Who would you vote for in a poll for Saints greatest ever player, here we look at a few candidates in no particular order.
Its possible that some Saints fans yet to reach their twenties would vote for Rickie Lambert as their choice as greatest ever Saints player, whilst its undoubted that Rickie's contribution to Southampton Football Club has been immense, in the context of this article I dont think he is yet to achieve a fraction of what the names I am about to put forward have for this club.
Sadly I dont think he will, if only for the fact that as he approaches 31 he is running out of time, hopefully I will be proved wrong, certainly if in a few years time he is still at St Mary's and has three seasons in the Premier league behind him, then he would be in the running, but for the moment, he is a little behind.
Simiarly I would not put forward the name Kevin Keegan into the equation, Keegan was undoubtably one of the greatest players to play for Southampton, joining at the peak of his career, but there is a subtle difference in being the greatest to play and being the greatest, undoubted though that Keegan's contribution to this club, two short seasons isnt quite enough to get him into the shortlist.
So lets look at a few contenders for the title and the reasons why they should be considered, this possibly isnt the definitive list, there are many contenders for the title, but I feel I have mentioned the most obvious.
Perhaps the first contender at least in terms of chronological order should be Bill Rawlings, Bill who ? I hear you say and its true that most would not have heard of him, let alone seen him play, but Rawlings career, straddled the last season of the Southern League days and our fledgling start to our League career, he played 294 league games for the club scoring 156 goals a record that stood for many years and even now he is still fourth in the all time scoring charts for Saints, such was his prowess that he was capped by England despite Saints being in the third division, he was in big demand and eventually left for Manchester United in 1928, however aged 32 he had had his best years for Saints
Ted Bates should also get a mention here, whilst its true to say that playing wise he was never one of the superstars of the team and he was one of a band of players whose best years were lost to the second world war, he still played over 200 league games for the club and scored 63 goals in them, but as we all know his achievements after finishing his playing career and his service to the club have to be taken into account, greatest player, perhaps not, greatest ever club man overall, undoubtably.
Terry Paine is next up, its fair to say his 709(4) League appearances for Saints will be never overtaken, that represents 17 seasons of rarely missing a game, sad to say I dont think we will ever see that, his 160 league goals puts him 3rd in our all time scorers list, Paine was to Southampton what Bobby Charlton was to Manchester United, he deserves to be uttered in the same breath as any of our greats.
John Sydenham is the wild card in this pack, a contemporary of Paine, his talents were often overshadowed by his colleague on the other wing, many say that he left the club a little prematurely, however 341(1) league games, 37 goals and a massive number of assists stakes his claim for greatness.
Mick Channon was Mr Southampton to a certain generation of football supporters, his first spell at the club spanned 11 years and he added another 3 seasons to that after returning from Man City, 507(1) league appearances and 185 goals in that time still make him Saints record goalscorer and a big contender in this poll in that he is one of only two nominee's who have a Winners medal to their name, I dont think I need to remind anyone what one it is.
Ron Davies would be another who would get a big vote from older Saints fans, especially those in the Orange County Saints, in the late 60's Ron was arguably the best centre forward in Europe and Sir Matt Busby no less was desperate to sign him, Ron's career at the Dell spanned seven years in which time he played 239 league games and hit 134 goals in the process, a decent total given that for much of that time he was playing in a struggling team and that his skills as a provider are often overlooked, Mick Channon didnt get to be top scorer for Saints without help elsewhere.
Nick Holmes was the quiet man, that being the case his contribution to the club is often overlooked, only Paine and Channon have played more league games and not only did Holmes like Channon get an FA Cup inners medal in 1976, but he added to that with a goal and a runners up medal in the League Cup in 1979, the only Southampton born player to feature in this list and a one club man to boot, Nick Holmes deserves his name in this list for many reasons, modesty would be one of them.
Peter Shilton was a player who whatever club he was at was respected, but not particularly liked, that was the case at the Dell and even though he gave us five years sterling service at a time when he was undistbutably the World's top goalkeeper, he was not a man the fans warmed to, in many respects he is the odd man out in this list, he played less than the others and left the club in some what controversial circumstances, never seeming to mention or care about us again, but he does deserve to be put forward in that when he played for us he was second to none and he rarely put in a bad performance.
Matt Le Tissier needs no introduction, like Paine in the 60's and Channon in the 70's, during the 1990's he was not only Saints fans favourite player, but most of the rest of the country, undoubtably the most skillful man to put on a Saints shirt, despite playing in a side that struggled for most of his time here, he still scored enough goals, 161, to make him Saints 2nd all time top scorer and with over 400 league games to his credit in the top five of Saints appearances, if the last few years of his career hadnt been blighted by injury he would have almost certainly overtaken Mick Channon as top scorer and probably have pushed himself up to second behind Terry Paine in the appearances chart.
Le Tissier though has one attribute that perhaps pushes him above the other candidates and that is the fact that long after his playing career had ended he remained a son of his adopted City, his work in the media, keeping Saint on the lips of the nation as we languished in the Championship and worse, meaning that in an age when the Premier is king, say the word Southampton and most football fans will still reply Le Tissier.
Last on this list is perhaps the most surprising, Jason Dodd, however like Holmes, Dodd deserves his plce for a long and distinguished career at the Club, 372(27) league appearances in a career that spanned 16 years after his debut in October 1989 as a raw 18 year old signed from Bath City reserves, like Le Tissier injury cut short the latter part of his career, although he had just turned 34 when he pulled on a Saints shirt for the last time, one of the crimes at this club that Harry Redknapp should be tried for was his disgraceful treatment of Dodd and we all watched as a series of disinterested mercenaries aided Redknapp as he took us to relegation whilst Dodd was shipped off to Plymouth on loan, Im not saying that Dodd would have kept us up, but he would have done a better job than those Twitchy selected.
Add to that his service to the club after his playing career ended both as a coach and even caretaker manager and Dodd is a worthy contender to this title.
So thats my top ten for the title of Saints greatest ever player, Im not saying its the definitive list, there are at least another ten who could feel agrieved at not being mentioned, older fans will perhaps put forward the likes of Bill Roachford, Derek Reeves, George O'Brien, some will say what about Chris Nicholl, even Claus Lundekvam for well over a decade at the Club, perhaps James Beattie, but I do feel that whatever my ommisions, the ultimate greatest ever Saints player is in this list.
I have picked the players, not just for the odd individual feat, if i did then Bobby Stokes would definately be featured, but for a more overall contribution over a long period of time, Shilton put in a mere five years at the club and his is the shortest period of service, I thought his status in World Football deserved a place though, as said, Rickie Lambert could well be on this list, but I think it should be about players that have given service over a longer period rather than current ones who have yet to put that time in, hopefully in another five years I might repeat this article and Lambert's name will be on it, even better if it also includes Jamie Ward-Prowse.
So what do you think of my nominations, Im interested as to why Saints supporters will agree or disagree and the reasons why !