Saints have this morning unveiled a lasting tribute to their late owner after naming the main building at their state of the art training ground the ‘Markus Liebherr Pavilion.’
The Swiss billionaire rescued the club from administration in 2009 and was desperate to see the club redevelop their Staplewood training base.
Subsequently almost £40m has been spent to give Saints state of the art facilities, which were unveiled to the media this morning.
It was revealed this morning that the poject has so far cost £33m, with a further £6m still to be paid as two more phases are still under construction.
Liebherr’s daughter, Katharina - who inherited ownership of the club from her father - and Saints chairman Ralph Krueger were on hand to unveil a plaque in tribute to Markus Liebherr this morning, and to confirm that the main building will carry his name as a tribute for all he did for the club.
Saints legend and club president Terry Paine was also in attendance for the ceremony.
Katharina said this morning: “I am honoured to be here today.
“On behalf of my father and myself I want to say thank you to everybody who was involved in the building of this football facility.
“It was a lot of work and we all did a very good job as we can see here.
“The opening of this building would mean a lot to my father as this is a strong step towards a sustainable future.
On presenting her father’s Saints scarf to the club, she added: “This is the lucky scarf of my father which he wore to every game.
“Today is the perfect day to hand this over to the club and may it bring luck to us.”
Krueger said at the unveiling ceremony: “We are Southampton. We don't just buy success, we breed it.
“We don't take short cuts, we earn it every second of every day.
“We are the Saints.
“It's not just a name, it's who we are.
“With the Markus Liebherr Pavilion at our core, we march on.”
Krueger added of Markus: "He would have never have put his name on a building and was a very humble man.
"People speak about him being a big teddy bear, his warmth and a lovely man.
"The last thing he would have wanted is to put his name on a building but I know he is smiling down on us today as we put his name on this building."
The main training pitch at Staplewood has been laid to the exact specifications as the one at St Mary's.
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