Son of Bob

Unusually hard on the eyes for a Ferrari!

I'd wait until it's announced on the OS before getting too excited!

They will fill again in the long term as we *hopefully* progress back towards the Premiership. Don't forget that these plans are very much for the long term future and not just the next season or 2.

Could I just add at this point that it was made clear that this thread will be looked at by the powers that be at St Marys. If you want to have your say or put any ideas forward they will be read.

Having our own 'Kop end' was exactly how it was worded actually. Forgot to mention -They were also talking about some sort of loyalty card sytem as well if swipe cards are adopted.

Unfortunately not!

From what I understood it was suggested that the away coaches would be parked in the industrial estate near the chapel end and the fans brought in that way. The foot traffic over the bridge would remain similar wherever the away fans are situated. They have to get in somehow!

Not at all Ken. I told them it would split the fans 50-50 which is exactly what it has done. I also made the point to David Luker that the fans that would be most angered by this could well be the 'older generation' that currently sit in the Chapel. I think my point was well made and I'm sure you won't be the only one that feels this way. And for the record, I'm 37 and have been following Saints since the 70's

It is a catch 22 but it works well up at the Stadium of light. I go there quite often and the majority of the loudest fans congregate in the stand opposite the away end. There are also pockets of fans either side of the away fans that produce good noise as well and that's how I think it will go. You therefore get 2 good loud outlets of noise from the stands and on the occasion they all sing in unison it sounds awesome and fills the whole ground. There are a large number of fans who want to go to a match, watch a good game of football, and sing to their hearts content and I think they will set up camp in the Northam. There will be a percentage who enjoy the eyeballing and will move down the other end. I reckon everyone's a winner.

It is my understanding you will also be able to use good old cash but the queues would be segregated for each payment method, hence creating a 'fast track' for card holders.

They would never move the away fans to the Itchen North as it's in front of the corporate areas. Simple as.

Of course they are! But that's not everyone's way of thinking. It will undoubtedly lead to a lot of 'musical chairs' as you put it but a high percentage of people sit in the Northam as it is the loudest part of the ground, not just because it's next to the away fans. They are there to watch the game and enjoy a good atmosphere and not necessarily to go 'eyeball to eyeball' with the away fans and miss the actual match! I've personally never enjoyed the Northam that much because the away fans are a distraction. Prior to 'the change' I always had my season ticket in block 2 as you could banter with fans AND watch the game. Perfect! There are a percentage of people who's idea of a football match is to get wrecked and spend 90 minutes stood at 90 degrees to the pitch and insult the fans of who-ever is playing us that week. It's certainly not mine and I'm sure many in the Northam share that view. Those people who like to 'get close' to the away fans will no doubt go over the Chapel but I certainly don't see this idea as 'just switching the stadium round'.

I think what they'd ideally like to do in the long term is have a combined ST/swipe card. You would then just basically stick £50 on (or whatever) and use it until it runs out, then top it up again.

That's how it was for the previous Pompey games and it worked OK.

This won't happen because of the corporate area.

Exactly. The singing will still be focused in the direction of the away fans with the added bonus that you can focus your attention on the away fans whilst also watching the game. Surely everyone's a winner!

No, it is my understanding that the family area will be moved, as will the disabled area.

Sorry, my bad. I have ammended the original post. Yes it's 42 that will move. Pompey have been given 42-48. Block 41'ers will remain in their seats!

Like I said, this will split opinion and a large number of fans will move I suspect. The thing is though, if you attend a lot of away games, you'll notice most clubs have a 'home end' which is usually the end opposite the away fans. I think St Marys is quite unusual in the fact that the loudest support is focused directly next to the away fans. Personally, I think the idea of us having an entire end, who are very vocal, is a good one.

I have just had the pleasure of attending a meeting with David Luker, Brendan McGlinchey and Nicola Cortese at St Marys about future plans for the Stadium and ticketing arrangements for Pompey. I’ll try to keep it brief as possible as the club will be making official statements in the near future. Firstly the biggest news, and this is likely to split opinion down the middle I suspect. It is the clubs intentions that, as from next season, they will move the away fans over to the Chapel/Kingsland corner rather than the Northam/Itchen corner as it is now. This is for 2 reasons. Firstly, Nicola Cortese feels that the vocal supporters (or ‘the orchestra’ as he calls it) should have the opportunity to take over an entire end to produce a wall of sound the full width of the stadium and produce a much larger, more focused area for our loudest support. Secondly, the Chapel block directly next to the away fans will not be available to season ticket holders. This is so, in the long term, people will not be turfed from their seats to allow larger away fan allocations for cup games as is happening with the 5th round against Pompey. This area will be ordinarily available for general sales for league fixtures though so there won’t just be an empty block sat there. It is important to say though that this is just in the planning stage at the moment and the official site will be launching a poll in the next few days to ascertain fans views on the plan. There will be a thread issued on the forum as soon as that poll is in place and we currently will not be running a poll ourselves before anyone asks! Next up is the ticket allocation for the Pompey game. Pompey have been issued with 4100-4200 tickets so only block 42 will be moved from their seats. They will then obviously be given priority on where they wish to be relocated. The club would ideally like these supporters to relocate themselves around the Northam/Kingsland corner but they suspect the majority will go for blocks 1-4. The good news is that block 1 will be open except for a one seat thick segregation for police and stewards. Tickets will initially go on sale to season ticket holders only at an allocation of one each. It will then go on 2 stages of general sale, the first being tied in to also buying a ticket for the Walsall game (or next available home game you can attend after that). People will obviously have to be on the database as well for this stage of sales. The second stage will then just be general sale to all supporters that are registered on the database, first come, first served. Again, there will be an official announcement shortly on this from the OS. There were also a number of other subjects discussed which were mainly focused around making St Marys more user friendly. These included looking at a ‘non-cash’ utility being set up at the bars where supporters will be able to use a token or swipe card system to purchase beer and food. They also wish to work on making the stadium a more hospitable and warm place to come to to encourage pre-match socializing at the ground. They are also very much aware of the issue with the crap beer currently being served and will definitely be addressing this when the current contract is up in the summer. The main onus though was that the club really want the fans to be involved in these changes and any future development. These fans meetings, as I attended today, will be regular affairs and we will be looking at your input for future meetings so watch this space. I’d like to thank David and Brendan for their time and I’d also like to give special thanks to Nicola Cortese who sat in for the entire meeting and was very approachable and very passionate about where the club is going. Comments below please I!

Out of interest Ponty, is the new Merc pictured without the wheel discs for asthetics or are they banned for next season?

It does look mighty familiar!

CL in 'researching hair-loss shocker'!

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