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Non-Southampton based Saints.


sentry

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This may have been covered before but who out there supports Saints yet are not from Southampton or the surrounding area, and why?

 

Im from Kent, went to Southampton for a weekend when I was maybe 12 (up to then kinda supported Forest but not really) to visit my Great Uncle. I remember he was watching the classifieds come in and was waiting for Saints. I cant quite remember making a conscience decision but from then on I supported Saints.

 

Never been back to Southampton since (watched Saints about 8 times in the midlands though when ever they play up here and I can make it). Plan to visit the city and St. Marys next year.

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I'm from Newport in south Wales, I support Saints because when Newport County went bankrupt in 1989 I happened to be choosing a University, and Southampton was my first (realistic) choice after their hastily-rearranged Open Day was gloriously underprepared, though if I'd got straight "A"s I'd have gone to Leeds and done a year in the USA...

 

I'd also be lying if I said the thought of watching regular Div 1 football in a nice green looking city wasn't a factor. Lived here from 1991-94 and since 2005.

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My three month old is from Harrogate and supports saints. He had his first saints kit at 1 week old and has a Saints bath duck. Sadly he is yet to be alive for a saints win in a competitive match, so hopefully this will change next season.

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My three month old is from Harrogate and supports saints. He had his first saints kit at 1 week old and has a Saints bath duck. Sadly he is yet to be alive for a saints win in a competitive match, so hopefully this will change next season.

 

Nicely done. I've heard he's a shirter though, must be difficult for you to deal with ? Or is it ok if it's retro ?

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Live in Oz currently but I'm originally from South Bucks (grew up in GX then moved to High Wycombe area). Folks are from the south coast (P********h area) but some of my old dear's family are Southampton. Her aunt used to live in Shirley and her Uncle a mad Saints fan. When we used to head down to visit her aunt (when I was a nipper) I always used to persuade the old dear to go past the Dell.

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I'm from Glasgow. My uncle is from Alton but stays up here in Ayrshire now. He too me to my first game in 2003 against Leeds when we won 3-2. Just graduated last year and was at 6 games last year flying down to most of the Sunday games. Everyone up here thinks I am mad for supporting the saints but its much more exciting than supporting one of the big 4/5 teams. Plan on trying to get to more than 6 games this season.

 

P.S if anyone isn't using their season ticket on a Sunday let me know. Preferably two next to each other. Will pay for a share.

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This may have been covered before but who out there supports Saints yet are not from Southampton or the surrounding area, and why?

 

Im from Kent, went to Southampton for a weekend when I was maybe 12 (up to then kinda supported Forest but not really) to visit my Great Uncle. I remember he was watching the classifieds come in and was waiting for Saints. I cant quite remember making a conscience decision but from then on I supported Saints.

 

Never been back to Southampton since (watched Saints about 8 times in the midlands though when ever they play up here and I can make it). Plan to visit the city and St. Marys next year.

 

 

 

Not sure if Icount in your definition Sentry? I now live near Dublin for the past 14 years,and try and get a few games every year – although last year was getting harderto get tickets. Originally I lived in Southampton and had no real interest inwatching Saints as a nipper, but some friends dragged me to a 3rd roundFA cup game at the Dell in 1976, when as I recall a certain H Fisher equalisedin the dying seconds of the game! What a year to start supporting the Saints :D

Been hookedever since and for a number of years went to every home and away game – watchedsome great games and players, and even got to know one or two players. Had two academyplayers as lodgers at different times (had a flat in Stoneham Lane) – sadly neithermade it big time!

At least peoplein Ireland don’t think I am bonkers supporting Southampton any more – stock answerwas always, “WHO?”, or why don’t you support a proper team? :lol:

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I am originally from Devon from a non football family. Started getting interested in football late eighties. Didnt really follow any team in particular. Started following saints as I prepared to go to university in southampton. Went to about 5 games difficult to get tickets at the dell back then. Then I moved to London. I would try to get to all the away days I could in the capital but never got back to southampton since. Now live on other side of the pond with a bunch of mexicans who like Man U because of Javier hernandez. They might have been converted to saints this year if they hadn't been so bad. After being poor for so many years I now want to get a new saints shirt but will not do so until they make a decent looking one. So every few weeks my shirt from 1997 will get an airing infront of the tv.

