You may well be aware of some rumblings of discontent on social media of late surrounding the lack of noise at Carrow Road.
With an aging season ticket fan base, it has been noticeably getting quieter over the last few years, regardless of the achievements on the pitch on any given day.
I wrote a couple of weeks ago about the conundrum that found some supporters wanting to sing and others preferring not to. The choice is of course an individual one but there can be no doubt that the last couple of games, particularly against QPR, the noise level has been ratcheting up.
Various players have spoken about the positive effect that a noisy supportive crowd can have on the side and conversely, if a crowd moan and boo every poor pass (like hopefully Villa will on Saturday) then that can also have the opposite effect.
I believe it was Harrison Reed who spoke of ‘goosebumps’ when he walked out against Sunderland on Sunday.
Much of this, it seems to me is arguably the responsibility of the traditionally noiser areas of the ground, the Barclay and Snake Pit. There has also been an online campaign by the likes of ‘Along Come Norwich’ and ‘The Barclay End Norwich’ in their efforts to create more of an atmosphere for players and fans alike.
I sit firmly on the side of wanting to have a noisier stadium, despite sitting in the upper tier of the River End. As I’ve written before, that’s the Family Area and the majority around me are older or families with young children, like me.
Against QPR there was a pre-arranged meet up in the bar in the lower Barclay End before the game to get the atmosphere going before they then went out into the stadium. Before the Sunderland game there was a meet up and march to the ground from Weatherspoons on Riverside.
It worked a treat because that was the best night game atmosphere that I’ve witnessed in a very long time. Probably going back to the Lambert days.
The noise even reached the quieter areas, like the one I sit in and I was doing my best to join in, prompting the older lady who sits next to my wife to say to my son ‘Dads can be embarrassing, can’t they?’
Next year, my lad will be 12 and we’re probably going to move to another area in ‘movers and shakers week’ although that will depend on what’s available and where.
Anyway, getting back to the noise. There has also been a negative response to this organising of the noise, rather surprisingly, with one or two on Twitter finding it ‘all a bit embarrassing’ and stating that in their opinion, things were fine as they were. Surely no-one wants to watch football in a library, do they?!
Well, you only have to look at what Carrow Road was like on Wednesday night to see that the atmosphere was way better. Surely even those knocking these organised efforts must acknowledge that, although I expect they’ve gone too far down the road to admit it now.
Stuart Webber spoke about the lack of crowd noise after watching the drubbing that was handed out to Reading last season and commented that he was surprised that the crowd was so quiet that day. He got some stick for saying that but he was right.
If it takes a little cajoling to get things going, then what’s wrong with that?
Bravo to all involved in the organising and bringing of the noise and bravo to all those making the noise. We’re supporting our team and we’re all in this together and that can only be a good thing both on and off the pitch.
ON THE BALL CITY!
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