The Kingsland Stand is the most densely populated area of St Mary's so why was it closed for the Sunderland cup tie and more importantly with only a few hundred seats left unsold in other areas, why has it not been put on sale now.
Saints supporters in the Kingsland Stand are not any better than those in the other three stands, however due to the size of the stand, it is the most densely populated in terms of the number os supporters who prefer to watch the game from there.
Therefore it was a surprise that the club chose to keep the stand closed for the visit of Sunderland, from a logisitcal point of view it made sense not to open up the entire ground, after all only 14,000 turned up for the visit of Crystal Palace in the last round, however given that the Kingsland can hold around 10,000, it surely made sense that this would be one of the stands open.
Not to mention the fact that a lot of the vocal noise is generated from the corner that joins the Northam.
The only reason I can think of for not doing so is one of making the highlights of the game on TV look as if the ground is fairly full as the Kingsland would not be visible.
But now it looks like chaos could ensue this evening, a lot of Kingsland regulars that I know have held back from purchasing tickets in the hope that the Kingsland would be opened at some point.
Now we have a situation where the other 3 stands are virtually sold out with only a few hndred seats left at lunchtime as I write.
Given that for these type of games there is always a good walk up, it seems likely that if these last seats are not sold online there will be more than enough people this evening to fill them.
So are the club intending on opening the Kingsland stand or are they unable to now due to a lack of staff ?
It would not be a good situation if Saints supporters who want to go tonight are unable to get in, yet there are 10,000 empty seats inside St Mary's.
If the club do open it they are going to come in for criticism, there are undoubtably a sizeable number of fans who would have preferred to have sat in the Kingsland as they prefer a side view and are now behind the goal, not to mention those that have held back and now face paying an extra £2 on the ticket price for purchasing on the day.
Either way it is an extraordinary situation that with less than 8 hours to go to kick off there has been no statement issued by the club as to the situation, perhaps they are hoping that if they keep quiet there will not be a big walk up and that the few hundred seats still available will be enough !
But that will be a gamble and the likelihood is that whatever they now do there will be some form of chaos, not least in the numbers that will have to collect tickets before kick off even if they do book online.