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Have never lived in Southampton (currently Kent), but Mum moved back in '67 to Devonshire Road just around the corner from the Dell. Visiting her that Easter I think the excitement of first division football and Ron Davies must have been catching. Then I painted white stripes on my new, red Subbuteo team and got to learn all the names playing a season against Smudger Smith and his Crystal Palace side. Happy days.

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I'm from Southampton, but the old mans work took us away when I was a school kid. Never moved back, but luckily the old man used to bring me back to the dell . Have 4 children who are all Saints supporting despite never having lived there. They get a bit of stick from some of the locals as to why they don't support Bournemouth, but who cares. I once took my birth certificate into work to prove I supported my home city, as some of these locals can be real Muppets. I guess its because there's so many man U, Chelsea and Liverpool supporters walking round Poole.

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think I'm the odd one out around here. I'm Singaporean and have next to no connections to southampton. local clubs here are probably conference levels therefore have chosen to support the saints instead. started doing so since our latest foray into the Uefa cup so you can probably call me a plastic fan especially as I've never attended a game nor been to St Mary's (plan to do so soon hopefully)

 

most people here support the arsenal, liverpool and the manchester clubs but I've always liked the underdog. indifferent from most here in that I got to 'choose' which club to support. anyway hope all these doesn't change the way you guys view my posts, I'm pretty much all southampton except being from the area.

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Born and brought up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire but for some reason since the age of 4 or 5 I absolutely fell in love with Southampton fc...No idea why. Visited the dell once and finally got to St Marys this year for my 40th, just a shame it was the WBA game! Highlight of my life was meeting Steve Moran in a pub near Hull and getting a load of signed stuff from him as a wedding present. Complete gentleman.

 

The Saints shirt normally raises a few eye brows in the local supermarket :D

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I am originally from Devon from a non football family. Started getting interested in football late eighties. Didnt really follow any team in particular. Started following saints as I prepared to go to university in southampton. Went to about 5 games difficult to get tickets at the dell back then. Then I moved to London. I would try to get to all the away days I could in the capital but never got back to southampton since. Now live on other side of the pond with a bunch of mexicans who like Man U because of Javier hernandez. They might have been converted to saints this year if they hadn't been so bad. After being poor for so many years I now want to get a new saints shirt but will not do so until they make a decent looking one. So every few weeks my shirt from 1997 will get an airing infront of the tv.

 

Im moving to Iowa in 4 weeks pal, going to ISU for a year exchange!

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Born and brought up in Rotherham, South Yorkshire but for some reason since the age of 4 or 5 I absolutely fell in love with Southampton fc...No idea why. Visited the dell once and finally got to St Marys this year for my 40th, just a shame it was the WBA game! Highlight of my life was meeting Steve Moran in a pub near Hull and getting a load of signed stuff from him as a wedding present. Complete gentleman.

 

The Saints shirt normally raises a few eye brows in the local supermarket :D

 

Born in Southampton, Lived in Lordswood till I was 10 then my parents decided to move back up to Rotherham (for my sins). Had my first season ticket when I was 4 or 5 and continued going until we moved up here.

 

Still get to a couple of games a season and a few away games up here, there are quite a few of us in South Yorkshire.

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Have lived in Shropshire for nearly 40 years. The original connexion with Southampton was from 1967 -71 when I was at uni there. Actually used to do Dell and Farton alternate weeks for a bit until I saw sense and settled for a real team.

 

When I moved away it was the same time as Terry Paine left and we both moved to Hereford - he lived close to me - and I had a Hereford ST for a bit whilst following Saints from afar.

