A PROPER PREM RUGBY AWAY DAY

A trial of dedicated ‘away zones’ for travelling supporters is set to continue into next season

- JOSH GRAHAM

THERE ARE plenty of differences between football and rugby union but the most significant one off the field is the way fans are housed.

Seating and standing are fairly commonplace in both but when you're watching a round-ball game, you will be surrounded only by fellow brethren. Separate fan areas have been common in football at English grounds since the 1970s, something the Football Association says “has significantly reduced problems of spectator misbehaviour in stadia”.

While rugby has, mercifully, not had to deal with anything like the surge in hooliganism that football had, it seems we can't help but look on slightly jealously at the passionate pockets of vigorous support you see in most away areas. It is a culture.

One of the so-called ‘rugby values’ surrounds the ability of fans to mix harmoniously. Married couples sit Fans want action as well as atmosphere when they travel side by side in opposing jerseys at Six Nations games and friends spend the day together despite backing opposing sides in games like the East Midlands derby.

It's what many love so much about the game. There are, of course, other ways fans are treated differently in football and rugby.

The alcohol rules are significant. At football games, you have to do the merry dance of buying your drink in the concourse and downing it before you are allowed to return to your seat.

In rugby, booze is rife in the stands and to a large extent beer sales are propping up the game - just think of what Internationals at Twickenham add to the RFU’s coffers.