Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 (edited) Hello Saints fans, I am on the lookout for Southampton fans who were at your final game at The Dell vs Arsenal in 2001. I am looking to produce a mini documentary on the move from The Dell to St Marys stadium and trying to interview fans who were at that game. I am also looking for any fans who might have memorabilia or a collection of photographs from The Dell. I was reading how some fans took seats or turf from the old ground and if you or anybody you know still has something like this please get in contact. If you would like to get involved in my project could you please leave me a way of contacting you or drop me a line on twitter @ThomasD147 Thanks for your time. Edited 11 January, 2018 by Thomas9889 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthamSteve Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was there (my seat is next to me as I type this), at that time I was 19 and my mate's 'party house' was in the old Alfred Arms pub which backed onto the site of St Marys. So, more-or-less every day I'd walk past the stadium site and see our new home being built. It was an awesome and exciting time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 That's great, Steve. Would you be available some time over the next couple of months to talk to? I'm still in the early planning stage but will get back to you if possible? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSFC Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was there. Upper East stand but did not take my seat! I did have £1 on Matt to score the last goal and Saints to win 3-2 @ 175/1. It was a brilliant night!! I was probably the only Saints fan who cheered when Marsden missed to make it 4-2 Just after the 3rd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was there with my daughter. Upper East Stand centre. Finest view of any football ground anywhere. I had to rush away afterwards and drive to Harwich for a school reunion for the 50-year olds. I can still see everything in my mind exactly as it happened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwoPints Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was at the Arsenal game but missed the Brighton game because my daughter was being born. Sixteen years later and she's been a season ticket holder for many years too [emoji3]. I do have my old seat from the Dell in my shed. My brother in law managed to requisition it for me. [emoji3] To be honest, I don't remember much about the final game apart from preying that MLT would score and the explosion of noise when he did. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Those are two more incredible stories. Would you be happy for me to contact you in the near future to discuss this more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 It's great that theres a story behind how you missed the game and still managed to get your old seat. Would you be happy for me to contact you in the near future to discuss this more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rational Rich Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was there. Also Upper East Centre (agree about the view - couldn’t get better). The noise when MLT scored was immense. Got him to sign my shirt after- despite being 24 at the time! Amazing day, still difficult to truly imagine that that place is no longer there (provided you don’t go down Milton Road or Archers Road very often - living in Manchester helps with that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvictaSaint Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Happy to help. I was at the Dell for both the Arsenal and Brighton games and still have my seat from the Dell at home. At the time I was teaching in Medway and took about 20 students down to Southampton to do a case study on the end of the Dell and the birth of St Mary’s. We did a tour of both grounds, hard hats and all. Feel free to let me know if I can help with your project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 That would be great InvictaSaint. I'm still in the early planning stage at the moment, would you be happy for me to contact you over the next couple of months? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stud mark of doom Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Also there. Remember the goal and shedding a tear. Also remember breathing a sigh of relief when Marsden didn’t add the fourth - I don’t think that was unique to people with a bet on the game! Remember leaving the ground for the last time. Oddly my season ticket was also upper east. Row B. Had it for about 15 years and it was an amazing view, as a few others have said. I was a bit disappointed at the SMS view by comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Nothing wrong with getting an Autograph, Rich, would you be happy for me to contact you in the near future to talk about this more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 And what a goal it was! Would I be able to contact you over the next couple of months to talk about it more? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Also there. Remember the goal and shedding a tear. Also remember breathing a sigh of relief when Marsden didn’t add the fourth - I don’t think that was unique to people with a bet on the game! Remember leaving the ground for the last time. Oddly my season ticket was also upper east. Row B. Had it for about 15 years and it was an amazing view, as a few others have said. I was a bit disappointed at the SMS view by comparison. Happy to help. I was at the Dell for both the Arsenal and Brighton games and still have my seat from the Dell at home. At the time I was teaching in Medway and took about 20 students down to Southampton to do a case study on the end of the Dell and the birth of St Mary’s. We did a tour of both grounds, hard hats and all. Feel free to let me know if I can help with your project. I was there. Also Upper East Centre (agree about the view - couldn’t get better). The noise when MLT scored was immense. Got him to sign my shirt after- despite being 24 at the time! Amazing day, still difficult to truly imagine that that place is no longer there (provided you don’t go down Milton Road or Archers Road very often - living in Manchester helps with that) I was at the Arsenal game but missed the Brighton game because my daughter was being born. Sixteen years later and she's been a season ticket holder for many years too [emoji3]. I do have my old seat from the Dell in my shed. My brother in law managed to requisition it for me. [emoji3] To be honest, I don't remember much about the final game apart from preying that MLT would score and the explosion of noise when he did. Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk I was there with my daughter. Upper East Stand centre. Finest view of any football ground anywhere. I had to rush away afterwards and drive to Harwich for a school reunion for the 50-year olds. I can still see everything in my mind exactly as it happened. I was there. Upper East stand but did not take my seat! I did have £1 on Matt to score the last goal and Saints to win 3-2 @ 175/1. It was a brilliant night!! I was probably the only Saints fan who cheered when Marsden missed to make it 4-2 Just after the 3rd. I was there (my seat is next to me as I type this), at that time I was 19 and my mate's 'party house' was in the old Alfred Arms pub which backed onto the site of St Marys. So, more-or-less every day I'd walk past the stadium site and see our new home being built. It was an awesome and exciting time. Could you please drop me a line on here or Twitter @ThomasD147 if you're happy to get involved in my project? Just so that I have a contact for you Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 There for both, happy memories. I have a fair number of photos of the Dell on my Flickr page. Pretty sure there are videos on the Dell on YouTube as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 There for both, happy memories. I have a fair number of photos of the Dell on my Flickr page. Pretty sure there are videos on the Dell on YouTube as well. Thanks for the reply, Norm. Do you have a link to your Flickr page that I could take a look at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 https://flickr.com/photos/106380336@N05/sets/72157651731975678 Thomas, please forgive me if I’ve done this wrong. I mostly use Flickr to store photos of my grandchildren growing up and not sure about the rights and wrongs of sharing the page on Flickr. Let me know if you have a problem viewing. Norm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Just looked, only a few of the Dell. Mostly of the building of SMS, sorry. That’s my 3 posts for the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 https://flickr.com/photos/106380336@N05/sets/72157651731975678 Thomas, please forgive me if I’ve done this wrong. I mostly use Flickr to store photos of my grandchildren growing up and not sure about the rights and wrongs of sharing the page on Flickr. Let me know if you have a problem viewing. Norm That's a really interesting collection of photographs there, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S-Clarke Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Great share Norm - cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was in the archers block four. Can still shut my eyes and see Matty putting the ball in the net Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benjii Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I used to go to the Dell as a young kid / teenager. My grandma took me to my first match in the West Stand. A cup tie against Oxford. I loved it, although the consensus seemed to have been that it was a terrible match. I later had a season ticket, first in the Junior Saints section, then in the lower East Stand, right next to the away fans. Went off to university in 2000 so couldn't go regularly any more. I missed the Arsenal game but strangely wasn't too gutted at the time because I'd reconciled myself to it in advance. Obviously I wanted to be there though. I just remember a feeling of elation when listening to the radio and hearing that MLT had scored the winner. I was there mentally. I know it's cliche and I know it sounds trite but, genuinely, fairytale. I think you had to be a Saints fan in the late 80s and early 90s to understand what MLT meant but there, in a languid sweep of the left leg, was my footballing education, my boy's obsession, my hero, my own unrealised dreams, boiled down into a perfect moment and sealed forever. Sitting on the metal benches in the ****ing rain in an Italia 90 shell suit, utterly frozen and miserable. We want Branfoot out, say we want Branfoot out!! Le Tiss v Newcastle (I'll never forget watching those goals - incredible). The Man U 6-3, the Man U 3-1... the Ekelund / Le Tiss axis. The Wimbledon free-kick. The funny smell in the toilets. The funny walkway behind the East Stand. Frozen pipes. Franny's goal. Dean Richards, James Beattie, Claus, Egil. What?! Berkovic has gone to West Ham?! Dixon and Speedie (christ). "Reverse takeover". Rupert ****ing Lowe. Give Cosimo Sarli a chance FFS! Marian Pahars v Everton. A great season = 12th. And more MLT. No matter how grim, always MLT. Something about that ground was magic. I miss it. I've realised this evening that I don't actually know what the last match I went to there was, and that makes me sad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cat Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was in the Archers too. Got a seat and some turf when we dismantled the stadium the week after against Brighton. Remember walking back past the Dell a few hours after the game and people were still in there playing football and ripping up the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Could you please drop me a line on here or Twitter @ThomasD147 if you're happy to get involved in my project? Just so that I have a contact for you Thanks I’m happy to have a chat but I don’t do Twitter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I used to go to the Dell as a young kid / teenager. My grandma took me to my first match in the West Stand. A cup tie against Oxford. I loved it, although the consensus seemed to have been that it was a terrible match. I later had a season ticket, first in the Junior Saints section, then in the lower East Stand, right next to the away fans. Went off to university in 2000 so couldn't go regularly any more. I missed the Arsenal game but strangely wasn't too gutted at the time because I'd reconciled myself to it in advance. Obviously I wanted to be there though. I just remember a feeling of elation when listening to the radio and hearing that MLT had scored the winner. I was there mentally. I know it's cliche and I know it sounds trite but, genuinely, fairytale. I think you had to be a Saints fan in the late 80s and early 90s to understand what MLT meant but there, in a languid sweep of the left