 

Now with daughters through uni and independent, can afford a Saints ST and the travel and get to most games, although ALL away games are closer than St Mary's!

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I'm a born and bred Berk. Born in Ascot, raised in Windsor and still live in the area. I support Saints due to the influence of a Royal Holloway student whom lodged in my parents spare room when I was 8ish. He was a mad Saints fan and told me a lot about the history. When I hit middle school, everyone had a team, and so I adopted Saints into my heart.

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I left Soton at 16 (30 years ago) to go to sea and never went back from the age of about 21.

 

I'd met a lass so moved up north to be with her and years later I'm still up here and still with her.

 

My nipper, born in Staffordshire, has chosen to follow Saints. I left it to him as I would have had no problems if he'd chosen to follow one of the local teams. By 11yo he's ticked off 40 odd grounds and is proud to be a Saint. Just a pity that we've had to give up our STs this coming season.

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From the middle of Somerset. Started supporting Saints in 1985 (aged 7) when a family friend gave me a match programme signed by Peter Shilton. When it came to selecting a university I opted for Southampton so I could get to more games and ended up living there for four years until work took me away. Manage to get to 4 or 5 games a season nowadays (but am no doubt branded as plastic/prawn sandwich by many as a result)

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My Mum came from Hampshire and i used to follow Chelsea but the first live game i went to at stamford Bridge in 1976 was Chelsea v Saints courtesy of my Saints supporting best mates Dad. Funnily enough the next match Saints played was the Cup Semi v Palace, i was then taken to The Dell later that year and that was it!!

Family Centre Season Ticket when Keegan sighned and been to pretty much every home game since then from Oxfordshire.

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Heh, nice thread, makes me feel less alone, though there must be loads of Saints fans in the south and west country that have never lived in Southampton.

 

We lived near Waterlooville from 1980 to '84, and my dad was/is a Pompey fan. I spotted a Saints shirt (the classic early '80s one I'll always associate with Keegan) at a car boot sale one weekend and asked my dad to buy it for me, and amazingly he did! Only 50p. I've been a Saints fan ever since, though when we moved to London in '84 I did nearly become a QPR fan, cos that was the first team I completed in my Football 85 sticker album.

 

I used to watch the Saints three or four times a year, but haven't been to see a game since the London away days in the Championship the year we got relegated to League One. I'll blame the arrival of kids and the lack of disposable income...

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Born/lived in Emsworth - my Grandad followed Saints so that was me sorted/cursed lol. Never got to see Saints at The Dell when I was young as my Dad hated football and wouldn't take me. Went North at 9yrs, back south at 16 and saw Saints a few times (first game last day of the season 3-0 win against Coventry iirc - on the pitch, was amazing). As I got older I saw them in Sheffield & Newcastle (and they never won)... so view from afar now in sunny Llanelli. Really need to make more effort to get down to St Marys though.

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Come from Northern Ireland where everyone is a MUFC, Liverpool or Chelsea supporter. I moved to Southampton for university and ended up going to my first football match against QPR at the Dell. I was hooked after that match and would go to the Dell every home game, I got some funny looks being a woman and swearing at the ref in a broad Northern Irish accent! After uni I stayed for work for a few years and I got a season ticket when we moved to St Marys. I have since moved around quite a bit but now live in Berlin, Germany. I miss my trips to the games but at least I can watch the stream online, hopefully this coming season I will manage to get to a match.

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Born and raised on the outskirts of London. Got into football without having a club to follow as a nipper.

 

After my folks split up, I lived with my mum - who couldn't care less about football. Initially I was a Beckham fan, yeah I know.

 

Dad moved to Southampton with his new Mrs, and took me to the dell to see Saints v United as a treat. That was the 6-3. I got to see my hero in the flesh, he even scored, but I was totally taken by Saints.

 

After the move to SMS my dad got a couple of season tickets, so when I was staying with him I would go with him. I felt I might as well support a team that I actually see, and I liked Saints. It all just kinda grew from there.

