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Southampton F.C.
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Southampton Football Club is a professional English football team, nicknamed The Saints and based in the city of Southampton. The club currently plays in the Championship, since relegation from the Premier League in 2005. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club moved to in 2001 from The Dell.
The Chairman is Michael Wilde and the first team is under the charge of Mark Wotte, with former boss Jan Poortvliet having resigned on 23 January 2009.
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Encyclopedia
Southampton Football Club is a professional English football team, nicknamed The Saints and based in the city of Southampton. The club currently plays in the Championship, since relegation from the Premier League in 2005. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club moved to in 2001 from The Dell.
The Chairman is Michael Wilde and the first team is under the charge of Mark Wotte, with former boss Jan Poortvliet having resigned on 23 January 2009. The club captain is goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, who was appointed in January 2009.
The club has won the FA Cup once, and their highest-ever league finish was second in the top flight in 198384.
The club is owned by parent company Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC, which is listed on the Alternative Investments Market. The Chairman of Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC is Rupert Lowe.
History
Foundation and Southern League
In 2001 the move from The Dell to the new Friends Provident St Mary's Stadium was deemed to be a spiritual homecoming for Southampton F.C., because of the new stadium's proximity to St Mary's, the church where the club was founded in 1885 by members of the St Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association.
St Mary's Y.M.A., as they were usually referred to in the local press, played most of their early games on The Common, and games were not infrequently interrupted by pedestrian insistent on exercising their right to roam. More important matches, such as cup games, were played either at the County Cricket Ground in Northlands Road or the Antelope Cricket Ground in St Mary's Road.
The club was originally known as St. Mary's Young Men's Association F.C. (usually abbreviated to "St. Mary's Y.M.A.") and then became simply St. Mary's F.C. in 188788, before adopting the name Southampton St. Mary's when the club joined the Southern League in 1894. After they won the Southern League title in 189697, the club became a limited company and changed their name to Southampton F.C.
They won the Southern League championship for three years running between 1897 and 1899 and again in 1901, 1903 and 1904.
That success spanned some major changes for the Saints as they moved to a newly-built £10,000 stadium called The Dell, to the North West of the city centre in 1898. Although they would spend the next 103 years there, the future was far from certain in those early days and the club had to rent the premises first before they could stump up the cash to buy the stadium in the early part of the 20th century.
Good omens were quick to arrive though and before the 19th century was out the South Coast was given a taste of things to come as they reached the first of their four FA Cup Finals in 1900. On that day they went down 40 to Bury and two years later they would suffer a similar fate at the hands of Sheffield United as they were beaten 21 in a replay of the 1902 final, but it had given the club a thirst for the big occasion albeit one that would not be truly satisfied for over seven decades.
Joining the Football League
After the First World War, when many teams were broken up by the call of National Service, Saints joined the newly-formed Football League Division 3 in 1920 which split into South and North sections a year later. The 192122 season ended in triumph with promotion and marked the beginning of a 31-year stay in Division 2.
In 1925 and 1927, they reached the semi-finals of the F.A. Cup, losing 20 and 21 to Sheffield United and Arsenal respectively.
Saints were briefly forced to switch home matches to the ground of their local rivals Portsmouth F.C. at Fratton Park during the Second World War when a bomb landed on The Dell pitch in November 1940, leaving an 18-foot crater which damaged an underground culvert and flooded the pitch.
Post-war years
Promotion was narrowly missed in 194748 when they finished in third place, a feat repeated the following season (despite having an eight point lead with eight games to play) whilst in 194950 they were to be denied promotion by 0.06 of a goal, missing out on second place to Sheffield United. In the 194849 and 194950 seasons, Charlie Wayman rattled in a total of 56 goals. Then relegation in 1953 sent Saints sliding back into Division 3 (South).
It took until 1960 for Saints to regain Division 2 status with Derek Reeves plundering 39 of the champions 106 league goals. On 27 April 1963 a crowd of 68,000 at Villa Park saw them lose 10 to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final.
Reaching the First Division
The dream of Division 1 football at the Dell for the first time was finally realised in 1966 when Ted Bates team were promoted as runners-up, with Martin Chivers scoring 30 of Saints' 85 league goals. Promotion was a never-to-be-forgotten achievement.
