Well they had St James Park, but then so did Exeter, and it didn't do them any good. They also had Red & White stripes. They're now in League Two.
I have to disagree. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries Saints were one of the top clubs in the country. We were champions of the original Southern League when it was a league for southern clubs and the Football league was made up of northern clubs. Over the years we have produced great league and international players and influenced the game nationally and internationally. Ask Arsenal fans why they think fondly of us and why Brazil call their manager Mister. We support a great team with a tremendous 125 year history and we should never ever forget it.
For those youngsters who maybe still don't quite get this history thing, try this. 20 years down the line and maybe we are one of the top clubs in Europe. You are chewing the fat with your son and telling him how it all started, about the struggles, Lallana's trickery, Lambert's goals, the last ditch penalty against Milwall etc etc. And he says, "Yeah, whatever", can I have the new shirt for Christmas?". You will be desperate to get him to understand where we came from. And that is history.
Proud as I am that Saints were the Southern League ManU of their day, which was a match for the Football League, despite what certain people said at the time, it was around 112 years ago, give or take a decade, that all the real success happened. Illustrious, but we'd like some new stuff to crow about. A Div3 South Championship, FA Cup and JP Trophy triumph doesn't really cut it in 127 professional years. MInd you, can't blame the present incumbents. They've almost matched the previous achievements in 3 seasons. I do like the links with Brazil, and the Athletico clubs, etc... That's real football history.
It was dangerous stuff. You had to keep a sharp eye out for the sabre tooth tigers. Mean little buggers they were too.
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Godders was there when the Wright brothers planned a fly-past, it was cancelled because of the bad weather, some things never change.
If it wasn`t for history and a sense of belonging, I wouldn`t be a Saints or Aberdeen fan - I could have an easy life, claim allegence to ManU , or Celtic, or whoever. My first Saints game, versus Blackburn, Sept 1975, as a 17 year old. This is odd, I thought - a ground where I could just about reach out and touch the goal, an old guy standing next to me at the Archers shouting ` come on you Sinners` all game long. That old guy will be dead by now, but he is who we are. Not for us £200k/week prima donnas. There is a discipline and purpose about this club now. I notice that the bookies have us second favourites to go down - great, I love being the underdog - come on you Saints !
There used to be a bloke called Charlie wright that used to shout that all the time he was a friend of my uncles. I wonder if it is/was the same guy?
