For older Saints supporters Thursday's visit to FC Midtjylland has a feeling of deja vu to it and its not a pleasant memory it evokes.

There is a feeling that we have seen this all before when it comes to Saints Europa League tie against FC Midtjylland, back in 1982 Saints also finished 7th in the League and qualified for what was then called the UEFA Cup and now is the Europa League and we drew a Scandinavian side in IFK Norrkoping from Sweden.

The draw was greeted with delight, on paper it looked an easy passage through to the next round against a team of Swedish part timers.

But Saints were a club in a little bit of disarray Kevin Keegan had left during the summer and although we had gained the talents of then England keeper Peter Shilton, generally considered the best goalkeeper in the World, we had started the season badly and in the five games we had played in what was then called Division 1 we had won only one and lost three.

Therefore the UEFA Cup was seen as a way to kick start the season but it would turn out to be a nightmare both on and off the pitch.

The home leg on 15th September 1982 seemed a formality Saints side was

Shilton, S Baker, Rofe, Nicholl, Wright, Agboola, Williams, Ball, Armstrong, Moran, Cassells.

Not a bad side by any means and we were expected to roll over the Swedes easily.

But the game did not go the way we expected and a crowd of only 10,155 just over half of that seasons average were shocked to see the visitors take the lead 2 minutes into the second half, order was restored on 61 minutes when Steve Williams hit a 20 yard dipping shot to make it 1-1 and the crowd now expected a Saints side who had dominated the game to knock in a few more.

This would not be the case and on 83 minutes Norrkoping broke again and scored.

Saints were now in trouble and they poured forward for an equaliser and luckily it came on 88 minutes when Mark Wright put in the rebound after Steve Moran had hit a post.

A let off for Saints but the general consensus was that the team would put it all to rights in the away leg as surely the part timers could not get away with it twice.

But as we shall see in part two of this story, things would go badly wrong not just on the pitch but off it as well.

Photo: Action Images

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