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Who is the best SFC player you saw as a youngster


Miltonroader07

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that went on to great things?

 

I dont think Tiss went on to great things but my vote would be Alan Shearer, still recall his debut sat in the West Stand

 

Yeah, Shearer for me too. Did he score a hat trick on his debut?

 

Shout out for Tim Flowers too who went on to win the title with Blackburn.

 

Edit: Mark Wright too

Edited by Webby
added mark wright
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Right, yes, I was there that day. Wasn't sure if that was his debut or not.

 

His debut..Twas there and we won 4-2.....Great day...If memory serves the old left/right and the nut...may have fading memory..

 

Think Alan was 17 years of age and did not even play regularly after that for some time..

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I'm pretty sure the question was meant to imply "who was the best young Saints player you saw who went on to great things". As KK joined us when he was closing in on his 30th birthday I'm not sure he counts.

 

see above :) It could have been meant the other way too!

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One from left field is David Hughes who Alan Ball debuted in a friendly against Gothenberg, looked an absolute class above in that match...

 

I was at QPR when Hughes played an absolute blinder, scored both our 2 goals (in a 2-2 draw) and thumped the post with a curling 25 yard effort late on. Shortly after he was horrifically injured and that was that. Real shame.

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I was at QPR when Hughes played an absolute blinder, scored both our 2 goals (in a 2-2 draw) and thumped the post with a curling 25 yard effort late on. Shortly after he was horrifically injured and that was that. Real shame.

 

Yes, good shout. I remember seeing him at a service station after a game once too. Top bloke

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Yes, good shout. I remember seeing him at a service station after a game once too. Top bloke

Also remember seeing him for Eastleigh a few years after being released by Saints. An absolute class act at that level but had lost most of the mobility which previously made him the

player he was.

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Peter Shilton

 

It annoys me that he gets overlooked so often just because he was a keeper. On paper probably the best player we've ever had.

 

He wasn't a youngster with Saints though, he was into his thirties when he signed for us.

 

Ah sod it; this thread title can be read all sorts of ways!!!

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I was a year younger than Channon who was Wiltshire boyz..

 

We were told by a coach to go along to the Dell and watch Hants v Wilts boys and particularly watch the boy Channon..

 

You could tell even at the age of 15 that he could run / glide and play football...even though Hants won 4-1 (from memory..) The boy Channon oooooozed class...

 

Saw him a year later for Saints A in Hants league and boy was he good......

 

I did not notice any windmill action at this stage.....but you could tell he was going to be very good..

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I was at QPR when Hughes played an absolute blinder, scored both our 2 goals (in a 2-2 draw) and thumped the post with a curling 25 yard effort late on. Shortly after he was horrifically injured and that was that. Real shame.

 

It was a genuine shame as he had a great touch, and a bit of an edge. Sounds incredible now, but I though we had found our midfield general for the next ten years. My first game was 1977 so I missed out on Stevie Williams's debut, but what a player - Mr silk and steel...

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I didnt get to see Shearer in a Saints shirt. Or I was too young to remember, so for me it has to be Le Tiss.

 

The Ox will be a star and he is one of the best we've produced.

 

I was convinced Leandre Griffit would be a star. Last I heard he was playing for Columbus Crew. Shame

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Keegan?!

 

i think you need to read the question properly, Mike.

 

I definitely read the question incorrectly judging by the replies.

 

I read it as the best players we saw when we were youngsters, not the players themselves!!

 

Not necessarily players who went onto Great things but a few Debuts stand out for me.

 

Stevie Williams debut at Skatesmuff, promoted up the order due to a bit of over indulgence by some of the senior pros after beating palace in the semis a few days earlier! Very assured despite the electric atmosphere and late notice that he was going to play.

 

Nicky Banger - Hat trick debut in League Cup against Bury ? Just about the high point of his career.

 

Of course Alan Shearer's hat trick scoring debut is much better known. Probably still the youngest Top League debut hat trick ever. Also making it even more remarkable was being against Arsenal who just didn't let goals in back then!! Probably the most successful ex Saint player.

 

 

Two more Goal scoring debuts by youngsters that i have seen were Graham Baker - he scored in under a minute on his debut and the game was on MOTD later on that day (remembering this is long before Sky, so us being on MOTD was a rare treat!!). Can playing for Man City count as success? It would nowadays!!

 

And one last debut goal scorer - Bobby Stokes - scored twice on his debut V Burnley ?. Of course he didn't need to move to be a great success - scoring that Cup winning goal puts him in terms of achievment on a plane above most Saints players. RIP little man.

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Keegan?!

 

i think you need to read the question properly, Mike.

 

No. The poster who posed the question should have phrased it so that it was not ambiguous. I read it 'properly' and thought it meant when I was a youngster. Unfortunately I can't remember that far back!

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The 2 best young Saints players I saw were Shearer and Le Tissier.

 

David Hughes and Paul Tisdale we're the 2 great losses too injury - both could have really been great players. Used to bump into David Hughes out and about - he used to DJ at the Rhino occassionslly I think - and he was always down to earth. A genuinely nice guy.

 

The 2 best Saints players I saw were Kevin Keegan and David Armstrong.

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Yeah, Shearer for me too. Did he score a hat trick on his debut?

 

 

well ..sort of. It's a question that has come up several times before, and I first looked up the facts some years ago.

 

Alan Shearer actually got on the pitch (as sub.) - 2 weeks prior to that famous game - in an away match v. Chelsea (we won 1-0)

 

It was around the Easter period and he was also a sub. in the away game at Oxford Utd (0-0)

 

However, the memorable game to which everyone refers was his HOME debut at The Dell v. Arsenal on 9th April 1988. We finally won 4-2.

 

It was the first time he had been selected from the start ......and scored in the 5th, 33rd and 49th mins. At that time Shearer was 17 yr. and 240 days.

 

Shearer was ...(probably still is); the youngest player to score hat-trick in a game in the highest division, (then called Div.One) breaking a record set by the legendary Jimmy Greaves 30 years earlier.

 

Note; Shearer made 2 more apps. that season without further goals. He wasn't an immediate success either. He failed to score in 8 starts the following season and didn't score again until October 1989. He first became a regular choice in season 1990-91 scoring only 4 times but then netted 13 times in 41 starts in 1991-92... prior to his record move to Blackburn.

Edited by david in sweden
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