| Contents |
What's St Mary's Stadium Like?
External
View (photo)
What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters?
The Chapel & Kingsland
Stands (photo)
Where To
Drink?
Northam Stand (photo)
How
To Get There By Car & Where To Park
By Train
A Closer Look At The Chapel Stand (photo)
Admission Prices
Programme & Fanzine
Ground Layout
Fixtures 2012-2013
Local Rivals
Disabled Facilities
Record & Average Attendance
Fans Ground Reviews
Stadium
Tours
The Dell
Hotel Accommodation
St
Mary's Stadium Location Map
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| What's St
Mary's Stadium Like? |
| The
Club moved from The Dell to the new St Mary's Stadium
in 2001. In some ways this saw the Club returning to
its roots as it was
originally founded as 'Southampton St Marys', hence the club nickname 'The Saints'.
To be truthful the stadium looks, quite simply,
superb. The stadium is completely enclosed, with all
corners being filled with seating. There are also two great looking screens sitting
on the roofs at each end. Running around three sides
of the stadium, just below the roof, is a transparent
perspex strip allows more
light and facilitates pitch growth. On the remaining side there is a row
of executive boxes. The crowd are set well back from
the playing action, as firstly there is a cinder track
surrounding the playing surface and secondly the pitch
itself must be the largest in the League (although the
playing area does not use all of it). Outside the
stadium behind the Itchen Stand is a statue
of former Southampton legend Ted Bates.
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External
View
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| What
Is It Like For Visiting Supporters? |
Away
fans are located in the Northam Stand at one end of
the stadium, where normally up to 3,100 fans can sit. For cup games this
allocation can be increased to 4,750. The view of the
playing action and the facilities within this stand
are excellent. Leg room is good, although the width of
the seating seemed to be a bit narrower than other
grounds (either that, or I am putting on weight!). The
sizeable concourse behind the stand features a
Ladbrokes, has TV's which show the game as it is
played and a number of eating and drinking outlets.
There are plenty of staff and the queues never seemed
to get particularly long, which was a pleasant
surprise. There is also a 'Pie & Pint' outlet,
that as the name suggests, only serves beer and pies. Perhaps they should
rename it as 'Heaven'!
I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to St Mary's and would
happily return. The stadium has (contrary to other
reports) a great atmosphere and the facilities are
first class. I particularly commend the Club for the
friendliness of their staff, from the stewards to the
catering staff. Even as I left the stadium, a steward
wished me an enjoyable journey home! Considering that
away supporters are almost treated with contempt at
some other clubs, this was a refreshing change.
Coupled with the relaxed attitude of the home
supporters and the excellent facilities, then this to
to me makes a visit to St Mary's one of the better
days out in the League. Only one
minor gripe though, is that away fans are searched
before entering the stadium which obviously slows
the entrance process down somewhat.
Phil Jones adds; 'There was an excellent view from all
around the ground and the atmosphere was good. I was impressed by their having
toilet facilities around the perimeter of the ground
which are accessible prior to the turnstiles opening.
Well done Southampton, it's the little touches like
these, for the fans comfort and enjoyment of the day,
which make all the difference'.
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| The Chapel
& Kingsland Stands |
Apologies for the
quality of the photo, my camera couldn't cope with
the low bright sunshine!
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| Where To
Drink? |
There are not many pubs located close
to the stadium, so the choice for away fans is
limited. There is the
Waterfront Bar in William Street, which is an area
called Shamrock Quay. You can visit the Waterfront Bar website for
more details. Nic Hallam a visiting Wolverhampton
Wanderers fan adds; 'In the Ocean Village we found
"The Admiral Sir Lucius Curtis" public house.
This large establishment had an an
excellent choice of beers, friendly bar staff
and a convivial mix of both home and away fans'.
Most fans seem to end up in
the city centre before the game, where
there are plenty of pubs to choose from. Paul Hunt a visiting Bristol City fan
adds; 'On our last visit the Standing Order
Wetherspoons outlet was for home fans only, with
bouncers on the door. We ended up in Yates Wine
Lodge in the central shopping area. There were also
a lot of away fans in the Slug & Lettuce next
door'. Away fans should avoid pubs along St Marys Street such as the Kingsland Tavern,
Joiners and Isobar. Please
remember though that if you do drink in the centre,
that the stadium is a good twenty minute
walk away. Otherwise alcohol is served within the
ground.
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| Northam
Stand |
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| How
To Get There And Where To Park |
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From the M3 take the
A33 into Southampton. Continue on the A33 until you
reach the junction with the A3024 Northam Road and
turn left onto this road towards Northam. Then turn
right onto the B3038, Britannia Road for the
stadium.
