Potted History of St. Mary's

19/4/01 Stands named

The names of the stands at St. Mary's have been unveiled. They have not been named after great players but simply geographically.The main stand will be the Itchen Stand, the gasworks end will be the Northam Stand, the opposite goal will be the Chapel Stand and the fourth side will be the Kingsland Stand.

Head of Marketing Paul Blanchard said: "We did consider naming the stands after players or managers but they are being represented in the Hall of Fame instead.

"As Southampton City Council and our new neighbours have been so supportive of our move we felt it would be fitting to name the stands by location.

"We may add sponsors' names but these will be as well as rather than instead of the current names."


3/04/01 Drink Up Saints !!!

Saints have signed a deal earning the club £1 million over the next 10 years from Carlsberg-Tetley, who will supply the beer for St. Marys. A buoyant Rupert Lowe (free samples ?) said: "This is a major deal for the club and one that will be of great interest to supporters. Players and managers may come and go but the beer is here for the next ten years."

30/8 Main concrete subframe has been completed.

1/6/00 - As planned the construction of the new stadium begins.

17/2/00 It is announced that construction on the new stadium will commence on 1st June 2000.

2/00

Archeologists may be off site in mid-April.

01/00
Archeologists have uncovered a Saxon brooch and may wish to extend their dig .This may require a delay in construction

11/10/99 AGM and EGM
Shareholders ratify the selling of the Dell to Barratt homes and the purchase of the St. Mary's gasworks site. This was the last stage to be completed and the construction can now proceed as scheduled. Many issues concerning transport to the new ground were raised. Current transport plans can be found in the St. Mary's vital stats section of this page. Current funding breakdown can be viewed at in the Cost Breakdown section.

10/99 Shareholder approval will be sought at a shareholders meeting this month.

09/99 £1.2 Million is expected as revenue for sponsorship. Included in this is the corporate naming of the stands. Disappointing news to those hoping for a Ted Bates stand etc.

09/99 From club's financial report.

'The Company has entered into agreements for committed construction loan

facilities from MeesPierson NV ("MeesPierson"), and offers of long term finance

facilities have been received from Deutsche Genossenschaftsbank AG ("DG Bank")

for £12 million and long term asset finance facilities from Sovereign Finance

Plc ("Sovereign") for £5 million. The total construction loan facility from

MeesPierson is £17 million and the DG Bank and Sovereign facilities will be

utilised to discharge the construction loan borrowings drawn down from

MeesPierson on completion of the Development.'

09/99- 7626426 shares of the club have been purchased by five individuals at 40p a share Rupert Lowe speaks at the stock exchange in an effort to raise the thirty million pounds necessary to build St.Mary's. Five investors have emerged to put seven million pound each into the project. In addition to these funds the disposal of the Dell to property developers could net the club another five million pounds. A new share issue is also expected to raise £3 million for the project.

09/99 As soon as the Dell is sold for £5 million, £4.3 million is immediately used to purchase the St. Mary's gasworks site.

09/99- The Dell is up for sale as Saints prepare for move to Stoneham for start of 01/02 season. In subsequent news the Dell is conditionally sold to Barratt homes for £5 million. It is conditional dependant on the shareholders accepting the arrangement. If no agreement is reached the contract to sell will terminate on December 31st.The £5milion may be increased dependant on the structures Barratt place on the site.

09/99- New share offer announced which will hopefully give the club a further £3 million.

06/99-Board considering leasing options and prepare for problems with Utility services.

06/99- Archaeologists are keen to preserve the Saxon town of Hamwick which stretches onto the St.Mary's site. The club intends to leave this site undisturbed under the stadium.

06/99-Site clearance. In addition to the concrete structures on the St. Mary's site there are also; an electricity substation, Main foul drain, a high pressure gas main and telecomms equipment.

06/99- John Mowlem revealed as the preferred contractor for the new ground.

06/99 - The architects behind the Riverside and Pride Park, Miller Group, will also design St. Mary's.

06/99 – The £30 million funding for the New Stadium should be in place by the start of the 99/00 season. Six banks are said to be interested in investing in the project. In addition to this extra shares may be floated in Southampton F.C.’s parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings plc. The club will also utilise a £3.5 million Football Trust grant.

05/99 – For obvious reasons Chairman Rupert Lowe re-states that the move to St. Mary’s will be dependent on the club retaining its Premiership status.

05/99 – The Stadium Opposition Group have challenge thrown out by Southampton City Council. They claimed that approval had been granted without a full impact assessment and wanted a planning inquiry to be executed.

05/99 – Deputy Prime Minister gives approval for the stadium to be built. Is there anyone who doesn’t have to give approval?

04/99- Plans now passed to Department of the Environment for final approval. Secretary of State John Prescott will inform club within 28 days.

