Shops selling traditional Dutch clothing in Southampton are seeing sales rocket as Saints supporters prepare to sneak into home areas for the game in Arnhem against Vitesse.

With Saints only receiving 1,400 tickets for the trip to Vitesse there was always going to be some ingenuity needed, that has initially seen Saints fans buying tickets online direct from the Arnhem club.

The problem there though is that although automated systems will accept bookings, it is going to be a case of whether Vitesse themselves will pick up on the addresses when posting out tickets.

Certainly the person who announced that he had e mailed Vitesse asking if they were going to send him a ticket brought himself to the attention of the Dutch club and saw his order cancelled.

Even if Vitesse do send out the tickets there is then the issue of being admitted at the turnstiles, games in Holland are subject to even stricter conditions than those in England for the travelling fans with Bubble games often used for high profile fixtures.

So any Saints supporter who is planning to get a ticket for the home ends could find himself refused admission at the turnstiles should he be too conspicuous.

So some Saints fans are going to great lengths to ensure they get in one night and that has seen sales soar of traditional Dutch clothing in Southampton, East Street store Clogs & Windmills which specialises in clothing the Dutch community in Southampton has reported that sales have rocketed for sure.

A spokesman for the shop, Hertz Van Hire said.

" Normally we would only sell two maybe three pairs of clogs per week for sure, however we have seen sales go up 400 maybe 500% for sure over the past week."

"Usually its the Dutch community who are buying our stock for sure, however most buying have been English for sure."

"Not only that but clothing has been selling well for sure, baggy trousers and little hats have been doing well and people have been asking if Stone Island have any designs, unfortunately they don't although Adidas do a great retro clog style which we have ordered extra in that should be here by Tuesday for sure"

Clogs & Windmills is not the only shop in Southampton that is doing well, Waterstones have been selling Dutch phrasebooks in large quantities with the queue at one stage stretching out of West Quay.

HMV has sold out of Van Der Valk DVD's and the Itches Bridge has seen a rise in pedestrians as Saints supporters look to get into character for the trip.

So the message is clear for Saints supporters intending on sneaking in to home sections at the GelreDome on Thursday week, bowling up carrying a can of Heineken, muttering "For Sure" after every sentence is not going to make you merge into the crowd, drastic measures will be needed and some are willing to go that extra mile(Or kilometre) to make sure that they look like the average Dutchman.

Our research has been methodical and the attached picture gives an indication of what the average Vitesse fan will be wearing to the game, anything less and a Saints fan attempting to gain entry will be laughed at and turned away.

Photo: Action Images

Hugh_Jarce added 11:05 - Jul 26 Hoping to get a kosher away ticket and some mates have secured home tickets via contacts in Holland but if plod o evenr their own security are controlling entry then a couple of teaser questions in Dutch is going to be a challenge
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IWOZTHERE added 14:03 - Jul 26 We had to do the same a good few years ago when playing Pompey at Fratton. We each snapped off a few teeth and rubbed pilchard oil into our shell suits,..worked a treat! We were able to mingle with their supporter in one of the prestige corrugated iron sheds and they even delayed kick off when we said we'd be a bit late.
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Number_58 added 11:42 - Jul 27 I've searched for the Dutch costume shop you mentioned Nick and all I could find was A Taste of Amsterdam in Millbrook Road. I'm not 100% sure if the outfit I bought will be suitable for a football match.
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