leg, was my footballing education, my boy's obsession, my hero, my own unrealised dreams, boiled down into a perfect moment and sealed forever. Sitting on the metal benches in the ****ing rain in an Italia 90 shell suit, utterly frozen and miserable. We want Branfoot out, say we want Branfoot out!! Le Tiss v Newcastle (I'll never forget watching those goals - incredible). The Man U 6-3, the Man U 3-1... the Ekelund / Le Tiss axis. The Wimbledon free-kick. The funny smell in the toilets. The funny walkway behind the East Stand. Frozen pipes. Franny's goal. Dean Richards, James Beattie, Claus, Egil. What?! Berkovic has gone to West Ham?! Dixon and Speedie (christ). "Reverse takeover". Rupert ****ing Lowe. Give Cosimo Sarli a chance FFS! Marian Pahars v Everton. A great season = 12th. And more MLT. No matter how grim, always MLT. Something about that ground was magic. I miss it. I've realised this evening that I don't actually know what the last match I went to there was, and that makes me sad. Some really good memories! Terrible shame you can’t rememver the last game you went to though! Would you be happy to get involved in my project? And what would be the best way to contact you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was in the Archers too. Got a seat and some turf when we dismantled the stadium the week after against Brighton. Remember walking back past the Dell a few hours after the game and people were still in there playing football and ripping up the pitch. That’s a great memory of the ground! Do you still have the seat or turf? Would you be happy for me to contact you in the near future to help with my project? If so what is the best way to get hold of you? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I’m happy to have a chat but I don’t do Twitter. Excellent! I’ve just sent you a private messages Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 11 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I was in the archers block four. Can still shut my eyes and see Matty putting the ball in the net Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk And what a goal that was! Would you be happy for me to contact you in the near future to talk about your memory’s of The Dell? If so what is the best way to get hold of you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint IQ Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 I still have a seat somewhere from the very last game at the Dell v Brighton. Had some pitch as well but that's long gone left in the garden of the last house I live in over a decade ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingsland Red Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 Upper East Centre,with my sons. Great day ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NorthamSteve Posted 11 January, 2018 Share Posted 11 January, 2018 That's great, Steve. Would you be available some time over the next couple of months to talk to? I'm still in the early planning stage but will get back to you if possible? Sure thing mate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggers Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 (edited) My lasting memory from the last game was that, at the time, my company sponsored the "Junior Saints" and we had a couple of advertising boards around the ground. After the final whistle I was walking down Milton Rd to see a very enthusiastic guy running down the street with my company's logo under his arm as his Souvenir. Still wonder if it's pride of place on his bedroom wall. Lol Edited 12 January, 2018 by diggers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InvictaSaint Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 That would be great InvictaSaint. I'm still in the early planning stage at the moment, would you be happy for me to contact you over the next couple of months? Absolutely. No problem. Happy to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toadhall Saint Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 Archers road - got my ticket of my mate as he was on holiday ( went with another mate - not a happy bunny!). Remember MLT coming on and turning to one of the lads and saying “this is what fairytale’s are made of” then MLT did what he had done on so many occasions. Perfect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint86 Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 Hello Saints fans, I am on the lookout for Southampton fans who were at your final game at The Dell vs Arsenal in 2001. I am looking to produce a mini documentary on the move from The Dell to St Marys stadium and trying to interview fans who were at that game. I am also looking for any fans who might have memorabilia or a collection of photographs from The Dell. I was reading how some fans took seats or turf from the old ground and if you or anybody you know still has something like this please get in contact. If you would like to get involved in my project could you please leave me a way of contacting you or drop me a line on twitter @ThomasD147 Thanks for your time. Not sure if you are aware, but the last game was vs Brighton. And this is the game where basically everything was either auctioned off (or just removed) from the ground. I personally thought it was a bit disgraceful the way fans just smashed up the stadium to rip out seats etc.The stadium deserved better than to be torn apart by some of the fans. The least they could have done was pay a nominal sum for their seats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warsash saint Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 Still have my seat which has pride of place in my shed. Managed to get a large piece of turf & planted it in my old house's garden - sold my house a few years back to some P*mpey fans. Have a chuckle sometimes at the thought of their kids playing on the hallowed grass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 (edited) Not sure if you are aware, but the last game was vs Brighton. And this is the game where basically everything was either auctioned off (or just removed) from the ground. I personally thought it was a bit disgraceful the way fans just smashed up the stadium to rip out seats etc.The stadium deserved better than to be torn apart by some of the fans. The least they could have done was pay a nominal sum for their seats. The club said that they weren’t allowed to sell the seats. Something about the plastic not being kosher. Or something. I couldn’t get to the Brighton game but my daughter