Quote:OK ... so when I was watching Bournemouth play Stoke on May 6 a few Saturdays ago at Bournemouth, there was a big cheer when Stoke scored.  I initially thought the Stoke fans traveled down for the game as part of their vacation. THEN A LOUD CHANT CAME ACROSS THE AUDIO .... the fans were singing "When the Saints Come Marching In" ...... I could only come to the conclusion that the Southampton fans made the 70 mile trip to watch the game since their away match vs Liverpool was scheduled for Sunday May7.  ---- It was crazy ... and LOUD !!

 

Haha I'm honestly not trying to be contrary here, but most Premier League games are what's called 'all ticket' for away fans. This means that Stoke fans would only be able to get tickets for the away game via the Stoke City ticket office, in doing so they will need to be members of the Stoke City membership club (due to high demand). All fans in the Stoke City end of the ground would have been Stoke City fans.. it's not uncommon for fans over here to sing songs that relate to the opposition teams rivals. For instance, at Southampton games, the away fans will sing pro-Portsmouth songs, just to annoy the Southampton fans, much like the Stoke City fans did with Southampton songs when they scored against Bournemouth.. does that make sense?

 

It's also not uncommon for fans to travel the length and bredth of the country for one game and not even include it as part of a vacation. Personally speaking, I've travelled to Newcastle for an away game from Southampton. We took it in turns to drive.. it took about 6 hours each way.. (it's about 340 miles).

 

This is the view from the away end at Newcastle:

 

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