Southampton will be sporting a different short sponsor for their clash against Manchester United next week as they move to highlight discrimination that disabled people face at football grounds.
Regular sponsor Virgin Media have teamed up with disability charity Scope for the St Mary’s match next Wednesday, with Saints’ shirts set to sport the charity’s logo.
This comes after research was published showing that eight out of ten disabled football fans say they have experienced some form of discrimination or other issue when visiting a stadium.
The majority of these fans say that these experiences have stopped them going to a live match again.
Scope’s chief executive Mark Atkinson welcomed the move from Virgin and Southampton.
“This new research should serve as a wake-up call to all football clubs and fans,” he said.
"Football is our national game and has the ability to bring people together. We know that large numbers of fans want everyday equality and that means an inclusive game where discrimination of any kind isn’t tolerated. Disabled fans shouldn’t feel forced out of the stadium.
“It’s great to see football teams like Southampton FC highlighting the issue, with the support of Virgin Media who’ve donated their shirt sponsorship to Scope for this match. The rest of the football industry now needs to work together and kick disability discrimination out of the game.”
In a separate move to raise awareness Saints will host a penalty shoot-out at half-time of the match which will see fans take spot kicks with £5,000 being donated to Scope for each goal scored.
This will be the penultimate Premier League game of the season for both sides, with the Red Devils expected to make a number of changes ahead of the following week’s Europa League final.
Saints fans will be housed in the South East corner of the Riverside Stadium, with turnstiles opening at 1.30pm. Saints will be wearing their black away kit.
Getting There By Car
Leave the A1( M) at junction 49, signposted to Teesside, and join the A168, which after approximately 1 mile will become the A19. Approximately 19 miles later take the A66 eastbound towards Middlesbrough town centre. Stay on A66 past the town centre (on your right) and follow signs to the stadium, which you will see on your left.
Car Parking
Matchday parking is restricted to permit holders only and supporters are advised to find spaces in the town centre or in paid car parks around the stadium.
Getting There By Train
Middlesbrough Railway Station is situated around 10 to 15 minutes’ walk from the ground. Supporters travelling by rail from the south should change at Darlington or York to catch connecting services.
Coach Travel
Coaches will depart St. Mary’s Stadium at 06:00, Eastleigh at 06:15, Winchester at 06:30 and Chieveley at 07:00.
Downloadable Guide
Check out Carlsberg’s away guide for Saints fans travelling to the Riverside Stadium by downloading it here.
Despite some positive attacking play, they were kept at bay by Arsenal in a 2-0 defeat at St Mary’s.
And Redmond says there is a real desire to respond against their already relegated hosts this weekend.
“With two games in a week and four games in two weeks it’s important that whatever the result win, lose or draw you need to bounce back and put the last game to bed and focus on the next one which is obviously Middlesbrough,” said Redmond.
“We’ve been working hard in training and there was a time where everything we touched went in, especially for the likes of Gabbi, Charlie when he was fit and myself.
“We need to keep plugging away and eventually the chances we’re creating will start going in again.
“We’ll go out there and respect them regardless of their situation. We’ve got a task at our end and that’s to win a game so that is our main focus.”
The biggest criticism levelled by Southampton fans at manager Claude Puel this season is that he is too cautious, and that cautiousness could plunge him closer to the sack at Middlesbrough on Saturday.
Though a meaningless clash between one team already doomed to life in the Championship and another who struggle to score goals will hardly set pulses racing, for Puel it represents once last golden chance to save his job.
It is unlikely football fans across the globe will be flocking to their TV sets to catch a glimpse of events at the Riverside Stadium, nor will newspaper sport editors be reserving too many column inches to chronicle what unfolds.
But for Puel it is the opportunity to prove to his bosses and those supporters, who have clearly run out of patience with the Frenchman, that he is still the man to take Southampton forward.
Sadly, judging by Puel’s response when asked if he would turn to fit-again Charlie Austin to solve Southampton’s scoring woes, it is a path he is unlikely to take.
Surely this is the perfect game in which to reintroduce Austin to first-team football; a match against one of the two worst teams in the league when the rest of your strikers have seemingly forgotten how to hit the back of net.
If Manolo Gabbiadini was still banging in goals for fun, as he did at the start of his Saints career, you could understand Puel’s decision to ignore Austin. But he isn’t.
