My 6 year old this morning

[Bartosz Bialkowski]

My 6 year old has been going since he was 3. And in fact he has had two season tickets.

 

So I would take him, no doubt, just be prepared to leave early if the game gets boring and there's not much singing!

[StInky]

I took my son to his first Saints match last year - Claus’s testimonial. We both ended up legless in the Chapel Inn after he decided that every pint be accompanied by a shot. Failing to blag entry to the “do” back at Claus’s hotel, we staggered up Kingsway intending to gatecrash it (Christ! the things we do when under the influence). We never made it. The fruit of my loins tried vaulting a roadside railing, tripped, swung base over apex and knocked out two teeth on the bottom of said railing. I got it in the neck from his mother, my mother and his girlfriend! Did I mention he was 22?

[Pilchards]

Nice story Sussex, without a doubt get him to a game!

 

I'm sure he will calm down once he's sees us haha.

 

 

Seriously now I took my son to his first experience of Saints when he was 3 months old, took him to the training ground where I got 4 photos of Mark Hughes, Paul Jones, Le Tiss and Cosimo Sarli all holding him, I went back a week later after putting all four players on one A3 to sign it for me.

 

Looked bloody good at the time!

[Ampersound]

I've been taking my 2 year old to St. Mary's this season to all but 1 home game so far.

 

He gets so excited as we are climbing the steps from the concourse to the stands and points to the pitch and shouts "Football!!!!".

 

He loves it.

[Whitey Grandad]

This has to be the most pointless thread ever.

Au contraire, mon ami, au contraire. Going to the match with your son or daughter is one of life's great experiences, and a valuable lesson for the youngster. I once remember coming away from Old Trafford or some such ground after we had been right royally stuffed and a father was saying to his disconsolate kiddy 'that's what it's all about, son'. Besides, who's going to take you to the game when you're old and past it?

[Saints67]

Started taking my lad when he was about 7 or 8 years old. Most of the time it was away games due to being located up north. This meant that for bits of the game he couldn't see anything especially in the build up to a goal as everyone stood up. Most of the time at that age he just watched the crowd and what was going on (the inflatable Spiderman in Saints kit away at Blackburn amused him for ages) and what was being said. The language can be a bit strong at times though. My lad kept pointing out people saying "That man said the S word" and "That man said the F word" and after some poor defending "That man said the F and the S word". Good times. Now he's almost 16 & a Saints fan thru and thru and wants to go to Southampton Uni. Mind you I think that's because I said I'd stump up for a season ticket for him if he did!

[Rebel]

take him - but make a really special day of it!

 

I challenge anyone to beat this though!

 

I recently took my 6 year old nephew to his first Saints game - the Saints v Colchester game to be precise

 

the twist being the fact his dad is a die hard Portsmouth fan! My nephew been to Fratton Park - when he was 4 - but he was too young and didn't like it!

 

he's always been aware that me and my Dad are red and white through and through and his dad a true blue

 

in fact he has a Portsmouth bedspread amongst other things - whilst me and my dad have bought him varouse saints things - a coat, hat, T-shirt etc

 

but his Grandad (my dad) is his favourite person in the world - which resulted in a bit of panic a year or so ago when I told him Grandad would no longer read him bedtime stories if he had a Portsmouth bedspread

 

anyway my dad recently took the opportunity to walk him past St Mary's over the sumemer holidays - my nephew being impressed by its size and state compared to Fratton

 

I then suggested - jokingly - the next time I saw him perhaps he would like to go to a game with me and grandad

 

to my surprise he said yes - I mentioned it to my sister thinking that would be the end of that - but he kept going on about it and spoke to Grandad about it

 

eventually his father agreed he could go

 

so the day of the match came - he stayed over at my parents the night before - he was up and dressed in his Saints stuff at 7.15am to wake my dad up - around mine at 9.00am! it was the earliest I'd ever gone into town for a game!

 

anyway we took him to IKEA for lunch - one of his favourite places - and then to the shop and St Mary's. My Dad bought him the new away kit - mostly as he tried it on and refused to take it off - he then wore it for the rest of the day - all night and all day Sunday much to his Dad's bemusement!

 

he had a great day and asked when could he go again! we sat in the Kingsland North and the Saints fans around us made it a fantastic day for him - two of them had long conversations with him about his new kit, his half time Kit Kat and various other things!

 

highlight of the day for me was in the lift at IKEA - with all 3 of us wearing colours a Skate out shopping made a comment under his breadth - something about scummers - I replied saying its alright he's my nephew and his dad's a Pompey fan! You should have seen his face! His other half had a bit of a laugh at his expense as well!

