With the exciting news that the real South Coast Derby is on for the League Cup 3rd round tie, PST representatives have been discussing the policing of the match with Pompey’s Dedicated Football Officer from Hampshire Police.
As a result of this discussion, a special fan’s forum is taking place this weekend at the invitation of the Police. PST reps will attend along with other members of the Tony Goodall Fan’s Conference. In addition representatives of Southampton supporter groups will attend, as well as Supporter Liaison Officers from both clubs.
The Police have faced a difficult choice on how to approach this game. Previous matches have taken place on a Sunday lunchtime which offers more choices. A Tuesday night match means that a ‘bubble’ operation would require closing Rodney Road for the full day causing significant disruption to traffic and local businesses.
We’ll be keen to hear further detail on how this match will be policed to ensure that all attendees have a safe evening and that any potential for trouble is minimised. If anyone has any questions or comments they’d like us to put to the Police then please let us know on [email protected].
We all want to passionately support our team in this difficult fixture, but we need to make sure we do it in the right way without creating the negative headlines that could cause a backlash on the club.
Play Up Pompey