I CAN still remember walking past the Archers Road end of The Dell on my way to school every morning.
Both my high school and Bannister School, my junior school, were near the stadium. I went to school at The Dell, which was a short walk away.
I would watch through the stadium gates, which appeared to reaffirm and strengthen my desire to play professional football.
That must have materialised a few years later when, at fourteen, I became a member of Southampton, the team I had grown up watching on the terraces as a schoolboy.
It was magical to watch celebrities like Alan Ball, Mick Channon, and Kevin Keegan. Their actions have only intensified the intense want to emulate them and don the red and white of Saints.
In the past, the age at which one could formally join a team was 14, which is significantly different from the current model used by clubs.
Three years had passed since I had set foot on The Dell’s premises, but in two years I was an apprentice working full-time.
My very first appearance at the stadium, which I would later come to call home, came as an Under-13 in the Hampshire City School’s final.
Back then, I was a striker, and I remember helping to set up one goal and scoring two as we triumphed 4-1 to win the title.
That recollection is magical and everything I could have hoped for at that particular time in my life. In actuality, meeting the legend that is Keegan brightened that day.
I had a duty to present him to each and every one of my teammates. On that particular day, I was only concerned with the game at hand and had no idea that I would be doing that.
The moment was made much more memorable by the extra fanfare that Keegan and other dignitaries provided inside The Dell.
I was struck with the want for more of what I had just experienced as soon as I arrived home. Thus, it was the fulfilment of a dream when, at the age of 16, I was hired as an apprentice at the club.
At sixteen, it was a really intimidating setting to enter. You were tasked with taking care of a few veteran players on your first day as an apprentice.
At that time, there were numerous senior professionals in the dressing room, including Nick Holmes, Joe Jordan, and Peter Shilton. Suddenly, I was working out every day with those men.
I once looked after George Lawrence as one of the players. In those days, I was a striker, and you got players who played comparable positions to you, so I was responsible for George’s care.
Playing football full-time under Dave Merrington—who was excellent at everything—was a difficult transition. In addition to developing us as young men and football players, he set standards both on and off the pitch.
It was a wonderful period, but it was also difficult, which helped us find our footing. The same is true for many of the young people who came through about the same period as me.
Being a member of the squad was amazing, but we were training at such a high level every day for the first time in our lives.
I am aware that Saints continue to make sure their kids are assigned to do odd duties around Staplewood, including washing boots.
The players on the current youth team will learn a great deal from those brief exchanges with professional athletes.
It goes beyond the day of the contest. You get the opportunity to see these elite athletes train and work during the week.
I soon began to focus on getting into the starting lineup. Working extremely hard every day and performing well in the reserves and young team were crucial components of that.
Numerous young men at the club were doing precisely that; many of them would later become well-known figures in society, Alan Shearer among them.
You constantly had the dream of becoming good enough to be selected for the starting squad. During my career, I had the good fortune to make hundreds of appearances for the club.
I learned earlier this week that Saints had sent toys for the fourth year in a row to Southampton City Council’s annual gift drive.
Of course, we all want to rejoice in one way or another during this time of year, but these are trying times.
Toys can be donated at a number of locations throughout the city by supporters, and the most in-demand goods have been listed on a wishlist.
Whatever the club or its supporters can do to brighten someone’s Christmas, that little bit more special is something worth doing.
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