In this month's issue of football magazine When Saturday Comes there is an interesting article on when Saints were truly one of the Countries top teams.

This month's edition of When Saturday Comes has a special feature on Saints, the first half written by a former presenter of the club's radio station The Saint Tim Manns looks back on his experiences going to the Dell as a schoolboy back in the Sixties, the second by Neil Cotton takes a look at the early days of the club when it was truly one of the top clubs in the country, but the achievements back then now go relatively unnoticed due to the fact that Southern club's were yet to joing the fledgling football league.

Cotton's article is nothing new to those Saints fans who take a keen interest in the club's history, however for many and indeed the rest of the nation, it will be a revelation.

Back in the latter part of the 19th century and early 20th Saints were truly one of the countries top clubs winning six Southern League Championships and being the first club in the professional era from outside of the Football League to reach an FA Cup Final, playing in two, although in between these two defeats, fellow Southern League club Spurs would win it.

But because that back then the Football League was essentially a competiton for Northern Clubs whilst those South of Birmingham played in the Southern League and was the Nothern clubs who dominated with the Football league eventually absorbing the top clubs from the South Saints domination and achievements now go virtually unrecognised, despite the fact that we would regularly beat the Football League teams when we met in the FA Cup.

I would recommend that Saints fans buy the magazine and find out more about the club's early days and how much rich history that we actually have.

When Saturday Comes is available in most big newsagents.

Photo: Action Images

ericofarabia added 13:24 - Oct 17 Surely that can't be right. We all know Skatesmuff were the South's SoccerBall PowerHouse, nay Dominated World Football from The Napoleonic Wars through to WW2.
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kingslandstand1 added 13:00 - Oct 18 Eric, was just about to say the same thing and that it must be a myth, but that the skates have much greater Portsmyths .....
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