Legend recalls earliest memories of Southampton and The Dell

Even my junior school, Banister School, was close to the stadium as was my secondary school. My whole school life was spent within walking distance of The Dell.

I would look through the gap of the gates at the stadium which seemed to fuel and reinforce my desire to become a professional footballer.

I guess that manifested a few years later when, at the age of 14, I joined Southampton, the club I had watched from the terraces as a schoolboy.

Watching the likes of Kevin Keegan, Mick Channon and Alan Ball was magic. They only furthered that burning desire to follow in their footsteps and wear the red and white of Saints.

Back then you could only become officially affiliated with a team at 14 which is a lot different to the model we see clubs deploy today.

Fast forward two years and I was a full-time apprentice, but the first time I stepped foot onto The Dell’s turf was three years before that.

My very first appearance at the stadium, which I would later come to call home, came as an Under-13 in the Hampshire City School’s final.

I was playing as a striker back in those days and I can recall scoring two and setting up another as we won 4-1 to lift the trophy.

That’s a magic memory and everything I wanted it to be at that moment in my life. In fact, that day was made better by meeting the legend that is Keegan.

It was my role to introduce him to all of my teammates. I wasn’t aware that I would be doing that on the day, I was just focused on the game at hand.

The added fanfare inside The Dell thanks to the dignitaries such as Keegan made the occasion all the more special.

Once I got home I was overcome by the feeling that I wanted more of what I had just experienced. So when I became an apprentice at the club aged 16 it was the realisation of a dream.

It was quite a daunting environment to step into as a 16 year old. On your first day as an apprentice, you were assigned a few senior players to look after.

The dressing room at the time had the likes of Peter Shilton, Joe Jordan and Nick Holmes – so many senior professionals. All of a sudden I was training with those guys on a daily basis.

George Lawrence was one of the players I looked after during my time. You tended to get players who played a similar position to you, so being a striker in those days I was tasked with looking after George.

It was a hard introduction into full-time football under Dave Merrington, who was brilliant with everything. He set standards on and off the pitch and developed us as young men as much as footballers.

It was a brilliant time, but a tough time which gave us our grounding. Many of the youngsters who came through at a similar time to me will tell you the same thing.

For the first time in our lives we were training at such an intensity day in day out, but being a part of the squad was incredible.

I understand that Saints still ensure that their youngsters are tasked with cleaning boots and doing various jobs around Staplewood.

Those little conversations that the current youth team players will have with pro players will teach them so much.

It’s not just about the match day. You get the chance to see how these top players prepare and work during the week.

Before long, I started to set my sights on breaking into the first team. Doing well in the reserves and youth team was a key part of that – as was working my socks off every day.

There were a number of young lads at the club who were doing just that – many of them who would go on to become some household names – Alan Shearer among them.

You were always hoping that you were impressive enough to get a slot in the first team. I was lucky enough to go on and make hundreds of appearances for the club during my career.

Earlier this week I saw that Saints had donated toys to Southampton City Council’s annual toy appeal for the fourth straight year.

This is of course a time of year when we all look to celebrate one way or another, but we are in difficult times.

Supporters can donate toys at various different drop off points around the city and a wishlist has been drawn up for the items that are in highest demand.

Anything we can do as a club or as supporters to make someone's Christmas just that little bit more special is something worth doing.