 

I did have to have a chat with my nephew about a couple of the songs - and the odd word like Skate and F*ck - and he went home convinced I was going to get my gun and shoot his dad!

 

he has since worn his new Saints football kit to school - which has bemused the Saints fans and uspet the Pompey fans as last season he wore a Pompey shirt - he lives east of Southampton so there's a fair mix at his school!

 

it looks like we are probably going to take him to the Bristol Rovers game next

 

I am worried he is going to grow up schizophrenic now though!

[RedAndWhite91]

That's quality Rebel, keep up the good work, and don't let him slip back into the blue mentality!

[Saints foreva]

That's quality Rebel, keep up the good work, and don't let him slip back into the blue mentality!

 

+1.

[mightysaints]

my boy has had a ST since he was 8. 2 hours after he was born i had him reged as a young saints supporter. Quite funny when i went to the office to book him in and they asked how old he was and i repied 2 hours. Not sure if they ever belived me

[sticksaint]

Yes i took both my kids when they were 6.I also wanted to call my eldest Matthew but my wife wouldn`t let me-something to do with her being female or something :-)

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

I took my 3 year old to his 2nd game on Saturday against Yeovil. He loves the 2 games he's been to and is always saying "Daddy, are we going to Saints today?" when he gets up. I took a couple of video clips of him clapping the player names at the beginning and celebrating Lambert's 2nd goal which, to our family, are just priceless!

[RedAndWhite91]

This thread has made me want a child haha

[saint lard]

I'm really quite eager to take my little boy,thing is he's not 4 until December,and i don't think his attention span would last that long.

 

I really want him to enjoy his first experience at the footie so i want to be a bit more certain he will enjoy the occasion and he would look forward to the next time.

I would hate for him to be put off after his very first visit.

 

I would certainly take him if he was 6yrs old.

[Channon78]

Took my 2 1/2 year old daughter to St Marys for the training session earlier in the week (trying to ease her in gently). She loved it but kept telling me she wanted to get on the pitch and "play football with the big boys"! Bit difficult getting her to understand that she's not allowed.

 

She also kept trying to get down the front where all the other kids were getting autographs from the various injured players - not sure what she'd have made of Wayne Thomas close up though. Got her a "football t-shirt" from the shop after too. I think it might be a while before the first game though - her boredom threshold is low!

 

I've been hooked ever since a 2-1 home loss against Coventry in 89 (i think) with a Danny Wallace penalty as my first "live" goal.

[alpine_saint]

This has to be the most pointless thread ever.

 

So speaks the voice of our "Yoof" contingent...

[WealdSaint]

Yep, took my oldest first time at 7.

[leehoudini]

I was thinking the exact opposite. After all the shyte we've been through over the last few years, it is truly refreshing that we can talk about taking the 'new generation' to the game, whereas last season most of us couldn't even be arsed to take ourselves.

 

But who really cares how old peoples' kids are that are being taken to football. If you want to take them, then do so. If you don't, then don't. Like I said - pointless.

[Toadhall Saint]

But who really cares how old peoples' kids are that are being taken to football. If you want to take them, then do so. If you don't, then don't. Like I said - pointless.

 

pointless enough for you to comment tho'?

[mikec]

But who really cares how old peoples' kids are that are being taken to football. If you want to take them, then do so. If you don't, then don't. Like I said - pointless.

 

Not as pointless as continuing to read threads that you're not interested in.

[yorkie]

I brought my daughter down for a game when she was about that age.

 

We popped in to see Nanny, got the No.5 to town - The Dell was just being pulled down and I pointed out all the landmarks with a tear in my eye.

 

We went in The Chapel - and that ferret faced mother f....r - Lee Bowyer scored for Leeds in The Northam and Leeds won 1-0. It was along drive back to Yorkshire with all the Leeds fans - but we have done several awaydays since - the last game at Maine Road, Barnsley when lost 4-3 (seems like years ago!), Blackburn - but not Leeds!

 

She still talks about it with her boyfriends - the other day she asked me if Saints were ever any good...I could have gone on for hours but I settled for 1984, coming second and the Battle of Highbury. Her boyfriend was taken aback that things like that really went on - Scousers asking me to meet Stanley!

[Mouldy Coat]

I take my 6 year old he is also called Matthew and I have a 2 year old called Marian, she will go when she is ready

[Son of Bob]

Not as pointless as continuing to read threads that you're not interested in.

