Quote: Mike1970 "I've found this thread quite thought provoking.
I'm a Hull FC fan who's nearer to 70 than 20, I'll let you try and guess my age. With that in mind, I've been around a bit. I went to POR, for the first in years, for a friendly. Not long after getting in the ground my partner and myself got chatting to Fev fan. He was, quite rightly in my opinion, very proud of their stadium. He spent a while giving us the run-down on changes they'd made.
I know that as a Hull fan I'm quite lucky to get to go to a fairly nice stadium to watch our home matches. However, as a kid I spent more time than I can remember running around the Boulevard with my brother while "my old man" was standing on the same spot, on the same step, in the threepenny stand. Freezing cold, soaking wet, happy days. Now we've got nice seats, a roof that doesn't leak, clean toilets (actual toilets, not the back of the stand), along with decent access to food and beer. The only thing that's missing is a bloody atmosphere.
I, along with quite a few other I know, thoroughly enjoy the games at your place. Good old fashioned rugby. It's good to be close and feel involved rather than be a distant spectator.
The grass isn't always greener.
On that note, good luck for next year. I get the feeling you're going to go a lot better this time round.'"
That's a great perspective and even though I'm an advocate of moving to a new ground, a lot of what you've said strikes a chord with me; I developed a love for RL and WTW by attending matches at BV as a kid - and being close to the action and amongst a brilliant atmosphere was part of what got me hooked. And I'd agree that the atmosphere at supposedly top drawer stadia like Shudds and Hull FC is almost non-existent - and you feel several times removed from the action on the pitch - it's actually better to watch on TV than to watch at many modern grounds.
The problem of course is that in the modern world, we want it all - ideally, a BV experience and atmosphere, but in a clean, well designed, modern facility; I think that's doable with a new build, provided the designer has some understanding of what the supporter is actually after - unfortunately, it's not doable with a revamped BV, because of the constraints of where it's located and the fact that it's hemmed in on all but one side.
This could all be academic of course, given the total lack of news on anything stadium related, but I'd like to think that in my lifetime, we could have a good stab at getting the best of both worlds.