There's always something about the first game of the season. The "We could be top of the league by 5pm" thing that most of us non-Manchester United fans don't normally get. It's the kind of thing that makes grown-up, sensible men do daft things. Like thinking that the 800-mile round trip is a good idea. Ho hum.

I must admit the hardest part of getting there was getting to Southampton in the first place. I did the lion's part of the journey on the Friday, staying overnight in Wolverhampton, but when I got to the station on Saturday, the train was 'going to be here in 20 minutes'. An hour and a half later, the train was still 'going to be here in 20 minutes'. I got a different train.

Once you get to Southampton, it's completely painless getting to the ground. The club lay on buses to get people to the station, ours even had extra seats! The two sets of fans mixed well, with the odd bit of friendly banter ("It's not fancy dress, you know" to our Inter Milan-esque away strip), to even the useful bit of advice ("Don't get the bus on the way back, you'll never catch your train"). 

The ground provoked mixed reactions. On one hand, you can't help but be impressed. For all the faffing about which Wembley has produced, Southampton have build a shiny 30,000 seater stadium which looks really nice. On the other hand, it looks a lot like Middlesbrough / Derby / Sunderland / heck, even Darlington's new ground bears more than a passing resemblance to it. Actually, with it's red seats, it looks a lot like the Riverside. Home, sweet home. Sort of. The away fans are half of one of the stands behind the goals, and the view is excellent, as there are no pillars, but bring a cap and sunglasses! I spent the whole match with the sun shining in my eyes. 

Because I used to live in London, Southampton was something of a home game for me, and I've been to The Dell a few times. I hated it. But the one thing it did have going for it was it's intimidation factor. I'm sure the players felt it, and I certainly did - not the atmosphere in the stands, but the 'concourse' felt like the kind of street you knew you shouldn't go down as you'd probably get mugged. The Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium (there, the sponsors will be happy now) has the same degree of atmosphere, although there are problems. The Northam stand (which is split between home and away fans) has major problems with the home fans refusing to sit down. Somewhat worrying, although the club is trying to take action, as on every page of the programme there is a request to sit down. I understand even the chairman has made unsuccessful personal appeals for the fan to sit down. This match, the club tried a new tactic - they got Matt Le Tissier to ask them to sit down. It didn't work. The stewards and the police's tactic was high-profile policing, but seemly didn't try to get anyone to sit down. Probably figured out that didn't work a while ago.