04/99 – Club awarded £3.5 million from football trust to be spent on the development costs in constructing new stadium.

04/99 – A12 hour planning meeting by Southampton City Council gives permission for St. Mary’s to be built.

03/99 – In addition to a new stadium the club are keen to move to new training facilities. The club currently trains at Long Lane, Marchwood. This is a 6.5-acre site and the club cites size parking and traffic difficulties in their decision to look for a new site. The club has suggested that a possible location would be at Long Farm larger site also in Marchwood.

12/98 – Club submit plans for move to St. Mary’s to Southampton City Council.

12/98 – Sports Minister Tony Banks gives support to building of new stadium. He will try will contact other ministers to overcome any further problems.

12/98 – For obvious reasons Chairman Rupert Lowe states that the move to St. Mary’s will be dependent in part on the club retaining its Premiership status.

11/98 – Southampton still trying to get approval for construction at Stoneham. The Stoneham ground will be a community stadium with a 25 000 capacity and will cost £30 million

11/98 – Eastleigh Borough Council give approval dependant on roof size and other issues being resolved. Southampton City Council and Hampshire County Council will also have to approve the site. As they have been unable to agree a resolution for months the outcome of the Stoneham proposal still looks to be in doubt. St.Mary’s is looking like the best option.

10/98 – Plans for £50 million Stoneham Sports Complex blocked by Eastleigh Borough Council. Eastleigh objects to plans for a cinema and retail park to be part of the Complex. Southampton are determined to include these aspects of the plan in an effort to recoup funding losses accrued by Stadium construction. Without them the plan is no longer viable and St.Mary’s looks to be the only way forward.

10/99 – Rupert Lowe holding talks with Southampton City Council concerning viability of St. Mary’s site.

9/98 – Southampton City Council lend support to St. Mary’s site after Eastleigh continue to block Stoneham plans.

7/98 – Southampton are considering plans to build a hotel on the Stoneham site in place of the originally proposed Cinema and Retail Park.

6/98 – Eastleigh Council propose to increase the capacity of the ground form 25000 to 320000. This would be in place of the Retail Park and the cinema. Eastleigh is concerned that these facilities will have a detrimental impact upon their own economy. Frankly this looks ill-advised attempt to gain revenue and a move to the gasworks seems far more likely.

5/98 – The Stoneham issue will be settled at the June County Council meeting. With the three councils involved unable to agree on anything it seems probable that the club will simply choose to plan with Southampton City Council to develop the St. Mary’s site.

5/98 – Pro Stadium supporters ask for fans to make themselves heard by voting for pro stadium councillors at the council elections. It is believed that the majority of current Eastleigh councillors are opposed to the idea.

3/98 – Rupert Lowe meets with Eastleigh council. The council is still opposed to the idea. They believe that the development of the only green field site between themselves and Southampton will cause them to lose their identity as a separate borough. The lack of access roads was also put forward as being a problem as was the economic impact of having a retail park and cinema taking business away form the Eastleigh.

02/98 – In a poll of 38000 people35 800 are in favour of the move to Stoneham.

02/98 – Southampton’s two labour MPs give their support for the Stoneham project believing it will have wide spread benefits for the community.

01/98 – Referendum commences to gather support for the new stadium.

11/97 – Hampshire County Council are unwilling to attend a meeting to finalise the Stoneham plans despite having known about the meeting for months. This might place a 3-month delay on the development schedule while the council sifts through the plans again. Had the plans been accepted the next stage would have been to seek permission to build the stadium. This is just one of many delays the council has placed upon the project in what appears either small minded bureaucracy or a deliberate attempt to stonewall proceedings. Previously the council had delayed the project by 10 weeks in order for it to conduct a review after a change in administration. Hampshire council even state that it was due to tardiness by the club!

In order to build the Stoneham stadium 3 councils have to be involved.

Southampton City Council – planning authority and part landlord of site.

Hampshire County Council –

Eastleigh Borough Council – local planning authority.

11/97 - Application made for a £10 million lottery fund grant to aid development of the Stoneham stadium. It will be 6 months before a response is expected.

10/97 – All 3 councils endorse community sports facilities as part of the Stoneham plan.

10/97 – Councils confer with club over bid for lottery grant.

10/97- Road to Stoneham campaign gets under way to promote the stadium in the community.

10/97 – Hampshire council approve plans for lottery application.

10/97 – Hampshire Council sub committee due to discuss the Stoneham issue. This is crucial in obtaining lottery funds. Eastleigh council will also have to agree.

Summer 97 – Stoneham project reviewed successfully by all parties.

04/97 – Memorandum of agreement signed by club and the three participating councils.

County Architects Department is chosen as concept architects for Stoneham.

1994 – Planning Appeal submitted. Full public consultation involved.

1990 Southampton begin plans again for move to a new stadium.