Was all the pain of relegation from the PL, missing out on a play off final and then going into administration and getting relegated into League 1 worth it for the excitement us saints fans are enjoying at the moment? IMO although for some years recently it was awful supporting Saints and the very real threat of us no longer having a club to support was depressing, it was worth it. We got rid of the likes of Lowe and the idiots who were running our club. And now we are financially stable and have one of the best squads we have had for ages. 2 promotion races in as many years and a day out at Wembley for me more than makes up for the crap we have been through. As well as this we have such a bright future ahead of us and in a few years time could realistically be looking at top half finishes in the PL. Or would you rather we were still a mid table PL side who lacked ambition and didn't really look like going anywhere? I was just interested what all your thoughts were on this? Sorry if this has already been discussed - have only recently become a member on this forum! UTS
Everything that's happened in the past has brought us to this point, and there has never been a better time to be a Saints fan, or at least not since the early eighties. So from where we are now, it's all been worth it, though it certainly didn't seem that way in 2009. Supporting a football team can teach you quite a lot about life. When it seems like you're in a relentless spiral of heartbreak and loss, there's probably good times just around the corner. The reverse may also be true, so ffs enjoy the good times when they come, because they come rarely enough.
Spot on Archers. Not been this great since the Keegan Shilton years! We look set for a successful few years but you never know so let's enjoy it now!
Our past led to this point...feel that our future is more golden than if we had carried on in PL. Life has certainly been more interesting since the Leihberr/Cortese axis took over. It has also taught me that there are other leagues than the PL and they can be enjoyable in their own way (providing you have success in them of course).
There's nothing quite like winning regularly no matter what league you are in. I thought being relegated to Div 1 was going to be a disaster but I can honestly say it gave me some of the most enjoyable times as a Saints fan. Up until then I had never seen us win so many games away from home and that encouraged me to go to even more. Despite this I've always felt we should aim to be in the highest league possible and for all it's faults, the Prem is the place to be. But I've already accepted that due to cost, the amount of away games will drop dramatically if we get promoted.
For once I agree with JoeyB! on the day of our relegation from the Premiership I said If it wasn't for the bad times, you wouldn't enjoy the good times!
If it was good times all the time you would get bored with it...........Nah I wouldn't .... For some of us older ones we have experienced already what a lot of you are experiencing today. From the rise from the division 3 south days up into the second division. Back down into the 3rd then back up to the 2nd then at last into the 1st. Back down After Laurie's introduction back up a gain later for 27 consecutive years. The icing on the cake the FA cup. That has been what it has been as a Saints fan for me. The lows the highs the absolute euphoria when the queen handed over the cup. You guys that attended Wembley for the Paint pot. Do you remember how proud you felt when we picked up that cup, the atmosphere. Just imagine that feeling only a 100 times greater, nothing like it guys. So yes in conclusion being a football fan is as Joey says, all highs and lows. Tell you what guys and gals, wouldn't miss it for the world!!
Also just like to extend a welcome to the Saints site Saint Jimmy........... A good thread to start with lets hope for many more!
Plenty of highs and lows in football that's for sure. As an old git I have loads as a Saint and this thread had me reaching for my History of Saints book for the 65/66 season. What a team Paine, Sydenham, Chivers and a very young Channon (who remembers calling him Doreen) Inspired buys in Melia and David Webb. My brother went to Leyton Orient but my mum would not let me go as it was a school night I was just 13. (I did go in 78). We scored 85 goals in 65/66 and the first player Ted Brought was a fellah called Ron Davies remember him? The point of this reminisce is looking at the list of players in the team in 65/66 a few never played many games in Div ! for Saints The great George O'Brien was jettisoned half way throuth the promotion year, Huxford had one game as sub, Spencer Dean never featured, Williams also and he played 36 games. So will NA be as hard and resolute as old Ted and who won't make it?
Sitting in a bar surrounded by fellow Saints, and this is the ideal thread. One of the great things of the past couple of years is that I can tell people I support Saints with no embarrassment! I'm so pleased that we had the opportunity to do the phoenix thing and I know from conversations we are now the envy of fans of a number of teams. I genuinely hope that our neighbours can finally shed their baggage and get themselves in to the same shape. No question I wouldn't want to be a struggling prem club. This is living!
Have to agree and as another old git I have great memories. Was at Leyton the day we made it up and still remember celebrating with the O's fans who were then safe after the game from relegation. Our last two years have re asserted our faith in the club's management and in Nicola we a chairman who knows what he wants and is determined to get. Long may the euphoria last.
Was it all worth it..? Complete no brainer, of course it was. In fact, it's actually difficult to realistically think of a better outcome, having dropped back to the 3rd division, where we started, when we entered the Football League. Of course, we didn't know the outcome at the time, but then again, SFC under Lowe and Co was becoming really dreadful. Almost thankfully, work commitments were stopping me from going to watch the Lads, but I have to say, that it wasn't a wrench. Nowadays, there are little moments when I wonder whether Cortese will just say, OK folks, I think we've steered the Club long enough and far enough and it's time for others to have a go. And I have to shed that feeling because, as a Saints fan, it brings the uncertainty that a new owner wouldn't be anything like as good as the present one. And being a Saints fan again, I know it's just an automatic response I'm having. We are just so fortunate that the timing was right for Nicola Cortese to look at his Business News one particular day and think, Hmm... this should be of interest to Markus. And the rest has been a real history.
We needed a kick up the arse and a bit more ambition. Looking back on the 90s I realise that the only exciting thing about our team was Le Tiss, and after he got old there was only one way we were going to go. 2003 was great, but I doubt any of us believed that we would be finishing in the top half and getting to the FA Cup final every year from then on. We were always going to be that team who fought relegation every season, and it was going to get pretty tedious. I think I'm a better supporter now than I was back then, and I put that down to the fact that we have something to look forward to, and it feels like the sky is the limit. It's probably the first time we've been able to say that since Lawrie Mac's tenure, and I wasn't around for that.
Quite agree Joe. Of course, Lawrie's tenure was the high point for the club, so far. But this present era is easily potentially the best time for the club. Back in Lawrie's time we were always the lightweight fighting well above our category. Lawrie brilliantly persuaded and managed, on few resources and little boardroom ambition, to get the best out of the situation, and made Saints a real force. This time around the limits of ambition are unknown, as yet, but I'm banking that they'll be far further away than they were in Lawrie's time.
When Saints were relegated from the PL, a few years later going into administration and getting relegated down to L1, it felt like the good times would never return, especially as we were seeing Portsmouth above us, in the PL and getting to two FA Cup finals, winning one of them - which I will admit as a Saints fan was more than flesh and blood could stand. With the benefit of hindsight, those bad times were the best thing that could have happened, simply because it meant the club got rid of Lowe and Co, and the good times quickly returned; League One wasn't as bad as I expected and, funnily enough, I enjoyed the first L1 season easily as much as the second season there (although we were winning most games, it wouldn't have been as much fun if we weren't). So, yes, for Saints it was worth it, although it didn't feel very nice in 2009. Will PFC be so lucky? Maybe, but I doubt it.
Surely it's Markus buying us? Which is a subtle difference, but a difference none the less. After all, we could have been bought by someone else (Le Tiss' consortium for example) and consequently not had such great times since - and administration wouldn't have looked as good then.
