Agree with most of this except ‘letting the crowd build our own atmosphere’ because in both the singing section and SS lower those that generally make the most noise are still on the concourse under the stand having a pint 10 minutes before the match starts.
It generally doesn’t seem to be the same with home fans at the few away games I go to, the home fans are generally ‘up for it’. Are they always like this or is it because we bring great away support and are nowadays seen as a big scalp, much the same as we are against the rest of the top six ( plus the rags )?
No, I have t got a clue how to solve this, unallocated seating (other than block you are in) would lead to arguments over who sits (stands) where - it’s not like the Kippax where you could squeeze your way in to be stood with your mates and people would naturally move along, plus, you could take your pint in with you and there was no concourse as such, just an open area behind the stand to get pissed wet through in.