Right then, decided I needed to get out and actually watch some football live again. Scrolling through fixtures, saw Southampton were playing Stoke City at St Mary’s. Been a while since I’d been down there, so thought, why not?
First step was sorting tickets. Honestly, expected it to be a pain, websites freezing and all that nonsense. But this time, it was surprisingly smooth. Got onto the club site, found the match, picked a seat in the stands – not too high up, not right at the front getting rained on. Paid up, confirmation email pinged through pretty quick. Felt good to have it locked in.
Match day came around. Decided to drive down. Set off reasonably early, know how the traffic can get near the stadium. Journey was alright, bit of traffic as expected closer to Southampton, but nothing too bad. Found some side street parking eventually, always a bit of a gamble that, but saves paying the extortionate car park fees. Had a bit of a walk to the ground, maybe 15 minutes?
Got to St Mary’s. You always get that buzz outside, don’t you? People milling about, grabbing food, colours everywhere. Went straight in, didn’t hang about too much outside. Found my block, went up the stairs. Stadium looked good, pitch was immaculate.
Grabbed a pie and a drink inside. Cost a fortune, obviously, standard stadium prices. Found my seat easily enough. People around seemed friendly, usual pre-match chat started up. You know, predictions, moaning about previous games, the usual stuff.
The game itself kicked off. Look, I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow account. It was a match. Southampton trying to do their thing, Stoke making it difficult. Few chances here and there. The crowd got loud sometimes, quiet other times. You get caught up in it, shouting at the ref, cheering a good tackle. That’s the main thing, really, just being part of it. Felt much better than just watching on TV.
Saw the whole game through. Can’t honestly recall the final score right now without looking it up, but that wasn’t the main point of going for me. It was about the experience, the day out.
After the final whistle, joined the slow shuffle out of the stadium. Headed back to the car, walk seemed longer on the way back. Drive home was fine, bit tired but felt good. It was just a solid day out watching football. Simple as that, really. Glad I made the effort.
