The Leazes corner became the singing section for two reasons. The first was that the away fans who were put in the corner made a massive amount of noise and it was thought that the acoustics were better in the corner. That's probably right as the corner has two walls for the sound to bounce off and it's thrown towards the pitch. The other reason was to put the away fans at the end of the Leazes which meant that we had less empty seats due to segregation. That was a good move by the club and it wasn't Ashley who made the decision, it was the Chairman at the time.
Without trying to blow 'our' own trumpets the 'Ultras' did their upmost to obtain a singing section. Two blocks, three-quarter full next to the away fans led to us taking a full portfolio or whatever you want to call it to the clubs officials, asking for a singing section - a certain Russell Cushion (?) was who we took it to. A year later the singing section was introduced and the re-jigging of sections of the ground began.
They obviously recognised the need for the atmosphere to change and addressed it. Fair enough, it would be better in the lower parts of the ground - but as many 'East Standians' would put it who would want thousands of Charvas singing cringeworthy s**** next to the pitch. (Or to put it my way, why would the club want to charge £5 less than what they could charge people for sitting/standing in that section of the ground.)
The whole ground is fast becoming more positive, and the Leazes Corner is respected by most imo. (Which isn't the Ultras because they just make a tiny minority of it). But those interested in making a vocal backing have fast gone to the heavens and it's been the best decision the board have made in the last 2 or 3 years.
I must admit, I get pissed off with the attitude of Level 7 being full of kiddy charvas with little sense or wit, simply because a lot of people who say that have probably never experienced it before. Then again, I would be pissed off thinking I paid £1,000 for a season ticket and told I was a s*** fan because I barely sang. In reality, that is football these days and we should all learn to get along. We all support the same team, whether it be financially or vocally.
Two final things to consider though, those who sit in the East Stand have probably been there, done that and done all the vocal s****, relegations and promotions. BUT - those in Level 7 might be there one day - you can't exactly hold our f***ing age against us, because believe me when I say that at least 90% of that lot up there will be there in 30years time, just like the elder lot in the East Stand, so years of support is irrelevant. Also, those in Level 7, I would say are the vast majority of our away contingency, so while a lot of us sit back saying our fans are great they took 6,000 to Barnsley and basically made it their own, please remember where these are likely to be sat at home games.
All an opinion like...but I'm trying to balance things out here.
Good post, very fair
