On August 1st 2001, Saints played Spanish side RCD Espanyol in their first ever match at St Marys. Now 10 years on, the club has had 4 chairmen, 14 managers, played in 3 divisions and 2 cup finals! The first decade at our new home has no doubt been one of the most eventful in the club's history, but what are your best memories of the first 10 years at St Marys? please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
In no particular order: Wolves FA Cup Quarter Final Matt Le Tiss testimonial MK Dons JPT Southern Final Marian Pahars goal v Pompey Henri Camara's goal v Norwich Elton John Concert (just kidding) Rory Delap overhead kick v Spurs Walsall game Sadly, been more bad times than good in the 10 years. Let's hope a few more years of stability and good football will erase those bad memories for good.
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Good call, for me it's got to be thrashing Spurs on the way to the Cardiff cup final....they were highly regarded and they didn't have a kick from start to finish. Saints just ran rings round them, I could hardly believe my eyes....and all this after we'd beaten them in the league 3 days earlier Believe it was on live terrestrial TV as well....
Agree with all of the above but would add that the biggest cheer in our house over the last ten years came when we heard that Rupert Lowe and his cronies had been booted out for ever.
- Pitch Invasions against Sheff Utd & Walsall - Markus's First Game v Millwall - MK Dons Area Final As a season ticket holder for only 5years, I've suffered more bad times than good times really
James Beattie's late goal against Man U, Saints 4-3 Norwich, Chaplow vs Man U, Ashley Cole's disallowed goal, Fabrice Fernandez's goal against Everton (?) and JPT v MKDons. Great Stuff!
Marian's last game. Meeting him outside the ground after the game and shaking his hand you could see the sorrow in his eyes as he knew it was all over. Fantastic player.
This, without a doubt. Anders Svensson was outstanding that night, if I remember correctly. Second for me would be Matty's testimonial. 'My Way' at the end brought a lump to my throat!
The Spurs match in the FA Cup 3rd Round, 2003 (as mentioned above) is one of my best memories. Also the last day of last season, just the joy of finally getting out of League 1 and taking a big step towards where we belong! For some reason, a recent memory that sticks in my mind is the JPT match against Norwich where Papa Waigo scored in the last few seconds of the match to keep us in it and then we went on to win on penalties.
[video=youtube;KYgCsEyowhI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYgCsEyowhI[/video] This one wasn't a bad day at St Marys boys! I jest - I cannot believe its been 10 years sicne you started playing at St Marys - thats bloody nuts! I must be getting old as it only seems like yesterday I watched you lot beating Manure 6-3 at the dell on MOTD!
Yeh, and everybody that had left early when we were losing running back in to see the pens. I wouldn't have let them back in myself...!!
I was next to the Norwich coaches on Britannia Rd when we heard the roar from the crowd!oa Me and my mate looked at each other and said "****, we've scored" and ran back in with most other people!
Beattie screamer against West Brom. Fabrice Fernandes goal against Everton Rory Delap overhead kick v Tottenham Matt Le Tiss Testimonial Both Pitch invasions MK Dons comeback BUT my top memory is definatly when Marian Pahars scored against Charlton and he ran straight into the crowd and went mad. Lucky for me I was that person he ran into and it was a nice little topping that it made MOTD!!
oh CBK, you've picked some top ones there. For me Le Tiss Testimonial... I had more than a lump in my throat - what a legend. Walsall game also amazing MK Dons JPT southern Final ... even 3-1 up on the night with 2 minutes to go, I was waiting for us to blow it... the anxiety of nearly being at wembley created a fabulous atmosphere the Southend game (or Leeds) when Alan Bally had died and we held up the cards in memory.... I shed a tear that day. beating Liverpool 2-0 the season we went down. I had David Prutton to get the first goal at 33-1; he scored after 5 minutes But for me the best time at St Mary's for me was off the field. We drove down from Northampton early in the morning to get to the front of the queue for Matt's book signing. We were 4 from the front and the TV cameras interviewed me while I was holding my lad ... he stole the show. While being interviewed I said that the only sad thing about Matt Le Tissier for me was that my son never got to see him play live, at which point my boy turned round and said " I have Dad, I've seen him on the play station" ... priceless and they showed that on South Today. Upstaged by my nipper again! We then all met Matt and I have a signed shirt now and a fabulous framed photo of me and my kiddings meeting him.
Was that the match where we won 1-0 and it was our first win at St Marys? I remember it took a really long time to get that first win and they thought the stadium was cursed! Heard stories of there being a Pompey shirt buried under the pitch and we also got in a voodoo witch to get rid of the so called 'curse' just before that game! Crazy times!
