St Mary's Capacity Increase Likelihood

[Wurzel]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

That figure is bizarre and almost certainly wrong, the southampton urban area only had a population of 248,922 in the last census, an increase of 5.11%, i've no idea where the other 543,078 people are in those stats, maybe it covers the SO postcode? But then that goes as far north as Andover which i wouldn't count as Southampton (certainly not the urban area) 

Around 250k is correct for the city of Southampton. The urban area is correct, that includes the likes of Hythe , Marchwood, Calmore, Totton, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford, Hedge End, Botley, Bursledon, Whitely, Park Gate, Locks Heath, and all the smaller places in between. Roughly coincides as our realistic catchment area although I'd add Salisbury Andover and possibly Basingstoke to that as well. 

[sad saints fan]

5 hours ago, franniesTache said:

That figure is bizarre and almost certainly wrong, the southampton urban area only had a population of 248,922 in the last census, an increase of 5.11%, i've no idea where the other 543,078 people are in those stats, maybe it covers the SO postcode? But then that goes as far north as Andover which i wouldn't count as Southampton (certainly not the urban area) 

https://populationstat.com/united-kingdom/southampton

According to this the 6th largest in the U.K 🤣. I  don't think so.

[CB Fry]

6 hours ago, franniesTache said:

That figure is bizarre and almost certainly wrong, the southampton urban area only had a population of 248,922 in the last census, an increase of 5.11%, i've no idea where the other 543,078 people are in those stats, maybe it covers the SO postcode? But then that goes as far north as Andover which i wouldn't count as Southampton (certainly not the urban area) 

I think the other half a million were on the Tommy Robinson march

[Football Special]

14 hours ago, Wurzel said:

Around 250k is correct for the city of Southampton. The urban area is correct, that includes the likes of Hythe , Marchwood, Calmore, Totton, Eastleigh, Chandlers Ford, Hedge End, Botley, Bursledon, Whitely, Park Gate, Locks Heath, and all the smaller places in between. Roughly coincides as our realistic catchment area although I'd add Salisbury Andover and possibly Basingstoke to that as well. 

Surely we can also claim half of the isle of Wight 

[Nordic Saint]

On 15/09/2025 at 15:58, sad saints fan said:

That seems an a lot . What area does this cover ? 

This is the source:

Southampton, United Kingdom Population (2025) - Population Stat

[sad saints fan]

24 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

This is the source:

Southampton, United Kingdom Population (2025) - Population Stat

Got a feeling that should be South Hampshire which would also include east of the Hamble river , so Gospit, Fartam and Portsmyth

[franniesTache]

15 minutes ago, Nordic Saint said:

This is the source:

Southampton, United Kingdom Population (2025) - Population Stat

Yeah i mean those stats are frankly insane, they count everything in an SO postcode as "Southampton urban area", which if you think about it is fucking batshit.

An urban area is a piece of land that effectively runs continuously with no real gaps. For our city - as anyone who's ever lived there will know - is basically from Park Gate/Warsash on the East, to Totton on the west, north to Easteigh and Romsey and south to Waterside and Hythe. And that's at a push.

I reckon you'd could argue if you wanted that Waterside, Marchwood, Hythe, Park Gate and Warsash aren't really Southampton as there's a fairly decent gap in housing up to them.

But to include just south of Andover which is almost 40miles away, and Winchester - the old capital of England and a city very much in it's own right - in Southampton Urban Area, or to claim that Arselford or Micheldever are, is to completely ignore the geography of the area and basically to claim Hampshire is Southampton (not that i'm personally against the old county name of Southamptonshire coming back, if for nothing else than to piss off the skates).

I'd estimate at most the Southampton urban area (close to but outside the city boundaries but more or less connected by built up land) is an extra 100k. To claim it's 500k+ and the 6th biggest city in England? That's genuinely crazy shit 🤣

[The Wyvern]

The club have previously issued vague comms around looking at an expansion, is anyone ITK about this actually happening?  Do we have access to the funds and if so, what are the blockers?

I'd say 40k would be good for us, might not fill it every week, but we would regularly get mid to late 30s. 

[SaintsLoyal]

3 minutes ago, The Wyvern said:

The club have previously issued vague comms around looking at an expansion, is anyone ITK about this actually happening?  Do we have access to the funds and if so, what are the blockers?

I'd say 40k would be good for us, might not fill it every week, but we would regularly get mid to late 30s. 

 

A one stand expansion has been looked at in recent years, i imagine land would be needed, PL finances and a ST waiting list to justify it. 

[The Wyvern]

Just now, SaintsLoyal said:

 

A one stand expansion has been looked at in recent years, i imagine land would be needed, PL finances and a ST waiting list to justify it. 

Cheers.  We do now have a waiting list for season tickets, albeit pretty small one I'd guess.  I wonder how many years of consistent PL football we would need?  If that is a requirement before any kind of work starts in earnest then we're still many years off anything happening. 

[Patrick Bateman]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

Yeah i mean those stats are frankly insane, they count everything in an SO postcode as "Southampton urban area", which if you think about it is fucking batshit.

An urban area is a piece of land that effectively runs continuously with no real gaps. For our city - as anyone who's ever lived there will know - is basically from Park Gate/Warsash on the East, to Totton on the west, north to Easteigh and Romsey and south to Waterside and Hythe. And that's at a push.

