AN OCCASIONAL VISIT..

To Southampton on Saturday, my eldest son doing the driving as we had decided to go and see the Saints play Wolves in what promised to be an interesting pre-season friendly.   The Saints, of course, have now reclaimed their rightful place in the Premier League - the `best league in the world (tm)` - after an absence of seven years, whereas Wolves were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season - you could say we passed each other on the stairs.

We parked in a pleasant road in Westwood Park and we walked down through the Polish quarter, on through the Sub-Continental quarter, narrowly avoiding the area of Derby Road, renowned for its nocturnal activities, arriving at St. Mary`s Stadium (pictured) in time to partake of a distinctly cordon noir hot dog and Pepsi.   We had a good seat in the sparsely populated ground and sat back to watch the Saints cruise to a comfortable 2-0 win in a game that never got out of third gear.   But such is the nature of pre-season friendlies.

Afterwards, we drove down to Town Quay and Mayflower Park in the hope of seeing some of the great ships that visit Southampton, but none to be seen.   In fact, there was a genuine air of peace and quiet, the streets seemed almost deserted, even the traffic was sparse.   I imagine that people were crowded around television sets watching the Olympics which might account  for the equally sparse turnout of die-hard Saints fans at St. Mary`s.

But at least we went on what I suspect may be one of only occasional visits to the stadium this season.   I think my decision not to buy a season ticket has been vindicated not only by my distaste for the `best league in the world (tm)` but also because all of that has been put into sharp relief by the decency, the splendour and the excellence of our young Olympians.  

Now one of the aims of London 2012 is `to inspire a generation.` Surely what we have witnessed in just the last week should inspire the next generation far more convincingly  than the parallel universe of the Premier League can ever hope to do.