Saints have agreed to host a benefit match for former player Danny Wallace, who is suffering from MS.

Wallace's agent, best friend and former team-mate George Lawrence confirmed that St Mary's will play host to the game next May.

Teams have yet to be confirmed but it will be a return to the south coast for Wallace who made over 300 appearances for Saints between 1980-1989 before moving to Manchester United for £1.2m in 1989.

The 39-year-old finished his career at Wycombe in 1995 and still lives in Manchester with his wife Jenny and three children. He has recently become a grandfather for the first time.

But since being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a neurological disorder which affects his body and for which there is currently no cure, Wallace's life has been turned upside down.

Lawrence said: "He can be fine one moment and not the next. You can go and see him and he'll be like normal but then you go back a week later and he's dragging his left leg or is always out of breath.

"We try and get him out and about and I take him to watch matches when I go but this game is great news because he's been chasing it for quite a while.

"He let me speak to Rupert Lowe, who was very good about it, and Gordon Strachan is all for it as well.

"Danny still holds the club in great affection. I'm a year older but we started within a week of each other when we were 13 or 14.

"The first I knew about his disease was when he said to me quietly that he couldn't feel a thing in one leg.

"It's quite hard to accept when it happens to somebody you've known since you were 14.

"We've grown up together, partied together, played together and now a lot of people, including me, have shed a few tears for him.

"So many people have sent their regards and, especially on a bad day, you can't see he was a pro footballer for so many years.

"But he's a great man and is trying to remain cheerful and is thrilled about this game and coming back to Southampton again."

In his Dell career, Wallace, pictured, scored 74 goals in 292 starts plus 18 as a sub and won one England cap against Egypt in Cairo in 1986.

He was Saints' youngest-ever player when making his debut at Old Trafford in November 1980 aged 16 years and 341 days.

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