For the following campaign Ron Davies arrived to score 43 goals in his first season as Saints scored 74 league goals, conceding 92. Saints stayed among the elite for eight years, with the highest finishing position being seventh place in 196869 and again in 197071. These finishes were high enough for them to qualify for the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in 196970 (going out in Round 3 to Newcastle United) and its successor, the UEFA Cup in 197172, when they went out in the First Round to Athletic Bilbao.
In December 1973, long term manager Ted Bates stood down to be replaced by Lawrie McMenemy who was unable to prevent The Saints becoming the first victims of the new 3-down relegation system in 1974 when they were relegated, along with Manchester United and Norwich City.
Cup glory
Under Lawrie McMenemy's management, Saints started to rebuild in Division 2, capturing players such as Peter Osgood, Jim McCalliog, Jim Steele and Peter Rodrigues (captain) and their greatest moment came in 1976, when they reached the FA Cup Final, playing Manchester United at Wembley, and surprised all observers by beating much-fancied United 10 thanks to a goal from Bobby Stokes.
The following season, they played in Europe again in the Cup Winners' Cup, reaching Round 3 where they lost 23 on aggregate to Anderlecht.
Return to Division One
In 197778, captained by Alan Ball, Saints finished runners-up in Division 2 (behind Bolton Wanderers) and returned to Division 1. They finished comfortably in 14th place in their first season back in the top flight. The following season they returned to Wembley in the final of the League Cup when they acquitted themselves well, losing 32 to Nottingham Forest.
In 1980, McMenemy made his finest signing, capturing the "European Footballer of the Year" Kevin Keegan. Although Keegan's Southampton career only lasted two years, Saints fielded an attractive side also containing Alan Ball, Ted MacDougall, Phil Boyer, Mick Channon and Charlie George and in 198081 they scored 76 goals, finishing in sixth place, then their highest league finish.
Southampton continued to progress well under McMenemy's stewardship, and with a team containing Peter Shilton, Nick Holmes, David Armstrong, top-scorer Steve Moran and Danny Wallace reached their highest ever league finish as runners-up in 198384 (3 points behind the champions Liverpool) as well as reaching the semi-final of the F.A. Cup losing 10 to Everton at Highbury Stadium.
They finished fifth the following year, but as a result of the Heysel Disaster all English clubs were banned from European competition had it not been for this, then Southampton would have qualified for the UEFA Cup once again.
After McMenemy
Lawrie McMenemy left at the end of the 198485 season to be succeeded by Chris Nicholl, who was sacked after six years in charge despite preserving the club's top flight status. He was replaced by Ian Branfoot, who until the end of the 199091 season had been assistant manager to Steve Coppell at Crystal Palace. By this stage a key player in the Southampton lineup was Guernsey-born striker Matthew Le Tissier, one of the best-loved players in Saints' recent history. He was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990 and later made eight appearances for the England team — he finally retired in 2002 at the age of 33 and now works in TV commentary.
Southampton in the Premiership
Southampton were founding members of the Premiership in 199293, having played in the top flight of English football since 1978.
Ian Branfoot was sacked in January 1994 with Southampton battling relegation. He was replaced by Exeter manager Alan Ball. Ball secured the Saints' survival for the 199394 season and guided them to a respectable tenth-place finish in the Premiership in 199495, with inspirational performances from Matthew Le Tissier. But amidst rumours of lack of support from the Board, Ball was lured to Manchester City in the summer of 1995 and Southampton turned to long-serving coach David Merrington to take charge of the team in 199596. Southampton finished 17th with 38 league points, avoiding relegation on goal difference. Two important wins during the final weeks of the season did much to ensure that Saints and not Manchester City would achieve Premiership survival. First came a 31 home win over eventual double winners Manchester United, then came a 10 away win over relegated Bolton Wanderers. Merrington was dismissed a few days after the end of the season and replaced by former Liverpool and Rangers manager Graeme Souness.
