Southampton V Portsmouth Information Suggests Bubble Game Thursday, 24th Jul 2025 10:03 Saints have taken the unprecedented step of giving their supporters information about both the sale of tickets and also the road closures around the ground nearly two months before the game itself and the early indications are that it could be a bubble game. Southampton FC have issued the information further down regarding ticketing for the home fixture against Portsmouth on Sunday September 14th. But perhaps the most interesting paragraph is near the end. For this match, all Southampton supporters will need to enter via Britannia Road, Marine Parade or the Northam footbridge. Melbourne Street will be out of bounds for home supporters and will be for away supporters only. This will be the only way for away supporters to enter the stadium footprint This suggests that the Police will be creating a sterile area on the Industrial Estate behind the Chapel end with no Saints supporters allowed. That would make sense if you are only going to allow Pompey fans to travel by coach to the game.
The statement at the end that the Melbourne Street entrance will be the only way for visiting supporters to access their turnstiles, also suggests that logistically it would be virtually impossible to escort a large number of Pompey supporters to Melbourne Street from the train station. That journey would mean either escorting them through the City Centre and then across the parks to Street Mary's Church to access the industrial estate via Chapel Road, which would be a very long winded route and with a lot of potential for public disorder, or escort them from Six Dials, Brittannia Road and through thousands of Saints fans trying to access the Itchen, Northam & Chapel stands, that is just unimaginable.
So the fact that the only way for Pompey fans to access the away section will be through Melbourne Street, does suggest that this will be a so called Bubble Game, as in was in 2011/12 when in both games the fans had to travel by coaches & buses provided and did not receive their tickets until they were on the coach. Anyway at the moment this is just speculation, what is fact is the information the club has given which we have printed below. The club is expecting this highly anticipated match to be in high demand and have put the below information and criteria together to ensure tickets for this match are going to Saints supporters. The first window for supporters to purchase tickets for this match will begin at 9.30am on Wednesday 30th July. The criteria to purchase tickets in this first window will be all of the below: You are a 2025/26 Saints Member You have a previous purchase history, purchasing at least one competitive Southampton FC match between the 2020/21 season and 2024/25 seasons You have already purchased one or more matches for the 2025/26 season To assist more supporters in qualifying we've brought forward the ticket windows for the three home matches after Portsmouth for 2025/26 Saints Members to purchase. The following matches will be available for members to purchase from 9.30am on Tuesday 29th July, with full information and pricing on these matches released later this week: Middlesbrough on Saturday 27th September Swansea City on Saturday 18th October Preston North End on Saturday 1st November Our opening two home matches against Wrexham and Stoke City are still available for Saints Members to purchase now. Buy Wrexham tickets Buy Stoke City tickets By purchasing one or more of our other home matches before the 30th July Portsmouth window opening, it will ease the process and ensure you can purchase straight away without any delay. If you hold off to purchase another match until the 30th July this could result in a delay of several minutes to be eligible to purchase the Portsmouth match.
Please note that any members who have not purchased any match tickets at any point during the previous five seasons will not be eligible to purchase Portsmouth match tickets. Due to the limited number of tickets available for this match, it is not expected that there will be a window for Season Ticket holders to purchase additional tickets. Should any tickets remain after this initial window, further details will be announced week commencing 4th August. Further details can be found below: Tickets are strictly one per member for this match Ticket transfers on the Saints Tickets App will be restricted for this match Anyone found selling on any tickets will face a stadium ban and action taken against them The club will be making random checks on the day at turnstiles to ensure tickets and ID match the ticket holder All hospitality lead bookers must have a previous booking history with us and provide full details of all of those attending in their booking. With availability already extremely limited, supporters can register their interest here in hospitality for this match For this match, all Southampton supporters will need to enter via Britannia Road, Marine Parade or the Northam footbridge. Melbourne Street will be out of bounds for home supporters and will be for away supporters only. This will be the only way for away supporters to enter the stadium footprint Further information for supporters attending this match will be sent in the build up to the match All Photos Via Reuters Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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