alehouseboys

I would like that one in the spring coinciding with our promotion weekend. We could take as many fans as we'd like. I'm reminiscing over Fulham, Luton and Orient away in 1978 and would appreciate similar days out. Thank you.

We could easily have been playing in front of many near full-houses this coming season with just a little for-thought. I'm still amazed they've done what they've done. No doubt crowds will improve later in the season if things go as planned but I can imagine a few grim fixtures at SMS between October and Feb. Shame, could/should have been so different.

Long sleeves only...save the shirt wearers a few bob tho' Same as home shirt but black. There, I've said it. Again.

But...they don't show their 'Early Bird' renewals, something not available to us. I believe Swindon's 'Early' prices, which were open to renewals AND new applications, was one- hundred-and-something. I'm sure most of thos clubs would have offered lower prices in the spring.

But...you had the monopoly on bitterness from 1961-2005, and boy did you do bitter far better than us, maybe it's just our turn to have a little go. You'll get it back in a couple of years or so.

I'm in the 70% of this poll that said they will 'renew' (tho' I think it's a big mistake for the club to do what they've done so late in the day) but I can afford to do it. The problem I've got now is that the people I go with are stalling as they rely on and expected the instalment plan to pay for their ST and now they've got less than a month to deal with it. If they don't, I wont, as they're the people I go to football with, we'll just pay-as-we-go and probably miss a few as a result. I've mentioned the credit card route (if there's enough time to arrange one) but it's their choice. We may have to wait to see how much they're gonna charge for 'Memberships', tho' with plenty of seats likely to be available at SMS that will only be benficial for possible big cup matches/play-offs. How many others will be in a similar situation?

...but I wonder how much they're gonna charge in the first place to become a 'member'?

I don't think there would have been so much angst if, in March when everyone was anticipating the 'Early Bird' as usual, the club made a statement saying something simple like... "SFC will no longer be releasing ST prices until June and the club have decided to do away with our now expected enstalment plan, please make other arrangements. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause...thank you for your continued support...the future's bright...COYR...and whites....and slashes....etc, etc." Could have cut out 3 months of speculation/confusion.

This is one that baffles me a bit. They had a serious problem on a number of home games last season with big 'walk-ups' that they couldn't cope with resulting in large queues, disgruntled fans (I realise it's their fault turning up so late) not getting in until 20mins into the match and loss sales as many gave up and walked away.

Well...there goes the "feel-good-factor"... ...some strange decisions there.

They play in Dagenham one week, Redbridge the next. Our new local derby. It'll be chaos on the M271...

Some good ones already but for me these 3 edge it so far...

Assuming this eye bolt would need to go near where the top of the ladder would come into contact with the wall, how does he get up there to drill the hole?

Bradford also did some mad offer a few years back and experienced similar results. Norwich are the prime examples tho', the year they were relegated from the Prem with us they dropped their ST prices dramatically and had a huge take-up, done very good 'Early Bird' renewals ever since and kept an excellent fanbase. Saints on the other hand continued to charge the same ST prices as they had in the Premiership. IF they offered a crazy one-off low price tied in with the 125yr celebrations then I would offer it to everyone but the deal is you also commit to one the following season back at a more usual price. A price could be fixed and this could be paid off over the year in an installment plan to make it affordable. There's a very good chance we'll be in the CCC then so renewals would likely be very high anyway.

Uploaded with ImageShack.us Improves it.

The more I look at some of these ideas the more I would like to see us go back to the 60s crest we shared with the city, a less fussy design. I'd go something like... Uploaded with ImageShack.us

You been listening to 'Dave in Sweden'? Southampton v Exeter (230 mile round trip) and Southampton v Plymouth (300 mile round trip) are no more south coast 'derbies' than Southend v Sunderland are east coast 'derbies'. There's no more rivalry with any of these clubs than there is with any northern team and not by any stretch of the imagination a 'derby'.

No doubt the club have already decided and Gecko obviously knows what he's doing but a few alternatives to add to the fun... Uploaded with ImageShack.us

Didn't take long. Good test against higher league opposition...build up to a bigger opponent.

Not sure if Murray was one of those that came from the p*rtsMYTH News a few years back when there was a shake up at the Echo offices but several others did. One was Simon King who became Sports Editor who had a knack of negative reporting on all things Saints whilst bigging up the skates. I remember he took a lot of stick in the letters pages but he just defended it by saying he was a Notts County fan but it was plain to all he was true-blue-few. Another was Simon Walters, the pr*ck who gave TCWTB a near full-page glowing article in the Echo for the England v Macedonia game at SMS, a sure fire way to rile Saints fans. It worked, shame the **** got full Police protection at that game… I believe others worked in the offices. Sh*t rag.

Agreed. And this one, the city crest, grand enough for our 125 year anniversary and also includes the rose shield a previous badge (tho' never actually worn on a shirt I believe). The shield has been popping up on a number of things around the city (like street name signs) in recent years so connects with the club. Uploaded with ImageShack.us If this I'd personally make one other adjustment and replace the 'New Forest' tree with a 'Southampton' Ship (not necessarily this one , just to give an idea....) Uploaded with ImageShack.us

The Echo mentions Premier League (now 'ex' in some cases!) Burnley, Wigan and skates as having significantly lower attendances than League One Saints but I'd say we almost certainly get more 'home' fans than Blackburn and Fulham too. Their 'average' gates are boosted by big away supports, usually 2-3000 but the big clubs probably have anything up to 10k at some of those grounds. The skates have averaged around only 15-16k of actual 'home' support this season. What's the 'average' away support at SMS in this division, between 5-700? If/when we were in the Prem our gates were among the top 10 or so.

I've seen a couple of shirt-wearers with that, fookin' amazing why anyone would want the 'p-word' on it, particularly after spending £40-odd. Fools. With the rumours of 'White Shirt/Red Sash' for home, there's another that the away will be the same design but 'Black Shirt/Red Sash'. I think the away will carry a sponsor.

He never was booed (guess you're refering to Wembley) just malicious paper talk...oh...

Agree, would prefer... Uploaded with ImageShack.us ...the badge should reflect the 'city' the football club represents, our current crest should have had a 'kin big ship rather than a 'New Forest' tree on it!