S4INT Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 TBF I like SMS - it can get a really great atmosphere when required. I wouldn't dream of changing the stadium atm, just so low down on our priorities list, maybe if we're about to break into the Prem...? Then again, if another stadium had the original Ted Bates statue that would be a different matter. That thread when it was first unveiled is my favourite of all time, no idea what happened to it though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jason Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Southampton used to have the highest proportion of season ticket holders who lived outside the catchment area. We held the premiership record for this. So on that basis out of town does make sense. I like my beer so wouldn't really want an out of town stadium and I don't even like out of town stadiums, but from a comercial point of view and for the long term future of the club it makes sense. All i ask is that a few pubs are built in the area! Fair play mate, I think we're going to have to agree to disagree here mate. I just can't see it, England have played here, Bon jovi, Elton John and the pubs, clubs, restaurants and hotels have been packed, don't see an out of town stadium having those facilities! SMS is great, its in the middle of town, great for Red Funnel, Hythe ferry and central train station, great for pre & post match beer and food...................hands of sms :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jason Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Stadium MK is souless because they A) have no fans and B) the fans they have are all weirdos. It's built by the same people that built the Emirates and you can tell - it just has those little details that say quality - St Marys just oozes cheap and basic. That's why I like it, I am cheap and after yesterday 100% cheerful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 I hate the idea of an out of town stadium. Southampton fc are just that and should be in the heart of the city. To walk into St Mary's/Northam every week to see the game is the way it should be. I've been to far to many bowls and McStadiums on the edges of cities that are easy to get to but soulless dumps. Give me a stadium as the heart to our city, close to the pubs, within decent walking distance for most that live in the city and with some character (not to mention the history of the area). Oh and if we ever do move/redevelop instead of looking at non football crap to tag on and dilute what it's about, can we instead look to the stadiums in Turkey, Spain, Germany and build it around the fans. As nice as SMS is, for me it's to far from the pitch, to open and to corporate. I'd love a ground that's tighter, with higher; steeper stands and with more real atmosphere. Also would be good to have the main home end closer to the pitch (if we can do that for just one end?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jason Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 We can win more games and compete at the top level. As it stands St Marys will only ever allow us to be a club on the fringes of sucess. With a super stadium we can grow. 7 home wins in a row at our **** tin shed ground will do for me matey, and sms can increase capacity to 55k which will always, always be big enough for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 7 home wins in a row at our **** tin shed ground will do for me matey, and sms can increase capacity to 55k which will always, always be big enough for us! But St Marys as an area cannot cope logistically. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntingdon Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Some fans are deluding themselves, a bigger ground doesn't guarantee success. Personally, I'd rather Cortese left than Saints leave SMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Some fans are deluding themselves, a bigger ground doesn't guarantee success. Personally, I'd rather Cortese left than Saints leave SMS nice some fans are so precious it is unreal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 the fear of a big stadium shows yet again how some of our fans are afraid of being good...we are so used to being average that any sniff of being more makes them run for the hills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Some fans are deluding themselves, a bigger ground doesn't guarantee success. Personally, I'd rather Cortese left than Saints leave SMS serious? anyway, it isn't going to happen. At the most I'd expect the current setup to be built up over the next 5 years. (industrial area knocked down/transport links etc) as i thought, he didn't actually really mention leaving st mary's - it was a question put to him and pushed by the interviewer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
capitalsaint Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 the fear of a big stadium shows yet again how some of our fans are afraid of being good...we are so used to being average that any sniff of being more makes them run for the hills totally agree, some of their arguments are laughable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 the fear of a big stadium shows yet again how some of our fans are afraid of being good...we are so used to being average that any sniff of being more makes them run for the hills TBH i want a bigger ground because if and when we get back to the top flight there will be plenty of seats and also because of supply and demand you'd expect prices to be competitive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aintforever Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 A bigger ground makes perfect sense when we get to the Prem, the ease at which we sold 44K for a minor Wembley final against a bunch of nobodies, without even going on general sale, shows that the numbers are there. Last time in the Prem we regularly sold out, and that was without any sort of investment in the team or any real success. Every time the sold out sign is put up and people are denied tickets, you are limiting growth. Extending SMS is the logical thing to do, especially with the whole waterfront area from Northam to Itchen bridge in need of bulldozing and regenerating. Would be great to tie a new revamped 45K stadium in with a Marina/hotel/casino/leisure park/monkey petting zoo thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
