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LETTER TO THE SINGASAINTS
Mike (front left seated) with Saints fans in Singapore
17 Aug 02
Hi there,
It was very nice to see in the New Paper about the fans of the Saints in Singapore.I have been a life long supporter of the club coming from Totton which is very close to Southampton (about 8km away). I have been resident in Singapore for the last ten years and it was only early this year that I realised that there were people here who were interested in the Club. I found this out from the Saints store at St. Mary's in March when I was there and mentioned to the person there that I lived in Singapore. She then told me that there were a number of people here to whom they sent shirts etc.
I first saw Southampton play at the Dell when I was about seven years old. My father took me to see Saints play Bournemouth and it must have been around 1952 in the days of the Third Division South. Playing that day was Charlie Wayman as centre forward and Ian Black in goal.
I used to attend the school on the opposite side of the road, Springhill School, and from the age of about 9 or 10 we used to skip across the road to go into the carpark at lunch times where Saints' first team and reserves used to be playing five-a-side or head-tennis. Sometimes we used to get to join in and it was a great thrill to be having a kickabout with the heroes of the day such as Eric Day, Tommy Mulgrew, Johnnie Walker, Tommy Traynor, John Christie the goalkeeper, Bobby McGlaughlin and all the rest. I saw a number of very famous players of the time there including Stanley Matthews playing for Blackpool in the FA cup against Saints at the Dell. Down through the years I have seen the likes of Terry Paine, Martin Chivers and Mick Channon, all homegrown class players and then moving into the Lawrie Macmenemy era we saw players like Peter Osgood (still with the club), Kevin Keegan, Peter Shilton and many other exciting players. My one regret was that I was not able to go to the cup final when we beat Man U. I could not afford a season ticket at that time and when the tickets went on general sale I was not in the country.
Saints have always been my team and always will be and I am pleased to say that my son Paul who is now 22 and until recently lived in Singapore is also a Saints fanatic. We have taken a fair amount of stick over the years for supporting Southampton but there is much history to the club and in their day have had some very good players.
We have seen some truly great players come through from the youth policy such as Alan Shearer and of course Matt Le Tissier and you cannot ignore the stalwarts and often unsung heroes such as Jason Dodd and Francis Benali. We used to go to watch the reserves as well as the first team and from my days of kicking the ball around in the Dell car park for many years I kept in touch with George Horsfall who at various times was trainer, coach to the reserves, manager of the reserves, scout etc and he used to come along often an evening in midweek when he was free to coach an amatuer side with which I was involved.
It is this sort of atmosphere at the club which I believe still exists which has seen them through some difficult times. Saints used to have a reputation for having some of the longest serving managers in English football eg Ted Bates and Lawrie Mac, George Houghton etc. In recent years there has been a high turnover but I think that probably most of that has been through factors beyond the club's control eg Glen Hoddle and the unfortunate Dave Jones. I felt sorry for Stuart Gray because I rate him as a coach but I believe that it was a mistake and unfair to him to put him in overall charge. However nobody is perfect and I admire the courage of Rupert Lowe to effectively own up to his mistake and bring in Gordon Strachan.With Tiss retiring it is a sad day but there is still plenty to look forward to. Wayne Bridge has to be destined for great things and when you look through the current squad there is plenty of talent there. I can't wait for the season to start even though it will be a toughie.
I saw an interview with Strachan the other evening which was a breath of fresh air compared to all of the other experts. When asked who he thought would be champions this seasons, Arsenal, Man U, Liverpool, all the expected names, he said he hadn't thought about it and didnt really care, he had been busy getting his own team ready for the season. He also made the point that nowadays the Premier League is of a standard of most international games and I think that he is right, so in setting a top eight target for Saints I think that he is being realistic. He also encourages the team to play attacking football which is what I like to see. Too many teams in my opinion play not to lose rather than playing to win which when you get two teams playing like this is very boring and if it persists will eventually kill football.
There are many clubs in England and throughout Europe who have been irresponsible in my opinion in the way they have handled their finances and this is not good for the game. Southampton I am pleased to say are not one of them and whilst the big spenders put themselves into more trouble Saints have a nice new home, a sound financial footing and I am convinced will move forward. It was a sad day when the Dell was closed but it was necessary. I believe that if we have some stability manager-wise and are not hit with an injury crisis we will have a good season. There is the foundation of a good squad and once we can get away from the tag of relegation candidates every year the status of the club will grow and we will then be mentioned with the so-called big clubs. At the moment the ground can hold just over thirty thousand but it is capable of having another layer to be put on top which would bring it up to the equivalent of the so-called glamour clubs. It would not surprise me if Rupert Lowe gets that organised in the not-too-distant future. Many of my friends back in the Southampton area tell me that the place is buzzing again just like the mid-seventies. I don't think that it will be long before once again The Saints Go Marching In.
Just one more thing you may like to know. Last season when Saints played Man U at Old Trafford, I, my son, his wife, her father, my daugther, her husband and a couple of friends watched the game live at the Red Cafe, wearing Saints strip. Unfortunately we got hammered that day if you remember but it was a nice thing to do.
This has been a rather long email and for that I apologise but I guess by now you may realise one of the passions in my life is my hometown football club. I was pleased to see the piece in the paper and would be very happy to meet up with you guys in Singapore some time. Please let me know when and where you may be meeting in the future.
All the best and keep up the good work,
Mike Lemon
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