It’s fair to say that, over the years, Saints have been synonymous with an end-of-year fight for three valuable points at either end of the table.
Sunday’s match at the Etihad Stadium is no exception, with this particular battle bearing hallmarks of the 1984/85 season, where the team looked to secure a fifth place finish in the top flight.
This is the first time in seven seasons that Saints have not finished a campaign at home, which is where many of their best moments have come at this stage of the year.
Working back from the most recent landmark moment, Saints ended their seven year exile from the Premier League in 2012 thanks to a last day victory over Coventry City at St Mary’s Stadium.
The 4-0 success saw Nigel Adkins’ men clinch automatic promotion by bettering West Ham’s efforts, though the Clarets would go on to win the play-offs, to join Saints and Reading in the top-flight.
That success for Saints came just a year on from the club’s promotion out of League 1, which again went to the wire, though the team’s three-point cushion and superior goal difference was unlikely to be overhauled by Huddersfield Town on the last day.
Nevertheless, Saints secured a sixth straight win at the end of that season with a 3-1 victory over Walsall at St Mary’s which came courtesy of goals scored by Guly do Prado, David Connolly and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The visitors stayed up by a point thanks to results elsewhere.
In 2008 Sheffield United were beaten 3-2 as Saints avoided relegation from the Championship with Stern John twice on target for Nigel Pearson’s side, in a game which brought back memories of some great escapes from the 1990s. Despite later being sent off, Stern John was the hero with his brace of goals doing enough to earn the win, while Leicester’s draw at Stoke meant that the Foxes went down instead.
Arguably the greatest – though you would brave to suggest otherwise – is the end of the 2000/01 season which saw Saints say farewell to The Dell with a 3-2 win over Arsenal, which was made all the more special by Matt Le Tissier’s last-minute strike to provide a fitting tribute to the ground’s 103-year existence.
One of The Dell’s finest moments came in 1999 when Saints completed a ‘great escape’ thanks to a 2-0 win over Everton on the last day of the season.
Having beaten Leicester City and Wimbledon in the weeks leading up to this one, Dave Jones’ men needed one last push to stave off relegation from the Premier League, and with results having gone their way elsewhere, Marian Pahars struck twice to earn a 2-0 win for the hosts
Going back 30 years to 1985 we find ourselves in familiar territory with Saints needing to better the results of those in around them to finish fifth in the first division. Third-placed Liverpool were the visitors to The Dell and they took a first-half lead through John Wark before David Armstrong pegged them back in the second 45.
A 1-1 draw was enough to help Saints into fifth place as results elsewhere also went their way. However, their efforts to secure a European spot were in vain as English clubs were banned from competing abroad the following season. Let’s hope for better luck this time around!
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