When you replicate the 3000, South stand, safe standing seats, level 1, give or take, put them at the back of North stand, level 2, which roughly is the same height and dept as the back of South stand, level 3,(open to debate), put 5000 GA and GA+ ‘seated’ seats in front of the 3000 safe standing seats, fill those seats with fans from the North stand, who will probably get first refusal, then fill the remaining seats with fans from the Colin Bell stand, the East stand, and the South stand, then include 100’s of paying guests, tourists, day trippers, and football fans staying at the hotel, that isn’t going to create an atmospheric home end, in my opinion.
As it is, we’ve got 4000 fans stood on SSL1, blocks 111, 110 and 109, and even they struggled to get the atmosphere going during most home games this season. And they are on of L1, next to the pitch.
If people think a similar setup right at the back of NSL2 is going to make a huge difference to the match day atmosphere, they are kidding themselves.
That’s just my opinion. It doesn’t mean I will be right. We’ll have to wait until the North stand is open, and there’s been quite a few home games before anyone can judge if the expanded North stand has improved the atmosphere or not at the Etihad.