krissyboy31 Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 SMS is an adequate stadium. It seem that for Markus and Nicola adequate is not good enough and I for one would say Amen to that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joensuu Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Why anyone would oppose a move to a bigger stadium is beyond me. The income generated (both via tickets and facilities) would significantly help the club afford better players, and if we ever ended up in administration again would attract wealthy investors. SMS is adequate in everyway, but it would be absolutely crazy to oppose moving. My preference would be to buy some of the land owned by the docks, near the Hovis building/old car auctions. Would be very close to the station, away from residents, and close to the main flyover for drivers escaping towards the M271. Oh and plenty of pubs would still be walkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Bates Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 There's out of town and out of town. Somewhere near where the current park and rides off Bursledon Road, Botley Road, or around the VT Sports ground off Portsmouth Rd (Old Netley/Sholing) would be ideal and you would be able to build a 'Hollywood Bowl' a multi-screen, several bars, restaurants and get a decent sized car-park, for the big events which could also continue to hold the carboot sale (with land rent going to the club) and non-match-day park and ride for town. Would be excellent, nice 15mins walk for me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70's Mike Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 But St Marys as an area cannot cope logistically. compared to which other stadiums with 50000 plus? the traffic from Old Trafford or Anfield is just as bad. i do not believe any area around southampton will offer better transport links than SMS, it benefits because people park in the city centre and then have options on how to leave the city Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Wasn't there supposed to be a tram network built in town? They could easily link it up to St. Mary's / New Ground, just like what they have in Sheffield. There was but the government decided to spend money on other things that they considered more important. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheff Saint Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Out of town football grounds are horrible, soulless unfun places to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jason Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 totally agree, some of their arguments are laughable. What about the other arguments, the reasoned ones for staying? Note: why should we be looking to attract fans from elsewhere? We are Southampton and proud, we are not, nor do I want to be United! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miffy Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Will the rollercoasters be operational during the game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CB Fry Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 (edited) Why anyone would oppose a move to a bigger stadium is beyond me. The income generated (both via tickets and facilities) would significantly help the club afford better players, and if we ever ended up in administration again would attract wealthy investors. SMS is adequate in everyway, but it would be absolutely crazy to oppose moving. My preference would be to buy some of the land owned by the docks, near the Hovis building/old car auctions. Would be very close to the station, away from residents, and close to the main flyover for drivers escaping towards the M271. Oh and plenty of pubs would still be walkable. One reason is we are currently debt free with a stadium which is more than adequate for the next five years minimum*. Building a new stadium would cost us somewhere in the region of £80m-100m. Which would mean a mortgage and a drain on resources for seasons to come. You seem to forget that the primary financial (as opposed to administrative**) reason we went to the wall last year was failure to keep up repayments on our stadium mortgage. My personal opinion it would be, to use your words, "absolutely crazy" to commit huge funds and energy on a stadium we frankly do not need. I usually agree with TDD but afraid not on this one - we need at least one season with a Season Ticket waiting list before we should even think about it, and then we should just be extending SMS. Edited 14 March, 2010 by CB Fry *from a capacity point of view **yep, that bloke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 I usually agree with TDD but afraid not on this one - we need at least one season with a Season Ticket waiting list before we should even think about it, and then we should just be extending SMS. I agree with this...totally. just have an open mind on it all.. I think it would be mental to build a new stadium before we are at a level of 2003....simply mental however, I wont stamp my feet and demand to stay at SMS for sentimental reasons shoould at some point we can move on to another level Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 What about the other arguments, the reasoned ones for staying? Note: why should we be looking to attract fans from elsewhere? We are Southampton and proud, we are not, nor do I want to be United! one of the most stupid posts I have read in a long while Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Out of town football grounds are horrible, soulless unfun places to be. a gound is what you make it..not where it is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Steve Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Imagine a larger stadium