Southampton

Ray Hunt
Fan writer

Image source, PA Media

The most anticipated fixture of the season is looming. Two sides, separated by 19 miles along the M27, with fans who obsess over their local team. It's the Battle of the South Coast. I'm talking, of course, about Southampton v Portsmouth. It's a source of excitement, nerves and anxiety, which usually results in chaos.

It's a unique derby in the sense that it rarely happens. This is the first league meeting between the clubs since April 2012 - and will be the 72nd between them - with both sides seemingly missing each other on the way to success and contrasting financial downfalls.

In this case, Saints are coming off their worst season in history, and Portsmouth are on the rise having survived their first season back in the Championship in 12 years, with two games to spare.

This feels, for the first time in a long time, like they are relative equals. Which only adds more fuel to the fire.

In fact, Portsmouth have started brighter. Two points better off and five places higher. They've enjoyed a successful summer transfer window, and are just beginning to see the fruits of that, picking up four points in their past two games and remaining undefeated on their travels so far.

Saints are trying to readjust after their disastrous 2024-25 Premier League season, with a new manager in Will Still and a whole host of new additions to integrate, with the hope they can fill the void left by the outgoing Mateus Fernandes and Tyler Dibling. Do the new recruits truly understand what this fixture means for the locals?

This is a game that sets the nerves jangling from the start of the week. Come matchday, we'll all be in knots. The history, the passion, the hatred. Who wants it more? Who will get bragging rights in the office on Monday morning? One thing is certain, you can throw all form out the window and treat this like a cup final.

I'm still confident Southampton come out on top. What a way for Still and the new signings to start their careers on the south coast; a win against the old enemy would etch themselves into the annals of history.

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"It's really a one-off game. I think form goes out the window and, however Will sets the team up, it'll be the responsibility of the fans to create the atmosphere that'll help the players on the pitch."

BBC Radio Solent's Jono Holmes and Rob Sills are joined by former Saints striker James Beattie to preview the upcoming South Coast derby against Portsmouth on Sunday (12:00 BST) - and why Beattie has it marked as the fiercest derby across his English footballing career.

Listen to the full episode of the Saints Social and more on BBC Sounds.

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Former Southampton full-back Jason Dodd has called on Saints fans to bring an "intense atmosphere" to St Mary's for this weekend's south coast derby.

The two clubs meet in a league clash for the first time since the 2011-12 Championship season when both games ended in score draws.

Southampton did beat their bitter rivals 4-0 in the League Cup in 2019 which was the last time the two sides faced off.

"Fans start talking about the derby as far as two weeks before the game," Dodd, who made 477 appearances for Saints, told BBC Radio Solent.

"It is just an amazing feeling playing in one, I've been very lucky because I only ever lost one game against Pompey.

"I'm hoping we bring an intense atmosphere to St Mary's. If we can get a similar atmosphere to what it was like against West Brom for the play-off game then it can make a massive difference and would massively benefit the players.

"This is the sort of game that can get our season going and kick-start some momentum, it can be a stepping stone for us to push on and go forward."

All today's news and views on the Saints in two minutes.

This update has been created and reviewed by our journalists, using AI to help summarise the most up-to-date Southampton news. It's read aloud by an AI voice.

Listen on BBC Sounds.

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Southampton midfielder Shea Charles scored his first senior goal for Northern Ireland to help them beat Luxembourg 3-1 in their opening World Cup qualifier on Thursday night.

The 21-year-old struck just 30 seconds into the second half at Stade de Luxembourg with his deflected effort wrong-footing home goalkeeper Anthony Moris to give the Irish a 2-1 lead.

Stevenage forward Jamie Reid and Crystal Palace midfielder Justin Devenny also scored to put Northern Ireland top of Group A after one game.

Charles has started all four Championship matches for Southampton this season having spent last year on loan with Sheffield Wednesday.

Northern Ireland visit Germany in their second World Cup qualifier on Sunday, 7 September.

"We need to give the manager time - we need to give him at least a couple of windows so he can get his philosophy across and the team he wants to play."

Jono Holmes is joined by former Southampton captain Jason Dodd on Saints Social as they assess the summer transfer window and look ahead to the South Coast derby with Portsmouth this month, before Jono previews Southampton women's season in WSL 2.

Listen to the full episode of Saints Social and more Southampton on Sounds.

All transfer deadline day's news and views on the Saints in two minutes.

This update has been created and reviewed by our journalists, using AI to help summarise the most up-to-date Southampton news. It's read aloud by an AI voice.

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Will transfer deadline day prove to be a busy one for Southampton and Portsmouth?

Find out in our visualised two-hour special show as we follow all of your club's deadline day business. Watch here at 18:00 BST.

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Southampton manager Will Still bemoaned the fact that small errors are costing his 13th-placed side after seeing them twice lose leads at Watford.

Still told BBC Radio Solent after the 2-2 draw at Vicarage Road: "We've done enough to win the game, we got ourselves into a perfect situation 10 minutes from the end.

"We've disorganised ourselves, lost possession in a central area and not quite reacted as well as we should.

"These little mistakes we're making are costing us quite a lot at the moment, that's frustrating. We've got a lot of new players through the door and I think the team will look a lot different in the coming months.

"We've got two weeks now to set up, prepare and take these little lapses out of what we're doing. There's only one thing we can do, keep knocking the nail on the head and stay positive."