Wednesday 17th June is the last day for current season ticket holders to renew their tickets and guarantee their seat choice for next season and to do so it will only be £100 deposit now followed by a plethora of payment options in July for the balance.

There is a lot of scepticism and dare I say it apathy amidst Saints supporters at present, whilst some of it is due to the European Super league fall out and issues surrounding the Premier League, a lot of it is about perception and in some cases apathy after what was a awful ending to the season.

But the fact is that Saints still finished way above the relegation zone and indeed were actually mathematically safe in hindsight by early January with the added bonus of an FA Cup semi final.

That is where perception comes in and although I see shock horror social media headlines like "worst season ever" it actually wasn't and indeed the first half of it was as good as most we have had since the premier League began.

Although it can't be denied that there were some issues that needed to be addressed, the underlying issues that led to our abysmal form in the second half of the season can be pinpointed to one main area and that is the injury list, barely a player in the side didn't suffer a spell on the sidelines at some point and some spent more time out than others.

So there are still plenty of things to be optimistic about for the coming season if expectations are realistic, for Saints it is all about maintaining our relative place in the Premier League and then hopefully as we did in 2015. 2016 and indeed 2017 overperform as West Ham have done this season.

It is easy to support a club when it is doing well, not so easy when it is not having a great time of it.

In times of adversity a football club needs its supporters to stick with it, it is easy to sit back and say I wont renew my season ticket just yet I'll sit back and see what happens, but what might happen is the club goes backwards, can't invest in new players and a cycle starts that is hard to reverse.

So for all football clubs the summer of 2021 is a time of financial crisis, a big part of their incomes have gone and that is the income from the fans, not just ticket money but the spin offs from that, shirt sales, programme sales, lower gates mean lower advertising revenue, those who glibly say that the fans don't matter to football clubs anymore, don't know football finance, the fans are who generate that income, you can't get in top dollar advertising rates if the ground is half empty, indeed you will struggle to get those companies to even advertise.

So on this day when it is the deadline for season ticket holders to renew and guarantee their seat, it is a good time to perhaps remind those who are waivering that the club does need their support, players come and go, chairman come and go but the supporters are the constant, the clubs that get through bad periods and prosper are those where the supporters support the club, not the owner of the manager or the players individually but the club.

A bad season should not be the criteria for not renewing, fans are quick to jump on the clubs back for introducing a season ticket section where it is £999 for an adult, but they also forget that two years ago they introduced a section where it is £399, that's just £21 a game.

So sometimes we come to key moments in supporting our football clubs and this is perhaps one of them, I read many reasons why Saints fans are not renewing season tickets, I can understand all of them, although I feel many are easily answered such as the above cost issue, £21 a game to watch Premier League football !!!! It costs almost that to watch a League two game these days .

So if you are one of those who waiver then consider that the club really do need your money to get them through a tough time, the £399 season ticket shows that they are looking at making football accessible to the fans and are not just greedily get as much as they can.

Indeed the club have extended the loyalty renewal price to those who were season ticket holders in 2019/20, but chose not to renew for 2020/21.

Season tickets can be renewed by paying the £100 deposit and then in July either paying the full balance or by using a no fee or credit check payment plan over 3 or 7 months.

I am quick to criticise the club, but I have to say that in terms of season ticket sales they have got it right, Premier League football is expensive and there is an argument for ticket prices being too high, but that is a football thing, not exclusive to Southampton FC.

Like it or not football is a business and indeed has always been, the richest clubs are those with the biggest support bases and therefore able to be funded by those supporters and pay bigger transfer fees.

I can understand why many have fallen out of love with professional football, that is fine, I have too, but I haven't fallen out of love with my football club, I want it to survive this crisis and prosper.

The link to renew season tickets is below

https://www.southamptonfc.com/season-tickets

Photo: Action Images

Butty101 added 11:53 - Jun 17 "I am quick to criticise the club".... You used to be under an old regime ;-)
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SaintNick added 12:22 - Jun 17 I still am, but I look at what the issues are and I find it hard to criticise the club for the political situation in China that prevents Gao from investing money, I find it hard to slag off the club turning 800 seats into padded seats and upping the price when they have reduced the price of 2,500 in return. I know this is just facts and therefore should not cloud the real issues like being able to have a good rant on line, but I guess im just funny that way.

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Butty101 added 12:49 - Jun 17 Nick show me one article in the last year where you criticise the club. If Cortese had over seen the money wasted on transfers in recent times, you would be wheeling out article upon article about the NI payments etc. As for the padded seats and the hospitality upgrades that have been announced. Are you in favour of them or think the club had misjudged things?
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PaleRider added 12:53 - Jun 17 Nick - a quick question about a fact? How much did Gao invest into Saints before the current issue with taking money out of China?
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AndyD added 13:59 - Jun 17 I was determined not to renew but gave in on Tuesday & renewed yet again! What else am i going going to do on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon - no point moaning about it. Once its in your blood your hooked!
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wessexman added 08:14 - Jun 18 Many of us supported the club while we were in the championship and I seem to remember those two seasons in league 1 as a few of the best years in supporting the Saints. So it is not a question of disloyalty. What we have seen is a shocking 2 nd half of the season. Yes, we were decimated by injuries but many of us warned about going into a condensed season with a threadbare squad. But, I can pinpoint quite a few games where the team took "not turning up" to a whole new level. Some of the performances were so gutless, inept and disgraceful. Most of us know we have to hit the ground running next season.....and hope we don't take our dismal form over the last couple of months into the next. For apathy we could read a re-evaluating of priorities. A few people I know simple had to look at their finances and say no. Also, the true social and financial cost of this pandemic has yet to rear its ugly head. Many people have also grown out of the habit of going to live football..... As the cry in Gladiator went.....ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED? Therein lies the crux maybe?

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