Is the Brit like home now?

[JoeinOz]

I'll say at the start of this that IMHO the move to the Brit was absolutely the right thing to do. In the years since that belief has deepened. And to be honest the rewriting history and rose tinted glasses has, at times, been dull and pointless.

Looking around the m/b there seems to be a lot of pride in the atmosphere the Brit is getting these days. Is it beginning to feel more like home now?

[Baggs]

I loved the Vic and I would do anything to watch one last game from a packed Boothen End, but yesterday was unlike any atmosphere I have ever experienced, at any sporting event or concert. Incredible. Would have paid twice what I did to have been part of that

[luke2u]

Fill the corners and it'll be even better.

[stokemark]

TBH Its more of a case that we (the fans) make the best of it rather than it being 'home'

Still breeze block city on a cold, hilly outpost but a very full and VERY loud one !

[DentySCFC]

If I we fill in the corner in between the Boothen and the John Smith's and/or the corner between the Seddon and the South Stand, it will feel like a proper ground and the atmosphere will be even better.

[boothenesque]

y starting to feel like home, but aside from the soul of the Vic I loved where it was, the atmosphere around the ground and places like Uncle Toms Cabin, being in the middle of nowhere with just a long walk is not the same....not complaining, just really miss the Vic

[rocket88]

To be honest i like the Brit & have no complaints whatsoever.
The only thing i don't like is sitting down at the match (i miss standing in the Boothen End at the Vic), but there's nowt we can do about that. ;D

[Chrissyd33]

i think its fine how it is but would be a lot louder with the sides filled in

[McLovin]

I'm reall 50-50 on this one. I went to the vic as a child, up until I was 10/11. Although I was only a toddler, I was there for the Man Utd game where Stein blasted in those 2 goals, but I was old enough to know how hated Man Utd were and how much of a coup it was beating them.
I kept going to the vic, but only the odd game - 3, 4, 5 a season. I think it was a bit of a chore for my dad to be dragging an annoying 5 year old brat around to something he enjoyed when he was not working.

The 1995/96 season was my first "main" season, by that I mean I went to 90% of home games. I sampled the atmosphere of the Boothen (although Ipswich at home I puked up down the stairs of the boothen just before half time), The boothen paddock, the butler street paddock. I fell in love with pesch, gleghorn, siggy. I was there for the gutting Gary Parker strike.

The season after, I was there again for 90% of home games, including the last game at the Vic, which I am forever greatful for. Being there and being a part of history ment alot. Was also there for a lot of reserve games, the banter with the man utd gloryhunters, most who I knew from school! This season also saw me attend my first away game against Bolton when Kavanagh broke free and equalised in the last minute to send the crowd into a frenzy. This season also saw me be a mascot in the FA Cup against Stockport (if youve got the program theres a very laughable photo in there.)

We then moved to the Brit saw me have my first season ticket since my dad set up his own business and could bassically work when he wanted. No more needs to be said what happened that season. Birmingham and Man City being the most down i've ever felt as a stoke fan as relegation was on the cards, when just a few seasons before promotion was on the cards.

Continued support followed and I started going with friends home and away. Match days became days out, rather than 90 minutes and home. The drinking and sing song in the pub before the game, the nights out celebrating or drowning sorrors afterwards.

Bassically, i've seen more games at the Brit, so that "should" be my home, although seeing the Brit as a child wanting to grow old on the Boothen or at least stand on the boothen paddock or butler street paddock properly without using the wall at the front (;D) and do what the "older people" were doing (watching the mad dash at 5 to 3 from the pubs on a matchday) I guess I regret not being at the vic at the age I am now, whilst still appreciating I actually got to go.

[starkiller]

Feb 1, 2009 15:19:11 GMT luke2u said:

Fill the corners and it'll be even better.

Rip the seats out and it would be even better than that.


Regardless of other factors, the Vic will always be better for that one single reason - standing.


Seats are restrictive, uncomfortable, cold. They stop big groups of mates from being together and they suppress the atmosphere.

Crazy, knee-jerk and controlling legislation to outlaw them has taken a massive part of the football experience away.

[rocket88]

"(watching the mad dash at 5 to 3 from the pubs on a matchday) "



Block11, that was me n me mates ;D, that comment brought back loads of memories, especially about a fanatical Stokie who is no longer with us.

RIP, Andy Larkin.

[McLovin]

Yeah. Unfortuetly, I have the memories of the mad dash at half past fucking 2, stopping in the plough on the way up and getting in at 5 past 3.

