Southampton: Number of fans allowed in St Mary’s in December revealed

UK prime minister Boris Johnson has confirmed that up to 4,000 fans will be  allowed into sports venues like Southampton’s St Mary’s stadium from December.

In a press conference on Monday afternoon, it was announced that supporters would be allowed into stadiums based on the tier system once lockdown measured are lifted next month.

The city of Southampton was in tier 1 before the most recent lockdown announcement and this meant that the lowest measures were placed on the area due to a low Covid-19 infection rate.

If a similar tier system is used from the 2nd December, Saints will be in the category that allows a maximum of 4,000 spectators – approximately 12.5% of the St Mary’s capacity.

The announcement of successful vaccines for Coronavirus recently looks to have put things in place for a gradual easing of restrictions after a rollout of the vaccine to areas around the UK.

For Saints, having 4,000 fans back will be very welcome and the supporters will be very grateful to be back watching their high-flying team from the stands once again.

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Given the amount of money that has been lost due to the pandemic though, this number of fans will not produce enough financial income to make a real difference just yet.

With St Mary’s able to hold just over 32,000 at maximum capacity, it will be interesting to see how Saints allocate tickets.

Supporters from the local area around the stadium may be prioritised and season ticket holders would probably be targeted too. This will still be complicated to arrange though so fans will be awaiting official word from Saints themselves.

Sports fans in other countries have already been allowed back into events and social distancing has been imperative to reduce contact between those coming back through the turnstiles.

Saints are due to face Sheffield United, Manchester City and West Ham on home turf in the lead up to Christmas – the 12th December being the current date for the clash with Chris Wilder’s Blades.