Southampton: Saints fans barred from St Mary’s once again in new tier 4

Southampton fans will be barred from St Mary’s again after a government announcement confirmed large areas of Southern England has been placed under stricter Covid-19 measures.

A briefing from the UK government on Wednesday – led by Health Secretary Matt Hancock – announced that Hampshire, Sussex, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Essex and Waverly would be moving into tier 4 that restricts the movement of people further.

Areas around Southampton like the New Forest and the Isle of Wight move to Tier 3 with a spike in Coronavirus cases and a new variant detected in the UK.

Up to 2,000 Saints fans had been present at recent home games against Sheffield United and Manchester City but fans will now not be allowed in the stands once again for the foreseeable future.

Saints were one of just four clubs – along with Liverpool, Everton and Brighton – who were allowed supporters through the turnstiles last weekend, but Saints and Brighton have now seen measures tightened.

Football has been hit hard by the Coronavirus pandemic and it remains to be seen how Saints have been affected financially when they release their next accounts.

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Some clubs had said that they were losing money from hosting just 2,000 fans because of the cost of stewarding against matchday income and ticket sales.

However, it will have been a real boost for Ralph Hasenhuttl and his players to see fans enjoying their displays against Sheffield United and Manchester City from the terraces – a video of the Saints boss saluting supporters with tears in his eyes went viral on social media after the 3-0 win against the Blades.

Fans will now be confined to watching from the sofa and Saints have plenty of upcoming games to see in late-December and January.

Sky Sports will show Saints’ meeting with Fulham on Saturday, whilst Prime Video then provide coverage of their home clash with West Ham the next Tuesday.

Three more games on Sky come with league meetings with Liverpool, Leeds and Aston Villa next month, whilst BT Sport will show the FA Cup Third-Round tie against Shrewsbury Town and Premier League fixtures versus Leicester and Arsenal.