 

 

Indeed. If you don't like this particular thread, read another. It really isn't rocket science.

 

Fortunately there are quite a few people who feel it is far from pointless and are having a pleasant discussion about it. If you don't want to partake then go and bother someone else on another thread please.

[saint lard]

But who really cares how old peoples' kids are that are being taken to football. If you want to take them, then do so. If you don't, then don't. Like I said - pointless.

 

Do you have children?

[Thorpe-le-Saint]

Yeah why not, I went to my first game at the age of 7...vs Liverpool at the Dell for my birthday. Think we got hammered, would have been the 92/93 season...

[JibMcdo]

P.S. Wonder how many boys aged 5-15 in Southampton are called Matthew??!

 

My brother called his son Theo.

[scott_saints]

Other way round for me. My dad wasn't interested in Saints or football in general, but took to me a couple of Saints games as it was down the road in about 1994. I caught the bug that no one else in my family had even caught and have been going ever since.

 

Then again, I'll give the old man his dues. At one point when I told him I wanted to support Man. United, he told me not to and bought me a Saints kit instead. So atleast he understood the "local team" thing

[Ivan Katalinic's 'tache]

I'm really quite eager to take my little boy,thing is he's not 4 until December,and i don't think his attention span would last that long.

 

I really want him to enjoy his first experience at the footie so i want to be a bit more certain he will enjoy the occasion and he would look forward to the next time.

I would hate for him to be put off after his very first visit.

 

I would certainly take him if he was 6yrs old.

 

To be honest, I was the same when I first took my boy. I made sure I got there right before kick-off, to maximise his interest time, and he surprised me by lasting until about the 75th minute before losing interest a little, especially as the atmosphere was sinking a little as it became apparent we were going down (luckily I had a Fireman Sam magazine to get him through to full time!). As it was the last game of the season (Burnley last year), he then (at nearly 3) achieved what it took me 30 years to do and got on the hallowed turf, which he thought was great (although he didn't quite understand why we didn't have a ball to kick!).

[letissisgod]

Took my young lad (who is also named after the main man) to his first game against Ajax, he was 6 months old. Also did both my elder daughters at around the same age, they are now, 13 and 5 and both love it.

[GenevaSaint]

So would you take a 6 year old to a game? ( provided you are a parent and not some sort of weird internet type)

 

Absolutely, take my son and two older girls when I can. First took him at 5, but he fell asleep during the Derby home game :-) He's 6 now he's really into it and doesn't just go for the Coke and sweets! At the Yeovil game he was giving it the full OWTSGMI, funny as you like.

 

Oh and I guess I had to take his as his god father is a Skate and was rumoured to be taking him to FP and buying him a Pompey kit. Like most Pompey fans going to FP was a step to far. lol

Edited 24 September, 2009 by GenevaSaint

[alpine_saint]

My oldest is 8 and he goes for the chicken Balti pies...

[mikee]

took my 4 year old son to the Charlton game during our relegation run in last season as I was worried he might not ever get to see the Saints otherwise.

 

To this day he still doesn't know we lost 3-2 and absolutely loved the crowd reaction when we scored.

 

This season i have taken him to the Carling cup matches.

 

One tip for you - ask for an aisle seat as I can guarantee he will probably want to go to the loo every 5 minutes!

 

Woulkd recommend the family section in the Chapel as kids have a great knack of making friends with anyone around them and this seems to add significantly to my sons enjoyment of the games.

 

Can't tell you how proud it makes you to hear your son singing Saints songs!

[dellgirl]

My son brought my granddaughter for the first time when she was 7,she sat quietly for about 20 minutes and then turned to him and said "they could have scored 3 goals already" Her second name is Mat..ilda and her mother hasn't a clue! We take her to the more fun games,but will probably let her come to most games next season when she is 9..we thought it best to break her in slowly and for it to be a treat not a penance.

[Armitage Shanks]

This has to be the most pointless thread ever.

 

Oi - Houdini. Get back in your box.

[Legod Third Coming]

Woke up at the crack of dawn and got dressed in his Saints kit then came running into the bedroom and demanded that I take him to a Saints game.

 

 

Don't know what he was dreaming about last night , maybe that calpol is out of date I ought to check.

 

Its tough doing my job and living where I do to get to many games each season and TBH I'd never even considered taking him as hes shown no interest up to now. It probably has been milling round his head since I told him he was named after MLT ( I told him not to tell his mother this) and showed him a compilation of goals on youtube.

