FOR years the heart of English football seems to have been hundreds of miles away in the North.

While Manchester United have eclipsed clubs in the region on the field, Sunderland and Middlesbrough have proved they have the foresight off the field, with stadia that fans on the South Coast could only dream of.

The past decade has seen the fortunes of the South Coast's main teams oscillate violently.

Just last year, Pompey were on their knees financially and close to bankruptcy.

Until Milan Mandaric swooped in and snapped up the club, their future was decidedly bleak.

Twenty-five miles up the road, Saints' struggle to stay in the premier division has seen many followers spend most spring matches in a state of permanent nervous tension.

The euphoria (and relief) when Southampton scraped through and lived to fight another season evaporated when they resumed their position near the bottom of the league - and stayed there.

Now, at last, the tide seems to be turning.

Saints have enjoyed as good a start to the season as they have had in years, while Mr Mandaric has picked Pompey's prospects up by the scruff of the neck and has already funded the purchase of ten new players.

There has always been fierce rivalry between Saints and Pompey fans.

But now they are united in a quest to see their teams installed in new, state-of-the-art stadia. At yesterday's press launch of Pompey's new 35,000-seat stadium, club chairman Mr Mandaric showed he was keeping his pledge to provide the team with a new home. "When you look at football in England, the big clubs tend to be in London and Manchester," he said.

"This is the time for the South of England to raise its voice - the South of England is good football country."

Mr Mandaric saw the new ground as playing a crucial role in the club's upward climb - along with an ever-strengthening team of players.

"It will be a very happy moment if we finish the stadium and are where we are supposed to be - in the Premier League," he said.

Fellow South Coast club AFC Bournemouth are not being left behind in the battle for better bricks and mortar.

They are holding discussions about a £10.5 million, 14,000-seater redevelopment of their Dean Court ground.

For Southampton, the dreams of moving from their all-too-cosy Dell must, at times, have turned into a nightmare when the Stoneham bid was kicked out by Eastleigh planners.

But here, too, there is cause for celebration. Now, work on clearing the site at the former gasworks site at St Mary's has begun, to make way for a 32,000-seat stadium.

The £35 million scheme has recently received the approval of the club's shareholders.

Building work is set to kick off in spring next year, and it is hoped play will begin on the virgin turf in the 2001/2002 season.

Saints director Andrew Cowen was bullish about what he saw in his crystal ball. "Whatever local rivalries might exist, it must be in the best interest of all three South Coast clubs to have a powerful regional football presence and ensure it is not only clubs north of the Watford Gap who make the headlines," he said.

Mr Mandaric keenly anticipates a Premier League showdown between Pompey and Saints. "I hope to see that kind of match very much - hopefully, in the not-too-distant future," he said.

Mr Cowen said of the clash: "We will cross that bridge when we come to it. But I know where my money would be."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.