IT'S official!

Take That have announced a major tour for the new year and are coming to Southampton.

The band are set to play St Mary's Stadium on 25th May.

It is believed this is the first time the boy band have ever brought a major show to the city.

And the announcement comes just months after the Rolling Stones rocked St Mary's - while music superstar Sir Rod Stewart also recently announced he will play the football stadium next year.

Speculation had been rife since Monday when the band hinted through a Facebook live video that there would be a world tour in 2019.

They teased fans on Twitter too when they posted a photo that read: "6pm GMT FLive TT30," which was captioned Get ready for it...suggesting a 30th anniversary tour announcement was imminent.

On Thursday their Twitter feed teased 'The Journey starts soon TT30' with an image of the world.

There have been a series of tweets acting as reminders of memorable moments in their career including their split in 1996.

Gary Barlow first fuelled rumours shortly after wrapping up his solo tour when he tweeted "There are some exciting announcements coming from TTIII soon.

"We’ve an extremely important release coming this Winter in the form of a Greatest Hits with a twist.

"Then in 2019 we will turn our recordings into a live show featuring all the hits from the last 3 decades."

Many have wondered if Take That will reunite with all five members for the anniversary show with Gary, Howard Donald and Mark Owen, once again being joined by Jason Orange and Robbie Williams.

Of course the three remaining members of Take That have been on a Southampton stage before.

Less than a year ago Gary, Howard and Mark all made a surprise appearance in the finale of the musical The Band at the Mayflower Theatre.

REVIEW AND PHOTOS: Take That stun fans at The Band premiere in Southampton

The musical was co-written by Gary and features all their hits.

They also performed a small charity gig in aid of Children In Need at The Chewton Glen Hotel this summer.

Much to the amazement and delight of a euphoric crowd they joined the cast to belt out a medley of numbers including Let It Shine, Never Forget and Hold Up A Light.

They also performed a small charity gig in aid of Children In Need in the garden at The Chewton Glen Hotel this summer.

Formed in Manchester in 1990, The Greatest Hits tour looks set to take them across the world for an extensive run of dates but Howard won’t have far to travel for the Southampton concert as he lives just outside Ringwood, and neither does Mark, who lives at Petersfield.

Here's the full list of tour dates

15th April – FlyDSA Arena – Sheffield, UK

16th April – FlyDSA Arena – Sheffield, UK

18th April – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow, UK

19th April – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow, UK

20th April – The SSE Hydro – Glasgow, UK

22nd April - Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK

23rd April– Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK

25th April– Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK

26th April– Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK

27th April– Manchester Arena – Manchester, UK

29th April– 3Arena – Dublin, Ireland*

2nd May – The O2 – London, UK

3rd May – The O2 – London, UK

4th May – The O2 – London, UK

5th May – The O2 – London, UK

7th May – The O2 – London, UK

8th May – The O2 – London, UK

12th May – Birmingham Arena – Birmingham, UK

13th May – Birmingham Arena – Birmingham, UK

14th May – Birmingham Arena – Birmingham, UK

17th May – Birmingham Arena – Birmingham, UK

18th May – Birmingham Arena – Birmingham, UK

23rd May – Milton Keynes Stadium – Milton Keynes, UK

25th May – St Mary's Stadium – Southampton, UK

28th May – Ashton Gate Stadium – Bristol, UK

30th May – Carrow Road – Norwich, UK

1st June – Riverside Stadium – Middlesbrough, UK

4th June – John Smith's Stadium – Huddersfield, UK

When can I get tickets?

Tickets go on sale on September 28 at 9.30am.

The UK tour dates pre-sale will begin on Wednesday, September 26 at 9.30am - for those pre-order a copy of Odyssey on any music format before 12pm Tuesday, September 25.

Pre-sale ends on Thuesday, September 27 at 9.30am.

These pre-sale tickets will be sold via SeeTickets.