| Being a Saints supporter 13:27 - Dec 12 with 2129 views | Tonyfromdk |
How and when did it take over your football life ??
For me I grew up in London and had (no more) two brothers
who were West Ham mad. In the late 70s we moved to Andover
during that time I started going to games with my school mates. By the early eighties I was a full Saints fan, much to the disgust of my brothers.
Years later I was accepted as the odd one out, and Saints/West Ham results were a fixture on Saturday evening..
I saw a lot of games during the 80s, most at the Dell but some at Upton Park.
I always had a soft spot for West Ham(for obvious reasons) but have been a true Saints supporter since 1979, when I saw Tony Funnell score the only goal in a win over Palace. [Post edited 12 Dec 14:23]
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| Being a Saints supporter on 18:08 - Dec 24 with 158 views | Andu007 |
| Being a Saints supporter on 12:10 - Dec 24 by Bridders2 |
I grew up in Bournemouth and watched the cherries as a kid, but started going to the Dell when Ted McDougal and Phil Boyer moved to Saints, and never looked back. As Pat says, lots of Saints fans in Bournemouth and Poole as Southampton has always traditionally been 'The club of the South'. Lots in Dorset down to East Devon are Saints too.
For a lot of them, and myself, Bournemouth is their second team. |
First game 1977 v Nottm Forest stood under the East stand.
My older brother was a Saints fan, our dad hailed from Pompey but we were born in So’ton.
After all the build up & winning of the FA cup the year before and now being old enough to being allowed to attend, it was so exciting to actually be at The Dell & to see football live.
The atmosphere, we had to be there early to be able to see, the smell of the grass, the lineament & I could see the Vaseline on the eyebrows of players when they were near for the like of a throw in, Micky Channon my favourite, who I copied in the playground at school, taking the ball around the floundering keeper & rolling it from an angle into the empty net, peeling off doing the windmill!
The crowd, the noise, being near the pitch, the banter towards the players in earshot, it was a memorable experience, I was hooked.
I wasn’t allowed to attend a night game for sometime but THe Echo always had photos, which I cut out & kept in a scrap book, couldn’t wait for The Pink on a Saturday tea time.
Listening on the radio was always exciting & had you on the edge of your seat.
Why was the radio commentator always up to speed with the action?
Nowadays you can tell by the crowd that it was a miss or hit the post before they’ve mentioned it!
A few years later, we even skived an afternoon off of school & took the ‘Special’ to Everton on a Tues to see us play in a replay v Everton, imagine doing that nowadays?!
Approx a week or so later we returned to Liverpool for, I think Keegan’s debut & another defeat.
So many other away games followed.
Following Saints has never been easy but when you become addicted at a young age, it becomes part of your DNA.
They represent your city, you represent our city when away on a holiday.
Love chatting to fellow football fans, most seem to have a soft spot for Saints, always a good chat about players present & past.
The chat with your school mates and later become work mates, I don’t understand those who ‘support’ another team that is a million miles for the only reason that they consistently win something.
Became a season ticket holder at The Dell when the capacity was reduced & had to buy a ticket for nearly every game, picked my seat at St Mary’s in the portacabin in the car park, kept it for 29years before moving to deepest Dorset but still try to attend the odd game, it’s been hard for last couple of seasons but we keep the faith, going through the bad times that then make the good times even more special, love it!!
COYRs! | | | |
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