There is nothing in life like witnessing a loud, united and passionate sporting crowd. Whether the specific team is top of the league or facing the possibility of embarrassment, sports fans are essential to the success of a club both on and off the field.
However, once the people turn up it is down to the media and marketing department to build the atmosphere and create a brutal home crowd intensity.
Just recently I have witnessed two brutal home crowd atmospheres from the motherland – Germany.
The first was a Bundesliga football match between Borussia Dortmund and their second placed opponents in VfL Wolfsburg. As much as the actual match was sensational, the brutal home crowd and the atmosphere created before the game was simply stunning.
Before the match started, Dortmund dancers performed in the middle of the pitch to famous German music. Then, 10 minutes before the game started, Dortmund staff situated themselves around the vicinity of the pitch in readiness for the famous tune You’ll Never Walk Alone.
Five minutes before kick-off and the teams were released into the arena. The announcer, however, would only read the first name of each Dortmund player before the 80,467 spectators at the ground would reply with a roar screaming their players’ family names. Then finally at kick-off, a 10-second count down would round down a normal home season game.
Let’s not forget this is a side who are coming second last on the Bunesliga table. Firstly, to pull a crowd like they did and secondly to build an atmosphere like they did is simply extraordinary for a club suffering its worst season for a number of years. The final result (much to the frustration of the BVB fans) was 2-2.
My second brutal home crowd experience in this sporting-mad country was a game of ice hockey between the little town of Iserlohn and Cologne in a massive rivalry match. The game hosted at Iserlohn was again a fantastic atmosphere built by the pre-match entertainment uniting all the Roosters fans as one.
Firstly, approximately 20 minutes before the start of play, Sweet Caroline was played around the stadium, building the atmosphere and tension within the small yet packed arena. After this a giant rooster was blown up, which the team would run through after another big tune – You’ll Never Walk Alone.
The lights would then be turned off as the players ran through the rooster to land in the rink. Like the football, the announcer would again only read the first names of each player and the crowd would respond with the second. After this, the away side would run not through the rooster, but through a normal standing area for spectators, as the brutal home crowd wolf whistled their hated rivals.
It may be no surprise that the final result of the match was 7-1 to the hosts.
After witnessing these two magnificent atmospheres, I have given thought to the home crowd atmospheres created at Australian sporting events.
Many events come to mind that create enormous tension and build up on our sporting calendar. These include the tension before the Melbourne Cup, the national anthem on AFL and NRL grand final day, as well as the last post on Anzac Day in the same codes.
Possibly the build-up to a Boxing Day Test and the build-up to a massive international rugby game could be counted. However, apart from rugby, all these atmospheres are usually built up from supporters from different parties joining together.
There is no doubt the new look Adelaide Oval has built the atmosphere significantly for both Adelaide and Port Adelaide in the AFL. The introduction and instant early success of the Western Sydney Wanderers has also created a dramatic atmosphere at their home games and the new and improved Twenty20 Big Bash League has certainly changed the way in which a home crowd reacts at a cricket game.
Although, are these atmospheres created by the way in which we build-up a match?
I would argue it certainly isn’t. In Australia, we are lucky to have such a passionate and usually knowledgable and sensible sporting crowds, yet it has come to my attention that our crowds should and could be better than what they already are.
The introduction of anthems is a method which is very effective overseas and which could seriously benefit sporting teams. I am not talking about theme songs, but rather chants and metaphors which over time could stand for what the club want to be portrayed as.
There are some examples of this, although their isn’t an example of this at enough sporting clubs in Australia. Port Adelaide and Collingwood come to my mind quickly with Never Tear us Apart and the famous Collingwood chant, and these have both worked fantastically with big home crowds.
In some matches in Australia the announcers do say the first name of each player before the crowd responds with the family name, yet this strategy could be imported in sports such as AFL, cricket and tennis.
After goals in overseas matches within sports such as football, ice hockey and handball, songs are played in which the whole home crowd knows and sings. As well as this, after the song is played the announcer states the goal scorer’s name three times with the crowd echoing.
Team mascots can also be used to attract mostly the younger fans attending the sporting game.
With these ideas in mind I feel it is not as though Australian crowds are poor, rather the way in which an atmosphere at a ground is built-up is.
With the fantastic range of numbers we generally accumulate in a variety of different sports, there is no reason that we cannot build up crowd intensity even further, to build sporting memories that remain with us passionate individuals for a lifetime.
What’s your best bet? For great odds on all your favourite sports check out PlayUp. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
It’s a pretty good time to be a Tasmanian sports fan right now. After years in the sporting wilderness with not much to celebrate,…
Olympic swimming legend and Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins has warned that "someone will die" if a multi-sport event that allows athletes to…
In 2015 when heavyweight boxer Tyson Fury beat Wladimir Klitschko, the fighter regarded by many as the ‘Greatest of all time’ in the sport,…
Join Australia's most vibrant online sports community and you have the chance to win $1000. The Roar is the perfect blend of sports reporting,…
Here is a review of our boxers who made a splash in the world rankings over the past year.
After intense debate at Roar HQ, we’ve selected the 23 most controversial moments for 2023.
