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Newcastle United were in trouble against Bournemouth when the two sides met in the Premier League last weekend.

Marcus Tavernier’s early goal and an unusual own goal from Malick Thiaw gave the Cherries a 2-0 lead at St James’ Park, but Newcastle hit back straightaway through a stunning Harvey Barnes strike. In the end, Jacob Ramsey added another to rescue a point.

Anecdotally, it felt like one of those afternoons when the supporters deserved a share of the credit. Noise and colour, colour and noise. The 12th man may not appear in the statistics, but every football fan understands the influence it can have.

It is really more of a feeling. Most of us can only imagine it, but it is difficult to believe that the fierce encouragement of thousands would not make a difference. How could it not?

Even in the exacting and professional environment of Premier League football, atmosphere still matters. Players may no longer be overly intimidated even by the game’s great cauldrons, but the lift it gives the home side must be exhilarating.

It is hard to know in theory what happens when that is removed or heavily reduced, but elsewhere in the Premier League there is now a real-life example about to unfold.

Aston Villa have already played in front of what was effectively a construction site in place of the North Stand just a few weeks ago, but a 1-0 home defeat to Arsenal does not really prove anything.

On Saturday, Villa host Nottingham Forest at a three-sided Villa Park. The North Stand is being redeveloped without being completely demolished. It will remain closed throughout 2026/27 as Villa raise the stadium’s capacity before the European Championship in 2028.

After another disappointing start, Villa need support from their reduced home crowd. Forest’s visit will create a highly imperfect comparison with the second leg of last season’s Europa League, when eventual winners Villa were carried to victory in the return leg by a surge of noise from the stands.

The circumstances are clearly different, but there was little expectation that Villa would take anything from Arsenal’s visit, and that is not true when Forest come back.

Without the North Stand, Villa must adapt to an unfamiliar setting that can only really come into focus when a football crowd feels it is genuinely needed.

Villa’s supporters will back Unai Emery’s side against Forest, and the Holte End will play its role just as strongly as ever.

But not having a stand packed with Villa fans at the far end, sending the noise back across the ground and trading chants with the away supporters — who themselves once occupied those same seats before being moved around the corner flag into the Witton Lane Stand — will look, sound and feel different.

In the months ahead, the supporters making up Villa’s reduced capacity will have a demanding job on their hands. From time to time, teams need exactly the kind of lift Newcastle received from their fans against Bournemouth.

That one significant push can make a huge difference. It can turn no points into one. It can turn one point into three.

As songs from the Holte End bounce into the hollow space where the shell of the expanded new-look North Stand is being built, getting past the sheer strangeness of the situation may yet prove a very real disadvantage for Villa.