 Thursday, 15th Sep 2011 09:12 A look back at a relegation fourpointer (as they were called back then) The spring of 1974 was not a good one either for the country or Southampton Football Club The country was in turmoil after the power cuts and short working weeks and Saints who had sat in 8th place on New Years eve, now sat in 17th place, only two above third from bottom and this was the first season of three up three down. In the 11 games since New Year Saints had won just two, drew 2 and lost 7, they were on the crest of a slump, however there were some bright lights on the horizon, a week or so earlier Peter osgood had been signed from Chelsea and Leicester had been beaten 1-0 in a game at the Dell a few days earlier, with Saints sat on 31 points from 34 games and Birmingham in the third relegation positision on 25 albeit having played a game less, followed by Norwich on 23 and man Utd on 22 it was all there to play for, a Saints wn would put them virtually safe with at worst an 8 point gap between the relegation zone and with only 8 games left for Birmingham, they would have to win four of them just to catch Saints without us getting another point in the meantime. Therefore a 23, 349 crowd turned out to cheer the home side on and to see Peter Osgood make his 3rd appearance (2nd at home) and hopefully score his first goal, this gate although 3,000 down on the Leicester attendance was still around 6,000 more than the usual attendance. But it was not to be a dream game for Saints but a nightmare, the Blues put themselves in front at the break with two goals from Kenny Burns and Trevor Francis and despite constant pressure in the second half from Saints and wave after wave of attack, they just couldnt get a goal back and get anywhere near rescuing the game. Lawrie McMenemy had signed Osgood in the hope of boosting Saints survival hopes, but in reflection it rebounded on Saints, Osgood having been in dispute with Chelsea was nowhere near fit and the increased crowd for this and subsequent matches put too much pressure on the team meaning they froze on too many occasions. Birmingham's great escape was under way and Saints were struggling, in the final 7 matches, Saints had plenty of opportunities to get to safety, bearing in mind they were on 31 points and usually this was enough at the end of the season to stay up, but fate wasnt smiling on them, fellow strugglers Chelsea, West Ham and United had to come to the Dell plus a trip to West Ham, one win over any of them would surely be enough to put us safe, sadly all three were draws, whilst we lost at Upton Park along with trips to Spurs and Burnley, winning only one game the final one at Everton, but it was a case of too little too late, the final table was. Chelsea 37 West Ham 37 Birmingham 37 Saints 36 Man Utd 32 Norwich 29 When you consider that some clubs dont go down now on that total even with 3 points for a win, it shows how unlucky we were that year, if we had drawn with Brum or beaten Chelsea or the Hammers, we would have stayed up, it was that tight. Indeed Saints didnt actually enter the bottom 3 until the Tuesday before the final day of the season after Birmingahm had beaten QPR 4-0 at home, on the final day it all came down to Saints beating Everton and hoping that Birmingham lost at home to already relegated Norwich, history shows that they won. Photo: Action Images Please report offensive, libellous or inappropriate posts by using the links provided.
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