EastEnders

Simply mentioning the East End never fails to stir up debate among City fans.

As someone who has always been pro-active in trying to help create an atmosphere at Ashton Gate. I was indeed in the East End for the Colchester game. And what a cracking atmosphere. It was superb, a day similar to those in my very early youth when I stood in what was the the home end.

Crap view though.

And there you have it. For all its acoustic pluses, the minus of a crap view, backless seats and poor facilities put a black mark against this ‘once great' stand.

Would I go in there every week if it were open? No. I've paid for a Dolman season ticket this season and I'm not going to pay that much to sit in the East End . Some people seem to suggest that the East End is the only place an atmosphere cans exist within Ashton Gate.

Rubbish is what I say. It's a myth. If those 900 fans in the East End were sat together in one area of the Dolman, Williams or Atyeo then just as much noise would be generated.

The EastEnd: Great sounds, Crap View

Whether people like to admit it or not, the East End will never be a permanent fixture week in, week out. It's not feasible and I'm sure that after a couple of games the novelty of acoustics would wear off amid the realisation of the dire facilities and crap view. People would simply return to their comfy seats elsewhere in the ground. Have a think about it. You know that it would happen.

So what is going to be the best solution to the Ashton Gate atmosphere crisis? Well I suggest the answer is to identify a place in the ground where fans who want to create an atmosphere can sit together and shout throughout the match. It might be the East End , but if numbers drop we could see the idea being scrapped.

I mentioned last month about the views I had and that I would be trying to put them across at the Fans' Consultancy Committee meeting earlier this month. The agenda last month was somewhat one of introduction and thus there were no discussions of the atmosphere and entertainment at Ashton Gate. This is one of the key points for future meetings and I will be looking forward to raising it.

In the meantime, if you have any views you would like me to raise at the next F.C.C. meeting, you can contact me on tomarse@theincider.com . The topics for the next meeting are catering and season ticket prices for next season. I look forward to your thoughts.