Saints' Return To The Premier League Begins At The Champions

The 2012/2013 fixtures were released this morning which is one of the biggest days for all footballs fans as they find out who they will be facing first in the upcoming season. In Southampton's case, they couldn't have faced a more testing task than away to the new Premier League champions, Manchester City. Roberto Mancini's men won the title on the final day of last season with a thrilling 3-2 win over QPR at the Etihad Stadium where Southampton will come up against the likes of Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany and David Silva on August 18th. 

Welcome to the Premier League Saints!

A week later, Wigan Athletic will be the first visitors to St. Mary's after the Latics had a tremendous end to last season to continue their stay in the top flight. In the beginning of September, it will be a very daunting task for Southampton as they welcome Manchester United and then travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal. Three of the first four fixtures for the Saints just shows that there isn't any easy games in the Premier League however they will never forget the achievement of back-to-back promotions to get themselves to where they are now.  It has been a rollercoaster ride for Southampton fans over the past few years with administration and relegation to League One however the climb from the third tier to the top flight has been absolutely remarkable. In my opinion, the fixtures really makes me feel that Southampton are really back amongst the best of English football knowing that we will be playing against them week in, week out. A lot has changed since the Saints were last in the top flight back in 2005 however the club is always ambitious to become a stable Premier League outfit. 

The festive period is always a crucial time in the season with various matches crammed in. For Southampton, they begin that period at home to Sunderland on 22nd December travelling to West London to face Fulham on Boxing Day and the Britannia Stadium against Stoke City three days later. The Potters will be Southampton's opponents in the last game of the season when they travel to St. Mary's on 19th May. 

Selected fixtures: 

August 18th/19th: Manchester City (A) 

September 1st: Manchester United (H) 

September 15th: Arsenal (A) 

November 24th: Newcastle United (H)

December 8th: Reading (H) 

December 26th: Fulham (A) 

January 1st: Arsenal (H) 

May 19th: Stoke City (H)

The fixtures has got all Saints fans excited for the new season and the tweets below show what a few of them think of the prospect of the upcoming season: 

@SamDobson1: "Tough start, but very excited about such big games. November and April look to be key months, lots of winnable games. 

@Adampalmer1991: "Always better to get the tough ones gone first. Get as many points as we can. We could cause an upset and gain confidence." 

@MrCarts73: "Bring it on! #WeAreSouthampton #WeArePremierLeague Seriously, opening 6 games look difficult I'd take P6 W2 D2 L2." 

@mcgrattan91: "It's going to be a tough opening game. I believe we could have the foundations we need to be a PL team for seasons to come." 

@Saint_Elvis: "Great start for Saints up to City, then it's back down to earth with Wigan." 

@LeGodIsLallana: "The best possible start! In my opinion, being thrown in at the deep end is the best thing - you never know, we could end up with 7 points!" 

@mcmanusman: "It's a good welcome back to the Premier League, catch them early in the season when they're not ready!"




The countdown to Manchester City away on August 18th/19th begins! Come on you Saints! 

Don't forget you can check out the whole fixture list at: http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~2814858,00.html