The day is not far off when Reading and Southampton meet once again in the League. In fact, it could well be next season. For the time being, though, we're limited to friendlies.
In 1999/2000, we played a very committed Southampton side, who really impressed me. They treated the match exactly as if it had been a cup tie rather than a July friendly. The evidence of 2000/01's friendly is that the arrival of the utterly uninspiring Hoddle / Gorman partnership has seen them go backwards. The fact that they then left may well do the club some good.
Some Southampton information:
Record defeat - 0-8 against both Tottenham and Everton
Nearest station to ground - Southampton
Trivia - in 1978 Reading met Southampton
in a League Cup 4th round tie at Elm Park. We were in the
4th division, they were in the 1st, and at the time it
was the furthest we had ever progressed in the
competition. It was understandably a big game for us, and
the crowd of 24,046 was the last sizeable crowd to see a
game at our old home. Reading dominated the game
throughout, but the Southampton keeper Terry Gennoe was
in fantastic form and made four world-class saves. I
particularly remember long, dipping shots from Richie
Bowman and Lawrie Sanchez where we seemed certain to
score. However, Southampton held on for a 0-0 draw and
won the replay fairly comfortably.
At the end of the season, Lawrie McMenemy, the then
Southampton manager, published a diary for the season. In
it, all he said was, "It was a nothing match. We
never looked like winning or losing." What a bastard.
And Terry Gennoe wasn't too happy either - he soon left.
For some reason, there are very few Southampton websites (especially when compared with other Premiership teams). I think that this is because they have no fans. Anyway, should you wish to exchange in banter with the few fans that they do have here are a couple to try.
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