Crowd Etiquette

Should I chill out a bit or should I fight back?

Last 2 home games fans around me have wound me up with how they behave with no thought for others. 1) extreme swearing not just bad language which I can accept but repetitive loud extreme swearing. 2) feet on back of the chairs in front, why would anyone think it's acceptable? 3) 2 blokes at side of me sat leaning forward in their chairs with their arms on their knees meaning we had to try to watch looking over and around them for the whole game. Why wouldn't they realise it affects others?

I had a word over the extreme swearing but the other 2 items I didn't as is it my business to say anything are they really doing anything wrong or am I turning in to a miserable old git?. I take my kids with me and I think it's wrong.

Any other crowd Etiquette things that wind you up? Someone on here may do some of these things and may realise the errors of their ways, stop and improve things for all. Apart from that everyone where I sit are pretty decent.

 

Someone sitting next to me against Forest.
Built like a brick wall.
Had both his legs open wide and therefore encroached my space so I had to sit sideways.
He wasn't there last Saturday so I'm praying he's not just on holiday and that it was a one off !

 

Speaking as a miserable old git you have my sympathies. Some people have zero thought for the comfort of others. It's like when you get on a plane and the first thing the person in front of you does is slam their seat back into recline. Sod the fact you're crammed in as long as they're a bit comfier.
I'd be in the same quandary as you to be honest. You're likely to get a mouthful or a shrug of the shoulders and no change from them even if you do mention it. Good on you for challenging the excessive swearing though.
Why is it so hard for people to consider the effects of their actions on others?

 

I sometimes sit forward a bit but a tap on my shoulder from my dad behind me draws me back, a think it's more a comfort thing than out else, certainly not intended to piss anyone off.

I switch off me at games, the only thing that winds me up is folk moaning or slagging team off, a suppose we all have our own personal pet hates at games

 

I'd say summat. Life's too short to embrace rude idiocy.

 

Of course you should complain

 

Sadly, self-awareness is not a quality you would associate with your average football fan. Which is why I prefer life in the West Stand, where at least you can swing a cat or move seats when you need to.
God forbid we ever get back to the premier league...

 

Apart from getting rained on I reckon the west stand is the best place in the ground to be. You have the view of three impressive stands and plenty of room to move if u want to.

I'm stuck in the ESL, near the half way line. Great view of the action but poor levels of comfort as it's usually full in that area. Oh and, despite the roof, I still get wet when it rains, even on row M.

 

What about the 1.5 yr old kid at the front in the ponte end singing your fcking sh*t, your fcking sh*t, both parents there wouldnt they be better in family stand or should the swear chants stop...

 

The biggest annoyance is people who go to the match and think they are at ******* church

 

Kneeling on the floor and reciting the lord's prayer? Not bumped into many of them

 

Swearing and swear chants are part of the match day whether I like it or not, some of it is funny and I don't have an issue with it and don't have a problem with my kids hearing it as they know it's not for repeating, even though they will at school with their mates. My problem on this occasion were two men shouting Fxxx Cxxx words at the referee players etc for decisions or misplaced passes, to be fair to them they stopped when I told them there was no need in front of the kids.

 

Don't think that's the case for any barnsley fan, I think the experience of match day has done my kids good. They've experienced the leeds crowd fighting, a lot of hateful comments and language etc and as much as it's not nice it prepares them for the real world and it's part and parcel of what happens at football always has always will. My initial comment is about a bit of thought for the person at the side of you watching the match that's why we don't sit in the ponty I think everyone accepts in their people will stand shout sing and looking in there is no better sight than the ponty in full swing it makes the match atmosphere but I don't sit there as I want to watch the match in a bit of comfort.

 

Personally think the club should revert to unreserved seating on the Ponty (I think it was in the 1990s or early 2000s we had it). At least that way you can please yourself where you sit and get away from the occasional selfish and ignorant git and thereby reduce your stress levels. I realise that some people (ST holders?) might have an issue with that as they can get attached to a particular seat. On the other hand if you'd just shelled out a fortune for a season ticket only yo find you are sitting next to a racist bigot you might like the idea of being able to sit somewhere else.

 

To be fair my daughter 14 pointed out this almost baby singing the song and it was quite funny to see but then my parent thoughts came in and i thought should that b at that age but hey ho we all bring up our kids our own way

 

A football ground is a public place just as a high street, market, cinema and yes even a church. If behaviour is unacceptable in any public place it is unacceptable in a football ground. Some of us are old enough to remember the time when it didn't occur in football and the growth of the use of foul language in the late 1960s. The fact that many people use it doesn't make it acceptable, in my humble old opinion.

 

"We all bring our kids up our own way" is one of the biggest problems. It seems that you cannot criticise a parent no matter how badly they are doing the job because it is apparently their right to bring their kids up as they want.

 

Indeed, and so enravelles a whole new debate.....

 

That is the problem I see it a lot kids roaming the streets when are a too young, out too late, kids running around inside or outside pubs while parents boozing with no idea what they are doing, kids out on the streets with no respect for anyone. I work long hours but my spare time on a night and weekend is with my kids and wife that's why we has them and got married, not for a source of income. These kids miss out so much through not having a bit of guidance from their parents.

Back to the op if my kids put their feet on the chair in front they are told immediately, there were 3 teenage kids around me doing this all with parents who said nothing.

 

Im in my 50's and I sit in the ponty end. When I go to a football match I expect to hear bad language and as Mr C pointed out above most football fans are not blessed with self-awareness. Reference the guy who leans forward all the time it might be worth a simple "excuse me but would you mind sitting back a little bit please? I appreciate you may not be aware of this but I'm struggling to see the match". You may well find they are totally unaware of the problem they are causing and will be quite apologetic. I know during exciting periods I will sit forward or stand up meaning the bloke behind me has to stand up to see ...and so on.
Of course he could have a brain the size of a pea and his response may not be so civil.

I think the thing that annoys me most which you touched on is the really bad swearing from young kids, usually with their dad or guardian sat at the side of them. I often think these kids have been dragged up and part of me feels sorry for them as the parents have brought them up to believe that swearing and general loutish bad behaviour is normal.. Somehow because they are a football match They get away with it as its become "accepted behaviour".