Last weekend I was one of the 85,936 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground to see Carlton versus Collingwood, soaking in the atmosphere of an AFL blockbuster.

Now when I say atmosphere, I have to clarify. I've been to AFL grand finals, preliminaries and the rest across the country, and what's struck me most about Australian sporting fan culture is the silence in which crowds sit and soak in their sport.

Maybe its because I've spent most of my sporting event time at race tracks, where the engines create the defining noise/atmosphere, or round ball football matches, where the crowd involvement is more active, but there's something odd about how deathly silent 85,936 fans can be.

There were the occasional chants of "Collingwood... Collingwood... Collingwood," the inevitable tirades at the umpires (a necessity for AFL fans), and some "oohs" and "aahs" as bodies collided.

Now, this isn't a criticism of AFL fans. The reality is there's no real need for the crowd to breakout into elaborate chants and songs. The game is too fast-paced and the play too flowing to allow crowd tempos to build from one set of supporters.

The round ball football is a different case, and the game lends itself to active fan support we see in terraces around the world.

It's this trait that the A-League needs to truly embrace for two important reasons. Firstly, a lack of atmosphere is a sure way to keep casual fans away from the game, particularly those who don't necessarily appreciate football and are used to the faster paced codes. Secondly, active football support done well becomes a point of differentiation to the other football codes, thus a potential selling point.  

Celtic's recent tour, renditions of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and all, only highlighted this difference - and the sort of atmosphere and club culture that will, with time, build around the A-League.

While Football Federation Australia pushed the "Fan Made" tag-line in their advertising campaign last season, they did anything but encourage active fan support with the way they, Melbourne Victory and the Victorian Police engaged with Victory's active supporters.

But unless the FFA and clubs truly work with clubs to encourage football fan culture in order to produce the unique atmosphere that only the round ball code can do, one of the biggest selling points the A-League could have is lost. It's an opportunity they cannot pass up as crowds continue to fluctuate.

It was encouraging to see one club stress the importance of its active supporters recently.

Adelaide United sent out this reminder to fans purchasing season tickets during the week: "The 'Home Supporter's Bay' is for those who will engage in active support only. ??If you don't intend to engage in active support then please don't buy tickets in this bay."

But one feels more needs to be done to encourage active football support - the songs, banners, pageantry and chants, via memberships which encompass active supporters only, clubs assisting those active supporters in any way possible to put on their show, encouraging and developing travel packages for active supporters to get to away games, and allowing the banners and like in their bays.

We are at the point now in the A-League's history where the clubs are becoming embedded in our psyches, and loyalties and ties are being strengthened through a shared history that now encompasses several seasons.

It's time for that active support to be on full show - encouraged to the utmost as a point of differences from other codes