that actually has a bit of originality and style rather than being the cheapest possible stadium-in-a-box we bought while out shopping with Leicester, Derby and Middlesbrough. This is what I have always disliked about SMS, no character and cheap. The Dell had character and I miss the being so close to the pitch that would have to be considered in a new build. SMS was always built in the wrong area, how it got planning permission I still struggle with. The transport infrastructure for it is pathetic and to expand the stadium would make this worse with larger crowds. Buses are rubbish, no train station and not built on a major road. The park and rides do not work, I have people park in my street and then walk over the Itchen Bridge to the game, why they dont park at the Burseldon and get the bus is beyond me, parking is already **** in my road *****s. For the club to make money and make the stadium profitable it would need to be located neat the M3/M27, airport and have a rail link. I would imagine also a hotel, conference centre and a multi-story carpark and of course at least 50,000 seats, why not at the same time build an ice rink and have the vikings ice hockey team back. Having an out of town ground will also mean games should be easier to police, this would save the club money. Going back to the problems of SMS, driving to town from totton the other saturday, the traffic was bad, everyone using millbrook road/mountbatten way for SMS, Ikea, West Quay, Cruise Ship etc. Maybe having a new gound near the airport would be better for Marcus to fly in. Also someone said SMS could be used as a training ground, why? it would never been as good as Staplewood for that capacity. SMS could be sould to Soton council for their indoor ski slope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 FFS. The Dell had character because there were memories with it, not because it looked unique. As for having a stadium on a major road - are you nuts? Can you imagine 32,000 fans walking straight out onto the hill next to the train station? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philelec Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 What about the other arguments, the reasoned ones for staying? Note: why should we be looking to attract fans from elsewhere? We are Southampton and proud, we are not, nor do I want to be United! It seems a very good reason for staying is the expense of building! Why would we want to have a club in debt again, don't you think the cost of St Mary's was ONE of the reasons for our recent downfall? We may have a wealthy owner, but he is a businessman and will want a return on any investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Steve Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 Make me have it!!!!!!! I'll build it, and this time i'll make it more improved, and a better job that those sweaty socks from Barr ever did, third on quality, first on price, final bill over budget. Allowed subcontractors to cut galvanised steel and use galvafroid instead of regalvanise, i still have my doubts over the drainage and the piling. If you see that Nicky feller, tell him me and me mates 'all build him one cheap, £100 million, with retractable roof, scateproof doors, multipar use access styles, Bar code reader for tickets, gel pack seating, accoustic tiles, and we'll even throw in a red and white motif on the staunchions and a 'come on you reds' motif within the pitch. And we'll do it in 9 months. And we'll tarmac his drive, and fix his roof. I know some travellers that can have it built over the may day bank holiday weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LA77 Posted 14 March, 2010 Share Posted 14 March, 2010 a gound is what you make it..not where it is Oh shut up you dullard. What a pathetic WUM you are. with fans like you we should down size to a 10K ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Oh shut up you dullard. What a pathetic WUM you are. with fans like you we should down size to a 10K ground. Let me guess you are no older than 21 years old who sits at the back of the northam banging the back boards and taunting the away fans behind the safety of the stewards. You probably don't have any real memories of the dell other than the family club when you used to go with mum and dad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 This isn't a nice thing to say, but Marcus Liebherr is not a young man, what happens when the worst happens? It's alright us buying good players now and enjoying the ride, but there's also got be a time in the future to look to. If we moved and had a spanking new state of the art stadium it's set us up years and years to come. Anyone who oposes what NC is suggesting needs their head testing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMike Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 What about the other arguments, the reasoned ones for staying? Note: why should we be looking to attract fans from elsewhere? We are Southampton and proud, we are not, nor do I want to be United! attract fans from where exactly? Eastleigh? Winchester? IF we want to be a top prem side that is self sufficient then SMS in its current form will not do that. Yes there is those that say increase capacity etc but with that come a whole heap of new problems with safety and access being just 2 of them. Out of city grounds are only lifeless and dull if you build them that way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMike Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Oh shut up you dullard. What a pathetic WUM you are. with fans like you we should down size to a 10K ground. bit uncalled for. TDD is right, the ground is what you make it. And where did he mention anything about downsizing, in fact TDD has mentioned on this thread that he supports it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joensuu Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Building a new stadium would cost us somewhere in the region of £80m-100m. Which would mean a mortgage and a drain on resources for seasons to come. Of course we wouldn't want to be saddled with another massive mortgage. I was making the assumption that Markus would continue making financial gifts, and not start making loans. Don't forget the real estate holds it's value more than players do when it comes to re-sale value (ie more of the money invested in infrastructre will be recooped upon sale of the club). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dune Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 attract fans from where exactly? Eastleigh? Winchester? IF we want to be a top prem side that is self sufficient then SMS in its current form will not do that. Yes there is those that say increase capacity etc but with that come a whole heap of new problems with safety and access being just 2 of them. Out of city grounds are only lifeless and dull if you build them that way. We've just got to try harder to be like Pompey fans because they're the bestest and we can be the bestest too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huntingdon Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 It's no wonder so many fans of other clubs hate us so much The arrogance and naivety is staggering! We are a biggish club, not huge, and to suggest we warrant a stadium of 50,000 is ridiculous Only last year (in the Championship) when the club were on the brink, and we needed every fan to come and support us, we struggled to get past 25,000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustMike Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 We've just got to try harder to be like Pompey fans because they're the bestest and we can be the bestest too. not sure what that has to do with what i wrote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joensuu Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 It's no wonder so many fans of other clubs hate us so much The arrogance and naivety is staggering![/Quote] All teams who are associated with playing in a higher division will be considered to be big time Charlies by other supporters. Norwich, Leeds and Charlton have all met with the same dislike. Likewise our fans naturally want to good times back and as such openly talk about "when" we return to to Premiership... No wonder other teams get a little irritated. Arrogant? Maybe, but I'd say we have a better chance of returning to the Prem than most. Naive? Nope. We are a biggish club, not huge, and to suggest we warrant a stadium of 50,000 is ridiculous [/Quote] Warrant, certainly not. Deserve, nope. Would be amazing, absolutely. We are not a huge club, but even with our current fanbase back in the Prem, we would fill a 50k stadium about 10 games a year. Of course, a bigger stadium will probably have cheaper tickets up in the gods... And will no doubt attract more fans.* Only last year (in the Championship) when the club were on the brink, and we needed every fan to come and support us, we struggled to get past 25,000 Err, think you're forgetting to include the anti-Lowe stayaways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint_clark Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Well i'm glad it looks like Cortese is redeveloping SMS and the surrounding area rather than moving us out of town. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Err, think you're forgetting to include the anti-Lowe stayaways. 25,001 then ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The9 Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 Let me guess you are no older than 21 years old who sits at the back of the northam banging the back boards and taunting the away fans behind the safety of the stewards. You probably don't have any real memories of the dell other than the family club when you used to go with mum and dad If his username is LA77 I'd say there was a 50-50 chance he was around 33 years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericofarabia Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 NO .... we can't leave now that we have finally discovered how to win at SMS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandwichsaint Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 It's no wonder so many fans of other clubs hate us so much The arrogance and naivety is staggering! We are a biggish club, not huge, and to suggest we warrant a stadium of 50,000 is ridiculous Only last year (in the Championship) when the club were on the brink, and we needed every fan to come and support us, we struggled to get past 25,000 WORD! Look no further than Charlton in the second relegation season - reasonably attractive, local-ish opposition - a very real 6 pointer to stay in the CCC - Saints plunged into admin and crisis - the exit-of-shame for the most hated man in our history - a fire sale of tickets to get cash in (£15 a pop if I remember rightly) = we must surely have had 31k and a further 5k locked out for what was one of the most crucial games in our history? Er, no, actually we had around 27k that day - no sign at all of the missing 20k uber fans in our hour of need.... I'm not wanting to wee on anybody's parade; I love SMS but I'm not blind to the right new stadium in the right location (think Stadium of Light - awesome). I'm just in no rush to take on upwards of £80m new funding on the speculative gamble that we can get '50k for half our Premiership fixtures' (above) - I just don't think we can. I think we can be a solid top-half of the Prem at SMS and that is probably a realistic 6-7 year target. Whatever people's opinions please can we have no more 'we-sold-out-every-game-in-the -Prem' comments ... WE DIDN'T! And LOL at those who want to build a new stadium 'close to the pitch' - that ain't ever gonna happen - UEFA and FIFA regs and our own H and S considerations mean that the apron is there for a reason, tell me different but has any 'new' stadium ever been built 'close to the pitch'? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 For comparison Juventus are building a new stadium, but only 42,000 seats. One newpaper described it as 'in the English style', which I took to mean that the seats were closer to the pitch. http://www.juventus.com/site/eng/JPL_newstadium.