Although in some respects its nice to see Alan Shearer speaking out in praise of our youth academy and the way we bring players through, he needs to look at the history books.

As I said its good to see pundits like Alan Shearer praising Southampton and even more satisfying in that since he left Saints in 1992, Shearer has barely uttered a word about us since, Im sure a younger generation who only know him for his stint as a Match Of The Day presenter would be unaware that he played so many games for Saints and would know him as the ex England, Blackburn & Newcastle striker, like Andy Townsend, it has been funny how Saints have been airbrushed from history until suddenly they are the flavour of the month.

But forgetting that it is good to see Shearer praise our youngsters and its also good to see him point out that this isn't actually a new thing here at Southampton but something that's been going on for a long long time, speaking to BBC Sport Shearer said:

"How can Southampton carry on churning out players whereas big clubs have struggled to do that? The answer, probably, is that they are giving their kids a chance."

"It's refreshing that they are continuing to produce youngsters at an academy that has worked wonders over the years The money that football club has made out of their youth academy, it's a model for everyone to look at."

Shearer then continued by saying that one of the main reasons he joined Saints as a schoolboy back in the early 80's was because of their reputation of giving young players a chance.

"That started with Danny Wallace, Steve Williams, Matt Le Tissier, myself, Rod Wallace, Bale, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Walcott - and the guys coming through now like Lallana, Shaw and Ward-Prowse," he added.

"That hasn't just happened this season, it's been happening for years. It's incredible and a model that a lot of people should look at."

But Shearer is wrong !

It didn't start with the likes of Danny Wallace who made his debut for the Club at Old Trafford in the Kevin Keegan era in 1980 at only 16 years old ironically almost 33 years ago to this day, nor did it start with Steve Williams who made his debut at only 17 in 1976 and would barely miss a game for the next eight years, those who pipe up with the name of Mick Channon would also be wrong, he was well into the programme.

It all started back in 1955 when Ted Bates took over at the Dell and inheirited a squad at a club that was making a loss and out of necessity needed not only to give youth a chance but develop it for the future, perhaps the first fruit of a Saints youth system that has continued to this day was Terry Paine who in March 1957 made his debut only a week before his 18th birthday, he was followed soon after by another 17 year old, John Sydenham, between them they played over a thousand league games for the club and the conveyor belt had started.

In 1956/57 the youth team reached the semi finals for the FA Youth Cup and lost only to Manchester United after losing at the Dell 5-2 they won 3-2 at Old Trafford to go out on aggregate, a fine achievement when you consider that this was the Busby Babes team containing many players who would go on to become legends in the game, some of them sadly because they were to die so tragically in the Munich air disaster in February 1958, incidentally the programme for the 2nd leg at Old Trafford sells at over £30 on e bay.

The academy rolled on though and throughout the sixties it was prolific, Martin Chivers, Mick Channon, Denis Hollywood, coming into its own in the early 70's as the likes of Bobby Stokes, Nick Holmes and a host of other too numerous to mention that continued on right through that decade and up to the time when Alan Shearer arrived at the club to continue the production line, yes it did go a bit quiet in the mid 90's but was rebuilt a decade or so ago which lead to renewed progress.

Perhaps it would be remiss to mention the youth system without recalling the one player who really would be a Saints legend now if not for tragedy striking, Steve Mills burst into the Saints side in 1972 and was a natural left back who could also play on the right if needed, but fate was to deal him not just one blow but two, in February 1975 he was involved in a car crash which effectively ended his career, he would attempt a comeback but he was no longer able to stand up to the rigours of the game and forced to retire after only 57(4) league appearances.

But it wasn't just one cruel blow of fate, in the mid 80's he was diagnosed with Leukemia, but Steve was a fighter and whilst battling the disease set up the Steve Mills Leukemia fund to raise cash for research, the highlight of which was a big charity game at the Dell when many ex players from the past including Kevin Keegan & Mick Channon took part and played the current side in front of a packed Dell in what was an emotional evening, sadly a few moths later Steve would lose his life to the dreadful disease.

So Alan Shearer is wrong, the Saints youth academy has been producing good young talent now for the best part of 60 years not the mere 30 or so he is acknowledging, youngsters may claim that there has never been a better time to be a Saints fan, but that might be disputed by those in their 70's who watched youngsters like Paine & Sydenham roar down the wings and take Saints from the third division to the first, by those in their 60's who thrilled as the likes of Chivers & Channon kept us in the top flight, by those in their 50's who watched in awe as the likes Holmes & Stokes helped us win the FA Cup and then Williams & Waldron took us back to the top flight and Wembley again, then it was the turn of Moran & Wallace in the early 80's, those in their 30's will recall the great days of Le Tissier, Rod Wallace and Shearer himself, those in their late 20's will hark back a decade as we went to another FA Cup Final with home grown talent like Wayne Bridge, Matt Oakley & Chris Baird in the squad just before the emergence of Walcott & Bale.

So for those youngsters, yes its a great time to be a Saints fan, but its not "yet" the "Greatest" time, over the years we have been blessed by many great players who have come through our youth set up, most have seen us through some very special times over the years, the latest crop are the heirs to that legacy, so far they have done those that went before proud and long may that continue.

