A DECADE on from leaving The Dell, ex-skipper Glenn Cockerill will pull on a Saints shirt again tomorrow.
Currently manager of Conference side Woking, Cockerill will line-up with former team-mates in the Southern region Masters football event at Milton Keynes.
Now 43, Cockerill has previously played for Sheffield United and Fulham in the event, but says Saints remain the club closest to his heart.
"I'm looking forward to it, it's a great event and it will be great meeting up with some of the lads again," he said. "Funnily enough I was in Dubai on honeymoon and saw Franny (Benali) out there last week.
"I also bumped into Dennis Wise and Iain Dowie. It was lovely to see Franny and his family. I tried to get him at Woking on loan last year and tried again for next season!
"But he's happy at Saints, moving into more of a coaching role."
Cockerill was known for his no-nonsense approach on the pitch, particularly when he lined up with Terry Hurlock in the steely Saints midfield of the early 1990s.
And he said: "The Masters is all very friendly when you get there, but once we all get out on the pitch all that changes and it is taken very seriously indeed.
"It is just as important to us as a normal league game, that's why we were professional footballers. The only difference now is that we can't run!
"But no-one likes getting beat, I can promise you that."
Midfielder Cockerill was Chris Nicholl's first signing for Saints, joining the club for £200,000 from Sheffield United in October 1985.
During eight years at The Dell, he made 287 first-team appearances and scooped four different player-of-the-year awards during the 1986-7 season.
His loyalty and leadership qualities were rewarded when he was appointed captain during the Ian Branfoot era - taking over the armband from Jimmy Case.
Cockerill moved on to Leyton Orient in 1993 and later linked up with Micky Adams at Fulham where his testimonial attracted the likes of Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier, Andy Townsend, Jeff Kenna, Barry Horne, Richard Hall, Jason Dodd and Tim Flowers.
His crowning moment at Saints was surely leading out the team that made the Zenith Data Systems Cup final at Wembley in 1992.
"I loved every minute of my time at Saints, I was there for about nine seasons and it was wonderful," he said. "Even when we were struggling we had some great times and I remember going to the ZDS Cup final.
"Chris Nicholl was really unlucky when he was manager. We had some really good seasons in the late 1980s, finished in the top half of the league and made semi-finals in the FA Cup and the League Cup.
"He was forging a good young team with experienced players like Jimmy Case as well.
"I remember the midfield in the later 1980s was me, Case and Barry Horne and then we had the young fliers, Alan Shearer, Matt Le Tissier and Rod Wallace up front. It was quite a team."
Cockerill is now enjoying life as a manager after masterminding Woking's final day survival in the Conference last season.
"Being a manger is brilliant, I'm really enjoying it, although of course nothing beats being a player," he said. "The main difference to being a player is it makes you realise how much was done for you.
"As a player all you have to do is turn up on time, everything is done for you and you have so much more free-time.
"As a manager you are constantly having to organise everything and you pretty much have to be like a dad to 18 or 20 players."
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