3rd May 1976 for Saints supporters of a certain age the best visit to the Dell of Queens Park Rangers ever.
If ever a man scheduled the date for his testimonial for the best possible day it was Mick Channon who had arranged for possible Champions elect Queens Park Rangers to turn out in his benefit game on what had initially looked like a quiet monday evening in May in 1976.
In the meantime though Saints had won the FA up two days earlier and the City was gripped in a fever never seen before or since, over 250,000 people had turned out the day before for the open topped tour around the City and now queues were already forming outside the Dell over 3 hours before kick off, with events overtaking the timing of this match only seats in the stands had been sold and places on the terracing were strictly first come first served cash on the turnstile.
Thos of us at school back then therefore dashed home changed into our normal attire to the match and headed for the Dell, the 17 buses from Millbrrok to Foys corner were usually quiet at 4pm on a Monday afternoon, on this day they were packed with Saints supporters heading for the Dell, the one lucky enough to have been at Wembley regaling those who hadnt been there with tales of tha great day.
But back in the days when testimonials and friendlies were played with a semblance of competitiveness the vist of QPR was indeed a coup for Channon, Queens Park Rangers had sttod proudly on top of the First Division for nine days and had had to sit and sweat and wait for Liverpool's visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers due to take place the day after Channon's big game, Liverpool needed only a draw and they would take the title on goal average, QPR's big hope though was that Wolves themselves were third from bottom, a draw would not be good enough for them, but if they beat Liverpool they might overhaul Birmingham City on goal average.
But more of that later, as it stood the Saints V QPR fixture stood a very good chance of being played at Wembley in the Charity Shield a few months later, but for now it was being played at the Dell and as mentioned the crowds were assembling over three hours before kick off and the turnstiles opened early and shut early as well with the crowds packed tightly into the ground and overflowing on to the touchlines
Saints playing in their brand new Admiral yellow kit first warn only two days earlier at Wembley formed a guard of honour to welcom Channon on to the pitch and there then followed a lap of honour around the pitch accompanied by the FA Cup as well as a few over exhuberant fans, after which Bobby Stokes who was a non driver was presented with a brand new car as the scorer of the cup final winner.
The game finally got under way but no one was bothered it was all about cheering every move and enjoying the evening, most agreed though with not only jam packed terraces as well as supporters sitting along the touchlines that although it might not be the official record attendance there certainly were far more Saints fans in the Dell that night than ever before seen, so packed was it that I would hazard a guess that this would still be the unofficial record either at the Dell or St mary's for the number of fans who have been in attendance for a game, quite simply it was dangerously overcrowded but no one cared and no one got mad or got hurt.
The final score was 2-2, Bobby Stokes got both Saints goals, but there are those that will claim a 3-2 victory for Saints, as the game neared the end of 90 minutes those who had been sat on the touchline were joined by others coming off the terraces so that the pitch was completely surrounded by fans on the running track and they started to encroach onto the pitch, Saints attacking the Milton Road goal launched a last attack with all the players looking worryingly towars the diminishing gap leading to the players tunnel, Peter Osgood hit a shot that was going well wide until it hit a supporter standing somewhere near the edge of the six yard box as the crowd was pushed forward and the ball flew past a goalkeeper who had his eyes elsewhere and into the goal, this was the signal for the crowd to good naturely end the game and surge on to the pitch, the players merely ran for their lives.
All in all perhaps an occasion only bettered at the Dell by that Le Tissier goal against Arsenal on the final league game at the Dell 25 years later.
For Saints the season was over and a trophy was in the bag, for QPR however there was the agony of waiting for the Wolves V Liverpool result, Rangers players watched it nervously in the BBC studios just around the corner from Loftus Road, for long periods it looked like QPR would be the Champions as Wolves led, but in the final minutes of the game Liverpool not only equalised but then scored another two to ensure that not only were Wolves relegated (the result at Molyneaux was actually irrelevant in the end as Birmingham secured a point in their final game on the same night) but Liverpool were Champions and would be the opponents for Saints in the Charity shield.