If we were still at the Dell, where would be in the leagues?

[Thedelldays]

we would have got relegated sooner

[STEVEADAMS]

I used to love the Dell, but hated when the away fans would sing " **** ground no fans" all the time. For years I craved seeing us play in a nice new large ground. SMS is great and looks fantastic, just wish it was a bit bigger and had more facilities around it.

[STEVEADAMS]

In answer to the question I reckon we would be in league 1.

[davefoggy]

sms is one thing lowe does deserve credit for, no question

 

no no no!!!!! don't give lowe the credit for sms, if it wasn't for le tiss keeping us in the prem there is no way we would have financed a move there. fact!

[Thedelldays]

no no no!!!!! don't give lowe the credit for sms, if it wasn't for le tiss keeping us in the prem there is no way we would have financed a move there. fact!

 

that is just silly

[for_heaven's_Saint]

no no no!!!!! don't give lowe the credit for sms, if it wasn't for le tiss keeping us in the prem there is no way we would have financed a move there. fact!

 

Even if your point about Le Tissier keeping us in the league meaning we have more money is correct, that doesn't mean Lowe doesn't deserve credit for our move to St Mary's does it?

[Saint_clark]

no no no!!!!! don't give lowe the credit for sms, if it wasn't for le tiss keeping us in the prem there is no way we would have financed a move there. fact!

Christ on a bike. Surely if you're following that logic, the credit goes to whoever first had the idea to set up a footy team back in the 1800s?

[DJ_TOAST]

Even if your point about Le Tissier keeping us in the league meaning we have more money is correct' date=' that doesn't mean Lowe doesn't deserve credit for our move to St Mary's does it?[/quote']

 

Lowe can get fcked, he doesn't credit for feck all.

[Saintandy666]

Sorry, I'm no fan of Lowe, but we must give him credit where credit is due. For all the talk of moving away from the Dell, he was the one who made it happen and without that, we would not be in the position we are today due to finance and being able to attract certain investors and players. SMS makes us look like a serious team as opposed to a plucky one punching above our weight.

[up and away]

Lowe can get fcked, he doesn't credit for feck all.

 

Lowe and Cowens deserve a lot of praise for St Mary's. Anyone could have gone out and built that stadium, but it was the cost of doing so that made the build exceptional. The build was far from perfect, but it was one we could actually achieve and still compete in the Premier. If the finances were never right, it could never be built and St Mary' cost us fractions of similar designed stadiums. The unexpected level of profit from the Dell flats, even took the price millions cheaper at the end of the day.

[Sour Mash]

I don't argue that modern grounds have far less character, but there is a good reason for that. Design a stadium that is safe to conform to the latest guidelines in, throw in unimpared vision from all angles and you gravitate to the format we see for most grounds. Then go back and relive some of the experiences at the Dell and there is just no contest. Your view is not restricted by pillars, other fans or a roof if lucky. Stairs and aisles that funnel you into a compression point that those under 9 stone can travel effectively with both feet off the ground. Trying to get access for food was never an option for all fans and using the toilets was an exercise in patience that most would decline on health grounds. As romantic as it may be to some, give me St Mary's any day.

Have you ever been under the Northam at half time?

[Golden Balls]

I miss The Dell. I wish we could have kept it even after we moved. However, we needed to move to SMS and even though it is similar to some other grounds, I like it there. We also haven't lost too much atmosphere. I would like to think we will one day expand SMS to give it a slightly different look.

 

To answer the question, I think we would be around mid Championship with a bit of a dull future.

[Daren W]

The problem with threads like this is that we stay exactly the same and all the other clubs change and moved on. What if the Taylor report, never happened? What if Sky never happened and football remained the preserve of the BBC and ITV with the only live games being cup finals?

I think Saints would do rather well... The Dell was tight, intimidating and with all the other clubs staying the same I think Saints would be quite an attractive proposition.

[saint1977]

Re: Lowe I was never a huge fan but Askham and chums never would have gotten SMS or any stadium built. Anyone who gives Ian Branfoot a 3 year contract extension or doesn't add a sell on clause to Shearer's move to Blackburn cannot be competent and are not fit to run a football club.

 

With the history and names we've had over the last 40 years, if we hadn't moved when we did the club would have gone into total freefall as the Premier League became even wealthier and the club's prestige would have suffered badly. People also forget that after taking a while to get our first home win, after that we had 3 very good seasons that we would not have had at the Dell (we couldn't have spent the money on M Svensson and Antti and would have sold Beatts). We didn't kick on from there but that's history now. The mortgage was affordable but we took our eye off the ball. Remember, our turnover was/is much better at SMS too.

 

I think we'd have been League Two at best, weighed down by our history, like a higher profile Plymouth. People point to the Skates but they had Mandaric (even though I can't stand him) and we know what happened next. Farton is also 5k bigger than the Dell was which makes a difference.