IN
THAT
NUMBER
-
'a
post-war
chronicle
of
Southampton
FC'
is
a
massive,
640-page
hardback,
published
in
2003
at
£35.
This
new
history
of
the
Saints
covers
only
the
post-war
seasons
-
the
latest
57,
in
other
words,
of
the
club's
118
seasons
to
date.
Which
is
just
as
well
since
it
comprises
640
pages
(with
more
than
1500
illustrations)
and
is
surely
the
most
comprehensive
post-war
history
of
a
football
club,
in
so
far
as
it
includes:
•
Thumb-nail
match
reports
of
2,376
League
games
•
A
similar
style
of
reports
on
157
League
Cup-ties,
24
games
in
Europe
and
35
matches
in
minor
cups
(like
the
ZDS
trophy,
in
which
Saints
reached
a
Wembley
Final
in
1992).
•
Much
fuller
match
reports
on
178
FA
Cup-ties,
including
14
pages
on
the
road
to
Cardiff.
•
Every
Reserves
line-up
from
1946
to
2003.
Yet
this
is
NOT
a
facts-and-figures
compendium.
Among
the
many
features
that
stop
this
book
being
another
collection
of
stats
are
the
following:
Most
thumb-nail
reports
end
with
a
comment
from
an
ECHO
reporter
or
the
manager
-
occasionally
both.
A
section
of
the
book
is
devoted
to
pen-pictures
of
384
first-team
players
and
of
those
who
managed
them.
Even
the
Reserves
line-ups
feature
some
fine
photographs,
including
one
of
the
16
year-old
Mick
Channon,
pictured
with
the
two
young
reserves,
whose
youngest-ever
appearance
record
he
had
not
long
broken.
That
record
recently
went
again
and
there's
a
place
for
Andrew
Surman,
the
latest
youngest-ever
Reserve,
in
this
book's
comprehensive
picture
gallery.
The
FA
Cup
reports
are
full
of
contextual
commentary,
not
just
on
events
at
the
club,
but
on
the
wider
context
of
the
day,
as
when
Barnsley
won
at
The
Dell
at
the
end
of
the
miners'
strike.
There
are
frequent
interjections,
amid
the
thumb-nails,
of
commentary
-
whether
on
the
latest
match
or
on
a
mid-week
development
in
the
transfer-market
or
wherever.
Some
of
these
interjections
are
serious,
as
when
a
player
or
manager
faced
criminal
charges,
while
others
are
more
light-hearted,
like
the
letting
off
of
fireworks
in
the
directors'
box.
And
you
are
alerted
to
the
inevitable
coincidences
with
which
fans
like
to
tease
each
other
-
for
instance,
which
odd
occurrence
in
Saints'
5-1
win
against
Hull
City
in
1952
was
repeated
in
the
3-3
draw
with
Blackburn
in
1999?
Three
players,
Elliott,
McGarrity
and
Sillett
each
scored
his
first
Saints
goal
in
that
1952
match,
a
feat
repeated
by
Mark
Hughes,
Marsden
and
Pahars
against
Blackburn.
But,
then,
this
book
is
absolutely
FULL
of
answers
to
those
arguments
about
who
scored
against
whom,
when
and
where
-
and
even
how.
And
much,
much
more.
Compiled
by
Saints
Official
Historians,
Duncan
Holley
and
Gary
Chalk,
IN
THAT
NUMBER
has
been
more
than
20
years
in
the
making.
Check
what
the
reviewers
say
about
the
book
This title is out of print, although copies may still be found in some bookshops.
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