Bringing the Noise

Scottish football has many dedicated supporter groups also known as ‘ultra’ groups, these fans will follow their team home and away every weekend, rain or snow won’t stop them from supporting their club, they do have their flaws, but they are also integral to the Scottish game, and we can’t lose them.

Teams such as Celtic and Rangers have their well-known groups, the ‘Green Brigade’ and the ‘Union Bears’, but there are also teams such as Motherwell and St Mirren who have their hardcore fan groups and they are the heart and soul of the clubs come matchday.

These groups help to create the atmosphere at the grounds and help to motivate the players on the pitch for every game. Div said: “I think they are brilliant, obviously they come with some problems as the Green Brigade have taken things to an extreme at times but in terms of the colour and the noise in the stadiums, I think its magic. They have brought a breath of fresh air to St Mirren. When we moved into our new stadium in 2009 it didn’t feel like a home. It was soulless, dull, and grey and the North Bank has definitely helped to make it feel like a home and has brought an atmosphere and noise to the place. It makes such a big difference and as long as they stay within the rules they are great, it’s not as if they are all battering each other outside the grounds like it’s still the 80s, they just want to bring noise and colour to the games and I’m all for that.”

Leon said: “I sit in the North Bank section at St Mirren, and it really does make going to the matches so much better, the atmosphere we create gets the whole stadium rocking and I genuinely think we help the players on the pitch a lot and are a great bit of motivation for them. I don’t get why people think there’s lots of trouble with ‘ultra-groups’ because there actually isn’t, we just want to make a Saturday the best it can be and support our team and there really isn’t anywhere near as much trouble as people think associated with the group.”