 

Don't see them in the flesh as much as I would like, but would never cease to be a Saint now.

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Born in Salisbury, but moved around a bit due to my old man's job. Lived in SW Wales for a bit, went to uni in Plymouth (only due to Southampton Institute pulling the course late on) and now am mainly in London when on leave. Spend most of the year out of the country due to work, so have to pick and choose my games when I'm on leave.

 

Why Saints? Being in Salisbury as a nipper, they were the "local big team".

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think I'm the odd one out around here. I'm Singaporean.

 

Im planning on going to Singapore hopefully later this year, but if not deff next. My best mate lives there.

 

indifferent from most here in that I got to 'choose' which club to support. anyway hope all these doesn't change the way you guys view my posts, I'm pretty much all southampton except being from the area.

 

no way, if anything people like you and me are better Saints fans as we choose to support Saints, they are not just thrust upon us at an early age! ;)

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no way, if anything people like you and me are better Saints fans as we choose to support Saints, they are not just thrust upon us at an early age! ;)

 

Personally, I reckon us Sotonians who didn't have their heads turned by bigger clubs are the true heroes :)

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F**king glory hunters :)

 

Bloody right, I went to Fratton to watch that lot the week before they played in the 1992 FA Cup Semi Final, even qualified for a SF ticket (accidentally), and also saw them beat Millwall 5-1 which got Bruce Rioch sacked, but I knew all along my heart was with Ian Branfoot's beautiful, free-flowing Saints of Hurlock and Ruddock. :scared:

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I'm from Newport and County were my team until they went off the radar. Almost exactly the same time I went to Southampton Uni and never looked back. First season 1982. Now in Oz and still a Saint.

 

'82 or '92 ? County were as much on the radar as they were ever going to get in '82 !

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Bedford, Bedfordshire.

 

A lot to do with my father's partner's relations living in and around Southampton, used to visit occasionally as a kid and take in a game or two, normally around the festive period.

 

Managed to make a lot more games over the last few years since being of an age to be able to drive, I think my total last year was 20 league games of which 9 were at SMS.

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Born and bred in Hull, my Saints born and bred Dad got me into them and took me to my first game away to Barnsley in 1998 (lost 4-3). There's plenty of family down there so it made it easier to go to home games (after SMS opened though, could never get tickets to The Dell sadly)

 

It's always funny having to explain why someone from Hull supports Southampton. I have to admit I sometimes have a hard time with it myself. I love supporting the Saints and have a perfectly legitimate reason for doing so but at times I wish I supported my local team. Not being anywhere near from Southampton and not being able to go to enough games as I'd like makes me feel like I'm not a 'proper' fan (perhaps I'm reading too many forums).

 

I used to watch Hull City play back when they were at the foot of Division 3 but Saints got there first, they've always been my team and always will be.

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Born and lived in Cornwall until I was 18. Started supporting Saints around 1981-82 as knowing Keegan was a Saints player, I thought the whole England World Cup squad also played for Saints. Just so happened to also be the nearest Div 1 team to Cornwall.................quite pleased he did not sign for Carlisle to be honest.

 

Been an obsession ever since, though never lived in Southampton.

 

I think its probably fair to say that for those of us who have never lived in Southampton, it's almost totally about the football. The dislike of Portsmouth and importance of club history etc do not hold such a value, though certainly respect those to whom this is important. This I find in my case anyway.

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Born in Winchester, raised in Andover (where my parents still live). First game, aged 9, was vs. Sheffield Wednesday in 1995.

 

Got a season ticket with my Dad the following season in front row of the West stand, where we stayed until the move to St. Mary's. Great seats but always got wet, and had one memorable incident in 1999 (I think?) when Claus Lundekvam and Michael Owen went in for a tackle and fell on top of me. Was on a few Sky replays and I had Owen's studmarks in my side for a week or so - the sort of thing you love to gloat about around school at that age.