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thedelldays Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 For comparison Juventus are building a new stadium, but only 42,000 seats. One newpaper described it as 'in the English style', which I took to mean that the seats were closer to the pitch. http://www.juventus.com/site/eng/JPL_newstadium.asp Juve are unique..they actually have more fans that dont come from the home city....their support is spread far and wide in italy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Master Bates Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 "It's never to early to talk about it," he said. "It's clear that, looking at the traffic problems that the stadium creates after a match like against P****mouth, that probably the stadium is not at the right location, unless the area around the stadium will develop aswell". Liebherr having problems getting to the airport? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St. Jason Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 one of the most stupid posts I have read in a long while You've only got to see the stick Saints fans give United fans for being plastic, waving thier season tickets at them and singing "do you come from Manchester" as the reason most do not want to be like them. I love Saints, my whole week year is built around them, when we are invited out my wife all ways consults the fixture list first. I want Saints to be successful, I want us in the Premiership, I want us winning cups and competing for Europe, I just don't think we need to sell our soul to achieve this. We have a great set of fans, loyal and die hard, yes increase SMS capacity, but lets keep Southampton Saints! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joensuu Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 WORD! Look no further than Charlton in the second relegation season - reasonably attractive, local-ish opposition - a very real 6 pointer to stay in the CCC - Saints plunged into admin and crisis - the exit-of-shame for the most hated man in our history - a fire sale of tickets to get cash in (£15 a pop if I remember rightly) = we must surely have had 31k and a further 5k locked out for what was one of the most crucial games in our history? Er, no, actually we had around 27k that day - no sign at all of the missing 20k uber fans in our hour of need.... Yup, 27,228 people watched a team who were bottom of the table, with only 3 wins to their name all season lose 3-2. Having entered admin we were destined for the drop. Our team of talentless thieves and wannabies had the inconvienance of a weekly game of football to play, but at least they could switch off once they were on the pitch and dream about forthcoming nightclub adventures. While media reports of the Charlton match talked of "Southampton are likely to fold before the end of the season", at least half the players didn't care, as they knew they would be able to get "dream moves" to Swansea or Plymouth. Perhaps I do them an injustice? Getting 27K fans to willingly pay for 90minutes of self-inflicted depression was a minor miracle. Very few teams would have been able to find such a large number of fans under such appauling circumstances. I'm not wanting to wee on anybody's parade; I love SMS but I'm not blind to the right new stadium in the right location (think Stadium of Light - awesome). I'm just in no rush to take on upwards of £80m new funding on the speculative gamble that we can get '50k for half our Premiership fixtures' (above) - I just don't think we can. I think we can be a solid top-half of the Prem at SMS and that is probably a realistic 6-7 year target. Partially agree, but you make a major assumption. Up until now Markus has only gifted us money, why do you assume that he would change and start loaning us money? If we were definately going to take on £80m debts I would understand the negativity on this thread. Would you be happy to 'gamble' the move to a bigger stadium if Markus were gifting the entire cost, rather than making it a loan? Oh, and out of interest, how many tickets do you think we could sell for say Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, City or United? 35K? 40K? [Don't forget a 50K stadium would have 5k away fans... so we'd only have 45k tickets to sell. I'm confident each of these games would sell out.] Whatever people's opinions please can we have no more 'we-sold-out-every-game-in-the -Prem' comments ... WE DIDN'T! Of course we didn't sell out every game. It's the season average you need to look at: 2002: 30,633 (93.7%) 2003: 30,680 (93.8%) 2004: 31,699 (96.9%) 2005: 30,610 (93.6%) So no, we didn't sell out every game. But then, we didn't sell out every game at the Dell either did we? You could argue that because we were only selling 97-99% of the tickets for games at The Dell, that we simply wouldn't have enough fans to fill a larger stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trader Posted 15 March, 2010 Share Posted 15 March, 2010 You've only got to see the stick Saints fans give United fans for being plastic, waving thier season tickets at them and singing "do you come from Manchester" as the reason most do not want to be like them. I love Saints, my whole week year is built around them, when we are invited out my wife all ways consults the fixture list first. I want Saints to be successful, I want us in the Premiership, I want us winning cups and competing for Europe, I just don't think we need to sell our soul to achieve this. We have a great set of fans, loyal and die hard, yes increase SMS capacity, but lets keep Southampton Saints! So the rest of us who don't actually live in Southampton should start watching Romsey Town, Winchester City, Eastleigh, Totton or whatever. Or would we be considered local enough? If so, where would the cut-off point be? 10 mile radius of SMS or you don't get a ticket. If you did that you could forget about stadium expansion - as half the crowd would disappear overnight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now