Well it was beating them rather than just playing them, if we had drawn or lost then I'd absolutely agree that it shouldn't be considered. Just for me if I think of the best moments I've had in my time following Saints then that'd be right up there. Sort of thing I'll tell my grandkids about. How many clubs who've never won their domestic league can claim a win against an ex multiple European champion? On reflection embarrassing is the wrong word anyway tbh but we'll agree to disagree mate.
Channon LeTiss Danny Wallace Steve Moran Glenn Cockerill FA Cup 1976 Back to back promotions Pompey 0-1 Saints, Fratton 1984 Saints 4-0 Spurs, St Mary's 2003 Liverpool 0-1 Saints, Anfield 2017
As Libby and Che have pointed out, the grey shirt match was the 3-1…….still both wins v Man Utd though
Saw 5 club heroes and 7 iconic moments and all I could see was S club 7. My favourite was Rachel Stevens Anyway we might not be a Man Utd of this world but we have still had some classic moments and incredible players. COYR
Heroes Ron Davies, they say your first love is the one you never forget. The best header of a ball you would ever see. I once saw him put three past Gordon Banks in a first half hattrick. Mick Channon, fast and direct, could beat defenders, left foot right foot with the occasional header. Scored lots of goals, one of Saints best players. Matt Le Tissier, the best Saints player ever, see below. No one has ever scored goals as great as Le Tiss, a one off. Antti Niemi, great keeper who made some brilliant saves. Shilts was probably better but not by much and I saw more of Antti than Shilts. Met him in B&Q once. Rickie Lambert, great goal scorer of all types and loved by everyone south of the border. Below I've mentioned the Liebherr era and Rickie was the stand out player during that time. All in my opinion obviously. Iconic Moments '76 Cup Win PL promotion 2011/12 Le Tiss v Newcastle There's good arguments for including Marcus and Ted Bates, even Nigel Adkins deserves a mention but I've stuck with players because they're the ones you go to watch. Iconic moments are few and far between IMO as they should be or else they don't become iconic. So for me just the three. The FA Cup win has to be there as our only major trophy, overwhelming underdogs and against Man Utd. In the days when the FA Cup meant something and I was given a ticket at the last moment. I still have the ticket, £2.50 ( honestly) well spent. PL promotion because it was back to back and although Norwich did it the season before, it's very rare and a great achievement. Even though Markus didn't live to see the Saints return to the PL, that promotion was very much part of the Liebherr (and Cortese) era. The club wasn't just saved but was given a new identity and probably my best time as a Saints supporter. Not really an iconic moment but Le Tiss is iconic and synonymous with Saints. Again, just my opinion but I don't only think he was Saints greatest ever player but one of England's best players at that time. Whenever he is mentioned, those goals against Newcastle are quite often shown as evidence of his genius.
You've brought back some amazing memories, all of which set the hairs off the neck so to speak! Your first point about the first love of who you saw, made me think of the 1959/60 era, when Derek Reeves and George O'Brien almost scored for fun, aided by Terry and John Sydenham on the wings. Despite being a 'small club' we've got such a rich history.
I think my favourite thing for a while is Libby putting the great escape as a key moment but seeing a second place finish as a failure. The great escape was fantastic - but it was a great escape because of how awful we were and how deeply we were failing!
It was one of those moments like when JFK was shot, or Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon. Everything about that moment is crystal clear in my memory, I was in my kitchen making some toast and the person on the radio started saying “Southampton have signed…” and somehow I knew the next words were going to be ‘Kevin Keegan”. Iconic is definitely the word for such times. Edit: On reflection I think the radio announcement went something like: “European Footballer of the Year Kevin Keegan has left Hamburg for…” and my brain continued with “Southampton” before they actually said it!
MLT Wallace Brothers(3 for 1) Rickie Lambert Morgan Schneiderlin Sadio Mane As others have said, your age plays a huge factor on who gets on the list. I didn’t start watching saints until the late 80s and as a youngster you don’t care about tactics and anything off the ball etc and luckily for me, neither did Chris Nicholl. Liebherr era saints was the most fun and unlike the vast majority of probably all our saints supporting years, we actually kept the core of a team together for 3/4 seasons. Morgan was there from -10 to qualifying for Europe and it was a pleasure to watch him play. Virgil was the best player from our recent PL stint, but who likes watching defenders anyway, so I went for Sadio: I struggle with the word moment and then selecting a whole season as an option. To me this is a goal or a game. For 83/84 there is no trophy lift for example, so I have selected moments within those seasons 76 and all that 98/99 - Great Escape and Dellhurst Park JPT Final Last match at the Dell - Le Gods dream Winner League One promotion - Jose Fontes winner at Brighton Championship promotion - final match against Coventry Manes fastest Hat-Triick, never to be repeated and a great team performance. On Inter Milan, for me the away match holds far better memories than the dreadful home match which we won with a ****ty own goal. I guess it’s only special for me because I went to the game and I think being away with saints in large numbers, is always something a bit special.
