So this is my 1000th post. Yes I know that if we ranked all the posters on here by number of posts, that would probably put me somewhere near the relegation zone or even in the Championship but, as I would consider myself to be something of an infrequent poster, it got me thinking about what those 1000 posts have borne witness to. When I made my first post on here, we were adrift in League One. I wonder if we'll have continued to make such progress by the time I get to 2000 posts?! Anyway, one of the best things I've seen on here for a while is Wisescummer's description of "What is a football club?" A football club is a group of people, united by a common idea. As such it is bulletproof, and cannot die. If Liebherr had not saved us and the club had gone into liquidation, it would not have been long until a new Southampton FC was formed, and the same supporters would be going to watch, wherever they played. That is why I have always said, and will always say, that supporters own the club, and everybody else, the chairmen, directors, manager and players, are merely custodians. When you're a part of something like that, the simple act of association, or support means that we all vicariously share our club's magic moments wherever we are and whatever we are doing, and they come in all shapes and sizes. They can be promotions, unexpected wins, expected wins, last gasp equalisers, great goals, meaningful goals, great days out, media tributes, punditry tributes. They can be at home, away, in your car, on holiday or on your sofa. They can be anything that gives you goosebumps, makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up or simply fills your belly with pride. We've had more than our fair share of these over the last couple of seasons but I just wanted to ask you, what moments stick out for you during your ongoing SFC addiction and why?
Not sure if congratulations are in order for this most momentous of milestones but I offer them regardless, but I'm afraid I can't think of a stand-out moment in my relatively short Saints-supporting life more imaginative than Coventry at St. Mary's last year. So I'll have to just be boring and say that.
1. Promotion to Division One 1966. 2. FA Cup winners 1976. 3. Promotion to Division One 1978. 4. Promotion to Championship 2011. 5. Promotion to Premier League 2012. ...and all the times we avoided relegation in between!
Semi-final against Watford at Aston Villa, MLT's goal against Arsenal (last game at The Dell), JPT final, when we beat Newcastle 3.1 when 1.0 down with a few minutes to go, the wrong shirts game against ManU, Hammond's goal against Leeds, Coventry game which saw us promoted...lots of memories.
1. Coventry game which confirmed our promotion in 2012. 2. Millwall away last season. 2-1 down with 10 minutes to go and Rickie converts 2 pens to send me and several thousand other Saints fans into delirium. 3. Our first win at SMS. A really **** game but the importance of it was massive. 1-0 win over Charlton if my memory is correct. 4. Our last game at the Dell. That 3-2 win over Arsenal was epic and it had to be Le Tiss who scored the last ever goal there. 5. Our win at Plymouth which all but confirmed our promotion to league 1. I have only listed memories where I was there. The JPT final has been ruled out as I wasn't there.
Of the many "hug a random next to you moments" I've had supporting Saints, for some reason one that sticks out is Tiss's volleyed goal against Newcastle. No, not that one, but the one where we were 2-0 down (if memory serves) until the 88th minute. Maddison scored and then Tiss whacked one in in the last minute of injury time. My memory on those exact facts (other than the goal) I'm sure will be corrected, but I just vividly remember seeing the ball drop out after a corner, then almost in slow motion feeling delighted that it had dropped to Tiss. Bang. In the onion bag.
Three years on the trott beating Man U 6-3, 3-1 (grey shirts), 1-0. Watching the likes of Bale,Oxo,Walcott come through the ranks. The day Marcus took over Next years Europa place
Its got to be the 6-3 against Man Utd. Six goals against Man U. Six! Absolutely ridiculous scoreline. And some of the goals we scored, both of Berkovic's, and of course Matty's. That was the perfect game for me. And being in the Archer's for it was the icing on the cake. Also, agree with earlier post about the 3-1 against Newcastle when we scored all three in the last three minutes. And, the final two games in front of the Milton when it was still terraced; we beat Blackburn (Sutton and Shearer) 3 - 1, and Villa 4 - 1, to help clinch safety. Also, any win against Pompey of course.
That was one of my "break the steering wheel of the car" moments. Tony Gubba was doing the R5 commentary and said "I have simply never seen a football struck harder than that and I doubt I will again".
Sorry, that's just me waffling. Why use one sentence when three paragraphs will do!? What actually bought this theme to mind was being reminded of our tribute to Alan Ball at SMS. That was a proper spine tingly moment for me.