There is hardly any parking available at the stadium
for away fans and there are parking restrictions in
force for the local area. Most fans seem to be just
heading for the city centre car parks and then
embarking on the 15-20 minute walk to the stadium. I
did this and parked in an NCP car park, which cost
£5. I should point out though, that after the game
the roads around the city centre become almost grid
locked. It took me over an hour to get away
afterwards.
Alternatively, on my last visit I noticed a number
of fans parking around the Marina area and then
taking the ten minute walk to the ground. Parking in
this area has the advantage that at the end of the
game, you can avoid the city centre gridlock, by
heading along the coast on the A3024 and then onto
the M271/M27. Steve Ship a
visiting Crystal Palace fan also recommends it;
'The Marina is called the Ocean Village which has
plenty of parking, but it does charge to park
there (we paid £5 for five hours). It is no more
than a ten minute walk to the stadium, has a pub
on the complex (which had a decent mix of home and
away supporters) as well as plenty of food
outlets. We left at the final whistle and were
back on the M27 within 20 minutes thus avoiding
the congested town centre'.
Barry Sear suggests 'I parked in Woolston (on the other side of the Itchen Toll
Bridge) where there is plenty of street
parking, and made the 15-20
minute walk from there to the ground over the Itchen
toll Bridge. To get there, you leave the M27 at
Junction 8 and follow the A3025 to Woolston. I
was back on the M27 within 10 minutes of getting
back to the car'.
Park & Ride
Gavin Ellis a visiting
Arsenal supporter informs me;
'There is a park and
ride scheme in operation specifically
for away supporters. This
is situated just off junction 8
of the M27. The
traffic in Southampton really made London look
provincial, and I'd definitely not recommend people
driving into the centre'. This facility costs £8 per vehicle.
John Josephs a visiting Newcastle supporter adds;
'After leaving the
motorway at Junction 8 and heading towards
Southampton, there are clear AA signs for
the Visitors Park and Ride car park which is
opposite a big Tesco superstore.
I got there at about six
which was two hours before kick-off. There were six buses waiting but hardly
any supporters. Once there were enough people to
fill half a bus it left. 15 minutes later and we were at the stadium'.
Mark Glasson a visiting Nottingham Forest fan tells
me; ' Although the trip into the ground was
outstandingly efficient we were disappointed that
now it appears that the Southampton fans and cars
are allowed to disperse first at the end of the game
while the Park & Ride buses were held back for
around 1/2 an hour prior to being released into busy
traffic. It was therefore nearly an hour after the
match before we were back in our car and able to
start our three hour journey home. I feel sure it
would have been significantly quicker to park more
locally and walk to the stadium.'
Other fans have also recommended
the park & ride to me, so on my last visit on
a Saturday, I thought I would give it a try. I
arrived at the Park & Ride at 11.45am to be
informed that it didn't run until 1pm and then
'only if we have enough fans to fill the bus'. I
didn't fancy hanging around so I left the car park
and drove to St Marys instead. However other fans
that I spoke to arriving later found the service
okay.
Map
showing the location of the St
Marys' Stadium (at the bottom of this
page).
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| Itchen Stand |
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| By
Train |
The
stadium is located around one and a half miles away
from Southampton station (where there is also quite a
large car park), which should take about 30 minutes to
walk. There is also a shuttle bus in operation taking
fans from the station to the ground. This operates
from the Blechynden Terrace bus stop outside the
station.
Turn left out of the station' s southern entrance and
walk up Western Esplanade, which becomes Civic Centre
Road. Remain on the Civic Centre Road and walk between
the Civic Centre and the Marlands Shopping Centre.
Eventually a crossroads is reached with the Nationwide
Building Society on one corner and Lloyds Bank on
another. Cross into New Road and follow this road
across a park and past a college. Eventually you will
reach a complex road junction with a number of traffic
lights. Cross Kings Way into Northam Road and follow
this road for quarter of a mile until you reach the
ground on your right. There are signs provided by
the local council, which direct fans from the station
to the ground.
Thanks to Scott Lydon, Jeff Manning & David
Furnell for providing the directions.
You can also walk to the ground
from St Denys Station, which is about a 25 minute
walk away. This area also has some good pubs. Kay Wilkinson provides the following
directions: ' Leave the station on the
platform 4 (South Western Arms Pub side) and proceed
past the pub, which is on your right hand side and
continue on down this road, past the Junction Inn and
over the Horseshoe Bridge (this goes over the
railway.) Take the next left, Dukes Road and
follow this for about 3/4 of mile past various
industrial units and round past Mount Pleasant School,
which is on your right. At this T junction turn
left into Mount Pleasant Road and walk over the
railway (tip if the train gates are down use the
footbridge - you can sometimes wait here for 20
minutes). You then continue along this road,
which changes into Radcliffe Road, past the
mosque on your right and this road will take you all
the way down to the underpass to the Stadium.
