As always, people are key. Are your fans left to negotiate the turnstile and find their place without assistance (presumably because they should know by now) or is there someone just inside the entrance giving a smile and a genuine welcome? Does the stewarding team remember the holy trinity of the best custodian: safety, security and service too or does their demeanour suggest you are unwelcome? Is someone looking out for new supporters? Can youngsters be directed to some engaging concourse activities and older fans told about the free hot drink on a cold winter’s afternoon?

The PA announcer is key. Sometimes tradition is all (I give you Liverpool’s beloved George Sephton) but sometimes it’s great to hear a different voice. In that respect the lack of female match announcers (I can only think of two in the whole of the 92) is an obvious opportunity for a genuinely inclusive and community-focusedclub.

When does the pre-match show start and what are its elements? In our experience, those clubs who can honour their past (whether it be through videos, on-pitch interviews with former players or by way of a memorial to a fallen team mate) strongly convey the transience of the match day. They’re a family gathering but, at the same time, a chance to both remember our forebears and to celebrate the arrival of a new little Saddler, Mackem or Bantam.

The match day playlist is becoming increasingly important. In the past, it seemed to me that all I ever heard was Hi Ho Silver Lining on repeat but now they’re curated carefully with Salford City’s paean to ‘Indie Manchester’ a playlist that you can find on Spotify and enjoy again when back home. And while I hate the overuse of the verb ‘curate’ (and ‘hand crafted’ even more), it’s somehow entirely appropriate in the museums of our weekly dreams.

And, in an era where younger fans follow players, rather than teams, a player-curated playlist is something to cherish.

Does you club have a hymn (like FC Barcelona) or a traditional song? Most of Northern Europe tends to the Bavarian oompah stein-waving singalong while Sunderland opts for a past and present sequence of Prokofiev’s Dance of the Knights and Republica’s Ready to Go. In your note book, I hope you’re writing down ‘lift the heart’ and ‘raise the roof’ as these are the requirements for this holy moment.

The fan’s pre-match ritual is sacred, traditional, irrational but beloved. A club who can amplify that and stir the heart with an outstanding pre-match plan will win the ultimate prize: the fan who feels truly valued.

And after that, the game starts.

For many of us, it can only go downhill from here.

My other half Ana once said that her early memories of the moments before kick-off were characterised by a stirring build up to the referee’s whistle … followed by near silence: only to be eventually broken by a strong local accent demanding their team ‘hit it long!’.