Time For The Southampton Red & White Wall To Make Itself Known Wednesday, 15th May 2024 08:44 In the past month there has been much debate given to the news that the Northam End will be all Saints fans next season, but before that there is one final home game to come and now is the time to make some noise. The Northam End is set to become a sea of Red & White next season, with away fans banished to the far corner, for the first time the Northam will be home fans only. But there is more to creating a loud and vibrant home end than simply taking the viewpoint, "Built it & they will come" it is all about the people who will go in it, can they turn into loud & proud fans who put up a constant barrage of support for the team ? On Sunday at The Hawthorns 2,000 Saints supporters made themselves heard, especially in the second half when with the home fans quietened, our supporters kept up a barrage of noise.
Well there is no need to wait for next season to find out, for Friday's game against West Brom, two thirds of the stand will be filled with Saints supporters and the team need the support this season. Already there has been talk on social media of doing just this, with appeals for Saints fans to turn up in their red & white striped shirts, to mass at the Ted Bates statue at 6pm on Friday to welcome the Saints team coach and presumably at the same time put the fear of god up the West Brom bus which will arrive around the same time. Ex players such as Francis Benali & Jo Tessem have spoken of the need to ramp up the noise levels on Friday night and it seems that there is a spirit rising in the fan base.
Some are sceptical, they don't like the so called Ultra's culture or anything that is seen as manufactured, such as the initiative by the club, even the Portsmouth News has sneered at Southampton fans for supposedly needing this rallying call, suggesting that Pompey fans need no such motivation. They have a short memory, it was not so long ago that a bandstand was created in one corner of Fratton Park to accommodate John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood and his band of minstrels with drums and bugles, if that isn't manufacturing an atmosphere I don't know what is. I am not one of those that is sceptical, in football grounds there is room for all types of supporter, those that want to sing and shout and at the other end of the scale those who just like to sit and enjoy the game. Most fall in the middle ground, I am perhaps one of them, I won't be in the Northam Stand either on Friday night or next season, but I will be urging the team on as loudly as i can. So I welcome the red & white wall in the Northam, if it makes St Mary's a louder and more passionate place, I don't have a problem with that, but I don't want it to stop just in the Northam End, hopefully it will encourage those that say very little in support of the team, to make some noise, even if it just saying "Come on Saints"
On Friday night it is one of those nights when we have to turn it into one of those special nights that we used to have at the Dell and also on occasions at St Mary's, there is something about evening fixtures that bring out the best in Saints supporters and against West Bromwich Albion it is needed. It needs everyone to buy in ! Whether it is wearing something red, whether it is singing your heart out or whether it is just offering up a few words of encouragement at crucial moments, it is about a united effort from everyone, those on the pitch and those in the stands.
I would not go as far as some of the comments and suggest that if you are going on Friday and will say nothing in support of the team, then you should give your ticket to someone who will, as I have said there is room for all types of supporter in a football ground, but sometimes we all have to chip in. Portsmouth and it's newspaper like to give the impression that they are the best fans in the world, they tell us that at every opportunity, indeed they like to tell the World, in Southampton we are not like that, we don't boast, we don't brag, our pride in our City & team is a little more reserved at times, we have a self deprecating humour that doesn't let anyone get too big for their boots. But we know that when the chips are down we come out for our team and we will show that against West Bromwich Albion. Sometimes a catalyst is needed and that catalyst is coming to the fore now, let's make St Mary's a special place on Friday night.
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