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Butty’s post about players leaving Saints got me reminiscing about the days of old at The Dell.
As a youngster I saw George Best play for Fulham - I was able to get close enough to almost touch him. This would have been around 74/5 and Best was no longer the player he had been at Utd, but still a superstar. Watching him dribble down the wing that day is a still a memory that resonates.
I think the best player I saw was Dennis Bergkamp - his vision, and the time he had on the ball were exceptional - he totally dominated a game at The Dell with Arsenal winning 1-3 I seem to recall.
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:12 - Nov 25 with 1976 views
I remember Berkamp, having never scored for Arsenal, scoring his and there first at Highbury, there were a number of Saints fans who were relatively happy as they had a bet on him to do just that knowing how charitable we were and still are to strikers out of sorts!
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:42 - Nov 25 with 1911 views
Probably the same game, but Best, Boby Moore, Rodney Marsh etc in mid 70's when Best got sent off! We won 4 - 1 which I think was their 1st defeat of the season with their "galacticos" which was probably not a word then!
George Best in his Man United days, along with Bobby Charlton. I also saw us beat West Ham's "World Cup winners" (Moore, Hurst and Peters) 6-2 at the Dell in the 66/67 season. Moore was always terrible at the Dell so we scored loads of goals when he played, as we did again when we beat his Fulham team with Best and Marsh in it, 4-1.
Cantona, especially against us at Old Trafford, was one of my all-time favourite players. Cristiano Ronaldo and Kevin De Bruyne weren't bad either.
In years to come, I expect Haaland and Kane will be viewed as 2 of the all-time greats.
As Frannie has pointed out, you could list a whole team, with goalkeepers like Banks and Shilton and strikers like Shearer, Keegan and Mo Salah.
But, iconic, it has to be George Best at his best, in the 60s.
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:55 - Nov 25 by kingslandstand1
Just found this to warm the cockles etc. Good to hear OWTS even then
Best really took some stick that day. The atmosphere at the Dell was at its best in the late 70s. Singing boomed out from all sides of the ground and the tremendous hostility towards away players made it one of the most intimidating grounds to visit.
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:42 - Nov 25 by kingslandstand1
Probably the same game, but Best, Boby Moore, Rodney Marsh etc in mid 70's when Best got sent off! We won 4 - 1 which I think was their 1st defeat of the season with their "galacticos" which was probably not a word then!
I saw that game too,kingsland
Saw Bobby Charlton at the Dell once.
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 15:11 - Nov 25 with 1821 views
I am old enough to have seen Best, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law play several times against us in their prime. Best was a shadow of himself by the time he was at Fulham, and his sending off that day was a sad reflection of how far he had fallen. Funnily enough some of the most iconic players I've seen ended up playing for us eventually! Keegan, Bally and Shilton were head and shoulders above their peers, and when people ever talk about great goals, no matter who they support there is a very high chance Le God will be name checked Not so much just based on performances against us, Kenny Dalglish, Eric Cantona, Jurgen Klingsman, Drogba, De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:58 - Nov 25 by dirk_doone
Best really took some stick that day. The atmosphere at the Dell was at its best in the late 70s. Singing boomed out from all sides of the ground and the tremendous hostility towards away players made it one of the most intimidating grounds to visit.
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:43 - Nov 25 by franniesTache
Seen so many down the years it's a hard question to answer, but i guess it's one of:
Lineker Cantona C Ronaldo Beckham Waddle Gazza Shilton (and for us too) Gullit Shearer Bergkamp Ibrahimovic Rooney
Sure there's more i'm forgetting too
Yeh, I'd go with that list and also add Zola. There was one game in I think 96/7 where it looked like we may go down, so I went away to Chelsea as I thought I may not get to ever see Zola play otherwise.
Would also add Klinnsmann and I think I may have seen Davor Suker play against us, and certainly saw Alen Boksic destroy us one day at The Dell for Boro
Edited to add Henry, Southall and Dalglish to the list. 3 of the very best. The Dalgliah doc on Prime is worth a watch
[Post edited 25 Nov 15:30]
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 15:16 - Nov 25 with 1790 views
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 15:12 - Nov 25 by kingslandstand1
Marsh was also clearly riled in that game
The abuse that Best took as he trudged towards the exit in the Milton/West Stand corner was really vitriolic though. In later years Beckham was also on the receiving end of it, and said that the Dell was the ground he least liked to play at.