[nickstokefc]

not for me,,
i was brought up on the boothen end,,i mis going to the sutherland arms,,commercial,,uncle toms,,the vic,,then the supporters club,,and then a 30 second walk to the boothen turnstile at 5to3,,
i miss the smell of piss from the toilets,,the smell of them water burgers,,the smell of the horse shit outside the boothen paddock,,
i miss the disco,s in the boothen,
i miss TJ standing on the crush barriers to get all the boothen quite for delilah,
nothing at the britt compares tp the vic for me,,but my son loves it,

if i had 1 wish,,i would wish to go back for 1 game and to show my son a real boothen end sing delilah,,

ime crying now

[viiistokieviii]

I think they should fill in below the new scoreboard, that advertising looks shit and if we're being cheeky the corner between the JS/Chlamydia stand and the Boothen would be amazing.

But yeah I agree that atmosphere yesterday is unrivalled

[danmase]

memories give a place its soul- the brit is producing so many memeorable occasions nowadays.
I only experienced 5 or 6 years at the Vic as a regular, they were relatively good years, a promotion and the playoff year, but I can't remember an atmosphere of such intensity and passion from the entire ground like we have had at the Brit this year.
I think this season has shown that its not about the stadium, its geography or architecture, but the people and the team that make a place special. We, as a club, have created a special spirit at the Brit, a unity between team and support that matters more than piss stained toilets or a moss clad roof.
I suppose it will always be a generational thing, but as someone who has spent as much time in each the Brit feels like my spiritual home.

[ohcityweloveyou]

Feb 1, 2009 20:37:50 GMT viiistokieviii said:

I think they should fill in below the new scoreboard, that advertising looks shit and if we're being cheeky the corner between the JS/Chlamydia stand and the Boothen would be amazing.

But yeah I agree that atmosphere yesterday is unrivalled

Wouldn't it be great if my 'chlamydia' stand stood up and started, We've got chlamydia we've got chlamydia

[Cupid Stunt]

I never went to the Vic, I was about 4 when we moved to the Brit and first started going the 2nd season at the brit, so I started off with us in league 1 when the ground was half empty, and even then I felt like it was a 2nd home. Peter Thorne was my god and I loved it and the fact my dad would sit about row 12 in the Sentinel stand and I could go down on the bottom row, turn around and clearly see my dad as no fucker was inbetween

Because of this the Brit has always felt like home to me, and the game against Derby recently brought back so many memories.

[crimesy]

Its always been my home as i only ever visited the Vic the last half of its last season (my first half ST for christmas one year ;D) .. i dont remember it too much so The Brit is all i've ever known.

[stokey-pokey pudding and pie]

i was still a kid when we moved and i now have plenty of good memories of the brit... but all my funny stories and antidotes come from the vic. whether seeing a dozen people all get bovriled to the face when we scored or the day i saw 2 two cov fans throwing horse shit at each other

the vic just invited mischief in a way modern stadiums dont

[lesleystoke]

agree with Rockett.......... love standin love the BRIT, cant live in the past

[OldStokie]

This is a bit like trying to compare the master footballers of yesteryear with those of today. You can't. Everything has changed about the game.

Would Mathews have been as fit and athletic as some of today's modern footballers? Doubtful. Would these super fit athletes of today been able to ply their skills in the mud baths that were pitches that the old maestros played on? Doubtful. Horses for courses.

Same applies to The Vic and The Brit. The Vic had it's own special brand of working classness that The Brit couldn't even begin to produce. We're middle class now compared with The Vic. The Vic had it's own special atmosphere. The Brit has it's own special atmosphere. I think the one thing that hasn't changed is the passion of the supporters. That's the common denominator between the two stadia. It was often wank at The Vic. It's often been wank at The Brit. But, when the fans are rocking and the team is playing well, it doesn't matter which stadium we're in.

We should stop trying to compare the two and just celebrate where we are during the good times.

OS.

[lesleystoke]

Well said os ;D

[chef]

yes mathews would you still dont see that skill

[mumf14]

No... Fill the corners in...Then I'll decide.

[bayernoatcake]

I don't think the corners should be filled. The cold is part of the charm.

[Tubes]

Feb 2, 2009 3:49:42 GMT bayernoatcake said:

I don't think the corners should be filled. The cold is part of the charm.

in thirty years we'll be able to say "I was there, when the wind was whipping in your face, and you had to queue to get out of the carpark with the same "reeking of piss, horse shit" Victoria ground rose tinted specs