I have to agree. This is the best ever variant on the red and white kit we ever had. I think it also resonates because this was the kit we wore when I grew up as a Saints supporter and witnessed some of the best football ever produced by a Southampton team. If there was a poll amongst fans as to which kit people would want to see brought back, no other kit would be as popular at this one. It has an iconic quality about it because the teams that sported this kit were so great. On a like for like basis, I think we wore this kit at a time when the gulf between us and the top teams in the country was nowhere as near as large are it is now. I almost feel the same about the kit we wore last season and how the resonated with the Keegan era but the Admiral kit is something special and it was the first time I can recall our kit being a "must have" outfit. Everyone wanted this kit when I was small and I was fortunate enough for my parents to buy it for me. When the kit came out it was so different that everyone was shocked - I honestly cannot think that any other Saints kit has ever match the Admiral one for "wow" factor although, as I said last night, until I heard the radio documentary on BBC Radio 4, I had not idea that the Admiral kits were actually such poor quality nor that Admiral were only around for such a short duration. Looking on Wicki, Admiral started manufacturing football kits in 1973/4 and became bankrupt by 1982. The brand has subsequently been owned by a number of other companies and it currently owned by Sainsburys. No English club currently wear Admiral kits with Gibraltar being the only country to play in them. Seem to be more popular in the States with the brand being meaningless for anyone under the age of 40, I would suggest.
Some great players and may under rated as well....i can recall Nick Holmes scoring from the half way line against Man City at the dell a long time before Becks was born!
City, or Liverpool? I remember him scoring against Liverpool from a long way out (not quite the half way line). Not saying you’re mistaken, I just can’t recall a City one.
@Ian Thumwood You are right! I found this in the loft earlier while looking for some other stuff. Anyone remember the year?
That'll be one of my favourite seasons ever supporting Saints, 1989/90. Bold attacking play with effectively FOUR attackers at times, Matty, Shearer, Rideout and Rod Wallace, that's why I rated Nicholl as a pretty decent manager...
League cup...we won 4-0 tuesday night i think...nearly had an incident with City fans in a chipy on winchester road on the way home!
I remember that I think, absolutely pissed down and was amazed that the game went ahead, Nick Holmes chipped the keeper from just outside the box I think.
actually you may be right...holmes goal was inside the are and it was later than i thought...puckett scored as well
Sorry peeps got my games wrong....Nick Holmes scored from his own half against Watford at the dell when we won 4-0 and before THAT game at Watford...cant find any footage though
If one word sums up Nick Holmes, it is unassuming. I think it is odd that he never really gained cult status. He was a one club player, was part of the cup winning team and went on to serve the club well until the era of Chris Nicholls. He sometimes crops up in the commentary box on Radio Solent and I know was also associated with Salisbury City for a long while prior to their demise and re-birth. I can recall him scoring some cracking goals but he was more of an ever reliable player than someone who stood out from the others. In my opinion, I think he has been somewhat overlooked , especially if you contrast him with Frannie Benali who has become a legend despite giving many a Saints fan kittens when he was playing. Curious to see the sticker on the road sign. Is there any local word that smacks as much of the 1970's as "mush?" My late best mate used it all the time even when it had fallen out of favour. Oddly, I did not hear it again until around 1997 when I worked for Costain and we had an engineer from Portsmouth who constantly used this word. It always seemed something of a throw back and I had assumed that the word had somehow become marooned in the time warp that exists within the PO postcode. I cannot recall hearing this word since 1997 when it was already archaic. For me, it conjures up the image of kids wearing fur-lined parkas and eating Ready Brek. I have difficulty understanding a lot of what people under the age of 25 are saying these says but if they starting using words like "mush" , it would made bridging the generation divide so much easier!
