Newcastle United fans – Changing times, changing prices and change in atmosphere | OneFootball

The old Leazes end (then the Gallowgate end after it was demolished), Stretford end, Kop and Shed.

Just some of the ‘ends’ that have long been and in some ways still are, renowned as institutions that pioneered the ways of traditional football fandom, responsible for the songs and chants that gave birth to a culture that remains part of football folklore today.

There was a a recent article on The Mag that talked about the problems young people have these days of getting to watch Newcastle United in the flesh.

Indeed, the same for pretty much all major Premier League clubs

That recent article pointing out the knock-on effect of an ageing match going population not helping the atmosphere, nor the long-term health of the club if young people find it so difficult/impossible to get into St James’ Park.

The author (Greg McPeake) of that article mentioned in particular one recollection of his youth at St James’ Park, the old guys in the East stand paddock offering their jam jar bottom glasses to the linesman as he flagged Supermac. That point wasn’t lost on me and it got me thinking about the transformation of the match day experience.

I started going to St James’ Park in the early 1980s, frequenting the Gallowgate Corner until such time that I debunked to the recently remodelled Leazes End, joining like-minded individuals wanting to express themselves through the clothes they wore with Saturday afternoons on that particular terrace now resembling a catwalk of sorts, in close proximity to the away fans obviously!

There is no doubt that the atmosphere at elite English football matches has changed significantly over the last two or three decades, as global and commercial forces have impacted heavily.

Companies such as BSkyB and multi-billionaire club owners and investors running clubs as global businesses, as opposed to local community-based clubs, have contributed in transforming the game from its traditional association with the working classes to a corporate profit-centred reality.

Back in the day (before my time), Saturday afternoon three o’clock kick-offs allowed for working class fans to attend their local team’s matches in their masses during their ‘half day off’ work, whereas now kick-off times are dictated by television companies for the benefit of the home viewing audience.

Additionally, high ticket prices, a high corporate presence at matches, and a seeming necessity for clubs to act as a tourist attraction with a global reach to fans on match days, are all factors that have led to a sanitisation of traditional crowd atmospheres at matches.

The introduction of the all-seater stadium has also been a catalyst for adversely affecting the atmosphere at football matches.

The transformation of English football grounds came in response to the Hillsborough disaster of 1989, when Lord Justice Taylor published his report that recommended all major stadiums should convert to an all-seater model, and that spectators should have seats, as opposed to some or all being obliged to stand.

The loss of the terraces has been detrimental in preventing more vocal fans from gathering together in mass groups as they did in that bygone age when people would intermingle and move about the terraces, getting to know others and ‘the rules’ of the terrace culture. People of different backgrounds and localities would be readily accepted by others if they behaved in the ‘correct’ manner and added to the atmosphere in the ‘correct’ way.

The all-seater stadium does not allow this, especially with defined allocated seats. If fans are conditioned to sit down, it makes a difference to the atmosphere as it is difficult to sing, chant etc.

Hillsborough also directly led to an increase in the cost of attending elite English football matches.

In the wake of the inquiry into the disaster, the Football Supporters Association had the foresight to argue against all-seater stadiums, principally because it believed clubs would use them as a platform to raise prices. Lord Justice Taylor rejected this, suggesting “it should be possible to plan a price structure which suits the cheapest seats to the pockets of those presently paying to stand.”

The Football Association’s 1991 ‘Blueprint’ highlighted that although socio-economic projections may have been pointing to increasing affluence for the majority, there needed to be a recognition that football was often supported most passionately in those areas and within those communities which had not benefitted from those increasing trends. The FA cautioned clubs from pricing out poorer, more committed fans out of football’s new future, stating that the game would not benefit in the long run by trying to change supporters for customers. Hmm….

The Football Task Force in 1997 reached the conclusion that the price of admission to football stadia had grown significantly during the 1990s, with an average increase across the decade of 331 per cent, compared with an increase in the Retail Prices Index of 55 per cent over the same period.

Indeed, in commenting on what both Lord Justice Taylor and the FA had said, the Football Task Force stated, “Without question, the issue of concern for football fans which was raised most often by fans’ groups we met and in our public forums was ticket prices. There is a genuine and deeply held belief that football is pricing some fans out of the game, and deterring new ones from attending because of ticket price inflation. This view has been substantiated by our commissioned research.”

For Newcastle United fans, in 1985, the price to stand and sit at St James Park was £3.00 and £5.75 respectively. This changed to £4.00 and £8.00 respectively by 1990. By 1995, the cheapest adult price (SJP now all-seater) had become £12.50, more than four times to get in than ten years earlier.

As the price of admission has risen, so too has the age profile of those attending. Over time, more and more teenagers and young adults have been priced out and working class parents have become increasingly unable to afford to purchase tickets for their children as well as themselves. Hence, crowds have gradually become older and the next generation of ‘traditional’ fans has not naturally emerged or experienced the education in terrace culture as they previously had.

All-seater stadia and increasing ticket prices, plus the struggle now to even get access to tickets home and away, compared to back in my youth, have changed the demographic of Newcastle United fans attending matches, as well as negatively affecting the atmosphere.