Saints V Fulham fixtures have often been full of goals however the five goal thriller in 1976 must rank as the greatest game between the two clubs for several reasons.
Fulham's arrival at the Dell on 2nd October 1976, almost exactly 36 years to the date of this seasons fixture saw both teams in the national footballing headlines, Saints of course had just won the FA Cup, but were still suffering the hangover from this as Lawrie McMenemy started to dismantle one side and build another, this was Saints 8th League fixture of the season and they had yet to win one, indeed a 6-2 defeat at Charlton the previous weekend had left us rock bottom of the second division.
Fulham however were flying high, the reason was they had several notable players now in their ranks, including the likes of Bobby Moore, Rodney Marsh & George Best, Best himself was back to playing some scintilating football after a few years in the wilderness as his well documented problems off the pitch had started to take hold.
Interest in the game was high with Match Of The Day cameras in attendance and a couple of thousand Fulham fans swelling the gate to 28,489.
It didnt take long for the crowd to get some action, after only two minutes Ted MacDougall recently signed from Norwich scored his first goal for the club with a glancing header from David Peach's cross, despite the array of attacking talent on show, the aforementioned Best & Marsh as well as Mick Channon and Peter Osgood for Saints, the game remained at 1-0 till the 65th minute then it exploded into life, firstly Mel Blyth came into the area late to meet a Jim McCalliog free kick perfectly and put Saints two up.
A minute later George Best who with things not going his way was becoming more petulant as the game went on, was sent off by the referee, as Best headed for the tunnel, his glamorous wife ( A former Miss World ?, possibly) who had been taking pictures from behind the goal, made her way back to the dressing room herself to much sexist comments from the home fans who after abusing Best on every step of his long walk turned their attentions to her.
But the game was far from finished and Fulham perhaps now able to play to their strengths rather than have to rely on whether Best could be bothered or not pulled one back within minutes of his departure.
But their rally didnt last long as two minutes late Blyth again met a McCalliog free kick perfectly and headed us back into a two goal lead.
On the 80th minute MacDougall got his second, racing though to put the ball past Ian Mellor in the Fulham goal after a superb Channon goal.
The last ten minutes were played out with Saints showing that they two had people who could play the game and pass the ball, making sure that there would be no comeback from the visiors, the crowd cheered every move as the Fulham fans flooded from the Archers oad terraces in their droves.
Lawrie McMenemy put the win down to a team performance, Fulham relied heavily on 3 or 4 superstars perhaps pst their best, but Saints had that all round talent and were embarking on a four straight winnning run in which including this four they would hit fifteen goals and have the fans perhaps wondering whether promotion might yet be on the cards.