Southampton slammed over decision taken ahead of Portsmouth game – Exclusive
Portsmouth have sold out their allocation of tickets for the trip to Southampton on 14 September.
These tickets were always going to sell out quickly, despite Portsmouth’s fans’ complaints about the conditions in which they were made available.
Southampton decided to charge £40 for away adult tickets, while Portsmouth fans will have to pay £18 for mandatory coach travel to the game.
In spite of the sell-out within a day of the tickets going on sale, Southampton have been accused of ‘profiteering’ with their choice of pricing.
This article includes exclusive comment from Premier League commentator Ian Darke.
Southampton accused of ‘profiteering’ before South Coast Derby
Portsmouth fans would have checked for the date of this game on the moment the fixtures were published.
Still, this shouldn’t mean that home or away fans are taken advantage of.
Speaking exclusively to Pompey News, Premier League commentator Ian Darke suggested he wasn’t exactly comfortable with the ticket pricing.
He said: “Forty pounds sounds like an awful lot, a little bit close to profiteering, I would say, for a championship game. It should be less than that, and it’s only a 20 mile coach ride, so it all does seem on the steep side.
“But to be honest with you, I think there’s about 20,000, maybe more, Pompey fans who would quite willingly pay it to have the chance of going to that game.”
Portsmouth and Southampton will be hoping for a lack of trouble on South Coast Derby day
The South Coast derby is always charged with passion, but both clubs will be hoping the focus stays on the football rather than trouble off the pitch.
This is why measures like mandatory coach travel have been forced on Portsmouth fans.
While most fans only have ambitions to watch a game of football and cheer on their team, there will always be a handful of idiots and these extra safety measures have to be made with them in mind.
| Date | |
| 18 December 2011 | Portsmouth 1 Southampton 1 |
| 7 April 2012 | Southampton 2 Portsmouth 2 |
While talking about the upcoming game, Darke urged both sets of supporters to channel their passion into backing their team.
He said: “I just hope it doesn’t get silly. It’s a great rivalry, you don’t want it to become nasty, but I’m afraid it probably will, especially when they haven’t played in a few years.”
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