Just looked at the odds for this game. We're 14/5 and United are 19/20. Hmmm, definitely worth sticking £20 on Saints.
Has there been any announcement about how they are going to do it? I'd imagine they will just open the corporate seats, if they bother at all
Why? It is not even slightly cost effective to open a PL size stadium if you can only have 4000 fans maximum, may aswell open up the most expensive seats if you do at all
Yeah, I'm aware clubs are going to be making a loss at 4000 fans. I know what his point is but I still think Saints will prioritise ST holders.
Well you can have corporate STH's too of course. I agree that they'll let normal fans in as well too, they need to prove they can do it safely if they want more.
In keeping with the current football ethos, especially that ruling the Premier League, why not just auction off the 4000 seats to those willing to pay the most for them?
The code of conduct I agreed to back in September was very thorough. Cashless stadium, use your phone for entry, designated arrival times, no lingering in the concourse, app to order food and drink from your seat and so on. It will be safe inside the stadium it's the getting there that the government are concerned with hence the 4000 limit.
That’s all fine, and fair enough. It does however beg the question of discrimination against STH’s from outside the Southampton area, in our case, or indeed for other clubs outside the home city. Man United STH’s will be particularly aggrieved I imagine, as only a minority of them live in Greater Manchester.
The PL clubs seem fully aware that allowing only 2k or 4k fans back would be a loss-leader for them all. But they seem to happy to do take that hit, because it's the first step towards bigger crowds. We were hardly likely to ever go from empty ground to full grounds. This is just the first step. Anyway, we'll find out more tomorrow.