DING DONG DELL

 

I am looking at a photograph of Matthew Le Tissier in the Daily Telegraph (Sports' Section of course). He is the subject of an article written by Ben Bloom, titled "Forgotten days of the One-club man".

On May 19th 2001 the last competitive game at The Dell in the Football League, was played by Southampton.

The Saints had played at The Dell for 103 years, having originally shared the Hampshire County Cricket Ground, with Hants CCC.

On the 19th of May 2001, the well known, midfielder Matthew Le Tissier (who retired from playing a year later) said goodbye to the stadium that had been host to his entire professional career by scoring a volley in the final minutes of the final league game securing a 3–2 win against Arsenal. Le Tissier thus has the distinction of scoring the last competitive goal at The Dell after 89 minutes, coming on as a "sub". He played 443 games for The Saints and scored 161 goals-only 8 caps for England!!

On 26 May, the club's fans said goodbye to the Dell by stripping all of its seats, the pitch and even an advertising board after Southampton's last game at the stadium, a 1–0 victory in a friendly against Brighton and Hove Albion the first and last opponents at the stadium. The last goal ever scored at the Dell was by Uwe Rossler. 

Actually, Brighton United was the first team to play at The Dell on September 3rd 1898. United was founded in 1898 and played briefly in the Southern League. They played their first league game against Southampton St Mary's Club, losing 4-1. The Dell contained an Archibald Leitch Stand, a classic in football ground history. The Dell was demolished later, finally biting the dust on Friday 13 July 2001, completed by the Portsmouth-based demolition company, Hughes & Salvidge. A housing estate was later built on the site by Barratt Homes. 

Roddy McLeod, a Scot who had played for WBA and Leicester Fosse, scored Brighton United's one goal. He had played for WBA in the winning FA Cup Final in 1892 and in the losing final in 1895. There were 9 Scots in the Brighton side that season, so the club must have had a few £££s to share out to the "migrating Scots". Having stood their ground quite successfully in their first season, they had to resign from the League in March 1900 with four games left. Brighton and Hove Albion reformed in 1901 joining the Southern League and then Division Three of the Football League when it expanded in 1920.

Flats on the site of 'The Dell, with apartment blocks named after Saints! Stokes' Court, Ted Bates Court, Le Tissier Court, Wallace Court, Channon Court.     Below, St Mary's.