Football Ground Guide: Fans Ground Review, St Mary's Stadium, Southampton FC

St Marys Stadium - Southampton FC
Saturday 12th August 2006
V West Bromwich Albion, Championship League, 3pm
By Morty the Bromsgrove Baggie

1. Why you were looking forward to going to the ground (or not as the case may be):

As a West Brom fan, I had never been to Southampton before & I had seen several positive reviews/feedback about the new ground. As we were playing the Saints in August (warm weather time) it seemed an ideal opportunity to travel away with all the family.

2. How easy was your journey/finding the ground/car parking:

The journey was fairly straightforward, but we did allow extra time for a stop off at the services & any delays that might be incurred due to holiday traffic. We made very good time until we reached the M27 and sure enough the holiday traffic caused a small delay. We decided to use the ‘Park & Ride’ as detailed in the guide & the signposts were easy to follow. Before going onto the car park, we decided to stop off at the Tesco store opposite. This car part park was ideal for a pre-match shop & meal. I suppose you could even park at Tesco for free and use the park & ride buses to St Mary’s; this would save the Ł3 to park on the official park & ride. After we parked on the official Park & Ride, the bus got us to the ground within 20 minutes. I must congratulate the drivers & their assistants who were very friendly towards all the away fans.

3. What you did before the game pub/chippy.... home fans friendly?

As mentioned above, we went to Tesco and we all had a very good dinner for about Ł3.50 each. There were plenty of Southampton fans in the store & the atmosphere was friendly. My 9 year old son was a bit apprehensive about going to an away game, but even when we arrived at St Mary’s the attitude of the stewards & home fans was very pleasant, which soon put us at ease.

4. What you thought on seeing the ground, first impressions of away end then other sides of the ground.

We walked around to the main entrance and ten minutes later the WBA team coach arrived. There was friendly banter and again this was really good to see both sets of fans enjoying the day & looking forward to the game. When we did enter the ‘away’ turnstile at the Northam Stand, there were no delays, although only having one entrance for away fans could probably cause problems for fans that arrive late.

5. Comment on the game itself, atmosphere, stewards, pies, toilets etc..

The game was fairly entertaining for a no score draw. I was very impressed with the atmosphere inside the ground, but the banter did get a bit heated due to the amount of abuse that Nigel Qaushie was getting from the home fans. The baggies fans countered this criticism by responding with a very loud ‘you’re just a small town in Portsmouth’ which obviously didn’t go down too well with the Saints supporters.

Back to the stadium & the stewards were all ‘ground’ based. None were situated around the away end, so they were unable to ‘police’ fans standing in exit isles and a few morons who still think it’s still ok to smoke in a stadium. Getting to the toilets at half time was very frightening for my son, as there were no clear access areas, with fans smoking/drinking beer etc with no room to move at all. The signs were difficult to see & it took 15 minutes to get back to seats. Had there been an emergency, the blocked access areas would potentially be a risk. This would be my only criticism about the management within the ground.

6. Comment on getting away from the ground after the game

Away fans were not kept in, although it did take a long time to get out of the ground due to the limited exit points. The Park & Ride buses were just around the corner from the away stand and within 5 minutes we were on our way. It took about 15 minutes to get back to the car park, but on exiting, the traffic was flowing fairly well and it took no time at all to get back on the Motorway.

7. Summary of overall thoughts of the day out

A very enjoyable day out, on the whole. The Southampton ground is impressive and is worth visiting. The view within the ground is very good and it made a welcome change for the home fans & stewards to be so welcoming. I would have like to have seen cheaper ticket prices for a family. I understand Southampton offer better prices for home fans only; I do not know why away fans should be discriminated in this way?

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