By Nick Mabey.
With relegation pretty much assured (if not mathematically certain yet) I found myself in reflective mood when taking my seat for the recent home game with so-called local rivals AFC Bournemouth. Reflecting on the strange feeling of having no pressure and expecting to lose. Reflecting on the reversal of the two clubs’ recent fortunes. And reflecting on my own history of supporting both Saints and the Cherries. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything for this column, so forgive if I ramble away.
It is weird being so far adrift of safety so early in the season. Southampton have been bottom of the league for such a long time and, with the points gap growing rather than shrinking, there is an air of resignation that makes attending matches rather surreal. Against Bournemouth on Saturday, we conceded two early goals and a collective melancholia arrived in the stadium, which lifted temporarily in the second half when we staged something of a fight back, only to descend again with their third goal.
I’ve seen us relegated twice in my supporting career (I’m not counting 74 as I was nine and only an occasional visitor) The first time was in 2005 on the last day of the season, with a home defeat to Manchester United that resulted in me crying and getting a speeding ticket. The drama felt intense, particularly after surviving relegation with ‘great escapes’ at least half a dozen times in the previous fifteen years. The second relegation came in 2009 (from the Championship), perhaps the darkest year of our existence when we were put into administration and were fretting over the whole future of the club – all of which made the matches themselves seems little more than incidental. That season we battled away to avoid relegation but discovered a points reduction would be applied if we survived, rendering it all rather meaningless. And so, this season is something I’m not sure how to handle.
As for the different position Saints and Cherries find themselves in, this too is rather surreal. For all the time I can remember, Bournemouth have been a much smaller club than the Southampton. Even today, with the club sitting proudly in fifth place in the Premier League, the Cherries play in a hotchpotch of stadium that holds under 12,000 fans, watching a manager and players who are not that well known outside of East Dorset. And yet they are great to watch, very well organised and difficult to play against. Their squad is greater than the sum of its parts – witness David Brooks who starts almost every game despite only being an occasional (if classy) member of Saints Championship team last season.
The club’s rise has been nothing short of extraordinary. In May 2009 it took a 2-1 win against Grimsby to prevent Bournemouth from dropping out of the Football League altogether. Having endured similar but more acute financial problems to Saints, the Cherries had been battling both on and off the pitch for their very survival. And yet over the next six years they made it all the way to the Premier League, led by ex-player Eddie Howe and with a team featuring many who rose all the way with them. And now, despite some further financial issues and a brief spell back in the Championship, Bournemouth find themselves singing “we’re all going on a European tour” with rising expectation. Truly strange days indeed.
You’ve probably worked out by now I have a bit of a soft spot for Boscombe, as my uncle always called them. It was because he would take me to Dean Court a lot as a child. The fixture compilers seemed to have a rule that Southampton and Bournemouth had to play at home on alternate weekends, which meant I could follow both teams. This was manna from heaven for a football-mad boy, particularly as the teams were not in the same division and never seemed to get drawn against each other in the cups. My uncle knew my first love was the Saints, but had the charm and wine gums to tempt me into cheering for the red and blacks with nearly as much gusto as I did the red and whites. My active support dwindled as I grew up but I have always had a soft spot for the club, which has been severely tested by their impertinent arrival and success at the top table. It doesn’t help as well that in general term, Bournemouth fans seem to be particularly intense in their hatred of the Saints, whereas we seem to look on them with a sort of tender affection.
To finish these rambling reflections, a word of praise for our fans in the stadium this season. The size of the crowds and the atmosphere generated had been remarkable given what they have witnessed on the pitch. I often think us Southerners are not as passionate as the London and Northern footballing hotbeds, but it’s been a source of great pride to experience our fans support and gallows humour. I don’t do away games anymore but I’m told it’s just as good on the road. At times like this we need to stand together and be resilient, and we are – COYS!
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