Aussie Rules vs Association Football Crowds - why don't we sing songs?

[wadistance]

TL;DR - why do we have s**t cheering at Aussie Rules games compared to other forms of football?

Having lived in the northern hemisphere for the best part of a year now, I've rediscovered my passion for standing up for a whole game of football, singing songs for 90 minutes, drinking cheap beer and getting behind my team for the whole time.

Now before I get the usual answers of 'sokkah is so boring you need to sing and get drunk to enjoy it' - I've always wondered why this isnt a feature of our game.

I get that 120 minutes of sport is a long time to be standing up and fully singing. But especially over here, you have 3-4 guys down the front with megaphones/drums leading the chants the whole time, and it's always more than Ea-gles (clap clap clap) Ea-gles (clap clap clap). The songs are mostly historic, but can be witty.

Probably removing standing room behind the goals took a fair bit of oomph out of the Aussie Rules cheer squads, as you can't pack em in tightly anymore and go nuts. And there's no chance we'll get to the point where you can buy a 1L jug of beer for $12 from a bar at the ground. But i don't think you need to get drunk to sing songs and cheer your team.

Is it just me that thinks this? Is there any way that cheer squads could create this type of atmosphere? Or is the 'all seater venue americanised sport' version of Aussie Rules not compatible with that.

 

[Big_Birdy]

You answered your own question.

Because we don't follow a boring as bat s**t game which requires singing to keep the crowd entertained.


/thread

 

[Silent Alarm]

Another brag about living in Germany?

Bra grown men singing songs is mostly for fat old pisshead northern Englishmen with old replica strips stretched over their fat guts.

It's also the sign of a slow game.

I'll be roite.

 

[Jen2310]

Because we actually want to watch the game, and how can you focus on the game if you're singing every minute?

 

[wadistance]

Another brag about living in Germany?

Bra grown men singing songs is mostly for fat old pisshead northern Englishmen with old replica strips stretched over their fat guts.

It's also the sign of a slow game.

I'll be roite.

don't feel its a brag - its pissing down with rain and 5 degs. id love to be back in aus on the beach. just wondering why it doesnt/couldn't happen

 

[Augustine]

It’s simply not part of Australian sporting culture.

This isn’t limited to Footy which is fast paced and exciting. English fans sing at Cricket for example, our attempts to do so in response are usually pretty feeble.

 

[King Elvis]

You answered your own question.

Because we don't follow a boring as bat s**t game which requires singing to keep the crowd entertained.


/thread

Yep.

 

[GUMBLETRON]

I'm pretty sure JeanLucGoddard sings at the footy.

 

[Bunk Moreland]

Songs get interrupted when there’s something happening like a score, or the possibility of a score.

In Aussie Rules that’s every few seconds.

 

[mouncey2franklin]

the afl banned it back in 1995 iirc

 

[Bunk Moreland]

It’s simply not part of Australian sporting culture.

This isn’t limited to Footy which is fast paced and exciting. English fans sing at Cricket for example, our attempts to do so in response are usually pretty feeble.

They don’t really. It’s a relatively recent thing with the Barmy Army. And it’s pretty much contained to them at away matches. I’ve been tests in England, there’s not singing like there is at football.

 

[Silent Alarm]

It's also just kinda lame/nuffy tier like being in a cheer squad.

 

[raskolnikov]

Another brag about living in Germany?

Bra grown men singing songs is mostly for fat old pisshead northern Englishmen with old replica strips stretched over their fat guts.

It's also the sign of a slow game.

I'll be roite.

I must have missed the the bragging bit. Where was that? I only saw an observation from living overseas. In fact he didn't even mention the country.

 

[jatz14]

TL;DR - why do we have s**t cheering at Aussie Rules games compared to other forms of football?

Having lived in the northern hemisphere for the best part of a year now, I've rediscovered my passion for standing up for a whole game of football, singing songs for 90 minutes, drinking cheap beer and getting behind my team for the whole time.

Now before I get the usual answers of 'sokkah is so boring you need to sing and get drunk to enjoy it' - I've always wondered why this isnt a feature of our game.

I get that 120 minutes of sport is a long time to be standing up and fully singing. But especially over here, you have 3-4 guys down the front with megaphones/drums leading the chants the whole time, and it's always more than Ea-gles (clap clap clap) Ea-gles (clap clap clap). The songs are mostly historic, but can be witty.

Probably removing standing room behind the goals took a fair bit of oomph out of the Aussie Rules cheer squads, as you can't pack em in tightly anymore and go nuts. And there's no chance we'll get to the point where you can buy a 1L jug of beer for $12 from a bar at the ground. But i don't think you need to get drunk to sing songs and cheer your team.

