Southampton Fans Have To Turn Toxic Situation Into A Positive For Wolves Game Thursday, 9th Feb 2023 09:48 Writing this article feel a little bit of deja vu, The Ugly Inside was saying pretty much what I am about to write back in 1993/4 season & again in 2008/09 as fan protests were channelled into a positive to ensure that the team on the field were not affected. It is hard to believe that it is almost 30 years since the Southampton Independent Supporters Association (SISA) was formed by a group of Saints supporters, the core of which were from the 3 main fanzines in circulation at the time.
Ian Branfoot had been at the club as manager for over 2 years at this point, but things had declined on the pitch to such a degree that the fans were in uproar and wanted the manager out. In truth like current incumbent Nathan Jones, Branfoot had not been popular from day one, his style of football did not please the supporters and it didn't get results on a regular basis, the previous two seasons had seen short spurts mid season to pull put of trouble, but 93/94 saw a disastrous start and come mid October we had one just one game After 11 games we only had 5 points, yet we weren't bottom, that fell to Swindon, who we had beaten in our only victory.
But enough was enough. a meeting was called in the then Captains Corner pub in Terminus Terrace and the rest as they say was history. Back then there was no internet, no social media and the only real voice the fans had was the fanzines. These days things have changed, people feel that they are protesting when they post on Facebook, but the truth is they are not, they are merely getting things off their chest. Everton fans showed how to protest recently and although I am not advocating some of the more extreme measures taken by individuals on Merseyside, the fact is they had supporters groups within the City, we do not have any. Therefore any protest that takes place against Wolverhampton Wanderers will be un-coordinated and therefore scattergun and to be blunt damaging to our chances on the pitch. Back in 1993 several things were determined, firstly that we all wanted Saints to prosper and win games on the pitch and that meant secondly that no protests would take place during the game itself, once the whistle blew for kick off the protests would stop till the final whistle, no matter how badly the game was going. We had the view that although we wanted to protest, we wanted to turn a toxic situation into a negative.
The first protest took place in a Sunday afternoon televised game against Newcastle on 24th October and the plan worked wonderfully, as the teams warmed up the banners were out and the anti Branfoot chanting loud & clear on Sky TV, yet at the first blow of the referee's whistle they stopped dead and a big roar greeted the start of the game and that support from all parts of the ground continued for the entire game. We were lucky in that things went our way on the pitch, Matt Le Tissier gave us the lead on 62 minutes and Andy Cole equalised on 73 minutes, the support stayed behind the team and were rewarded with one of those magical Le God moments in the final minute to win the game 2-1.
The crowd were ecstatic, but when the final whistle went the mood turned again and Ian Branfoot was in no doubt that even this win was not good enough. This was the pattern that remained throughout the rest of Branfoot's reign till early January and i like to think that turning what was a negative into a positive counted come the final table, we stayed up by one point and although Branfoot would survive another 12 Premier League games after this one, we would take 10 points from them, still not great, but they all counted come the end of the season. It all went to the final day at West Ham and the point on that day kept us up and the fans were still doing their job.
So this is what we need to do on Saturday against Wolverhampton Wanderers, let's be blunt this is a massive game, it will either pull us back into sight of 4th from bottom or defeat will see us cast adrift. Every fan in St Mary's on Saturday has to dig deep into their conscience and ask themselves what they want from the game, yes most will want Nathan Jones sacked, but truth is we cannot afford to lose this game, we have to look at the long term picture. That means channelling our anger into a positive, make your feelings known before the game, but at kick off turn that into support for the team, even if we go behind stay with those on the pitch, remember the Leeds game when we went 2-0 down earlier in the season, the crowd stayed with the team and we got a 2-2 draw, that point could well be vital and on Saturday even a draw will be welcome.
If we get a win we are still living to fight another day, but that does not mean that you can't make your feelings known after the final whistle, but do so in a peaceful manner. If you feel that you can't do this and that if Saints go a goal down you will not be able to contain your anger, then don't go to the game, you are part of the problem not part of the solution. If you want to protest, go to the game and don't go into the stadium, believe me even a small group of fans outside the stadium during the game will make a far bigger impression on all levels, national media, social media and more importantly the board and the owners. If the crowd turn on the team, we might as well surrender to relegation now, some might say that will mean Jones will be sacked, but the damage will be done and the task to save us might just be too much ground to make up. This is deja vu, I am saying exactly the same things I was saying 30 years ago, the issue at Saints at the moment is not exactly new to the club. We are all supporters of Southampton Football Club, sometimes we lose sight of that, this is a Saturday afternoon where we all need to look at ourselves and what the word "Supporter" means, it is easy to be a supporter when things are going well, but sometimes times are bad and then that is when the team needs us. Make the difference on Saturday against Wolves, turn a toxic situation into a positive ! One last thing, whatever you do it has to be peaceful, we are all supporters, no one wants to get hurt at the game, no one wants to get banned and no one wants to get arrested, once a protest turns violent it makes it easy to dismiss good fans as hooligans. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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