While the club is right to promote inclusivity at the football, there’s one place where a bit of segregation is actually quite important.

The post-Goldstone situation, where seating at Withdean was near random, placed a dyed-in-the-wool North Stander in a seat next to a blanket-laden South Stander complete with Thermos flask.

Apart from a love of the Albion, these two types of fan were chalk and cheese. An atmosphere developed more akin to an awkward family reunion, not a buzzing football stadium.

The Amex changed this. The club promoted the new North Stand as the place for the more vociferous Seagull. A hacienda where standing up wouldn’t draw complaints from the person behind you and a bit of blue language didn’t draw scowls from your neighbours and stewards alike.

That decade stuck at Withdean was a long time however, and though The Amex has been praised for its atmosphere, it will take a bit more time for the sort of choral exploits we heard on the Old Shoreham Road to be recreated up in Falmer.

The Burnley match at home last season seemed to be something of an epiphany in terms of singing at The Amex. The place was jumping then, but it would be unproductive to have two players sent off in the first 15 minutes of each match to ensure those gleaming white arches are filled with raucous chanting each game.

The recreation of our North Stand will happen, but it may take a bit of work. Some fans are going the extra mile to try and unite the North Stand into a single, roaring unit after years of vocal-oppression.

Atmosphere can be helped with other things too. Fresh barrels of Harveys makes a difference, but flags and colour can get people going as well, and praise should be directed towards the North Stand Kollektiv group for their tireless efforts in decorating the stand and adding a bit of personality to its box fresh complexion.

A giant new banner, funded by fans and exclaiming Stand Or Fall in a nod to our most famous chant and Sussex anthem will span a section of the new North next season. Though hoisted above the fans on the back wall, we hope that symbolically it acts as an umbrella, uniting the stand into making a whole lot of brand new, opposition-scaring, ear-piercing Albion noise.

By the editors of www.theseagulllovereview.com