Best & Worst: Southampton

Nick Illingsworth, editor of Saints fanzine The Ugly Inside, recalls King Kev’s arrival and a very unhappy birthday

XI

BEST: Peter Shilton, Jason Dodd, Claus Lundekvam, Mark Wright, Mark Dennis, Adam Lallana, Matt Le Tissier, Terry Paine, Mick Channon, Rickie Lambert, Ron Davies.

WORST: Ivan Katalinic, Ray Wallace, Pele, Jannik Vestergaard, Scott Marshall, Alan Mcloughlin, Jason Euell, Mohamed Elyounoussi, Emmanuel Mayuka, Guido Carrillo, Dani Osvaldo.

PLAYER

B: One choice for young and old: Matt Le Tissier [ right] – or ‘ Le God’, as people still bow to him. He not only had talent, but was a one- club man who stayed in the city when he retired.

W: Many people would say Ali Dia and his blagged cameo, but there have been worse performances from players who classed themselves as professionals. I’ll go with Dani Osvaldo for his hefty price tag, relative output and utter petulance.

MOMENT

B: The final minute of the final league game at The Dell in 2001. Le Tiss came off the bench having barely played all season – only to turn, swivel and score a cracking late winner against Arsenal. The hairs stand up again even today.

W: Relegation to League One in 2009 meant we fell into the third tier for the first time in almost half a century. We were in administration and the future looked very bleak indeed.

GAME

B: The 1976 FA Cup Final, winning our only major trophy. As a second- tier club playing the mighty Manchester United, we were big underdogs but won 1- 0 via Bobby Stokes’ goal. The city went mad.

W: How can it get worse than our

9- 0 hammering from Leicester this season? A truly appalling performance with absolutely no redeeming features.

SEASON

B: 1983- 84: 2nd in the First Division and FA Cup semi- finalists, with arguably our greatest team playing exciting, attacking football. It seemed like a time when music, fashion and football all intertwined. W: 2008- 09: no money, playing with our academy team from the previous season. It was kids and journeymen battling way out of their depth.

SIGNING

B: Those of a certain age know where they were in 1980, upon hearing Saints had signed the reigning European Footballer of the Year, Kevin Keegan [ left]. It catapulted us into becoming a club that people talked about. W: Guido Carrillo, who’s still here! A Mauricio Pellegrino panic buy for £ 19 million, since sent to Leganes on loan after no goals in 10 games.

GOAL

B: Chris Marsden was a solid, uninspiring player for most of his career, but scored a goal at Ipswich in 2002 that even Le Tiss would be proud of. He took on four players with a mazy run, rounded the goalkeeper and nonchalantly rolled the ball into an empty net.

W: Defender Scott Marshall had a great strike record after arriving from Arsenal – two goals in two appearances. If only they weren’t both in his own net...

MANAGER

B: Ted Bates [ below] was Southampton’s Bill Shankly who built the club up from the doldrums, but Lawrie Mcmenemy took that work and transformed us into a team capable of fighting for trophies. W: Harry Redknapp only came so he could stick two fingers up at Milan Mandaric and Pompey.

AWAY TRIP

January 1984: Fratton Park in the FA Cup. We took our full allocation of 9,000 and won it in time added on after Mark Dennis was struck by a coin. Watch the mayhem in the Saints end on Youtube.

W: Same place, April 2005, for a terrible birthday. We eventually finished bottom and Portsmouth smashed us 4- 1. All the goals were in the first 27 minutes, then their fans sang that dire Amarillo song – I still can’t listen to it now.