What’s the main reason that you go to watch live football, week in, week out, without fail?

For me, supporting a glorified pub team, it’s certainly not for the quality of the football or entertainment value. I go for the great atmosphere; that matchday buzz you get when surrounded by thousands of others who you know are as passionate as you about your club.

It’s that passion that seems to be fading from modern football at an alarming rate, with more clubs going down the route of catering for the whole family and the whole community, and the prawn sandwich brigades become common place in the Premiership. However, some fans are trying to do something about it.

Almost every club in the top divisions of Spain, Italy and many other leagues around the world have "Ultras" groups, fans dedicated to creating as much noise as possible inside the ground and having an endless foray of flags, banners and anything else in the colours of their teams.

Of the people I have spoken to about what they thought of Ultras groups, many have told me that they associate them with hooliganism and football violence. The truth however, is far from that.

Having seen a dozen or so La Liga games, I can safely say that Ultras groups create a fantastic array of colour, noise and atmosphere that is severely lacking in the English game. In all my experiences of Spanish football, I have never once witnessed any violence or abuse in the same way as hooligan ‘firms’ in England.

As the site UltrasUK.co.uk explains, the majority of Ultras groups like to disassociate themselves from violence or politics: "The term 'Ultra' is not to be confused with hooligan or right wing elements. Of the 8 groups in the UK, all are against politics or violence in football - simply having fun at the football through banners, flags, card displays, streamers, and of course most importantly - vocally."

There are a minority of Ultras that become involved in violence and use their Ultras groups as political spearheads. One example is the Boixos Nois of Barcelona, who are generally associated with using their affiliation with the football club to campaign for Catalan independence, usually through violence. Similarly, many of Athletic Bilbao’s ultras are members of the Basque terrorist group ETA, though these are isolated cases of violent Ultras.

Ultras groups are popping up at clubs all over the UK. Aberdeen, Accrington Stanley, Aldershot Town, Celtic, Livingston, Rangers and York City all have Ultras groups now. When Aldershot visited Oxford back in November, their fans unfurled a huge red and blue banner that covered the stand from top to bottom, about 30 rows, and had a whole range of other large banners and flags that had me and fellow Oxford fans extremely impressed, so much so that Oxford fans grouped together to purchase a similarly big flag themselves.

These kind of choreographed displays of colour and noise are common at almost every game in Italy and Spain and makes it an experience that no fan in the stadium is likely to forget in a hurry, unlike the stale atmospheres that we have in supposedly ‘the best league in the world’.

That tag is hugely over-exaggerated. The Premiership is a million miles behind Serie A and La Liga in terms of matchday experience. Yes, the comfort and facilities available to a Premiership spectator are second to none, but what about the atmosphere and buzz that catches people and hooks them in, leaving them wanting more?

Luckily, some fans in England are trying to make a change and bring back the old atmospheres that were seen before Rupert Murdoch’s unstoppable money locomotive ploughed millions into the Premiership. The Kop and the Stretford End display banners, flags and murals at almost every game, creating a cracking atmosphere and buzz around the ground.

Further down the leagues, the Stanley Ultras and the Red Blue Army at Accrington and Aldershot show passion for their team, home and away, whatever the weather or however their team is doing.

As the UltrasUK site continues;

"These four points are the core of the ultra mentality:

• Never stop singing during the whole match, no matter the result;
• Never sit down during matches
• Follow as many games possible, regardless of costs or distances;
• Loyalty to the stand the group is located in."

It’s not thuggery or hooliganism, it is unrivalled passion and support that is sorely needed in abundance to stop the atmosphere at British stadiums going stale.

I for one am in support of more Ultras groups in Britain, and I hope, for the sake of football, that you are too.