We asked our Rovers fans' jury: What do you make of the club’s decision to house the away supporters at Ewood Park in the Darwen End upper tier?

Well in the absence of any comprehensive explanation of the rationale behind the move we will have to blindly speculate.

Is it to dampen the away fans ability to create an atmosphere for their team?

If so many people think that the games atmosphere as a whole will be negatively affected.

Perhaps it's about containment and control, easier done in a compact area with CCTV and adequate stewarding.

It is, however, going to look rather strange on TV when it keeps showing the opposing goalkeeper looking as if he has been abandoned by all and sundry.

Paul Yates

Football thrives through relationships - relationships between rival fans and between fans and players. Containing away fans in the upper tier of an empty stand significantly reduces this.

Banter is compromised, the atmosphere suffers and the supporters who have travelled to support their team are distanced from their players and prevented from having that special relationship which away supporters deserve for their commitment to the cause.

There might be an attitude of 'who cares', but as evident by our victory against Leeds United and their travelling fans, it's not the fans that win you matches, it's the 11 players on the pitch and if the shoe was on the other foot, I'd prefer to be closer to the action. 

Kelvin Wilkins

Personally, I don’t like it. It detracts away from the atmosphere and makes the game feel of less importance.

I don’t really understand the clubs stance either. They moved fans from the Darwen end, to much uproar, and they won’t even use that space for most games played this season.

That move has hardly improved the atmosphere either, it’s made little difference.

I would like to know their reason for the cut off being 2,000 fans. Is it an attempt stop the away ending acting as the opposition’s 12th man?

I’m not sure, but I can’t make sense of it.

Tom Schofield