Is it just me that thinks this? Is there any way that cheer squads could create this type of atmosphere? Or is the 'all seater venue americanised sport' version of Aussie Rules not compatible with that.

Saw vision of a game at a stadium where people talked about the atmosphere being great. However, the part of the active supporter group at the front were standing with their backs to the ground, facing the rest of the crowd to take part in the `atmosphere`. Every now and then, when something exciting happened on the field, they turned around.

I hate singing, I love footy. Not interested in a sport where the hardcore fans are more interested in the crowd than the game.

 

[Topkent]

TL;DR - why do we have s**t cheering at Aussie Rules games compared to other forms of football?

Having lived in the northern hemisphere for the best part of a year now, I've rediscovered my passion for standing up for a whole game of football, singing songs for 90 minutes, drinking cheap beer and getting behind my team for the whole time.

Now before I get the usual answers of 'sokkah is so boring you need to sing and get drunk to enjoy it' - I've always wondered why this isnt a feature of our game.

I get that 120 minutes of sport is a long time to be standing up and fully singing. But especially over here, you have 3-4 guys down the front with megaphones/drums leading the chants the whole time, and it's always more than Ea-gles (clap clap clap) Ea-gles (clap clap clap). The songs are mostly historic, but can be witty.

Probably removing standing room behind the goals took a fair bit of oomph out of the Aussie Rules cheer squads, as you can't pack em in tightly anymore and go nuts. And there's no chance we'll get to the point where you can buy a 1L jug of beer for $12 from a bar at the ground. But i don't think you need to get drunk to sing songs and cheer your team.

Is it just me that thinks this? Is there any way that cheer squads could create this type of atmosphere? Or is the 'all seater venue americanised sport' version of Aussie Rules not compatible with that.

Have you ever been to a game of footy?

What's the point of starting a song when you yell ball 5 times an then cheer for a goal?

In soccer you can sing for 15mins without the ball going near the goal or a foul being committed

 

[Shane Heard]

Plenty of songs are heard punt rd end at RFC games...the only club that has a decent choir.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Plenty of songs are heard punt rd end at RFC games...the only club that has a decent choir.

Singing at the end of the game, not when the action is going on

 

[Shane Heard]

Singing at the end of the game, not when the action is going on

They sing that song after every goal he kicks..and also sing many other songs about other things after goals.

For what kind of pathetic nimrod with even half a brain would sing during play of an Australian rules footy game ..?

 

[ashley12]

 

[HTT]

The game doesn’t have any boring lulls. There’s a bit of time after every goal but it’s not enough to get a decent chant going. I personally prefer the crowd making noise about the play, going up and down. Adds a bit to the game.

 

[Demon13304]

There would be too many things to interrupt it.

Thousands of people yelling "BALLLLLLL" is a pretty unique crowd act to our sport though

 

[Augustine]

I don’t buy the “there’s no opportunity to sing or chant in our game” argument. There’s enough time after your team scores a goal and the ball’s heading back to the middle to get a song or chant going.

Unfortunately we’re just not creative enough to do much beyond these three chant formulae:
- “Carl-ton clap clap clap, Car-ton clap clap clap”
- Freee-ooooo Freeeee-ooooo
- And the most cringeworthy one, “let’s go kangas let’s go, clap clap”

That Dusty song was great.

North fans do often sing our full song when it becomes clear that where going to win, after finals etc which is a lot of fun in a big group.

 

[Bomberboyokay]

It's also just kinda lame/nuffy tier like being in a cheer squad.

That's part of it. Cheersquads do the same "TEAM NAME *clap clap clap*" chants they did 20 years ago. 40-year-old weirdos and their kids. Nobody wants to be part of that crap. Go to a soccer game and it's not those people and their mundane rituals leading the chants.

 

[Augustine]

There would be too many thing to interrupt it.

Thousands of people yelling "BALLLLLLL" is pretty unique crowd act to our sport though

I love the unanimous “ball” after a big tackle. Sometimes it’s the loudest the crowd gets all game including after goals.

I also find it amazing how the word “Fifty” is shouted by thousands and one simultaneous voice

 

[Augustine]

That's part of it. Cheersquads do the same "TEAM NAME *clap clap clap*" chants they did 20 years ago. 40-year-old weirdos and their kids. Nobody wants to be part of that crap. Go to a soccer game and it's not those people and their mundane rituals leading the chants.

Cheer squads are certainly a big part of the problem, but they do give a lot of societal misfits a place to belong which has to be a good thing even if we occasionally cringe.