There is only one team in the whole of the 92 clubs that Saints have never finished above in the League, find out which one it is and if that could change this season.

In their entire history in the both the Football League and the Premier League there has only been one team that Saints have never finished above in the four divisions at the end of a season and that team is Liverpool.

We have of course nearly jumped above the Redmen, but they are the one team that we have never bettered throughout our history, even in 1983/84 when we achieved our best ever finish of 2nd it was Liverpool who thwarted our title ambitions and pipped us to the post.

Having said that in league terms it was a long time before our paths actually crossed after we joined the football league along with most other Southern clubs in 1920/21 to truly make it a Countrywide football league instead of mainly Northern and Midland teams.

Although we were drawn aganst them in the FA Cup five times between 1901/02 (when we despatched them 4-1 on our way to the Final) and 1925/26, it would be 1960/61 before we actually shared a division with them, winning at the Dell 4-1 in the seasons second game and then a week later winning 1-0 at Anfield and to round it off beating them in the first ever season of the League Cup 2-1.

For a while that season it looked like both teams would go up but we won only 1 of our last 10 games and fell 14 point short of the 2nd promotion place with Liverpool finishing 3rd 6 points short.

But this would be as good as it got for a couple of decades and it would be 198081 before we looked like getting near them again, even ex Kop idol Kevin Keegan could not help us get above them, we finihed 6th and qualified for Europe, but they were a place and a point above and so far this remains the closest we have ever got. Even in 83/84 we were still three points behind them.

Throughout the rest of the 1980's we never got near although to be fair nor did most other clubs and the 1990's was mostly one of struggle in the lower half of the table for us and we rarely got within a dozen points of them.

The new millenium didn't really bring a change of fortune even our 8th place in 2003 was still 3 places and 12 points away from overhauling them.

However since our return to the top flight in the past two years we are nearer Liverpool in terms of League position than at any other time since the early 80's.

Last season saw us finish 7th only two points off the Scousers and this season we are still hanging on by our coat tails with a 2 point gap although they have two games in hand.

This could lead to a great end to the season and if Saints have a target after that of firstly qualifying for Europe again, it is finishing above Liverpool which will have a double whammy, firstly it should mean that we have finished in the top flight top 10 for the third consecutive season, a feat only achieved once before in our history and secondly that for the first time ever we will be looking down on Liverpool for the whole summer.

Although it is a tenuous target to aim for, it does give us some focus on the overall picture, hopefully we will acheive the treble of Europe, top 10 and being above Liverpool, but even 1 out f 10 would be an achievement.

But for many Saints supporters finishing above Liverpool would be something to cherish, not just perhaps because finally we would have achieved that record of having finished higher than every League club at some point, a record not to be taken lightly, but also it would bring a wry smile to our faces when we think of the likes of Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Nathaniel Clyne all of whom left St Mary's thinking the grass would be greener on the other side of the fence.

If Leicester win the Premier League this season it will be a big step into halting the big clubs domination, but Saints an strike a blow too and show that all the money and big stadiums mean nothing, its about doing things in the right manner.

Photo: Action Images

SanMarco added 13:33 - Apr 6 Kevin Friend is the only reason this article had to be written at all....
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SaintBrock added 12:39 - Apr 7 My guess is that they will finish ahead of us again, we have some really tough games that last weekend's Saints will never beat - Spurs, Man C will definitely beat us and it gives me no pleasure at all to write it so.
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