If substitute Shane Long and Jay Rodriguez were grasping their opportunities to impress from the bench, then maybe they would deserve to be picked ahead of Austin. But they aren’t.
If Austin was not still Southampton’s top scorer despite spending five months on the sidelines, then Puel would perhaps be right to bring him back slowly. But he is. What does that say about how much his team have missed him?
It is not like Austin is being nursed back from a career-threatening knee problem. His legs have been in full working order throughout his rehabilitation and there is not as much chance of suffering a repeat of his dislocated shoulder as there would be had he been out with a ligament or muscular injury.
Austin says he is fit and, like any player worth his salt, is desperate to get back out into the competitive arena.
Having failed to win any of their past five games – four of them without scoring – Southampton and the under-pressure Puel are in need of a lift, the type of boost a fresh Austin can provide for the final three matches of a season that is meandering meaninglessly to its conclusion. A conclusion that looks certain to end in Puel being relieved of his duties.
However much Puel insists he is not fighting for his job, a parting of the ways is looking more and more likely by the day. As stories surfaced this week that Southampton have been sounding out Hull’s Marco Silva about the prospect of replacing Puel, the noose tightened a little more.
As Southampton once again failed to score at home in Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to Champions League-chasing Arsenal, another line was added to Puel’s obituary as Saints manager.
The continued silence from the Southampton board in the wake of the Silva headlines should be telling Puel all he needs to know about his long-term employment prospects.
Puel’s paymasters might even have allowed themselves a wry smile when French news outlets reported that he is wanted for a return to Ligue 1 with St Etienne. They are probably tempted to offer to pay for his flight home.
That is why he should go for broke and put his faith in Austin, before it is too late.
Alex Crook is ESPN FC’s Southampton blogger. Follow him on Twitter @alex_crook
Everton want to sign Gylfi Sigurdsson from Swansea in the summer
Everton want to sign Swansea midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson in the summer, according to Sky sources.
Sky Sports News HQ understands the Toffees are hoping to strike a deal in the region of £25m for the Iceland international.
Sigurdsson has been a stand-out performer for Swansea this season and has managed to score nine times in the Premier League despite his side’s struggles on the pitch.
Everton are likely to face competition from Southampton for the 27-year-old, whose current contract at Swansea runs until 2020.
As well as Sigurdsson, Ronald Koeman is interested in signing Ajax captain Davy Klaassen.
The attacking midfielder has enjoyed an exceptional season, scoring 18 goals in 43 matches and helping Ajax reach the Europa League final.
Klaassen, who is an Ajax academy graduate, has won three Eredivisie titles and been capped 11 times by the Netherlands.
On Thursday, Koeman warned midfielder Ross Barkley he had one more week to decide his future.
The England midfielder has one year remaining on his present contract and is yet to confirm whether he will sign a new deal.
“Still one week, time for him to decide. The board is working a long time for Ross to stay for a long period,” Koeman said ahead of Friday’s match against Watford.
“It’s up to the player but we don’t wait until August. We need an answer if he will accept the contract or we sign a player.”
Middlesbrough’s head coach Steve Agnew is again likely to be without Daniel Ayala, Gaston Ramirez and Victor Valdes because of injury.
However, Adlene Guedioura is close to a first-team return after recovering from a groin strain.
Southampton boss Claude Puel may include striker Charlie Austin, who has been out since December with a dislocated shoulder.
Defender Matt Targett could also make his return after a long-term absence.
John Roder: "Back in August, I was at the Riverside for Match of the Day for Middlesbrough’s return to the Premier League. Following the 1-1 draw with Stoke there was an optimistic view that Boro could avoid an immediate return to the Championship, where they had spent the previous seven seasons.
"Nine months later relegation was confirmed at Chelsea on Monday, with Middlesbrough having won only five times in 36 league matches.
"Sofiane Boufal scored a wonderful goal for Saints when these teams met at St Mary’s in December.
"However, goals have been at a premium for Boro all season and just recently for Southampton, who have to regain their scoring touch to ensure a top-10 finish. "
Middlesbrough head coach Steve Agnew: "After the disappointment of the other night, it has been an emotional time and understandably so, and I am no different. I feel responsibility for what has happened.
"But it’s not about my future, it’s not about my situation, it’s about Middlesbrough Football Club.
“It’s about us understanding where we are, it’s about how we finish strongly in these last couple of games and then we regroup, have a good summer and make sure that we’re in the fight to bounce back to the Premier League as quickly as we possibly can.”
