Portsmouth fans hit out as official Southampton announcement made – ‘So strange’
Portsmouth will face Southampton in a league match for the first time since 2012 when the two sides lock horns at St Mary’s on 14 September.
Even during their team’s pre-season fixtures, Pompey fans have been chanting about their South Coast rivals, so it’s clear this fixture is on their mind already.
Some official information has now been released for fans who want to travel to Southampton to watch this game.
And it hasn’t gone down well with everyone.
Portsmouth make announcement for fans hoping to travel to St. Mary’s
The big announcement for away supporters concerns their travel to St. Mary’s.
Portsmouth fans will need to travel on club-managed coaches, which will depart from a selection of pre-arranged pick-up locations. These coaches will take supporters directly to the stadium.
This is one of several safety measures taken to ensure the safety of all supporters travelling to the game.
On top of that, Portsmouth announced that supporters who want tickets will need to meet ‘set criteria’, although no further details about this criteria have been revealed yet.
Reacting to this news on social media, many Portsmouth fans bemoaned the inconvenience of these measures, while others conceded that this was always likely to happen.
Portsmouth will be happy to face Saints so early in the season
There’s no question about it. Portsmouth will be the underdogs when they visit Southampton on 14 September.
Southampton have just been relegated from the Premier League. They’re one of the favourites to be promoted back into the top flight. They have the parachute payments to build a team capable of winning the Championship.
| Date | Fixture | Score |
| 18 December 2011 | Portsmouth vs Southampton | 1-1 |
| 7 April 2012 | Southampton vs Portsmouth | 2-2 |
At the same time, they have just recruited a new manager in Will Still, and their squad has gone through a huge overhaul. An inevitability for any team relegated from the top flight.
For this reason, it could be advantageous for Pompey to visit St. Mary’s so early in the season. Still will have only been in charge for four league games when John Mousinho and his side roll into town.
That’s not much time to get your ideas across, especially to a squad that contains so many new players. The fixture also comes directly after an international break, and this disruption could harm Southampton more, as they will lose more players during this time.
It will still be down to Pompey to take the game to their rivals from the very first minute. Portsmouth will undoubtedly sell out their ticket allocation for this game, and the fans will be hoping their team can do them proud.
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