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Southampton: Saints face off against Man City – in Noughts and Crosses

By Marc Walker

Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (R) talks with Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl after the English League Cup fourth round football match between Manchester City and Southampton at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on October 29, 2019. - Manchester City won the match 3-1. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images)
Manchester City's Spanish manager Pep Guardiola (R) talks with Southampton's Austrian manager Ralph Hasenhuttl after the English League Cup fourth round football match between Manchester City and Southampton at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, north west England, on October 29, 2019. - Manchester City won the match 3-1. (Photo by Lindsey Parnaby / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or 'live' services. Online in-match use limited to 75 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. / (Photo by LINDSEY PARNABY/AFP via Getty Images) /
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Southampton were supposed to be travelling to face Norwich City on Saturday, but the Coronavirus suspension has seen Premier League football postponed until at least early April.

For that reason, Saints fans – and indeed football fans in general – would have been prepping themselves for no football-related entertainment come 3pm.

However, the media teams of Southampton and Man City had other ideas.

After failing to get the Norwich City Twitter account to respond to their proposal for a Noughts and Crosses (tic-tac-toe) match, Saints were delighted to see the other City step in and take the Canaries’ place.

The idea was a brilliant one and duly attracted huge engagement from supporters of a whole range of clubs.

It proved to be a game played in good spirits, with everyone watching to see what the next move would be.

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In the end, it seemed a fair result when both sides played out a draw – and then even asked the Premier League for a point to add to their top-flight tallies.

Other official club accounts have since set up other competitions, playing games like Connect 4 and FIFA 20 to provide some entertainment for their followers.

Hull City took on European counterparts Bayer Leverkusen at the former and again produced great engagement online, whilst Leyton Orient have taken to setting up a 64-team FIFA tournament which includes teams from all over Europe.

Social media has a bad reputation sometimes given that it provides a platform for unwarranted abuse or trolling, but these examples show just how it can be used as a tool to bring people together rather than drive them apart.

Saints ended their tweet thread of the Noughts and Crosses classic with a link to the latest guidance from the UK government on the Coronavirus, meaning that there was an additional purpose to their posts.

The unique situation that football clubs find themselves in can clearly still be used in their favour with social media at the centre, and they could have an important role in educating their fans on the Coronavirus too.

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