MY NIECE, her husband and myself were lucky enough to receive tickets in the ballot for the first match for over nine months that fans were allowed to watch a live football match.

This was Saints versus Sheffield United on Sunday 13th December 2020.

Not unlucky 13 for us.

I wish to convey our heartfelt thanks to all the team behind the scenes who worked so hard to make it safe for us to attend.

They thought of everything and we were properly segregated and had a health check and everything ran extremely smoothly.

The planning and execution must have been a logistical nightmare to organise.

Being the first of hopefully many matches for fans to watch and cheer them on, we thought they did a fantastic job.

The team’s performance was brilliant and we were, for a while third in the best league in the world, and we so enjoyed Ralph and the team saluting us after the match ended with a three-nil victory.

The final thank you is that the tickets were free.

Patricia Newman,

Southampton