Saints land one safely in the net

Southampton's Premier League football club is being subjected to academic scrutiny. Its progress is being charted through a new service on the Internet provided by researchers at Southampton University.

"SaintsWeb" electronic pages, hosted by the university on its WorldWideWeb server, give comprehensive information and illustrations on all aspects of the club from its history to the latest match reports. It gives official details on ticket information and programmes, answers to "Questions you were afraid to ask" and the words of the Saints' seven top songs from the terraces.

The service will be launched next Thursday but pages are already being written by avid fans Dave Currie, a postdoctoral researcher in the department of chemistry, and Mike Furby, a PhD chemistry student. The two also maintain an electronic mailing list on the club.

Football fans at the university, including vice chancellor Howard Newby are hoping the club will get the go-ahead for its plans to build a new stadium next to the campus. Professor Newby, a season ticket-holder for First Division Derby County, commented: "I hope soon to see news on the new service of Derby meeting Southampton in the Premier division."

SaintsWeb can be accessed by calling http://www.soton.ac.uk/saints.