 

So would you take a 6 year old to a game? ( provided you are a parent and not some sort of weird internet type)

 

 

You called your son Le Tissier and the wife didn't notice??? Man, I wish I'd married her...

[eurosaint]

My son brought my granddaughter for the first time when she was 7,she sat quietly for about 20 minutes and then turned to him and said "they could have scored 3 goals already" Her second name is Mat..ilda and her mother hasn't a clue! We take her to the more fun games,but will probably let her come to most games next season when she is 9..we thought it best to break her in slowly and for it to be a treat not a penance.

 

This is the Saints we are talking about, right ?

[dronskisaint]

My dad took me to my first game when I was 5 that was way back in 1959 and I am still going today.

 

Me too on dates & age - although the 470 mile round trip restricts my attendance to around ten home games a year. Took my lad at 8 to see us whup Norwich in August '89....put him off them which is good because that's close to where we ended up living!

[Pilchards]

My oldest is 8 and he goes for the chicken Balti pies...

 

I hope you never named him Rupert?

[Tractor_Saint]

My daughter (Daisy) was 7 for the Yeovil game (and got her name in the programme ) and she thoroughly enjoyed it. Took my 4 year old (Oliver) as well who was a bit less engaged and thought it was all a bit too noisy.

 

I must admit they both did have their DS's and also a tub of sweets. Both DS's were in use at various stages but when the Northam sang she stopped playing and started clapping along.

 

Thankfully she really wants to go again soon so her next game is Gillingham - long may the winning continue

 

But I remember being taken to see my local team as a lad of about 7 or 8 and it wasn't just the football game that was the exciting bit. It was the parking the car away from the stadium, the walk took us past a sweet shop where we got sweets and some pop for the game, and then me standing on my upturned green Cider crate (which I'm amazed 30 years later my dad still has!). It's the whole experience so make it fun right from jumping in the car to go to the game to the moment you get home

 

Good luck.

[warsash saint]

Do you have children?

 

Is he/she old enough to have children even ?

[ecuk268]

Sure I would. I took my son to everton away meny years ago, it was 2-2. He was 5 years old and when Saints scored he cryed, as the crowd jumping and cheering frightened him. He's 26 now and it do him any harm.

 

I've often cried at Saints games, especially in the last couple of years.

[red&white56]

This has to be the most pointless thread ever.

 

Do you have children ????

[Mark``]

Take him. but only into the chapel.

[Red&White]

This has to be the most pointless thread ever.

 

How is this pointless ?

Exactly the opposite surely ?

This is the sort of thing a good football club is all about !

You of course are entitled to your opinion even if it is KAK !

[the saint in winchester]

My Dad started taking me to The Dell around 1965, when I was 5. I've been going ever since (although no longer to The Dell!!), and I've been taking my lad for the last few years. For a while my Dad used to come too, so we had 3 generations together. He's moved away to Sussex now and I wouldn't want him driving to the game, and he gets confused (and/or falls asleep) on the train, so he prefers to keep up to date with Stelling, Le Tiss & co, over a bottle of red.

Anyway .. back to the question. Yes of course, take your kids to the games, and as mentioned above the Family Area in the Chapel is probably best. Not a great deal of atmosphere admittedly, but less swearing and yob behaviour. Make a day of it, with lunch/tea etc.

[thesaint sfc]

I would have taken him when he was a fetus.

[harwellsaint]

oh yes, my son is 5 and has been twice, he now wishes for a season ticket! i sit in the itchen and he loves it, be warned that sats may never be the same again

hth

uts

[eurosaint]

I would have taken him when he was a fetus.

 

I'm not sure that even this is early enough ? I suggest that each time Saints fans indulge in the 'delights of the flesh' they should be thinking/planning the next move (ie. introducing their potential offspring to the world of red and white supporterdom) !

A few tips :

a) Don't let on to the recipient, lest she isn't a believer !

b) Avoid any form of Skateism at all costs !

c) Think long and hard about your commitment to the cause !

d) If in doubt, pull out !

HTH

[mUrph]

But who really cares how old peoples' kids are that are being taken to football. If you want to take them, then do so. If you don't, then don't. Like I said - pointless.

 

See the thing about kids is generally their parents love them, enjoy spending time with them and enjoy seeing them being happy/enthusiastic about something they themselves enjoy.

 

I don't have kids but this thread great to read.

[saint lard]

See the thing about kids is generally their parents love them, enjoy spending time with them and enjoy seeing them being happy/enthusiastic about something they themselves enjoy.

 

I don't have kids but this thread great to read.

 

And there we have it in a nutshell,well,for me anyway.