Back at a fan meeting in December Saints informed fans that they hoped to reopen the closed Block 1 in the Itchen Stand by the end of March, however for several reasons this will now not happen this season.
Whilst the support given from the fans that that resided in blocks 1 & 2 in the Itchen Stand was magnificent and inspiring at times, it also could not be denied that at other times it went beyond what was acceptable with missile throwing and surges towards the away supporters in the Northam End.
Of course the away fans have to take some of the blame, but the fact was what was happening was not something that those Saints fans who travelled away in the main experienced at other stadiums in the Premier League.
Now comes the news that although the behaviour issues had improved leading to the club hoping that they could reopen the section before the end of the season.
But in order to get fans back in to block 1 work had to be done in the stadium to better separate fans and stop the surges that had let to some injuries amongst both fans and stewards.
The club have issued the following statement:
"Since we met with a small group of fans who came in to discuss this topic before Christmas, we've been exploring different ways to reopen the area so that everyone can return to their regular seats
"While we were hoping to fully reopen Block 1 this season, we've recently learned that this won't be possible.
"We've been working with external bodies to get the necessary sign-offs but need to complete work on a permanent low-level barrier between Blocks 1 and 2 and on the segregation lines between home and away supporters.
"Unfortunately, due to the match schedule and time constraints, we won't be able to complete the work during the season, and the temporary solution we’d hoped to implement in the meantime is not feasible.”
"We understand that this news is disappointing, but please know that we're committed to getting all the necessary approvals for a full reopening at the start of next season.
"We appreciate your patience and understanding during this frustrating situation. We know how important it is for you to return to your regular seats, and we're doing everything we can to make it happen.
"We'll continue to keep you updated on our progress, and we want to thank you for your ongoing support.”
Some supporters in the Itchen have complained that they are being victimised by Police and Stewards and that away supporters are not being ejected etc for similar behaviour.
The club are now apparently going to issue regular briefings on the behaviour statistics at St Mary's and have just published the updates statistics for the season up to March 14th, which does not include the Tottenham game on Saturday 18th March
The data shows that stewards at St Mary’s have ejected 216 away supporters and 57 home supporters and have subsequently the club have issued 60 stadium bans.
This perhaps debunks the perception that away supporters are not ejected or targeted as home supporters are, back in an article on this website after we had met with the Stadium Security manager we were told that whilst it did not appear that away fans were being ejected, the truth was that this was due to the way that handling ejections and indeed arrests in the away section.
With a groups of up to 3,000 fans in the away section, the club had to be more careful, it was a more volatile situation, they told us it was about targeting the supporters and removing them discretely than piling in and risking a scenario where injuries might be sustained by stewards, police and innocent supporters caught up merely because they were in the vicinity.
It also shows 20 incidents of pyrotechnics being made aware to the club by supporters, seven incidents of smoking/vaping in prohibited areas and nine incidents of drinking in view of the pitch.
In addition, eight instances of discrimination, 50 medical incidents and 39 instances of abusive behaviour have also been reported to the club via supporters in attendance.
Saints add that they will be updating the data regularly, in order to increase transparency and help explain to supporters acts taken in order to ensure health and safety at St Mary’s.
What is not transparent though is whether these statistics are merely from incidents reported by supporters or the entire total of incidents in the ground, it also does not give details of arrests made.
Hopefully next season block 1 can be reopened after the necessary remedial work has been completed .