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "There’s the possibility to finish in the first part of the table and that is very important to us.
“If we can have a good result against Middlesbrough, we can prepare for our last two games at home with good possibilities, good intensity.”
Let’s give Claude Puel some credit for what he has done in his first season at Southampton, because he has been without some key players for long periods, on top of the talent that left the club in the summer and then in January too.
Saints have still always been comfortable in mid-table, and reached the final of the League Cup.
Middlesbrough, meanwhile, went down with a whimper.
SAM (Sports Analytics Machine) is a super-computer created by @ProfIanMcHale at the University of Salford that is used to predict the outcome of football matches.
Nathan Redmond is targeting a top-half Premier League finish with Southampton this season - but knows Saints may need to win their remaining three games to achieve it.
Claude Puel’s side have gone off the boil in recent weeks and have taken just two points from their last five matches.
Southampton’s last win came over West Brom on April 8 and the 2-0 defeat to Arsenal on Wednesday night means finishing inside the top 10 is now a challenge.
Despite such a forgettable run, the south-coast club will definitely end the campaign in the top-half by winning their remaining matches.
They face relegated Middlesbrough on Saturday before a Manchester United side with more than one eye on the Europa League final visit St Mary’s on Wednesday, with a home clash with Stoke bringing the curtain down on Puel’s first season in charge.
Former Norwich winger Redmond has settled in well since he joined Saints last summer and he wants form to lift as the season reaches its climax.
“We would like to finish strong,” he told saintsfc.co.uk.
"We want to finish in the top half of the table and as high as we can. We need maximum points from our last three games to do so.
“I think with two games in a week and four in two weeks it is important, whatever the result, that you bounce back and put the last game to bed and focus on the next game at hand.”
A trip to face Middlesbrough at the Riverside may seem a good place to start their run-in with a bang, but Redmond admits it can be a different challenge when coming up against a side with nothing to lose.
“A little bit,” he replied when asked if he was wary of Boro’s situation.
“At the same time you have to go out there and respect them regardless of their situation. We have a task at hand, we want to win the game at that is our main focus.”
Southampton’s recent ills have been mainly caused by a lack of goal threat, with the loss to Arsenal the third game in a row where they have failed to score.
“We have been working hard on it in training,” Redmond added.
“There is a time where everything we touched would go in at one point, especially for the likes of Gabbi (Manolo Gabbiadini), Charlie (Austin) and myself, it is just about keeping plugging away and the chances we get, we will be sure to put them away soon.”
Southampton announced on Friday that they will sport charity-branded shirts for their clash with United.
The game against Jose Mourinho’s side will see Saints wear home shirts with ‘Scope’ emblazoned on them as their main sponsor Virgin Media look to support the disability charity.
Saints will sport charity-branded shirts for their Premier League clash with Manchester United next Wednesday.
The game against Jose Mourinho’s side will see Saints wear home shirts with ‘Scope’ emblazoned on them as their main sponsor, Virgin Media, looks to support the disability charity.
The telecommunications company also commissioned a survey alongside Scope which found that eight out of 10 disabled fans have experienced discrimination at a football stadium.
In the survey, conducted by Opinium, the 1,003 respondents were also asked if they had stopped attending matches as a result of discrimination - with 62 per cent confirming they had.
As well as the shirt sponsorship, Paralympic gold medallist Richard Whitehead will also be involved in a half-time event aimed at raising money for Scope.
Whitehead, who won gold in the 200m T42 event at London 2012 and in Rio last year, will help five Saints fans who will all take a penalty during the interval, with Virgin Media donating £5,000 to Scope for every goal scored.
Southampton visit the Riverside Stadium tomorrow, for what will be the team’s third game in the past week.
With another two to follow in the following week, Puel is having to guard against fatigue among his players.
"We made two strong games on the physical side, with a lot of intensity,” he said. "It will be important to see all of this with the players and their recovery.
"Middlesbrough did not play [since Monday] and it will be important to play with a team that is physically fit, with good intensity and good possibilities to make a good result.
“A good recovery is important, especially as afterwards we have to play a game against Manchester United and then finish at home to Stoke.
“It’s a difficult schedule and it’s important with the starting players to make sure you have a team that is fresh and that has good possibilities to maintain a good rhythm and intensity to try to win the game.
“We’ve got to try to put in place a team with a good balance and a good possibility to win the game away against Middlesbrough.”
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