Saints supporters face disruption on 25th April when they attempt to get to Wembley and back if they go by train, with part of the mainline to Waterloo shut for rail works, now Network Rail are being urged to postpone them.

The Daily Echo have reported that Southampton Test MP Satvir Kaur, Saints' chief executive, Phil Parsons, and Southampton City Council leader Alex Winning have written a joint letter to Network Rail.

They are urging that planned engineering works between Basingstoke and Woking will be closed all day on Saturday, April 25 be postponed.

Saints fans travelling by train to the Capital for the game at Wembley will either have to use a replacement bus service between Basingstoke & Woking or travel on diverted trains via Guildford.

Either way would mean longer journey times and chaos on the system.

Getting to the game won't be too much of a problem, with a 5.15 kick off those travelling by train would have plenty of options over the course of the day.

But with the match at Wembley ending at around 7.15pm and potentially later if there is extra times and penalties and a journey time of around an hour back to Waterloo when considering walking to the station and queueing, the earliest train possible to get on would be about 8.15pm.

That would leave very few scheduled options to get home before the last train at 1.05, which would arrive at Southampton at 4am.

Those who went by train to the Championship play off final two years ago will know how stretched the trains were that day and how difficult it was to get on the service at stations past Southampton.

The letter sent from MP Satvir Kaur, Saints' chief executive, Phil Parsons, and Southampton City Council leader Alex Winning is as follows:

"The club has been allocated over 33,000 tickets, with supporters travelling predominantly from Southampton and surrounding areas.

"The rail route via Basingstoke is the main and most heavily relied upon connection into London for these journeys.

"The planned closure of this section of line, with buses replacing trains, will cause severe disruption - substantially increasing journey times, and creating significant logistical challenges that risk preventing many supporters from attending the match altogether.

"This semi-final is a hugely significant moment for us in Southampton.

"Opportunities like this are rare, and it is vital that all Saints supporters can travel safely, efficiently, and reliably to support our team.

"We understand that essential maintenance and upgrades need to take place.

"However, given the scale and significance of this event, we request these works be postponed or rescheduled so they do not fall on the same day as the fixture.

"We would welcome the opportunity to discuss this matter further and to work collaboratively to find a practical solution."

All Photos Via Reuters