First of all, the club and the fans can discuss all sorts of ideas about how to improve the atmopshere at Eastlands but the most important and in fact the only thing that will make it better is a designated end. At the moment we have 3000 on one side where only say 500 sing and 1500 on the other side, both sides start songs off and those in the other parts of the ground don't know what song to join in with and by the time they have chosen the song has died out. Either get the lads from 110 and 111 and swap them with the away fans so they in effect become part of the south stand or move the away fans to the third tier, it's not hard to do no matter what the police of health and safety say.
Once this has been achieved, we will then finally have a designated home end that we can progress from.
1. Kit the interior of the south stand out like the family stand has been done, make it appealing with TV's with live games or past city games on, get some speakers in there that plays either music or city songs, make the beer reasonable at £2.50 a pint/bottle and open the gates 2 hours before kick off. With this you then get a meeting place where everyone can get merry and not be afraid to sing or shout and generate a real atmosphere.
2. Kit the exterior of the south stand out, allow us to bring any banners we want withing reason, i remember felixbg saying on here a few months back that he wasn't allowed to put up a blue alliance banner because it had a tight clenched fist on it, that is pathetic, i agree with no banners with swearing on it or any real venom as it's not right to display opposite an end where kids can see them. Allow us to hang banners from the second tier of the south stand and put up a barrier infront of the stand that allows us to hang them on their and also allow us to place banners on the ground infront of the stand so those on the TV or in other high parts of the ground can see them. If we do this it will look like a proper end that can put off the opposition team.
3. Make a section of the south stand matchday sales only, where anyone can get tickets on matchday only for the cheapest price, no more than £20 for ANY game, this will ensure that the designated home end will become fresh with different people contributing to the atmosphere every week and everyone will be able to enjoy it.
4. Give a small section to the blue alliance, give them 30-40 seats in the middle where they can start the songs off, both old and new.
If all of the above were to happen, it would be fantastic and the atmosphere would be 100 times better than it currently is. I watched both european games tonight and the atmosphere in both were fantastic and champions league class. Both teams had ends where the atmosphere was generated, both teams had dedicated supporters group who organised the banners and flags and at the start of the game both grounds look intimidating.
There has been meetings like this in the past and i do praise the club in trying to help us but i am getting the feeling at the moment they are putting out these meetings as if to say "we tried" i hope i am wrong in that opinion and its up to the club to prove me wrong because it's just as benefical to the club as it is to us fans and something is needed to done quickly.
