Best Football Atmospheres in the NW4A

I don't think crowds are that great in Charlotte. Yes, you will have a big crowd if Indy is playing in a big game because it's the thing to do. The best crowds in Charlotte are at places like Charlotte Catholic and Country Day. You want to talk about great crowds go to places like Maiden, Thomasville, Clinton, Pisgah, Cleveland County, etc. The small towns that love their football blow Charlotte away when it comes to rabid fans.

I've also not been that impressed with Greensboro either, but of course my experience with Greensboro football has been watching Crest put and end to Page's undefeated season a couple of times, beating Dudley for a state title, and beating the Whirlies in the giant stadium they play in.

 

I'll add a couple more to your list Smash....
Bandy's (Neat little field... stands are raised.. crowd right on top of you... and that train whistle that goes off when they score... gotta love that)
Davie County
Newton-Conover

I officiate football and those places are always LOUD and the crowd has a great time. I was at the Maiden game in the playoffs. Man, beautiful field and that place was rockin'!!!

Can't wait for the season to start......

 

maiden is very impressive. i havent been to any of those other stadiums, sounds like i need to! i went to the indy-butler game last year and that left an impression on me to say the least. Durham Hillside is another i would go see, if you haven't yet.

 

Indy and Butler last year, the first time was crazy. However I don't even think it matched the intensity of Watauga vs NF, WHS vs Page or the first half of WHS vs West Charlotte. Those crowds were wild.
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As a fan who has seen every single match up imaginable in this conference this is how i rank the HOME stadiums not based on the game (i.e. homecoming, senior nights, or Fat Friday esqe type games) or how the team may be performing during that specific season. I will base this on the last 6 years to the best of my memory, even thought the least 10 would be more general. This also will predict the best for the coming season

OVERALL

A.C Reynolds: Bar none! fans, scenery, field. Perfect game atmosphere

Freedom: Hauntingly loud and deathly quiet. Back and forth all night

East Burke: Some small colleges don't even have that much room.

Watuaga: Fans get to cheer here on fridays and saturdays... not fair

Alexander Cent: Most hostile, rude and unforgiving fans (Doak...) but still get louder than that little ass stadium can handle

South Caldwell: Fans are hit and miss from week to week season to season

McDowell: I'm stealing the tomb comment putting it here

2007 Best places to play
1. Watauga
2. A.C. Reynolds
3. Alexander Central
4. Freedom
5. South Caldwell
6. East Burke
7. McDowell

 

Maybe you should re-title this thread the best atmosphere in the NW4A when you are winning. I've been to every stadium in the NW4A when the teams were down, and all of them have been down for an extended time at one point or another, and you could take the word "tomb" and accuratly describe the atmosphere at each of them. Over the past 20 years, the best 4 atmospheres have consistently been Freedom, East Burke, AC Reynolds (even though they haven't been NW4A for 20 years), and McDowell, in no particular order. I've been at games at all of those stadiums when attendance was minimal, and I have seen all of them SRO. If you cut it to the past 5 years, Alexander Central MIGHT replace McDowell, but that would be the only change. If you are looking at the last 2-3 years, then that is where South and Watauga would come into play. Each place does have, however, it's own unique elements that make it special, unless you are a true homer who can't see the forest for the trees.

My unique elements list:
Watauga - you are right on top of the action.
South Caldwell - I was in the press box once and they had great food that night.
Alexander - Liked the Harleys. That was definitely unique.
McDowell - Best hot dogs; bar none
Freedom - "Let's see, is there anyone over there from East Burke tonight?" Always loved that.....
East Burke - I always liked the drive up to the stadium. Pretty cool and a little intimidating
AC Reynolds - Nice message board and field.

 

i can't agree with you more blockhead. winning and losing does seem to play a big part in it. i remember being at a EB McDowell game several years ago and was turned onto the hotdogs after seeing a player getting some snuck too him by a parent at half. your unique element list serves better purpose then the atmosphere lable because a lot of the schools have things that others don't... like money or investment intrest

 

Especially W-L count
just look at how Wataugas crowd grew in the first few games...