Southampton fared little better in 199697 despite the arrival of Souness, whose track record included two Scottish league titles with Rangers and an FA Cup victory with Liverpool. Souness brought in quality foreign players with Egil Ostenstad and Eyal Berkovic. The highlight of the season was a 63 win over Manchester United at the Dell in October, when both his signings scored twice. However, he had to deal with criticism over the Ali Dia debacle. He resigned after just one season in charge following a dispute over transfer funds, after he had overseen Southampton's 16th place finish in the Premiership. Southampton's directors turned to Dave Jones one of the most respected managers outside the Premiership who had won promotion to Division One with Stockport County as well as reaching the League Cup semi finals.
With such an inexperienced manager, Southampton were tipped by many observers to be relegated from the Premiership in 199798. But thanks to the addition of young striker Kevin Davies, and the acquisition of a few others, Southampton achieved a respectable eleventh place finish in the table and managed a home win over Manchester United for the third consecutive season. Their form seriously dipped in 199899 as they were rooted to the bottom of the table for much of the first half of the season, but they again avoided relegation on the last day of the season after a late run of good results, helped by the intervention of Latvian Marian Pahars and old hero Le Tissier (The so-called "Great Escape"). In 1999 Southampton were given the go-ahead to build a new 32,000-seat stadium in the St Mary's area of the city, a welcome move after playing in the cramped Dell since 1898.
During the 199900 season, Dave Jones quit as Southampton manager to concentrate on a court case after he was accused of abusing children at the children's home where he had worked during the 1980s. The accusations were later proved to be groundless but it was too late to save Jones' career as Southampton manager and he was succeeded by ex-England team manager Glenn Hoddle.
Glenn Hoddle helped keep Southampton well clear of the Premiership drop zone but having received an offer from a higher profile club, he moved to Tottenham Hotspur just before the end of the 200001 season. He was replaced by first-team coach Stuart Gray, who oversaw the relocation to the St Mary's Stadium for the 200102 season. At the end of the 200001 season, in the last competitive match at the Dell, talismanic Matthew Le Tissier came on late to strike the last ever goal at that famous and much-loved old stadium in sublime fashion with a half volley on the turn. Southampton finished the match 32 against Arsenal, providing a fairy-tale ending to the days at The Dell. But Gray was sacked after a disastrous start to the following season, and in came ex-Coventry manager Gordon Strachan as his replacement.
Gordon Strachan did much to revitalise Southampton during the 200102 season, and they finished in a secure eleventh place in the final table. They did even better in 200203, finished eighth in the Premiership and coming runners-up in the FA Cup to Arsenal (after losing 10 at the Millennium Stadium), thanks in no small part to the metamorphosis of James Beattie, who fired home 24 goals, 23 in the league. Consistency followed in the next season, as a side led in attack by Beattie and Kevin Phillips secured twelfth place and yet again defeated Manchester United on their own soil.
Strachan resigned in March 2004 (to take a break from football) and was replaced by Paul Sturrock, who had been in the process of guiding Plymouth Argyle to their second promotion in three seasons. However, rumours of player dissatisfaction and personal problems dogged Sturrock, and he was replaced just five months later by reserve team coach Steve Wigley. Wigley's tenure proved disastrous, with Southampton slipping further and further down the Premiership table during 200405. Frenchman Christian Damiano was brought in to assist, but after a run of only one win in 14 games, both men's contracts were terminated.
Chairman Rupert Lowe risked the ire of Saints fans when he appointed Harry Redknapp as manager on 8 December 2004. The news shocked much of the football world, as Redknapp had resigned as manager of Saints' arch-rivals Portsmouth just days previously. He brought in a number of new signings, including his own son Jamie Redknapp in the attempt to survive relegation. However, Redknapp's efforts were all in vain as West Bromwich Albion secured survival at Southampton's expense. Having survived for many years on the brink of relegation, Southampton were finally condemned just as they began to look secure.
Lowe and Southampton continued to make headlines after former England Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward joined the club eventually being appointed Technical Director.
Relegated after 27 years
Saints made a disappointing start to life back in the second tier of English football, with the emergence of young star Theo Walcott as a rare cause for optimism.
On 24 November 2005, Portsmouth manager Alain Perrin, the man who himself replaced Harry Redknapp at Southampton's arch-rivals, was sacked by chairman Milan Mandaric. Rumours gradually grew apace that Mandaric and Redknapp had resolved the dispute that caused Redknapp to walk out in the first place, and that he was poised to rejoin his former club.
