Katharina Liebherr has written the foreword of the great new book from Hagiology publishing Match of The New Millennium, it will fill the hearts of any Saints fan.
In this day and age when we see a plethora of foreign owners of football clubs who buy them and then see them as their own personal as their own personal playthings to use as they see fit, it is heartening that here at Southampton we are owned by a family who have preferred to take the professional way of doing things and take a less hands on role in the day to day running of the club.
Of course that has not always been a smooth path, but since Katharina Liebherr took control of the situation you feel that we are on a far better path than those clubs who have initially seen their owners throw money at them and then seen that interest wane and financial difficulties follow.
So it is refreshing to see that Katharina Liebherr wrote the foreword for Match Of The New Millennium, it is more refreshing to hear that she actually wrote this herself rather than employ a PR person to do it for her, but most refreshing is to read it, especially because although she has been a very visible presence in attending games, she is clearly a private person and has rarely spoken about the club publicly.
"My father made the decision to take over Southampton Football Club seven years ago,” she writes.
"Looking back, I am very proud of how the Club has developed since then, and that we are now facing a positive future makes me even prouder.
"Not only will we continue to fight to be among the top teams in the Premier League but also we will do everything to be internationally successful in the Europa League.
"It had not been an easy decision for my father to purchase the Club.
"His being a son of a successful industrial entrepreneur, it was essential that specific conditions had to be met.
"Besides a motivated and powerful Team, working on a common vision, the spirit of the Club also convinced him.
"My father took on a massive responsibility, which he had always been aware of.
"It was not important for him to self-display, but to bring back a traditional Club like the Saints into the Premier League and to prove to many people at the same time that they can be proud of their Club.
"Right at the beginning, my father raised the following questions with Les Reed: ÂÂ Are we able to have a young dynamic team which is able to play fair and attractive football that convinces our fans?
"Are we able to develop young talents and will we be successful enough with "homegrown” players to be back in the Premier League within five years?
"Les’s immediate answer was: "Yes, we can!”
"From that moment, my father looked forward and put all his trust into the people at the Club and today we can proudly say that his plan was successfully realised.
"I remember well I had never before seen my father so happily smiling, as when he became the owner of the Saints and when he was responsible for the wonderful task. His personal highlight was the 4-1 victory versus Carlisle United in the JPT Final in 2010, where I was able to join him. For me, this is one of the most important milestones we have achieved until today."
"Unfortunately, and much too early, my father passed away on 10 August 2010. He could no longer witness personally the wonderful time, and the success story, of the Saints.
"Even more, it became my duty, and also an honour, to carry on his vision and his spirit. The SOUTHAMPTON WAY continued seamlessly and the goal of promotion to the Premier League never got lost.”
It has not been an easy path for Katharina since she was forced to effectively wrest back control from the club from former Chairman Nicola Cortese, from the very moment that happened she was under fire from what seemed to be an orchestrated PR campaign against her by national journalists sympathetic to her former employee.
But she weathered the storm, put in place the right key employees to oversee the day to day running of the club and has steered Saints to levels rarely seen in the past three decades.
Some supporters wonder why she does not plough her personal wealth in the club as other multi million pound owners do, the reason is simple that was never her Father's vision, he wanted to build the club the right way through steady, solid and sustainable growth and that is what we have been doing for the past two years.
Katharina might have been accused by critics in the media of not knowing a lot about football when she regained control in early 2014, but she knew about business and quickly she has established the business model that he Father had planned.
To read this foreword and indeed the 100 games documented in Match Of The New Millennium, with 60 of these since Markus rescued us in 2009, buy the book from Saints Megastores or from the 22nd August Waterstones branches.
Priced at £18.99 and containing many insights from players etc into each game including many from perhaps the man who epitomised our rise from near disaster Rickie Lambert, it is a vital read for Saints fans of all ages.
It is already available direct from Hagiology Publishing at only £16
(plus £3.50 p & p, unless you arrange free hand-delivery/collection)
Details of this book and all other Hagiology publications can be found at
But you can find out more, right now, from one of the editors:
David Bull 0117-962-2042 OR Barry Webb 07806 626259
e mailto:
bull.hagiology@blueyonder.co.uk