Tickets for the 32,000-seat St Mary's stadium were snapped up within two hours as fans rushed to get tickets for England's first EURO 2004 qualifying match.

Local fans will be hoping that Wayne Bridge (pictured) achieves another milestone in his already-impressive England career, by wearing the Three Lions at his home ground for the first time.

A little over 1 year after the stadium opened, it will host the south coast's first senior international game for 99 years. Their last visit was to Portsmouth in 1903.

England have a good, but brief, track record at Southampton FC. In 1901, England played at their old ground, the Dell, beating Ireland by three goals to nil.

Paul Barber, The FA's Director of Marketing and Communications, commented:

"The success of England on The Road continues. It means that Sven and the Team will get the chance to play in front of a capacity crowd at one of the country's best new venues."