When you watch any European side they create some of the best atmospheres you can watch, it can even find ways to give you goose bumps before kick-off.
European sides especially in the top 5 league have Tifos’, wall art, flares, smoke, flags and megaphones to make sure the players know how big of a match it is. Whereas in England you will be lucky is the players walk out to a tifo and flags before the game.
There is always questions asked as to why the English atmospheres don’t live up to what others in different countries are like as yes they need to make sure everything is safe so no fan gets hurt when they are at the game but English sides cannot compete which other nations on this front. This is also a factor of why English sides may struggle more abroad and in UEFA competitions.
One area that English fans get confused about is when they are going to a European stadium and the home side are allowed anything to help them create an atmosphere, especially the things this article has already stated, but in the exact same ground English fans are not.
For example, when the Europa Conference League final was held in Fortuna Arena in Prague in 2023 and the Fiorentina fans were allowed flares and smoke and huge flags but the West Ham fans (English Supporters) were only allowed small flags without polls. They were in the same stadium at the same time but due to Fiorentina being under the Italian FA even though it was a UEFA competition they were allowed different rules. Why do the English fans get treated so differently? There are many other examples of this which includes a lot of English sides in European competitions.
To make sure every fan in the Premier League is safe I believe there should be a donations site to every club and fans can put money in and maybe an idea of what they want and the clubs can use that money to buy atmospheric ideas but can make sure that they are safe within the grounds.
This way the clubs don’t have to pay for them but they will know what will happen and it can be safe for everyone, but mainly the English football fans can have a better atmosphere. As well the clubs can let fans know before the game what will happen so they know what will be expected.
There can always be a side of the ground that has at the atmospheric ideas like the Kop (Yellow Wall) at Borussia Dortmund, this will allow fans to know which side of the ground they want to be at.
Do you believe English sides should be allowed to have extras to create a better home atmosphere at games, and would it help the Premier League be a better league?
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