Southampton's managing director Toby Steele on the away fans

Steele explained that the support for moving the visiting supporters has been positive but admitted there is still research to be done on the matter.

Speaking at a fans’ forum event hosted by Saints, the managing director said: “Through the Saints Voice group, we asked for everyone’s opinion about the possibility of moving the away fans.

“We feel there have been times where those fans directly behind the goal have helped the away team.

“We’ve asked for your views and you’ve overwhelmingly been in support of moving the away fans, but that comes with certain considerations.

“Whilst a lot of people want the away fans to move, they don’t want themselves, as season ticket holders to move, which is a difficult balance to have.

“We recognise there are fans who like sitting next to the away fans to have that rapport and they would also want to move to where the away fans are.

“You are almost doubling the amount of home fans who need to be relocated.

“We’ve also got safety considerations, so where the away fans are now, it’s easy access for them to the coaches after the game.”

Given the overwhelming support of the idea, Steele confirmed that Saints are now looking at everything they need to internally in order to make the change happen.

However, the managing director revealed that the move wouldn’t be cheap and questioned whether it makes financial sense.

Steele added: “For now, the first thing was to get your view and you support it.

“Internally we are looking at every consideration that we would need to meet, whether it be the fan perspective, whether it be the safety advisory group perspective.

“We also have to bear in mind the cost of moving those fans. Is that something we want to do and is that money best spent, or is it better to reinvest in the team?

“Until we have done our further research, we will keep that information to ourselves and then we will come back to you with our plans.”