SCORES of Saints fans making their maiden trip to St Mary's last night suffered a chaotic first experience.

A bumper crowd of 28,453 caught Saints completely by surprise for the glamour friendly with Bayern Munich, leaving hundreds of supporters - many of them children - stranded behind touchline advertising hoardings as stewards frantically tried to find them a seat.

With temperatures only just above freezing, many were then forced to sit on the ground just behind the advertising boards throughout most of the first half.

There were then farcical scenes as stewards ushered dozens of angry fans past the fourth official and the dug-outs.

It took until the end of the first-half before all fans were finally seated.

Saints had initially only expected around 20,000 for the fixture, but they slashed prices and sold tickets on an unreserved basis - with the option to also buy on the night at selected turnstiles.

By late yesterday afternoon around 23,000 tickets had been sold, yet an estimated 'walk-up' crowd of 5,000 exposed their plans.

The club last night apologised for the problem, but said they were delighted with such a fantastic turnout.

A club spokesman said: "We believe the game against Bayern Munich was a fitting tribute to our former president Ted Bates.

"We would like to apologise to those supporters who experienced difficulties in finding a seat inside the stadium before kickoff.

"Due care and attention was taken to seat the incoming supporters as quickly and safely as possible, and to minimise disruption to the existing seated crowd.

"We review our individual match arrangements on a regular basis, and in light of the delays seating some supporters we will review arrangements for similar fixtures in the future.

"Once again, Southampton Football Club would like to thank their supporters for their continuous support."

Some fans are now demanding their money back.

Clare Pearce, 27, from Eastleigh, was making her first-ever trip to St Mary's and was dismayed by the organisation.

She said: "We got in the ground before 8pm, but there was nowhere to sit. Everyone had to stand in a crowd by the side of the pitch or in the gangways.

"That meant the people in seats behind us couldn't see anything, including a row of people in wheelchairs who were seated by the side of the pitch. In the end we were moved halfway around the pitch. We all missed the Saints goal while this was going on.

"The stewards didn't know what to do and just kept telling us we couldn't stand even though there was nowhere to sit. The organisation was terrible - the least Saints can do is offer fans their money back."

Mike Burgess, from Lordshill, said: "It was pretty chaotic and things were getting pretty heated.

"No-one thought so many fans would come, but you would think they would have been better prepared. It was obvious each ticket should have allocated a seat number."

Nick Illingsworth, chairman of Southampton Independent Supporters' Association, added: "The stewards took a lot of abuse, but it wasn't really their fault.

"The club was obviously taken by surprise by what was an excellent turnout and were simply not properly prepared."