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SAINTS have been asking supporters through a survey who would make the grade in an Ultimate Saints XI – and here legend Francis Benali picks his.
The results of the survey will be revealed when the SeaCity Museum in Southampton opens a major exhibition about the club on 29th March 2018.
Here, the Daily Echo, has asked Saints legend Benali who makes his Ultimate Saints XI ahead of the survey’s deadline 8pm on Sunday.
“The whole selection process was a tough one,” said Benali. “The names in it and the players who weren’t in the selection list, you could have almost picked three full teams and still had headaches, so picking 11 players was tough.”
With the help of historians, Saints have selected a shortlist of players to pick from to make up each team.
The club state: “To qualify, players need to have represented the club after 1945 and have made 150 or more appearances, unless they are deemed to have made a particularly special contribution or significant impact during their time with Saints. Current players are not included in the vote.”
Here is Benali’s team and his explanation to why he’s made his selection decisions.
I learned something from all the managers I played for and I tried to take something from them. There were a number of managers I could have picked but Lawrie, for me, was the right pick. The fact that he signed me as a school boy at 14 when he was manager of the first team and the fact he’s the only manager who has brought a major piece of silverware to the club in all these years, means I’ve got to choose him.
Tim gets the nod because I played with him and I know what it was like to play in front of him, how good his communication skills were and what a good goalkeeper he was technically. He was a great all-round goalkeeper that you’d be willing and happy to have in any team. That’s why Tim got the nod and he was a great character in the dressing room as well. On and off the pitch he was a great personality.
He was just so reliable and steady. By his own admission he wasn’t the quickest of players but he could read the game so well. He had that passion and commitment again and he was a character on and off the pitch. He was someone who was so reliable and never let you down. He was captain for many years, so in a way he was an obvious choice for my 11.
I played against Mark Wright when I was a youngster as an apprentice at the club. He was in the first team at the time and I just remember playing as a striker, as I was back then, in training games and practice matches and finding it so hard to get past him and beat him in the air. He had an incredible career, he was a wonderful player and he was an England international as well. He was just one of those players who looked comfortable in possession. He wasn’t just a big battering ram. He was a competitive player.
Nicknamed ‘Silky’, which said it all really. He was so composed and comfortable on the ball. He carried the ball out of defence and created an attack with ease. Considering he was from Scandinavia, he fitted in and was just one of the guys. He fitted in with the dressing room culture, the humour and he was a brave defender as well. For that reason he gets the nod alongside Mark Wright at centre-back.
I’d like nothing more to play in this team but I don’t think it’s for me to choose myself in this line up. I’d obviously love to play in the team but Bridgey was someone who came through when I was at the club. I played on the same side as him on the left with him ahead of me and it was nice to hand the reigns of my place in the team over to another local boy and someone who had come through the club. I managed to fight off a few over the years who I was competing with but to eventually hand that over to the Bridgey was good with me as I knew he was such a great player, and someone who would be a world class international player. He was the first breed of the modern full back. He could attack and defend and for that reason he gets in my team.
I remember watching Alan stood on the terraces as a young boy when I used to watch Saints at The Dell. I just remember how simple he kept the game as a football player – it was one or two touch football. He had that passion and desire and love for the game that I saw close up when he joined the club as a manager and I played under him in the side. That enthusiasm just rubbed off on everybody and ultimately when you’ve got a World Cup winner walking through the door he commands that instant respect. He was an obvious choice for the line up.
A senior figure in my time when I was coming through as a youngster, he was the senior pro in the team, the enforcer of the team. Nobody took liberties with Jimmy. He wasn’t just a fierce competitor, he was also a wonderful footballer and could pass the ball around from anywhere. He was that good old head in the team that we needed as youngsters coming in as well as being a bit of a minder for us as well.
Again someone I watched as a youngster from the stands. The goal celebration was always memorable and I think someone who plays that amount of games for the club, and the amount of goals he scored, he just couldn’t be left out the side. He had to be in the 11.
He’d always make my team. He’d be any greatest team. Anything, five-a-side or 11-a-side. He was an absolute genius and the goals he scored, set pieces he could score from and just the ability to create something out of nothing was amazing. You’ve got to have him in the team.
Rod came through the youth system with me. Blistering pace, lightening fast but would also do his bit defensively as well. I played behind Rod during the time he had at the club, so I saw first-hand what a benefit he could be going forward and defensively. He could score goals as well so he is the man for the left side of the three.
It was another tough choice on who to pick but look at what Rickie did for the club. His goals were so valuable and off the pitch he was a wonderful person. His journey through football was incredible and then to play in the Premier League in his 30s and become a full international and score on your debut … it’s almost like Roy of the Rovers stuff. He’s a lovely guy and a fantastic footballer. Again, set pieces, free kicks and penalties he’s pretty lethal from, so it would have been an interesting conversation for Matt and Rickie to decide who were on penalties.
If you haven’t already, you can pick your Ultimate Saints XI by clicking HERE.
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