Photo: Action Images

ItchenNorth added 14:06 - Nov 22 Shearer wasn't born in the 50s, so he’s just talking about his initial perception of Southampton FC as a school boy back in the 80s. He’s not as old as you Nick so cut him some slack ! So therefore Shearer makes a good point (to many of us); the Wallace brothers, Steve Williams, Le Tiss, Shearer and co were the start of it all ! A good read though (and informative for those of us still just under 40 !).

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stmichael added 14:12 - Nov 22 Steve Mills ...... May well have been the best of them all but we will never know.. What a talent he was..
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SaintNick added 14:21 - Nov 22 Itchen North, I wasn't born in the fifties either lol, in fairness I wasn't berating Shearer only using it as a means to highlight that Saints youth programme goes back a long long way, that it started long before any of the players he mentioned and if to many people it started with Wallace etc then that's sad as it ignores some legends that came through the system, it I funny though that he mentioned Steve Williams who was earlier than everyone else he mentioned

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Zambucco added 16:30 - Nov 22 Saw my first game in 1968 when I moved to Southampton from Swindon, the year before they won the league cup trouncing Arsenal. Sense prevailed, Saints were my home team and saw them at every opportunity and wasn't long before I was a convert. So the youngsters were Channon, Stokes etc. Paine and sydenham were already established, and have been lucky to witness all the youngsters coming through, Steve Williams my favourite. That is the background, and now the bit where I disagree with you Nick, I believe the current squad and the batch of youngsters, will become our "greatest" squad. I have boldly predicted top 5 finish, that was before a ball was kicked, but based on our ever improving performances last year, our signings in the summer and our full utilisation of the academy. The fact that the academy players get regular chances in the full team and to play alongside the fantastic players we have, I can only see us getting better. It will become easier to attract the sort of quality player we will need to sustain our lofty position. It will also attract the cream of youngsters, from not only these shores but worldwide. Yes it is true I have fully bought into NC's vision, not totally into the man or sometimes his methods, definitely not his handling of fans and our history! But I believe this is the dawning of a great time in the club.

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brianletiss added 20:06 - Nov 22 Having watched the Saints from the late 50's as Nick has pointed out we have had some great players come up through the ranks. We currently have Shaw, Ward-Prowse and Lallana plus Chambers and a load of other youngsters yet to make their mark. Apart from the time of Letiss, the Wallaces and Shearer I can't remember as much talent at one time particularly when you add in those we had to sell i.e. Bale, Walcott and Ox. We shouldn't also forget the way we have signed young talent and developed it - Clyne, Schneiderlin and Rodriguez. That is critical to future success too. COYR

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Whatsforpud added 20:09 - Nov 22 Although Ted Bates nurtured Paine, Sydenham and the rest in the 1950s, the 'ACADEMY' as it is called now, came into being much later. Does anyone know when the Academy came into being? The whole structure of football was different in those days. I go back to around 1952. When the first team were away, the Reserves played a Combination League game at the Dell. Seem to remember decent turn-outs of 2-3k, especially later on when a promising lad called Channon was playing. In the 1960s, I believe the Youth team (basically Saints 3rd team), also played on a Saturday afternoon - for a period of time at the BTC Ground in Stoneham Lane. Of course, substitutions did not exist then, so most players had a game every week.

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Tigs added 22:52 - Nov 22 And the last man (apart from the present regime) to see the benefit of investing heavily in our academy system was...........Rupert Lowe !! Discuss.
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oldtimer added 23:10 - Nov 22 I think you are not correct either, I remember George Roughton setting up the "colts" as they were called then, it was taken over by Mr. Henshaw of CPC an engineering company in Southampton in fact Ted Bates lost most of the promising youngsters because he would not pay expences of any kind
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sheffieldsaint added 10:21 - Nov 23 Another generation of promising players from 2004-6 were the likes of Surnam,McGoldrick, Mills and Blackstock. One or two of theses were early transfers into our academy' from another club , I know, but they represented useful products from our youth set-up. Those 4 have had decent Championship careers ( though Surnam also had a sojourn in the premiership with Norwich). Wonder if we hadn't been relegated they would have developed with us into better players and become more popularly associated with our academy. Any thoughts?

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ExiledSupporter added 18:15 - Nov 23 Nick, I think you have missed the point that Shearer was trying to make, although Whatsforpud touches on it when he says that the structure of the game was different in those days. Yes, we've brought through an impressive series of players over many decades, but if you think about it for a few minutes most teams used to develop their own players from a local or regional base . What has changed is that most of the PL teams prefer to buy already developed or highly promising foreign talent on the basis that this is a cheaper, quicker and more direct route to success. It is to our credit that we haven't done this so much over recent years, but have continued to give young British talent their head...and i hope that we will always do so. It has sometimes been difficult to be proud of the club and its behaviour, but our nurturing of young British talent has always been a source of great satisfaction for me. I just wish we would make far sighted, value for money purchases of other promising British talent, when we identify gaps in our own pool of youngsters, from the lower leagues. For me this would be a much better policy than bringing in highly expensive foreign talent that in some cases simply doesn't seem to fit in to the English style and tempo of play (eg. Ramirez and Osvaldo).

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SaintNick50 added 14:31 - Nov 24 And Wanyama, bring back Jack Cork!
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