Sunglasses Ron

Great post, thanks! As someone who squeezed in with just 15,000 others in its final days, it seems difficult to conceive how 40,000 could have been in the same space. Amazing!

Yes it was, but I was talking about things from my perspective as my first game was in 1993 when capacity was about 17,500. If we're being pedantic, then the attendance of the game you went to was 31,044, whereas the first league game at St. Mary's was 31,107! 😎

Crazy isn't it! I remember clear as day, taking one last look at The Dell and then walking down to see the new ground in the summer of '01. That first league game at home to Chelsea was memorable, walking out into the bowl and seeing 30,000 Southampton fans at a home game for the first time ever. It's not bad ground, in fact far from it, I just wish it had a bit of unique character to it. If nothing else, whack some striped seats in there like the old Milton Road End 🙂

Well I knew it begun with a B 😃

Birch Construction rings a bell for St. Mary's. I have the glossy brochure somewhere...

Definitely nostalgia! I loved the place, but it was a right, rundown, dump in parts 🙂

I’d usually agree, but if it gets us results at the Euros then he can crack on!

Well done JWP, decent effort son.

Tidy from JWP, our boy has a great engine on him 👍🏻

I hate to point the obvious out, by our kids shirt has a rather prominent looking 'Southampton Football Club' badge on it. I'd like to think most people would identify it and then know that it's a Southampton shirt rather than Brentford. I know they just got promoted, and fair play to them, but it will be a sad day when people see a kid wearing it and think that they're a Brentford fan 😃

The news article on the club website says: Fans can pre-order the new kit online until Wednesday 16th June. So I'm guessing it comes out around then!?

I think he’s unlucky not to go and I’m genuinely disappointed for him as he deserved a shot. As above really, it’s the principle of him not being picked (plays for us) that’s annoying and not necessarily the blind belief that he was going to rock up and bang in a worldly winner in injury time of the final.

Saints and England seem to have a really uncomfortable relationship. Our players seem to have to move mountains to get a call-up during qualifying periods, but when the big tournaments come up they get left out (unless they happen to sign for a big club just beforehand).

I've followed Saints for 30 years and have never considered the kits good value, perhaps apart from the early years when they were about £25, mum and dad paid, and they remained 'current' for 2 years. I guess you have to look past the transaction as more of a donation than a purchase. The problem with that is that your expectation as a fan increases as you're expecting something in return (better signings / results etc.). It's great when everything goes well, but when it doesn't then you feel short-changed, a point which is made worse by the fact that your inclination to wear the shirt reduces as well!

I bet Athletico Madrid are absolutely cursing their red and white stripes right now 😃

Not much to complain about really! Always like the launch videos 🙂

Switched on after KWP’s chance, witnessed 5 minutes of diabolical ‘football’, swore at the TV, then switched off. We are monumentally awful.

Maybe the “improved experience” is a gentle warming / massaging of the buttocks whilst sat down 🤔

Interesting set of responses, hadn't considered a negative result being our most important but a fair shout. I'm stunned frankly than no-ones mentioned the win over Shrewsbury in the FA Cup!

Appreciate we still have 1 game left, and that a win could be really important in terms of prize money / ending on a high, but what do you rank as our most important result this season? For me it's a toss-up between: 1. Newcastle at home - For the obvious reason that it saw us top of the Premier League for the first time ever; and 2. Chelsea at home - Gritty performance which put an end to the very real threat of losing 9 games in a row (which could have led to all sorts of 999 jokes). Ralph's tears didn't convince me that a win against the very average bin dippers was worthy of inclusion.

Just seen the highlights and reckon we did ok to be honest against a decent side. It was one of those games that could easily have ended with a positive result but for a few small details. McCarthy was a right mixed-bag though! Nice to see fans back in the ground.

This! Sounds like he's been really positive for us off the pitch and I for one am really pleased with this. A lot of our success in the 80's was built on having great / experienced players around. You do wonder if that helped the conveyor belt of youth that emerged in the early 90's.

Crooks is such a twat!

The Adams disallowed goal against Man U royally pissed me off. I just knew a 9-0 was on the cards and when it got ruled out the inevitable continued to unfold. Fucking outrageous decision.

I guess as a player, he'd have to weigh up the risk of being 'trapped' with the increase in salary. Like VVD, I suspect his wages are currently 'modest' so it's not inconceivable that even we could provide a notable, but sustainable, uplift that recognises his potential and maximises our investment.