Saints fans will be praying it doesnt rain on Saturday.

Bloomfield Road has probabaly just about the worst away section in the football league, it consists of a temporary stand running alongside one side of the pitch and is completely open to the elements as Saints fans found out last year as they watched the first half of the game in a monsoo, whilst home fans sat snugly in the two sides of the ground that were covered, the fourt portion behind one of the goals being a building site.

Hopefully it will be a little warmer and dryer this year as those who be moan paying £24 to watch Championship football at St Mary's compare the luxury of that to £26 to visit Blackpool.

A large number of Saints fans will stay up over the weekend in Blackpool, personally I dont see the attraction, its a grim enough place in the summer with its high proportion of drunks and binge drinkers, let alone in March when the wind blows in and makes it pretty chilly to say the least, I must be getting older, however I must admit I do have a soft spot for the resort.

One thing Saints supporters wont go short of though is a drink, last year many plotted up in the Manchester pub on the seafront to watch what they hoped would be a resounding Man Utd win over Pompey in the FA Cup, sadly it didnt turn out that way, this year it looks likely to be the same venue, same team in Pompey, but with Everton being the side roared on by Saints fans in the televised lunchtime game.

For those staying up, a visit to the Tower is a must if not a little pricey, however the glorious views are worth the price even if the rickety lifts arent for the faint hearted.

Sadly for older Saints fans who visited the ground in the 1970's, nothing remains of that stadium that once held over 38,000, back then the goal to right of todays away section was a big Kop terrace covered and with one third of it dedicated to away fans.

In 1977 Saints visited twice, firstly in May for the final game of the season when 3,000 visiting Saints fans descended on the town, many travelling overnight and arriving at 7am in the morning, playing football on the beach and stopping trams and then the following season when a much smaller following witnessed Saints win 1-0 on a cold December Saturday.

Back then the ground had character, you could almost see Stanley's Mathews and Mortensen  on the pitch, and indeed it was barely 20 years since they had been, anyone under 60 will find it hard to believe that Blackpool were once the glamour club of England, a far cry from the half finished stadium they play in today.

Photo: Action Images

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