 Tuesday, 5th Feb 2013 19:44 by Clive Whittingham A sell out crowd of 3,100 QPR fans is expected at St Mary’s next month for the R’s latest trip to Southampton. If you’re one of those with a ticket, read on for travel advice.
Ground Name: St Mary’s Capacity: 32 251 (all seated) Address: Britannia Road, Southampton, SO14 5FP Main Telephone No: 0870 220 0000 Fax No: 02380 727 727 Ticket Office: 0870 220 0155 By Car:From the M3 take the A33 into Southampton. Continue on the A33 until you reach the junction with the A3024 Northam Road and turn left onto this road towards Northam. Then turn right onto the B3038, Britannia Road for the stadium. It’s 73 miles and one hour 30 minutes at the speed limit from Loftus Road.
Map:
Click on the map to visit Google tour around and zoom in or out. Parking:Like so many new stadiums, Southampton's St Mary's ground offers absolutely no parking on site whatsoever. I mean if I was designing a stadium I'd recognise that over 50% of my customers arrive each week by car and would therefore put a bloody ten storey car park up next door as a matter of priority but what the hell do I know? Park and ride looks to be the best option. I haven’t driven here before so don't know quite how well it but from what I can tell it's just off Junction 8 of the M27 near a big Tesco and although it used to be free with a match ticket it now costs £8. There's a regular bus service from there although apparently the away buses are held back until a good half hour after the game so don’t expect to be back in your car and on the road until 6pm at the earliest. The park and ride operation apparently doesn’t start until 1pm. One thing I can vouch for is the traffic round the ground and the city centre after the match is absolute carnage. Some sites recommend driving into Southampton and parking in the town centre car parks or at the marina but it doesn’t look great to me. Barry from the message board, a former resident, previously added the following: For anyone travelling down by car, you can park about 15 mins drive away from the ground for nothing. Forget about the park and ride schemes as it will take ages to get back to the car park. Find a road called Alma road which is off the A33 (London Road) and park around there. To get to the stadium just get back onto the London Road and follow it into town and then follow the crowds.
By TrainI suspect many of the QPR fans travelling will be doing so by train. Services run fast from Waterloo, slow from Victoria and Clapham Junction, or from Reading if you’re coming down that way. On the fast Waterloo line there are four trains and hour with journey times of between 1 hour 14 mins and 1 hour 33 mins and an off peak day return ticket is £37.50. If you fancy saving money you can get a return ticket to Basingstoke for £21.30 on the day, and change there onto a Virgin service where tickets are available from £4. Or, if you don’t mind going round via Gatwick Airport and spending 2 hours 30 mins on a train, get the Southern Trains service from Victoria leaving at 0915 (arriving 11.59) and coming back at 1811 (arriving21.01) which is currently available for £20 return based on buying two £10 single tickets. All the guides say it's over 1.5 miles to walk from the station and it will take you half an hour. Well that, in my experience is total rubbish. Out of the station's south entrance and turn left, then basically just keep going straight on. Up Western Esplanade, which becomes Civic Centre Road, between the Civic Centre and the Marlands Shopping Centre. Cross into New Road at the crossroads with the Nationwide on the corner. At the next cross road cross Kings Way into Northam Road and follow this road for until you reach the ground on your right. The sign posting between the station and the ground is excellent and it's very hard to get lost. There is a shuttle bus service which may be useful for the lazy or if the weather is poor. CoachNo details from the LSA as yet.
Pubs:Reviews from LFW users on previous visits (bear in mind it’s been a few years): "We went for a pre-match drink in the designated away fan's bar in the upstairs of the King Albert pub (just across a bridge nearby the away turnstiles). A bar was exactly what it was, not much room up there with around 3 tables or so placed around the small corner, which as we got in there just before 1pm, managed to nab one. Mind you, you wouldn't be able to afford too many rounds in there, nearly £8 for a pint of Stella, a pint of bitter shandy and a bottle of j20. Talk about daylight robbery. There was a TV showing on one side the lunchtime game in the Championship, whilst the other side were showing the cricket. Unfortunately I got lumbered sitting on the side where the cricket was showing. Groan." We also previously had a letter from a land lord near the ground. I am writing to you as I own The Coopers Arms public house in Southampton and your supporters are visiting us next weekend. We are open for breakfast at about 9am and for alcohol at 10am. We have a very cheap menu, with a full (big) breakfast. My pub is five minutes walk from the stadium and we specialise in welcoming away supporters along with their families and children are especially welcome. We appreciate that it is difficult going to an away game and finding a place that is safe for the family, this is what we offer. Our address is 70 Millbank Street The guide recommends The Prince of Wales, The Bevois Castle, The Station, The Eagle and The Anchor (next to the East Street indoor shopping centre) as good friendly pubs for away fans. The Chapel Arms (formerly le Tissier Arms) near the ground apparently has a habit of not serving away fans close to kick off time so beware.
Tickets:QPR were allocated 1,700, then 2,500 and finally 3,100 tickets for this fixture and snapped them all up in double quick time. The match is now sold out for away fans. Links >>> Official website >>> Detailed fans' guide to St Marys
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