With these rumours seemingly reaching breaking point in the media not to mention the bookmakers Redknapp walked out on Southampton on 3 December 2005. The two rival clubs found themselves at loggerheads over legal compensation, which threatened to leave Redknapp in limbo, but with the dispute eventually resolved, Redknapp rejoined Portsmouth on 7 December 2005. After three matches under caretaker manager Dave Bassett and assistant Dennis Wise, George Burley was unveiled as the club's new head coach on 23 December to work alongside Clive Woodward, who was promoted from Performance Director to Director of Football.
Boardroom changes
In the wake of overwhelming calls for him to stand down, Lowe eventually resigned on 30 June 2006, a few days before an Extraordinary General Meeting that was predicted to see him removed from the club's board. He was replaced as Chairman by Jersey-based businessman Michael Wilde who had become the club's major shareholder.
During the 200607 season, the board set about trying to secure new investment in the club. However, on 26 February 2007, it was announced that Michael Wilde would step down as chairman of the football club on 28 February. On 2 March, it was announced that Leon Crouch would take the role of "acting Chairman" until the end of that season, when the Board would reassess the situation. Crouch was reportedly fired on 21 July 2007.
In April 2007, it was rumoured that Paul Allen, the American entrepreneur who formed Microsoft with Bill Gates, might launch a takeover bid for the club. These rumours were later confirmed when the club announced that Allen had made a preliminary offer although Allen subsequently denied any such interest.
On 22 October 2007, it was announced the club's p.l.c. board had received a takeover bid from an unknown investor which would purchase 55% of the shares in the company. Two days later, a London-based hedge fund, SISU Capital, was named as the potential new owner. The self-described "special situations investment fund management company" has previously attempted to gain control of Derby County and Manchester City; former footballer Ray Ranson was involved with both bids, and SISU intended to nominate him for a place on the Southampton board. However, on 14 December it was confirmed that SISU had completed a takeover of Coventry City, effectively ending their interest in Southampton.
In January 2008, it was reported in the media that tycoon Kia Joorabchian was mounting a £50 million take over bid, a rumour later exposed as pure speculation.
The day before a proposed EGM to reinstate Lowe along with Wilde was to take place, the remaining board room members bar David Jones resigned, allowing Lowe and Wilde to return. Wilde as Chairman of Southampton Football Club and Rupert Lowe as Chairman of Southampton Leisure Holdings p.l.c.
In the Championship
Southampton's off-the-field controversy affected their on-the-field fortunes substantially during 200506, and at one point they were in real danger of a second successive relegation. But their form improved during the final weeks of the season and they finished a secure twelfth.
The good form which secured Southampton's Championship status in 200506 was carried through to the start of the 200607 season, and the turn of the year saw the team in fourth place in the table. The new board of directors had spent a club record £6 million on transfers. Polish strikers Grzegorz Rasiak and Marek Saganowski and 17 year-old left back Gareth Bale all had great runs in form. A drastic loss in the team's form overall, coupled with poor displays against fellow promotion hopefuls, saw the team drop to eighth place by midMarch 2007, and rapidly losing touch with the promotion race. However, with other promotion rivals dropping points and a small run of form in late April, Southampton were able to reach sixth place, the last play-off position. They lost the home leg of their playoff semi-final to Derby County, and on 15 May achieved parity on aggregate but lost on penalties in a thrilling encounter.
Since relegation, the club has had to sell players to meet the shortfall in income. A number of players from the club's academy have been sold for large sums, such as Theo Walcott and Gareth Bale.
The 200708 season went much worse for Southampton with George Burley revealing that players such as Gareth Bale and Kenwyne Jones has to be sold to stop the club going into administration and that not getting promoted put the club in serious financial troubles. New players such as Youssef Safri and Stern John were brought in and Southampton made an inconsistent start to the season being lodged in mid-table around the Christmas period. However, manager Burley left the club in January to take over as Scotland manager and in the January transfer window two more important players in Grzegorz Rasiak and Rudi Skacel were loaned out. Jason Dodd and John Gorman took charge initially for what was intended to be the rest of the season. However they failed to win a league game and the team slipped alarmingly near to the relegation zone. In February Southampton appointed Nigel Pearson as manager. Under Pearson's management Southampton did narrowly avoided the drop by beating Sheffield United 3-2 on the final day of the season.
