When the final whistle blows to mark the end of the soccer season Southampton Football Club will already be looking forward to next year's bookings.

Not the bookings on the pitch but those for the many events that now take place at the multi-million pound Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium.

Some of Southampton's most prestigious and high profile events are staged at the stadium with its state-of-the-art facilities for conferences, training sessions and product launches together with corporate or private hospitality.

Saints and Facilities Management Catering has teamed up together to provide a range of facilities and services which has made the stadium, with its six different sized suites and function rooms, one of the south's most sought-after venues by international, national and local companies and organisations.

FMC has an established background in the hospitality industry with experience at events such as Wimbledon and the Cartier Polo Day.

National events already held at St Mary's include the inaugural conference for local solicitors, Paris, Smith and Randall, an Argos regional sales seminar, a P&O product launch for travel agents and an exhibition staged by Carlsberg Tetley.

Among the other events hosted at the stadium has been the Djuice Volvo Ocean Race farewell dinner while former Spice Girl turned solo singing star, Emma Bunton joined 400 guests at the Ocean FM Local Hero Awards at the football ground last October.

There are a total of six areas which act as function rooms at the stadium; the Mike Channon suite, the Matthew Le Tissier Suite, the Terry Paine, the boardroom and director's guest room together with the executive boxes.

In addition the concourse areas, which are situated on the ground floor on all sides of the stadium, are also available for hire.

If anyone really wants to push the boat out then the entire stadium, with its capacity for 32,000 people, could also be available for a high-capacity occasion.

Behind the scenes the stadium has a fully equipped kitchen staffed by a squad of chefs and cooks while the function rooms have PA systems, overhead projectors, video cameras, satellite television and live links to the Internet.

KEITH HAMILTON