I reckon you'd could argue if you wanted that Waterside, Marchwood, Hythe, Park Gate and Warsash aren't really Southampton as there's a fairly decent gap in housing up to them.

But to include just south of Andover which is almost 40miles away, and Winchester - the old capital of England and a city very much in it's own right - in Southampton Urban Area, or to claim that Arselford or Micheldever are, is to completely ignore the geography of the area and basically to claim Hampshire is Southampton (not that i'm personally against the old county name of Southamptonshire coming back, if for nothing else than to piss off the skates).

I'd estimate at most the Southampton urban area (close to but outside the city boundaries but more or less connected by built up land) is an extra 100k. To claim it's 500k+ and the 6th biggest city in England? That's genuinely crazy shit 🤣

It looks like they've taken a load of feeds / scrapes and made some figures up ... here is the SO postcode population (estimates) which more closely match this guff - https://www.plumplot.co.uk/Southampton-population.html

We all know the population of the city is around 280k. The internet really is full of misleading shit. 

 

[Wurzel]

9 hours ago, Patrick Bateman said:

It looks like they've taken a load of feeds / scrapes and made some figures up ... here is the SO postcode population (estimates) which more closely match this guff - https://www.plumplot.co.uk/Southampton-population.html

We all know the population of the city is around 280k. The internet really is full of misleading shit. 

 

The city (approx 250k last sentence) is defined by it's boundaries. An urban area includes the city and all areas considered commuter towns for the city. The figure quoted is almost certainly correct. They wouldn't sll necessarily condider themselves ss "from" Southampton 

Just consider West Quay shopping centre. Average daily visitors 46500. Do you really think that would have been built on an expectation of every Southampton resident visiting it once every 5 days? 

Btw the South Hampshire urban region which includes everything Totton to Havant is around 1.5m and the most densely populated region UK outside of London. No wonder our roads are so slow. 

Edited 8 hours ago by Wurzel

[TheAlehouseBrawlers]

1 hour ago, Wurzel said:

The city (approx 250k last sentence) is defined by it's boundaries. An urban area includes the city and all areas considered commuter towns for the city. The figure quoted is almost certainly correct. They wouldn't sll necessarily condider themselves ss "from" Southampton

You’re right, the city boundaries stretch out roughly west to east from Redbridge, Millbrook, Lordshill, Bassett, Swaythling, Townhill Park, Midanbury, Harefield, Thornhill, Hightown, Sholing, Woolston to Weston and everything in between to the city centre. There’s your 250k. But every city has a metropolitan area that immediately doubles it.

The ‘City of London’ has a population of only 8,500, ‘Central’ London is a couple of million, Greater London (Metropolitan area) around 9m.

I think Southampton’s ‘city’ population is expected to rise to around 300k by 2040.

[Charlie Wayman]

On 15/09/2025 at 21:56, sad saints fan said:

https://populationstat.com/united-kingdom/southampton

According to this the 6th largest in the U.K 🤣. I  don't think so.

Utterly ridiculous stats. 

[franniesTache]

The idea that some arbitrary area that happens to be within the boundary of Hampshire and happens to have a large number of people living in it means Saints would have between 900k and 1.2m people who would want to go to games is Portsmyth levels of insane bollocks 🤣

[AlexLaw76]

18 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

The idea that some arbitrary area that happens to be within the boundary of Hampshire and happens to have a large number of people living in it means Saints would have between 900k and 1.2m people who would want to go to games is Portsmyth levels of insane bollocks 🤣

What is obvious that the surrounding area to Southampton has a significant number of people 

[franniesTache]

14 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

What is obvious that the surrounding area to Southampton has a significant number of people 

Personally what i'd prefer to see is the club getting the nippers from the local estates and inner city back in the ground first, then look at the surrounding areas. Reducing ticket prices for people within x miles of the ground maybe? Or giving kids for a quid if you're from those areas, maybe even bring back the partnerships with local schools to encourage nippers to go.

[Wurzel]

29 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

The idea that some arbitrary area that happens to be within the boundary of Hampshire and happens to have a large number of people living in it means Saints would have between 900k and 1.2m people who would want to go to games is Portsmyth levels of insane bollocks 🤣

Not one person has suggested that, just like no-one has suggested that the entire 250k living within the city boundary all want to go to games either. 

But if you want to attempt to ridicule others to cover up your embarrassment for not knowing what the difference between an "urban area" and a city is feel free. 

This might help you. Ikea choose their locations on there being a population of at least 2 million within a 40-60 miles radius (around an hours drive). They picked Southampton. Not all will want to shop there. But enough will. Saints have  2 other competitors within that radius. Neither can expand without moving. We can. 

[spyinthesky]

3 hours ago, franniesTache said:

Personally what i'd prefer to see is the club getting the nippers from the local estates and inner city back in the ground first, then look at the surrounding areas. Reducing ticket prices for people within x miles of the ground maybe? Or giving kids for a quid if you're from those areas, maybe even bring back the partnerships with local schools to encourage nippers to go.

Good ideas but perhaps people travelling a distance should get some sort of discount.
There are 4 people who sit behind me who travel from Somerset, rain or shine, for every home game.
They deserve better seat ticket prices than me who is normally home around 30 mins after a game.