The Dell (Southampton) - Final Days

Final Days

By this time, Southampton were looking for a new home. By the mid 1990s it seemed as if the search was over as the club announced plans to move to a new stadium at Monks Brook playing fields near the village of North Stoneham, Eastleigh. However, the club fell into a dispute with the local council about the lack of community facilities. Many people in Eastleigh were also unhappy with having another town's football club in their area. The dispute was resolved when the chairman, Rupert Lowe, declared new plans for the club to move to a new 32,000-seat stadium, for a cost of £32 million, on Brittania Road on the banks of the River Itchen. The relocation was confirmed at the end of the 1998–99 season (when Southampton achieved a late escape from relegation for the sixth time in eight seasons) and work began soon afterwards.

The new St Mary's Stadium was ready for the 2001–02 season.

On 19 May 2001, 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 last league game securing a 3-2 win against Arsenal.

On 26 May, the club's fans said goodbye to The Dell by stripping all of its seats, the pitch and one man even walked off with an advertising board at the end of a friendly with Brighton and Hove Albion – making them the first and last club to play Southampton at the stadium. Southampton won this game 1-0, with the goal (the last ever at The Dell) being scored by Uwe Rösler.

During its 103-year life, The Dell had been home to Southampton during some of its finest moments – most of all during the 1976 FA Cup run, which finished with a win at Wembley.

The Dell was demolished later in 2001 and a housing estate was built on the site. The apartment blocks on the site bear the names of former Southampton players:

• Stokes Court
• Bates Court
• Le Tissier Court
• Wallace Court
• Channon Court