I remember Terry Paine taking a corner at the Dell once and I looked in the centre circle and Ron Davies,Mike Channon and Martin Chivers were waiting for it. Not sure but I think it was just before Chivers was transferred to Spurs for a staggering £125,000.
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 15:19 - Nov 25 with 1777 views
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 15:11 - Nov 25 by ericofarabia
I am old enough to have seen Best, Bobby Charlton and Dennis Law play several times against us in their prime. Best was a shadow of himself by the time he was at Fulham, and his sending off that day was a sad reflection of how far he had fallen. Funnily enough some of the most iconic players I've seen ended up playing for us eventually! Keegan, Bally and Shilton were head and shoulders above their peers, and when people ever talk about great goals, no matter who they support there is a very high chance Le God will be name checked Not so much just based on performances against us, Kenny Dalglish, Eric Cantona, Jurgen Klingsman, Drogba, De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero.
Thierry Henry should also be added to that list. I was at the Dell when he came on and scored his first goal for Arsenal and what a goal it was
Saw Man U's 'Holy Trinity' all play at The Dell in an FA Cup 3rd Round tie in January 1972 on a bog of a pitch - see the highlights below. In addition, I would have also seen the 'West Ham won the World Cup' trio of Hurst, Peters and Moore play against us for West Ham. Then Alan Ball for Everton and Arsenal.
Frannies list covers a lot of ground, I suppose you have to accept Ronaldo and Beckham into the fold and I agree on Thierry Henry and Kenny Dalglish.
If we have to name just one then I'd go for Best.
Technically this is cheating, as I have seen three other icomic players play against English sides.
Pele for Santos against Aston Villa at Villa Park on a cold Monday evening in February 1972, Villa won 2-1, Pele didn't score but was magnificent. Edu scored a great goal for Santos in the 2nd half. The whole game was played with only three of the four floodlights working. Villa were in Div 3 at the time but it drew a crowd of over 54,000 and broke their record gate receipts at that time.
My ex was a Spurs ST holder and I used to go with her occasionally if Saints didn't have a game the same day so saw:
Maradona play a full 90 mins for Spurs at White Hart Lane in the Ossie Ardiles Testimonial game v Inter Milan. As with Pele, Maradona didn't score but Spurs did win 2-1 and he was excellent.
Cruyff play for Feyenoord in a UEFA Cup tie also at Spurs where their own icon, Hoddle, outshone The Master. In fairness, Cruyff was in his mid-30's and a shadow of what he once was but still managed a few glimpses and did sit a Spurs defender on his backside with a trademark Cruyff turn. Spurs steamrollered Feyenoord with Hoddle superbly orchestrating most of the good things they did that evening.
One player I never got to see that I would have loved to was Zico and from the decade before I was old enough to go to games, the late, great Duncan Edwards.
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 18:02 - Nov 25 with 1575 views
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:58 - Nov 25 by dirk_doone
Best really took some stick that day. The atmosphere at the Dell was at its best in the late 70s. Singing boomed out from all sides of the ground and the tremendous hostility towards away players made it one of the most intimidating grounds to visit.
[Post edited 25 Nov 15:00]
And David Peach with a right foot cross!!!
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 20:11 - Nov 25 with 1444 views
Kevin Keegan when Liverpool beat us in the Charity Shield 1-0. Jimmy Greaves when he played for West Ham. He won a penalty against us and they equalised from the spot following a Tommy Jenkins wonder goal.
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 08:12 - Nov 26 with 1196 views
Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 20:11 - Nov 25 by saintmark1976
Surprised nobody else has mentioned him:-
Jimmy Greaves, simply because he made goal scoring look so easy.
He never appeared to hit the ball hard and just stroked it into the net.
I saw Jimmy Greaves not only play for Saints but score as well, a mid season friendly in March 1980 when we played Vancouver Whitecaps at the Dell and beat them 3-1 with Graham Baker, Phil Boyer and a guest player on as substitute Jimmy Greaves.
I think the game was set up as Alan Ball was manager at Vancouver, but I have a feeling he had left them and gone to Blackpool a few weeks before the game so didn't feature
Satisfying The Bloodlust Of The Masses In Peacetime
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Most iconic player you have seen play against Saints on 14:46 - Nov 26 with 988 views
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