There is every chance of trouble and lots of it. Both clubs know that the derby will not happen next season and is unlikely to happen for many more, with a coach convoy full of Saints it will provide an easy target for Portsmouth. The Motorway bridges , daubed with welcoming messages, should be well policed though I would have thought.
Let's not get carried away eh? I was in Portsmouth last week. I lorded it around their manor, some could say I took the piss, I would even go as far as saying that I "took Portsmouth one-handed". 657? I **** 'em.
I love going to Falling Down Park. First visit was in 1970-71 and saw us win 7-1, even strolled into the Fratton end, although the welcome was great we couldn't stay to long. I then remember winning our next game there in 1975-76 and in fact the pompey fans were so in ore of us, that when the stewards opened the gates, the pompey fans ran in onto the terracing to congratulate us. My next visit saw little Steve Moran pop in a late winner and again the pompey fans were great, they even lined the streets to cheer us back to the train station. I am sorry to say i missed the last visit as i was ill, in fact i got worse as the day went on.
id love to see the snake of all the coaches from a helicopter. there'll be soooo many, it'll look awesome from the sky!
Just seen this on the Pompey website: The police and the clubs will seek to minimise the impact on fans but recognise the usual access to licensed premises will be affected, with no alcohol available in the away end or permitted on the coaches travelling to the ground. Burrows said: âWe ask Southampton fans to recognise that this measure is taken in the interests of the safety of everyone coming to the match. âHistory has shown that, unfortunately, a small minority can cause disorder that disproportionately affects the majority of peaceful football fans at these derby matches, and we have to carefully balance the interests of all. So it's only Saints fans that get drunk and kick off is it??
So if any Saints fans get caught out in a melee they will not be able to blame it on the alcohol will they? Which is of course the usual excuse!!
So with 3200 saints fans going to Fratton (allocation from the Skates OS), that's going to be a hellava lot of coaches. Do they have a big enough car park?
they should also close all pubs in the Portsmouth area, and bus the Pompey fans in under controlled circumstances as well. A ford transit crew bus should suffice.
My mate is a Skate living in Ringwood. He has to drive past Southampton to the Reservation to catch a coach to take him back to Southampton.He then has to make the reverse journey after watching a heavy defeat. No wonder he's crying into his bell.
Perhaps you could change them to another day and then use them just to go back and laugh all over again!
