THE owner of a shop completely devoted to the art of football memorabilia, just a Claus Lundekvam clearance away from St Mary's, has warned south coast nostalgia buffs: Use me or lose me!

Jim Chamberlain, 50, set up his footballing time machine in Northam Road three years ago, moving to larger premises in the same street shortly after the start of the current season.

A visit to his shop is a must for any self-respecting football fan, independent of which club you support, though Chamberlain is a lifelong Southampton fan and that is reflected in his stock.

To many fans, the 1960s and 1970s remain a golden age for football, if not in terms of finance and stadium comforts compared to today's 21st century Premiership arena then certainly in other areas such as shirt designs, maverick players, terrace fashions and chants.

And older Saints fans reading this will inevitably recall in their mind's eye the promotions of the 1960s, the first forays into Europe, the FA Cup success and promotion back to the promised land under Lawrie McMenemy - let alone the early to mid-80s challenge for the major honours, and the signing of a host of former England internationals blooded with local youngsters.

If you wanted any idea as to the wide-ranging nature of the nostalgia/memorabilia market, just log on to ebay - a quick search for the benefit of Northam Soul found the following Saints items up for grabs:

Watches, wallets, street signs (!), fixture lists, programmes, replica shirts, rugs, badges, prints, posters, bubblegum cards, cigarette cards, yearbooks, computer games, magnets, bracelets, videos, stickers, gym bags and tattoos.

Go into Chamberlain's shop and you can add to that list books, records (the 1976 FA Cup final on vinyl), DVDs, figurines, testimonial brochures, pennants, scarves and newspapers.

Yet despite the obvious interest in the past, the current band of footie fans just aren't paying enough visits to Chamberlain's Aladdin's Cave of nostalgia - one of literally a handful of such shops in the whole of England.

"It's been hard," he said. "Though Southampton is very much a football city, it's not a real hotbed.

"A lot of my stuff is bought by away fans on matchdays - the Liverpool and the Arsenal fans, for example, are like a breath of fresh air.

"But the fixture list doesn't help - and this season has been the worst. There have been so few 3pm Saturday afternoon kick-offs - and I know Saints fans and away fans are disgruntled by that.

"Take Newcastle, for example - if that had been a 3pm Saturday kick-off this season you'd have had hundreds come down on the Friday staying in B & Bs and hotels, drinking and eating in local pubs and restaurants until they went back home on the Sunday - think of how much they would plough into the local economy over three days.

"But this year it was a 2pm Sunday kick-off and it's not the same.

"I'm not blaming Saints - they have their kick-offs dictated by Sky. It's Sky that runs the game.

Chamberlain has more than 40,000 programmes for sale - of which between 5-8,000 are Saints - plus 1,500 replica shirts of all teams and countries.

Even the Daily Echo sports editor, a lifelong Exeter fan, was able to find a Grecians shirt worn in an actual Football League match.

Chamberlain, who admits he is wondering whether his business can continue for too much longer if trade does not pick up, is an unabashed nostalgia buff.

"My favourite period of supporting the Saints is probably the pioneering days of the 1960s - the likes of Paine, Chivers, O'Brien and a fast-emerging Mick Channon.

"Lawrie Mac is obviously another great memory - the FA Cup final win, the greatest day in the club's history. He took us back up playing the sort of attacking football the Saints fans had become accustomed to.

"Saints fans of my generation will always be appreciative to Lawrie for signing the likes of Keegan, Ball, Charlie George, Osgood, all experienced internationals he was able to get an extra year or two from.

"Then there was the 1984 team, just four points away from winning the league title - with a bit of luck we could have won the double that year. What an achievement that would have been for an unfashionable club like Saints!"

One of the key members of Saints' teams under McMenemy was Nick Holmes, who played alongside Chamberlain for the Southampton boys' team in the late 1960s.

But the latter never turned professional and ended up running the successful Harefield Nomads teams in local Sunday football in the 1970s.

But football then compared to football now is, of course, very different indeed.

"We have a different type of supporter these days," said Chamberlain. "You still have your hardened fan, those that used to stand on the terraces - those I would classify as the die-hards. But you've also got 17,000 fairly new fans ... I find there's less camaraderie these days among the fans as there were on the terraces."

Lawrie McMenemy, writing in his Daily Echo column last Saturday, expressed his sadness that Saints have never officially celebrated the 1976 FA Cup success.

And Chamberlain remarked: "I would like to see more recognition of the former players and managers around St Mary's. If it was down to me, I would put up murals of former players all over the concourse areas - going back to the likes of Alf Ramsey.

"We are one of the oldest established clubs in the country - we should do more to celebrate our heritage, like Newcastle and Manchester United do."

NORTHAM SOUL: Recreating the spirit of Southampton FC - every Wednesday in the Daily Echo.