Researcher spends six years finding out which AFL team has loudest fans Cheryl Critchley
Herald Sun
April 09, 2010 COLLINGWOOD fans may like to think they are the AFL's most vocal, but research has found the Saints and Tigers give them a run for their money.
Women are also as loud as men at the footy, some spitting out language as extreme as the blokes'.
The results will be tested at tonight's St Kilda-Collingwood Etihad Stadium blockbuster, where fans of both sides will be in full flight.
Victoria University's Margaret Trail spent six years recording footy sounds around Australia, from AFL games in Melbourne to training sessions in Fremantle to local games in Broome.
Hailing from Canberra, the performance-studies lecturer didn't see her first AFL game until she was in her 20s but became hooked while studying for her PhD.
There's The Siren was the first study of its kind and captured more than 100 hours of footy sounds, from on-field banter and sirens to birds circling grounds, passing trains and, of course, the fans.
Dr Trail, a Magpies supporter, even recorded people watching games on TV and found a rich tapestry of sounds and patterns unique to footy.
She did not make comparisons but made many interesting observations.
While their voices were pitched higher, women were as vocal as men and could deliver "absolutely piercing" cries.
"Women go very loud and very fiery and are just as extreme in their language," Dr Trail said.
She did not rank teams, but St Kilda supporters stood out as particularly passionate.
"The worst recordings I have got, the most frightening recordings I have, are of St Kilda supporters," she said.
Long-suffering Richmond fans were also vocal.
Mad Saint Mark Ramanathan, 17, said St Kilda fans were "easily" louder than Collingwood's.
"Collingwood's just Collingwood," he said.
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