Southampton Football Club is making sure that it can comply with new regulations in place regarding Covid 19 Status checks and these will be in place for the fixture with Tottenham Hotspur.

Saints are lucky with St Mary's in that although it is hemmed in by the railway line an industrial estate and the gasworks on 3 sides and a road in close proximity on the other, it does have a reasonable concourse surrounding the ground, therefore they have ample room to put in extra access gates to spread out the queues and make Covid status checks well before the turnstile.

Of course it may not run smoothly, but anyone who witnessed the queues in the home sections at Crystal Palace where two stands have turnstiles that are only a pavement width from a road will know that spreading the crowds out has to be help.

The following statement has been issued.

Southampton Football Club has installed new entry points at St Mary’s to keep fans safe and allow a smooth entry into the stadium on matchdays with Covid-19 status checks taking place ahead of fixtures, in line with Premier League guidelines.

To help allow a safe and smooth entry into the ground for all fans, a perimeter fence has been erected ahead of next week’s fixture against Spurs, with five entry points located around the stadium before supporters enter the turnstiles. Please allow extra time for Covid-19 status checks and arrive at St Mary’s as early as possible.

Fans can refer to the information and map below to find out the appropriate entry point for the stand they have tickets for:

- Chapel/Family/Kingsland South gate on Melbourne Street gate for Chapel Stand, Family Stand and Kingsland South ticket holders

- Itchen South/Chapel gate on Marine Parade gate for Itchen Stand and Chapel Stand ticket holders

- Itchen North gate for Itchen North stand

- Northam Home/Kingsland North gate by the footbridge for Northam Stand and Kingsland North ticket holders

- Away gate on Britannia Road for away ticket holders

https://s1-sfc.thirdlight.com/file/71278957788/width=1920

In essence this is pretty much the same type of system that was put in place when Saints took on Leeds United last season in front of a reduced capacity of 8,000. it worked then and although that was a far smaller crowd, in theory it should work, although it does rely on supporters not all turning up in the last 15 minutes or so before kick off, but that would be the same in any stadium.

More information can be found using the link below

https://www.southamptonfc.com/news/2021-12-23/southampton-fc-new-entry-points-in

Photo: Action Images

Saintsforeverj added 17:27 - Dec 23 It didn't work against Leeds. I know for a fact that stewards started letting in fans without doing the checks as people turned up 15 minutes before kick off for an evening game. The stewards had to let fans in, otherwise they would have missed the game. It won't work.
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claus5 added 17:55 - Dec 23 I agree it definitely did not work against Leeds. I cued for ages in the pooring rain, then was told when the people were backed up to the steps to just go on in. Hopefully they learned some lessons that night.
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StRipper added 18:13 - Dec 23 What a joke. We've been going to games fine since the beginning of the season. Suddenly there's a new less dangerous media fear driven variant, and these pointless restrictions are being brought in. What business is our "Covid status" to the club or anyone else when it's been irrelevant up to now? Those who've been vaccinated still catch and spread the virus, so what exactly does a Covid pass actually mean? This is terrible from the club and the fact that it no doubt is supporter money used to pay for these fences and access points, who the hell do the Premier League think they are to inflict this on fans?

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Southamptonfan added 21:34 - Dec 23 They can f@ck right off.
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saintmark1976 added 07:51 - Dec 24 I can’t understand why anyone should be slightly concerned at yet another restriction on our daily lives coming into force by stealth. If you are told to “show your papers”, simply tell the person requesting your personal information “No” and that they are obviously very stupid, because it’s not a football match that you are attending, it’s a cheese and wine party.

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mattthelegend added 19:52 - Dec 24 It’s not workable this, went to Chelsea earlier this season wasn’t asked to see my Covid pass and pretty much no one wearing masks. It will just end up with the stewards letting everybody in. Waste of time money and resources for what is a milder variant than Delta which required no policing at all.
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