Hampshire Police are considering imposing drastic restrictions for the Pompey game.
After the events of the last meeting between Saints and Pompey and the disorder that took place despite a large police operation, Hampshire Police in conjunction with both clubs are I am told considering a drastic plan of action to segregate supporters at the forthcoming game at Fratton Park which if succesful will be duplicated for the return game at St Mary's
In simple terms what is being proposed is that every Saints fan who wants to attend the game will have to travel on an official club coach and will only recieve their match ticket when the coach is in motion and on its way to the match.
The convoy of coaches will be escorted from St Mary's to Fratton, will be parked in a secure area and then Saints fans will be escorted in and out of the ground and back to Southampton.
Its a measure that has been used by other Police forces for Derby games such as these, most notably for the Newcastle V Sunderland fixtures, so its a plan that has been proven to work.
Its not ideal for those that live out of the direct Southampton area, for insstance if you are a Saints fan who lives in say Chichester, you would have to drive past Pompey and all the way to Southampton to get on a coach, likewise if you are from London where a number of our regular travelling supporters reside then instead of going direct to Pompey by train which would be roughly the same cost asgoing to Southampton, you would have to come to Soton by train then pay again to go by coach to Pompey, its an effective measure but not ideal as it inconveniences many.
But for the Police it makes their job a lot easier, it isolates all of the away support itnto one easily controlled area, from where they can keep home fans well away.
It also means that they can easily spot those who would perhaps go to the game to cause trouble easily, quite simply anyone trying to go by train would be easily seen by Police spotters and issued with orders stopping them from going to the vicinity of the match on that day, it makes it harder for potential trouble makers to blend in with other supporters.
There are of course drawbacks to doing this, firstly the number of coaches needed for the operation, if Saints where to receive around 2,500 tickets for the game then about 50 coaches would be needed and thats a big number and a long convoy to escort into each city.
Secondly its what to do with supporters when they get to the ground, the problem at St Mary's is easily solved in that with a big covered concourse with TV screens etc, the fans can be kept entertained if they have an hour or so before the game to kill and food and drink easily obtained, however at Fratton its a lot different with the away end being so devoid of such facilities.
For the December game at Fratton with a kick off of 1pm, Saints fans would probably be needing to start leaving St Mary's on the first coach at around 10.30am, probably be needing to board at 10am to ensure that they arrive at Fratton in good time and can be escorted and enter the ground in good time, with catering facilities so sparse in the away end at Fratton and the fact that the coaches would probably not arrive back at St Mary's till around 4.30pm Saints fans could struggle to be able to buy food and drink for a period of around 6 - 7 hours.
Thoughtful planning could of course help alleviate problems, if the police and Clubs look at this potential problem then perhaps plenty of catering outlets could be provided in the secure coach parking areas, again this would help funnel out the crowd and ensure that 2,500 supporters werent all trying to get in at the same time, this was a problem at the last two derby games at Fratton when over 1,000 fans on the train not only arrived late due to the police being unable to get them down Goldsmith Avenue, but then where further delayed b their being only threeturnstiles for the whole away end.
Perhaps the final problem would be where to park the coaches, at Fratton there is a large industrial area that could be used, but at St Mary's it might be hard to fit 50 -60 coaches into Brittannia Road.
These measures have worked well in the past notably for the Tyne- Wear games where the police have been able to spot large groups travelling on public transport and pack them back off to their own City, due to having to be on the coach to actually see the game, it means that you can have no excuse for going by any other method and the police can quickly isoolate ticketless fans as Sunderland police did when around 200 Newcastle fans travelled by train and where quickly rounded up and sent back.
Its very likely that they are now going to adopt these same tactics in Hampshire, in truth many law abiding fans will welcome these moves, certainly Fratton is not a great place to visit due to a section of their support as was evidenced during our last two visits, however if its to be implemented then the Police do need to consider the welfare of supporters and ensure that the operation is carried out without putting supporters through situations that can be easily avoided.