Even though Pearson kept the Saints up the Southampton board did not renew his contract, because of financial constraints. By now, Michael Wilde and Rupert Lowe had replaced Leon Crouch as chairmen, and the new board brought in the relatively unknown Dutchman Jan Poortvliet as manager. The Club's financial troubles continued to mount, resulting in more players being sold or loaned out to lower the wage bill and parts of St Mary's were closed off to reduce costs. Due to their financial troubles the club had to rely on youth and put out a very young side. Although they had a poor first half to the season, young players such as Drew Surman, Adam Lallana and David McGoldrick have emerged as potential stars.
On 23 January 2009, Poortvliet resigned with the club one from bottom in the Championship, with Mark Wotte taking over managerial duties.
Stadium and training facilities
The St. Mary's Stadium has been home to the Saints since August 2001. It has a capacity of 32,689 and is one of only a handful of stadia in Europe to meet UEFA's Four Star Criteria. In the 200405 season, attendances never fell below 30,000.
The stadium has also been host to a number of internationals including England's qualifying game against FYR Macedonia in 2002 where the teams drew 22, with David Beckham and Steven Gerrard scoring for England.
The club's previous home had been The Dell, which it moved into in 1898 and remained at for 103 years.
The club's training facilities, known as Staplewood are located in Marchwood, on the edge of the New Forest. They have received significant investment over the last 10 years, most notably during the time Sir Clive Woodward was employed by the club between 2005 and 2006, and are now considered to be among some of the best in the country.
In June 2008 it was announced that several parts of St Mary's Stadium are to be closed for the 200809 season. The closures are a cost-cutting measure forced on the club by financial pressures.
Anthem
The Saints' anthem is the popular sport tune When the Saints Go Marching In, and since the club's official nickname is "the Saints", they are one of the only teams who do not change the original lyrics. It can often be heard being chanted from the stands during matches.
Also, another fans' favourite is (sung to the tune of Que Sera, Sera (Whatever Will Be, Will Be): "When I was just a little boy, I asked my mother what shall I be? Shall I be Pompey, shall I be Saints? Here's what she said to me: Wash your mouth out son, get your father's gun, and shoot the Pompey scum - we support the Saints. We hate Pompey, we hate Pompey."
Crest
Originally, the club used the same crest as the one used by the city itself. However during the 1970s a competition was run for fans to design a new one.
The winning design was used for around 20 years, before being modified slightly by Southampton design agency The Graphics Workshop in the 1990s for copyright reasons.
From top-to-bottom, the halo is a reference to the nickname "Saints", the ball to the nature of the club, the scarf to the fans and the team colours. The tree represents the nearby New Forest and the water Southampton's connections with the rivers, seas and oceans. Below that is a Mayflower the symbol of the city which is also present on the city crest. The Mayflower was also the name of the first Puritan ship of immigrants that originally left Southampton (and Plymouth) for the "New World", thus beginning the colony that eventually became the United States.
In the mid-1990s the ball was changed from a vintage style ball (such as those used in the 1960s) to the current ball with black and white panels, for copyright reasons.
The Saints Academy
Southampton runs a highly successful youth academy, with a number of teams from ages nine to 18 years. Recent products of the club's youth system include England international wingers Theo Walcott and Wayne Bridge, Wales left-back Gareth Bale, and Northern Ireland defender Chris Baird.
South Coast derby
The South Coast Derby is the name given to matches between the Saints and their fierce nearby rivals, Portsmouth F.C., from the city of the same name 17 miles from Southampton. The matches are also referred to as the Hampshire Derby. Including Southern League games, there have been 67 games between the clubs, with Southampton winning 34 and Portsmouth 20. The rivalry is infamous as one of the most unpleasant and fractious in world football the two sets of supporters loathe each other. It is speculated that this stems from the cities' own competitive past: Portsmouth is the home of the Royal Navy, and Southampton is the country's leading civilian port, and home to the famous ocean liners that once plied the cross-Atlantic route to America.