This is the most direct route. If you want to
visit the Dolphin Pub mentioned above you exit the
Station on Platform one side using the bridge across
the road and the Dolphin is directly in front of
you. To visit the Bevios Castle pub follow the
directions into Dukes Road and half way down this road
is a right turn, this will take you out into Bevios
Valley, turn left and the pub is about 3 minutes
walk away on a road junction on the right hand
side. To get to St Marys from here you can
either walk up the hill following the road
continuously, past the hospital and the fire station
on your left, when you reach the main road,
Northam Road, cross and pass through the bridge
to the ground. Alternatively you can walk down the
hill and take the first right, Mount Pleasant Road and
follow the directions as from St Denys Station above'.
Remember if travelling by train then
you can normally save on the cost of fares by booking in
advance. Visit the thetrainline
website to see how much you can save.
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A
Closer Look At The Chapel Stand
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| Admission
Prices |
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Like a number of Clubs
Southampton have a category system (A, B &
C) for the pricing of match tickets, whereby the
most popular games cost more to watch. Category
A prices are shown below with Catergory B &
C prices in brackets.
Home Fans*:
Itchen Stand (Premium Centre): Adults
£48 (B £44) (C £42), No Concessions*
Kingsland
Stand (Premium Centre): Adults
£45 (B £42) (C £38), No Concessions*
Itchen &
Kingsland Stands (Outer
Centre): Adults £42 (B
£39) (C £34), Concessions
£38 (B £35) (C £30), Under 17's £30 (B
£28) (C £24), Under 11's £15 (B £12)
(C £10)
Itchen &
Kingsland Stands (Wings): Adults
£38 (B £35) (C £30), Concessions £33 (B £31)
(C £26), Under 17's £21 (B £20) (C
£17), Under 11's £12 (B £10) (C £8)
Northam & Chapel Stands: Adults £38 (B £35) (C £30),
Concessions £33
(B £31) (C £26), Under 17's £21 (B
£20) (C £17), Under 11's £12 (B
£10) (C £8)
Family Enclosure: Adults
£35 (B £32) (C £28), Concessions £23
(B £21) (C £18), Under 17's
£15 (B £14) (C £12), Under
11's £8 (B £8) (C £8)
Away Fans*:
Northam Stand:
Adults £38 (B £35) (C £30),
Concessions £33
(B £31) (C £26), Under 17's £21 (B
£20) (C £17)
Concessions
apply to Over 65's, Under 21's & Students.
* Apart from disabled supporters.
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| Programme & Fanzine |
Official
Programme: £3.
Beautiful South Fanzine: £1.
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Ground
Layout
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| Fixtures 2012-2013 |
| Southampton
FC fixture list (takes you to the BBC Sports Website).
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| Local Rivals |
| Portsmouth.
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| Disabled
Facilities |
| For
details of disabled facilities and club contact at the
ground please visit the relevant page on the Level
Playing Field website.
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| Record & Average
Attendance |
Record
Attendance:
32,363 v Coventry City
Championship League, April
28th, 2012.
Average Attendance:
2011-2012:
26,420 (Championship League)
2010-2011: 22,161
(League One)
2009-2010: 20,982 (League One)
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| Fans
Reviews Of St Marys |
Alex
Smith (Coventry City) 28/4/12
James Spring (Notts
County) 15/1/11
Alexander Jones
(Bournemouth) 2/10/10
Ed Butler (Walsall)
27/02/10
Ben Clarke (Ipswich
Town) 23/01/10
Peter Radford
(Wycombe Wanderers) 1/12/09
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| Stadium
Tours |
| The Club offer
regular tours of the stadium. The tours cost Adults 12,
Concessions £6. Family tickets (2 Adults + 2 Children)
are also available at £30. Saints season ticket holders
and club members are admitted at half price. Tours can
be booked by calling 0845 688 9370.
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| The Dell |
| To see
some photos of Southampton's previous ground The
Dell then visit the Old
Grounds & Stands Section of the Guide.
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| Hotel
Accommodation |
If you require hotel accommodation in the area
then first try a hotel booking service provided by
Late Rooms. They have a huge choice of places to stay
and their booking facility is straightforward to use.
Yes this site will earn a small commission if you book
through them, but it will go to help with the running
costs of keeping the Guide going. Hotels are listed
giving details of their distance from the ground.
Access
their Southampton
Hotels and Guest Houses page.
Remember
that you can use the above link or panel below to
book any other hotels that you may need for
business or leisure, either in the UK or abroad.
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| Map
showing the location of the St Mary's
stadium, railway stations and listed pubs |
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Instructions for using
the map:
- Use the bar on the left of the map to zoom in /
out using the + / - keys.
- Click and drag an area of the map to move around
or use the up/down, left/right arrows
- Click the Satellite button to see aerial view
photograph.
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| Feedback |
If
anything is incorrect or you have something to add,
please e-mail me duncan@footballgrounds.net
and I'll update the guide.
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