did. She told me that the chants of “Stand up, if you’ve got your seat” had started before half time. This was sung whilst waving the seat over your head. She couldn’t actually get my seat but she did bring me back the little number from the backrest. Very thoughtful of her. Edited 12 January, 2018 by Whitey Grandad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 The club said that they weren’t allowed to sell the seats. Something about the plastic not being kosher. Or something. I couldn’t get to the Brighton game but my daughter did. She told me that the chants of “Stand up, if you’ve got your seat” had started before half time. This was sung whilst waving the seat over your head. She couldn’t actually get my seat but she did bring me back the little number from the backrest. Very thoughtful of her. The club asked that the fans left the white seats alone as they had been sold, but were more than welcome to help themselves to the red ones, which as you say they couldn't sell. This was this because the red used to make the plastic seats red contained Cadmium, so was against the law as a hazardous substance to be sold.................you might have been tempted to take the seat home and grind it up to sprinkle on your chips!!............... probably not enough red seats in the Dell to show up on a post-mortem as cause of death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitey Grandad Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 The club asked that the fans left the white seats alone as they had been sold, but were more than welcome to help themselves to the red ones, which as you say they couldn't sell. This was this because the red used to make the plastic seats red contained Cadmium, so was against the law as a hazardous substance to be sold.................you might have been tempted to take the seat home and grind it up to sprinkle on your chips!!............... probably not enough red seats in the Dell to show up on a post-mortem as cause of death. Thanks. I suspect that supporting Saints might sometimes be given as a cause of death. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red&white56 Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 https://flickr.com/photos/106380336@N05/sets/72157651731975678 Thomas, please forgive me if I’ve done this wrong. I mostly use Flickr to store photos of my grandchildren growing up and not sure about the rights and wrongs of sharing the page on Flickr. Let me know if you have a problem viewing. Norm Norm, some great photos there. thanks for sharing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefoggy Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 I have plenty of photos of the Dell, have seat etc. Also have photos of Brighton game if needed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Boy Saint Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 https://flickr.com/photos/106380336@N05/sets/72157651731975678 Thomas, please forgive me if I’ve done this wrong. I mostly use Flickr to store photos of my grandchildren growing up and not sure about the rights and wrongs of sharing the page on Flickr. Let me know if you have a problem viewing. Norm Cheers Norm - just got round to viewing them on a decent sized screen Made me think of the evening I took a friend who was an old boy and long time season ticket holder, down to the St Mary's visitor centre before an evening game........his eyes were out on stalks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norm Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 Cheers Norm - just got round to viewing them on a decent sized screen Made me think of the evening I took a friend who was an old boy and long time season ticket holder, down to the St Mary's visitor centre before an evening game........his eyes were out on stalks. My wife, Yvonne, worked at the visitors centre during the building of the stadium. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SalisburySaints Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 Remember taking my Dad's spanner and screwdriver to take my seat at the end. Started undoing the fixings with about 5 minutes of the game to go to the disgust of the woman behind us. At the end she was asking to borrow them to do the same! Matt's goal was an amazing moment. The moment you knew you we living a moment that was pure fantasy. i don't think I'd swap that moment for a trophy win. Remember my mate saying he wouldn't go to the Brighton game after that finish, he wanted to remember that moment as his last there. Went to nearly 500 games there and occasionally miss it. We wouldn't have got relegated from the Prem in 2005 if we'd played there that season, but totally inadequate for top flight football nowadays. Also, remember going to the ticket office one Saturday afternoon when i was about 12. It coincident with a reserve game, so off we popped, bought the tickets and entered the main stand upper tier (I think it was free for reserve fixtures in those days), anyway, in place for 45 minutes and then the half time whistle went. Or we thought it was the half time whistle. All the players shook hands and every fan got up to leave. Turned out the game started at 2pm and we'd only seen the second half!! No internet in those days and too embarrassed to ask another fan the actual score so to this day I have no idea what the result was!! I'm pretty sure it was against Oxford United and the first team got beat at Tottenham, heavily if I remember as the tannoy announced the goals at WHL as they went in. Happy days!! I've also got some pictures of me and a mate playing on the pitch with no-one else around. We entered via the Archers Road end while it was being converted to all seater. The one man security operation wasn't very happy and we didn't stay very long!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roger Posted 12 January, 2018 Share Posted 12 January, 2018 I was there. Was v emotional with Matty goal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 13 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 13 January, 2018 Thank you everybody for your contributions. A lot of really interesting stories and great memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas9889 Posted 13 January, 2018 Author Share Posted 13 January, 2018 I have plenty of photos of the Dell, have seat etc. Also have photos of Brighton game if needed? That would be great, Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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