Mark Callen

ex-Business Transformer, Cancer survivor, London for 40 years, Jimmy the Jack Russell #Saintsfc

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@mattchalk1 Have you got it to work ? I can’t get any audio

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@Watty_5 @FlynnJonas2 Shame you didn’t see Peter Shilton

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@DuncanHolley @SaintsExtra Agreed! Saints the best team in the country from 1894 to 1909

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@ElonMuskZAB 998

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@Mishi_2210 9

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@EshaAA33 1

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

#saintsfc #watfordfc outside the ground before the game, there were ridiculous queues, many Saint fans ha as tickets whose barcodes didn’t work. We missed the first 12 mins or so which included out first goal

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@TheBarmyArmy Newlands

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@ciarannn__ A leader

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@SFCMikeKavs No - we’ve never been this far out of our depth in the 60 years I’ve been watching Saints

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

I unlocked Bohemian Seats to see Moulin Rouge! The Musical on @TodayTixUK! https://t.co/54CUyRuYhx

[Matt Hannon @MattHannon15]

Saints fan looking for a spare in the away end tomorrow. RTs would be appreciated ❤️🤍❤️🤍 #SaintsFc

[Henry Winter @henrywinter]

#LUFC 0 #SaintsFC 1. Whistle report from Wembley.
In this pursuit of a route to the Premier League, Marching In proved more powerful than Marching On. Southampton, their fans singing their famous anthem, deservedly edged out Leeds United, whose fabled togetherness was not enough against their opponents’ ruthlessness.

Adam Armstrong scored his 24th goal of the season, timing and angling his run perfectly, and it felt a painfully familiar one for Leeds, who had conceded similar to Armstrong already this season. For all Leeds’ promise, they lacked a finisher like Armstrong. Joel Piroe, the 24-year-old Dutch forward, struggled to add to his 16 goals, and really needed better and closer support from Georginio Rutter. Leeds really missed Patrick Bamford.

Southampton were the more intelligent, disciplined and clinical when it mattered most. Russell Martin’s tactics were too smart for Daniel Farke’s. Leeds’ head coach looked to unleash the pace and trickery of the usually dangerous Wilfried Gnonto and Crysencio Summerville. Martin responded by simply clipping Leeds wings; he deputed Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Fraser to operate as wing-backs in possession and drop back in a five when Leeds had the ball. Both Gnonto and Summerville were negated, given no room to work in or run into, and eventually withdrawn.

It was deeply frustrating for Leeds, whose poor play-off record continues like an unremitting curse. This was their sixth failure in the post-season drama. When Farke arrived at Elland Road, he remarked that “everyone told me: ‘You can’t rely on the play-offs for promotion because we never win. I didn’t know about the bad record when I signed my contract.”

He does now. Leeds were better after the break, especially when Dan James came on but there was a determination to Southampton’s defending, and to Alex McCarthy’s goalkeeping, particularly with an injury-time save from James before a packed, raucous Wembley. Organisers put up appeals on the two large screens for fans to stop persistent standing but that was always vainful. Too tense, too nerve-racking. The Championship play-off continues to dominate fans’ imagination, and a record 85,862 poured into Wembley. Rivers of white and red flowed into town.

Leeds fans gathered in and around the stadium in huge numbers, more than their 36,462 allocation, couples standing on Olympic Way seeking spares. Walking past were fans in Yeboah and Gray 22 shirts, in Speed 11 and Bielsa 1. To the left, the Novotel shook with Leeds fans blasting out their Ethan Ampadu song. To the right, BOXPARK reverberated with “I predict a riot”; the Kaiser Chiefs’ bassist Simon Rix was even in earlier. Leeds were marching on together in their tens of thousands.

History is never far from the narrative with Leeds and this play-off was on the 35th anniversary of their greatest manager, Don Revie, passing away. More recent history occupied Leeds, not least their home-and-away losses to Southampton this season, and Armstrong featured prominently in those.

Southampton’s 36,900 fans loved all of this. They had travelled hopefully, flooding into Waterloo Station in waves and others heading up the M3 in a convoy of coaches from St Mary’s. They went marching into Wembley confidently, singing of Joe Aribo and being indestructible. Other Saints tuned in from around the world, from Barbados to Izmir, Sydney to Jakarta and LA.

The rain abated, Southampton weathered the early Leeds storm, and began to impose their possession game, responding to Rickie Lambert’s message of “you have made the city believe again”. Armstrong and Will Smallbone went close from open play, Smallbone tested Meslier with a free-kick. And then they really opened up Leeds after 24 minutes. It was quick and slick, the ball speeding like an ice puck across the glistening surface.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis advanced towards the halfway line, slightly to the right of centre, before passing to Flynn Downes, who played the ball first time, round the corner, between Glen Kamara and Rutter towards Smallbone. As Ampadu stepped up, Smallbone teased the ball through his legs towards Armstrong. Ampadu, Leeds captain, turned and appealed for offside. Joe Rodon, 15 yards deeper, also raised an arm for offside, ignoring that he was playing Armstrong on. Leeds' defence was a mess, white shirts hanging in the breeze as if over three separate washing lines. Armstrong dashing through to ruin their clean sheet. He shot low from right to left, the ball placed perfectly just past Meslier’s right foot and in. It took only seven seconds from Harwood-Bellis to Leeds net.

Leeds were more threatening after the break. Rodon charged forward, then Summverville curled a shot wide. Southampton’s defending was superb, Walker-Peters headed clear. So did Jan Bednarek. As the clock ticked down and Leeds nerves rose, Farke sent on James for Gnonto. Martin responded by pushing Armstrong right, putting Che Adams on through the middle. Farke reacted, switching James to the left, and he almost scored, striking the bar. Southampton simply closed the game down, Downes bringing James down, stopping a breakaway, then Smallbone going down, pleading cramp. “We are going up,” Southampton fans began chanting, the Saints marching in to the Premier League.
#LEESOU

[Cardiff Saints @Cardiffsaints]

We have one spare place on our mini bus heading to Wembley on Sunday. Departing Cardiff at 0900, with a planned stop at Leigh Delamere services for another pick up. It’s £50 return. #saintsfc @GlobalSaintsFC

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@londonsaints a few members in this shot

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@trotterstlushie I was able to buy 2 tickets using thE link - I’ve received a confirmation email from [email protected] with a PDF #saintsfc

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@londonsaints #saintsfc I have 1 spare ticket for Stoke tomorrow in Block 34 - £30 face value ;can send electronically . Ping me if you’re interested

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@theawayfans #saintsfc

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@DuncanHolley First game I ever went to the Dell was 5-3 in January 1968, however Chelsea won that one

[Mark Callen @mrncallen]

@Nestle Caramac has been my favorite bar since I was a child! If you’re not selling it enough then market it, as if more people were aware of it they would certainly buy it