 

After the Dell, I had a season-ticket in the Itchen for one year. Unfortunately, had to stop going when I started College for a number of reasons, mainly as I started to work weekends.

 

Lost a lot of interest in football during that time (call it oversaturation) but actually regained my love for the club when I moved to Liverpool in 2004 to start Uni. Quite a strange thing, but being surrounded by people from around the country who also supported their local teams, it somehow rekindled that flame.

 

Had a mutual friend in Manchester who was also a Saints fan so used to go to a fair few games with him during five years I was in Liverpool: Derby play-off semi-final being one of the highlights, despite the result.

 

I'm up in Newcastle now - still studying - but try to get to games when I am at my parents, or away games that are do-able. Carlisle and Hartlepool away, among the more horrible recent memories. Only managed 4 games last season (first two home games, and Newcastle and Sunderland away) so hoping to improve my numbers for the coming season.

 

Looking to move to London once my life as a student finally ends this October, so that should make things considerably easier...Will probably look into getting an S/T once more in 2014/2015.

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Born and raised in Brighton in a non-football family but sort of paid attention to the fortunes of Brighton. Moved oop north when I was 10 and told I had to support either man u or Liverpool. Was a big MLT fan so chose Saints instead, been a fan ever since. Was always an armchair fan until moved into a flat in Chester and found out my neighbour was a saint, we now go to as many away games as possible.

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Originally from Scotland but my wife is from Southampton so I got married there and started going to the Dell with her dad in 1971 !

Have lived in Belgium and Germany but now on the IoW so I have a ST and go to most of the home games !

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Born in Ashford, Kent, moved to the Winchester area when I was 10. Came to Cov for University in 2002 and have stayed but now looking to return south.

 

I followed Saints when living in the area but only really became totally fanatical when I moved away. Maybe I will mellow again when I do get back to the area..... unlikely I feel.

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My Dad was in the Army and we lived near Andover back at the start of the '80s. He took me to a few games at the Dell and I saw the Channon wave, the rest is history.

 

We moved away and ended up in North Yorkshire, so we went to away days at Newcastle, Sunderland, Middlesbro, Leeds, York City (cup) and Scarboro (cup). I then went to Uni in Aberdeen and then moved back Newcastle to do more Uni. Moved out to Canada in 2001 and I have yet to visit St Mary's.

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I grew up in Hythe (1960-1968 ). Went to St. Mary's College in So'ton. Also attended a boarding school in Shropshire which had boys attending from all over England. Football was a very important part of the school culture - there was an intense bonding between each boy and his hometown team. I had been to The Dell several times as a young nipper. Saints were promoted to the old First Division when I was at that Shropshire boarding school - one of the two most memorable footballing moments of my youth (the other being England's World Cup success in 1966).

 

After emigrating to Canada in 1969, news about the Saints was very difficult to get - apart from the list of Saturday results in the papers here (and then only fitfully) on Monday mornings. The long drought of news and views about the team was broken temporarily by the F.A. Cup win of 1976 - which was broadcast live on CBC Radio, for some strange reason. I taped it on my reel-to-reel recorder - I still have the tape down in the basement somewhere.

 

It was the wonderful invention of the internet that turned all this around - suddenly I could get daily information from the English media, and I got hooked onto this site - well, the sites that preceded this one and evolved into it. And now I listen to every weekend game via Saints Player, and as much as the mid-week games as I can, after I get in from work. I usually listen along with my friend who lives in Motspur Park, near Wimbledon. Our friendship goes back to St. Mary's College and that boarding school in Shropshire. We Skype back-and-forth throughout the games - commenting on the action and exchanging news and views about the week's events.

 

It's been a wonderful thing, this internet tool. My following of the Saints is of a different character than those who live in the city, but it is just as intense and passionate - based on those very impressionable teenage years. I'm not sure that some of the "locals" in So'ton really understand or appreciate that type of loyalty. Once a Saint, always a Saint.

 

Cheers!

Edited by Hamilton Saint
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