On Saturday night, the reconfigured Etihad Stadium brought Melbourne's wonderful fans just that bit closer to the A-League action as they thrashed Gold Coast United 4-0.

And the 20,000 plus supporters responded in kind, generating an electric atmosphere - judged by many to be a season highlight in a year of disappointing crowds.

Leader of the Blue & White Brigade, Adam Tennenini, who orchestrates supporter chants behind one of the goals, has implored the club to keep the stadium reconfiguration as it is, arguing it's a unique and effective way to advertise the A-League and drag more fans into the ground.

And he has made an impassioned plea for the club to play all their games at the new rectangular stadium from next year rather than return to Etihad for bigger games predicting Swan Street will become a cauldron due to its improved "football" layout.

Adam, firstly your thoughts on Saturday night's reconfigured Etihad?

It was a success. We were closer to the action and it felt like there were a lot more than just 20,000 fans. It would be nice if they could just leave it like that for the rest of the season but that's looking unlikely. I think there was a little resignation after the game from the Victory fans' perspective because the reality is, it probably won't happen again this season.

The club and FFA would argue there are extra costs involved though...

FFA delegates were at the game and they would've seen first-hand the atmosphere generated. It's second to none across all codes. I can't see why they just can't leave it as it is till the AFL season starts. Why pay for the stands to go back, why not just leave them as they are?

What would be your argument to the powers that be about keeping it as it is?

Obviously it draws people to the game. FFA keep talking about what they can do to increase attendances and having the crowd engaged and involved is an important part of our game. And there were a lot of new fans there on the weekend who would've been taken aback. It was only 20,000 but it seemed like a lot more and I'm sure they'll be back - although it will be different when the fans are pushed back [into the regular seating configuration]. It will take away from the atmosphere.

So what you're saying is compared to, say, advertising, this is money well spent on promoting the A-League?

Definitely. I had texts after the game from mates who couldn't believe it. Imagine if we could draw an even bigger crowd what the atmosphere would be like?

Talk us through what it felt like when there was a chant off with all four sides of the ground...

It's something we replicated from our second year at Olympic Park when we wrapped up our first Premiership... it was nice to engage the whole crowd and not just the two supporter ends. Speaking to some Gold Coast supporters after the game they were taken aback by the whole atmosphere - obviously they haven't experienced that and they've had to cap their crowds at one time. And the players commented about it after the game.

Should other clubs in the A-League be looking at your fan culture in Melbourne?

I know that North Queensland have been pro-active in contacting some of us to learn how they can do things better. And if you look at their games I suppose a lot of their chants they haven't stolen but they've taken from us. But that's great and you take as a compliment. If people across the league can learn from us and draw more people through the gate then great.

The new stadium at Swan Street - also dubbed the Bubble Dome - will host Victory from next year but apparently not all home games will be played there. Your thoughts?

From a Victory fans' perspective I suppose I speak for many when I say we're really disappointed in that. We want to play as many games there as possible. There's a reason why they've built it. It's for Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Storm. To go back to Etihad is something we're not terribly happy with. We'd like to play all our home games at Swan St from next year. But it's looking more unlikely. I'd rather see 31,000 sold out at Swan Street than that at Etihad. Every time you drive past it you get goose bumps. And being right on top of the action will be intimidating for the opposition. Can you imagine 31,000 screaming fans right on top of you? Awesome.

The club would argue for the really big games they'd need a bigger capacity?

Well, if you look at this season when was the last time we drew over 31,000? We'll lobby as much as we can but at the end of the day it's a business decision and they have a sweet deal with Etihad. Look, the more games at Swan Street the better; the less games at Etihad the better is the message. It's a real football stadium - something we've been crying out for years - and now we've got it, we're only going to play half our games there. It's disappointing.