There are two things in common with the myriad of topics discussed on The Roar; one is that they are about sport, the other is that all Roarers are sports fans.
I would assume from reading articles and comments that plenty of Roar writers and participants in Roar discussions also head along to see their share of live sport.
The comments come from a diverse range of people with diverse thoughts and opinions. This got me thinking about the type of people that you sit next to at sports games.
I have put together a rundown of how I see crowds at some of Australia’s sporting events.
These comments are from what I have seen at games; sometimes you are lucky enough to sit next to a great person and other times you wish you were still at home or had earplugs.
Two people can go to the same game and have vastly different experiences and so what you will read is just my experience.
Some background on what sports I have seen live so you can put my comments into context: I’ve been to football, union, league, AFL, cricket and basketball games in Brisbane, Sydney, Wollongong and Melbourne.
I’ve seen friendlies, club, state, international and Olympic games.
At the risk of getting shot, here’s how I rate the crowds at these events:
AFL
Family friendly but very vocal, which creates great atmosphere.
Knowledgeable – but beware, you may end up sitting near someone who raves on all night about Neville Nobody who played in 1962 and even though he kicked 65% of his goals left-footed he is considered to be right-footed (apparently Neville quite often played with his socks down as well).
A high percentage of fans wear their club’s colours.
Rugby
Family friendly; full of private school cohorts as well as hipsters and yuppies.
Fairly knowledgeable crowd, can be quiet but get vocal in a good match.
Wearing a Drizabone is more common than the teams colours – although Wallabies supporters are wearing the colours more now than in the past.
Waratahs fans can almost be outnumbered by Kiwis at home games (those Kiwis are everywhere).
NRL
Not always family friendly; vocal; crude comments aimed at players, referees and opposition supporters can be made by a vocal minority.
More fights per game than other sports.
A good number of fans wear their club colours.
Atmosphere can be good but alcohol can ruin a good day (other people’s excessive consumption of it, that is).
Football
Family friendly; can be vocal; knowledgeable; the most culturally diverse crowds in Australian sport, which brings a lot of colour.
Extremely critical of players and/or teams that aren’t playing ‘the beautiful game’.
Fans can be too serious sometimes (“Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.” – Bill Shankly, ex-Liverpool manager).
Cricket
Family friendly, but beware of drunks at the end of the day.
Crowds vary from Test to 50 over to T20 games.
Test match crowds are serious fans but like to have fun, one dayers bring out a yobbo element and T20s have heaps of kids and a lively atmosphere.
Basketball
Family friendly; crowds are occasionally vocal but basketball relies on music and stadium announcers to gee up the crowd.
Don’t get big crowds but they are smart enough to play in small stadiums so the crowd is not lost in the stands and that helps create a good atmosphere.
Again, this is just my take on my experience – What are your thoughts?
Will you take the wife and kids to the NRL? Are you the one discussing whether Neville Nobody was a left or right-footer at the AFL? Is football more important than life and death?
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