but here people react to the play rather than trying to influence it from the stands. Even sitting far away from the supporters, the experience was just completely different than you get at any game in any sport in this city. My wife, who couldn't care less about the sport, was even excited in the game as the game went on as she got caught up in the atmosphere. Having a group of 15-20 supporters trying to get 750 people who look at you like your a bunch of drunken idiots (which to be fair is sometimes true) gets tiring after a while.
One of the reasons why I love football is the atmosphere at matches. As such, it is a bit ironic that I'm not all that bothered by a lack of atmosphere at Foothills matches. Watching Foothills is like watching non-league football in the UK. I get my fix of the Terrace Culture when I watch the Arsenal so going to non-league matches is a much more relaxed event. It might be a bit less tiring following Foothills if we just concentrated on making the most of our own match day experience.

What do I mean by the above exactly? Instead of trying to get the other spectators onto our wagon, just enjoy our own sing-song while we watch the match. If we're not trying to sing for the entire match but just as the songs happen to arise, the other spectators might notice the pattern and join in every once a while. If they do, great. If they don't, oh well.

In regards to the schedule, it would be helpful if a few other cities in the Province got a PDL club. It would also be great for the sport and supporters.
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