🏟️ Best crowd I've ever sat in, and it wasn't the biggest stadium

I went to a live football match last month in Riyadh, the first time in about 4 years. I'd been watching everything from my sofa since then. I went with 4 colleagues, and 1 of them brought a drum. I thought it would be fun, not special. I was wrong about that. When the home side got a corner, the whole stand stood up like one person. The noise started low and built, and then it hit my chest. I felt it in my ribs. A boy of about 10 in front of me was standing on his seat, and his father held his belt. I forgot my phone was in my pocket for a full 20 minutes. That never happens. Nothing on TV does that, no matter how good the cameras are. You can't hear the people. After the match a colleague told me about his visits to different grounds in the city. He says some are loud and fierce, and some are quiet, more like family picnics with chips. He prefers the quiet ones with his kids, though he said the loud ones are better for the match. I didn't know a ground could have its own personality, but it does. I think I'd gotten lazy. Watching at home is easy, no traffic, no parking, no queue for water. But I'm going again next month. I've already booked the tickets and told the drum guy. What's the best crowd you've been part of, and did it change how you feel about going live? Mine wasn't the biggest. It was just the loudest night I remember in a long time.

There's one corner of a stadium here that gets absurdly loud when the home side gets a chance. A security guy once told me the stands move slightly in those moments, and I believe him. I stood right there for 90 minutes on a Saturday evening, and I couldn't hear for 2 days. Your drum guy sounds like a hero. I'd bring ear plugs for the boy in front.

A small college match on a local ground still beats the bigger stadiums I've paid to sit in.

My son plays both football and cricket, and he says football practice feels shorter. In cricket he stands in the field waiting for something to happen near him. He's 9, so he gets bored.