Club honours
- Football League Division 1
- Football League Division 2
- Runners-up: 196566 and 197778
- Football League Division 3
Most league goals
Mick Channon, who had two spells with the club, currently holds the record for the number of Football League goals scored for The Saints. During his times with the club between 1966 and 1977, and 1979 and 1982, he netted 185 times in league competition. The next highest scorer is Matthew Le Tissier, an attacking midfielder who spent his entire career with the club between 1986 and 2002, scoring 162 goals in 442 league appearances. As of April 2007, he is the only midfielder to have scored more than 100 goals in the Premier League. Third highest is winger Terry Paine, who played at The Dell between 1956 and 1974. He scored 160 goals for the club.
The full list of the club's top ten all-time Football League scorers are:
Bill Rawlings also scored 19 goals in the Southern League in 191920.
Sponsors
Seven companies have sponsored the club, thus appearing on the player's shirts, over the course of its history. The first company to do so was photocopier manufacturer Rank Xerox who sponsored the club for three years from 1980. Air Florida briefly sponsored Southampton in 1983 before Draper Tools, who have a large factory in nearby Eastleigh sponsored the club for nine years between 1984 and 1993. Millbrook based company Dimplex, who produce electrical goods such as heaters were the next brand name to appear on the club's shirts and merchandise. They began sponsoring in 1993 before the deal ended in 1995. The Sanderson Group PLC took up the mantle, for four years from 1995, also sponsoring Sheffield Wednesday at the same time.
Investment company Friends Provident were the final sponsors of the club's time at The Dell. Their deal began in 1999 and was renewed shortly before the naming of St. Mary's Stadium, to which they also bought the naming rights. However they chose not to renew either deal in 2006, after which budget airline Flybe.com stepped in.
Notable former Saints players
England
Australia
Colombia
Denmark
Finland
Ireland
Israel
Jamaica
Latvia
Northern Ireland
Norway
Scotland
Sweden
Trinidad and Tobago
Wales
Yugoslavia
Zimbabwe
Managers
Since the club was founded, the managers, excluding short-term caretaker managers, have been:
Club records
Biggest wins
Biggest losses
Most appearances
Terry Paine 815 : 19561974
Most goals
Mick Channon 228 : 19661977, 19791982
Most goals in one season
Derek Reeves 44 : 195960
Most goals in one match
Albert Brown 7 : against Northampton Town, 28 December 1901
Youngest player
Theo Walcott 16 years 143 days. Against Wolverhampton Wanderers, 6 August 2005
Most capped player while at Southampton
Peter Shilton 49 (125 in total)
Record transfers
- Spent: Rory Delap, £4,000,000 from Derby County
- Received: Theo Walcott, £12,000,000 to Arsenal, payable by instalments. (£5 million down, £5 million club appearances, £2 million England appearances). Revised to a total of £9.1 million by a compromise settlement agreed on 31 March 2008.
Record home attendance
32,151 against Arsenal, 29 December 2003
Current squad
- As of 7 February 2009
Out on loan
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Youth players
* with professional contract
Non-playing staff
President John Mortimore
Chairman Michael Wilde
Executive Directors Rupert Lowe, Andrew Cowen, David Jones (company secretary)
Head Coach Mark Wotte
Assistant Head Coach Dean Gorrι
First Team Coach Michael Svensson
First Team Coach/Under 18's Coach Stewart Henderson
Academy Director/Reserve Team Coach Dave Hockaday
Goalkeeping Coach Keith Granger
Physiotherapist/Head of Medical Department Mo Gimpel
First Team Fitness Coach Nick Harvey
Performance Analyst Ben Stevens
The Saints Trust
, a , not-for-profit organisation, committed to strengthening the voice of supporters in the decision making processes at Southampton Football Club, was officially launched on 3 February 2006. The aims of the trust are to:
- Strengthen the bonds between the Club and the local community.
- Work for the football and financial success of the club.
- Encourage and promote supporter representation on the club's board acting as communication to the supporters.
- Acquire shares in the club, formally creating a supporters' stakeholding.
The trust currently now over 700 members and the proxy control of some 720,000 shares, approximately three per cent of the club.
External links
Official Sites
News Websites
Fan Websites
Miscellaneous Websites
Footnotes
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