The days of 'away ends' at football are all but over, especially in the higher divisions.
Those two words are still used but they usually refer to the away section, which tends to be in a corner or down one side of the pitch rather than an actual ‘end’ behind a goal.
Ironically, Albion – who had an away corner at the Goldstone when most others had ‘ends’ – now have the last genuine 'away end' in the Premier League.
But that may well change 15 months or so from now.
Albion are looking to move the 3,000-seat away section from behind the goal in the South Stand to a different area – which would obviously be in one corner and/or side area of the Amex.
The view is the current configuration gives an illusion of greater away support and takes away part of the home advantage.
Such a move would put them in line with every other current Prem club and most in the Championship.
Yes, away fans are technically behind a goal at Newcastle but they are way, way up in the top tier, far from the pitch and behind a huge bank of home supporters.
Other clubs offer visitors part of one end, such as at Liverpool, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest and Fulham.
Sheffield United had an away end, with visitors given the lower tier and generally having a ball there, but they have now departed.
In the Championship, there are away ends at Millwall, QPR and Preston.
Otherwise, you will find yourselves on the side of the pitch, towards one end, at Everton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace, Aston Villa and promoted Ipswich.
At both Manchester clubs, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, Brentford, Southampton and Leicester you will be in, or close to, the corner, although some of those sections extend to near the goal.
Wolves generally give visitors the full length of the pitch along the lower tier, which can make it hard to co-ordinate singing, although there is an alternative corner section.
The trend extends to Europe. Albion fans were in corners at all four Europa away games.
Any change at the Amex would purely be for perceived sporting advantage.
In their account of a recent appearance by chief executive Paul Barber at Seagulls Over London, the club reported: “Paul said that away fans will almost certainly be moved to a different part of the Amex from the 2025-26 season.
“Although there was no statistical evidence that the current South Stand arrangements gave visitors any benefit, the consensus inside the club is that what looks like 25% of the stadium being given to visitors (despite the 10% allocation) can motivate away sides where they attack the South end where their fans are.”
Visiting fans have been in the South Stand ever since the Amex opened in 2011, although some smaller away allocations have allowed home supporters to be behind that goal.
Away teams clearly enjoy attacking that way in the second half and it is very rare for a visiting skipper to turn the teams around on winning the toss at kick-off.
Aston Villa were among the first teams to do away with an away end and put visiting fans in a side area.
That was back in 2007, when manager Martin O’Neill said it would be advantageous to have home supporters behind both goals.
It remains to be seen to what extent Albion will follow suit.
Barber has also given some more information as to how the Fan Zone at the Amex will operate.
The new £7 million facility, opposite the ticket office, will open a few weeks into the coming season.
Capacity will be about 1,000 people in colder months, when it is an indoor venue.
But that number will double in warmer weather with sides opened out.
There will be no admission fee and Albion promise lots of different food and drink options, live music and big screens for live sport.
The Fan Zone will also be used for events away from matchdays.
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