Saints need fitting memorials

Tuesday, 14/06/2011

by Chris Rann, Shoot's Southampton blogger

We are well and truly into the close season, the newspapers and in the know people involved with every club aren’t letting us down with their speculation and hearsay, but actually I don’t want to go into who may or may not be “coming or going” from St. Mary’s this summer.

I would like to talk about the fitting or unfitting way that you celebrate the memory of a club legend. In recent years this, sadly, has been a talking point for Saints fans.

After Ted Bates sadly passed away in the winter of 2003, the club decided to have a pre-season friendly every summer to celebrate his memory. The “Ted Bates Memorial Cup” was first contested against Bayern Munich and saw Saints face off against the likes of Ajax, Anderlecht and Panathinaikos, until it was missing from the calendar last summer.

This upset many Saints fans, but I for one don’t see the fuss. Yes, it was nice to entertain a European great at St. Mary’s, but is an under-attended friendly really the way to honour someone as influential on the past of Southampton Football Club as Ted?

What is a fitting tribute is the statue outside reception at the Itchen End of the ground. Despite the debacle of the original statue we now have a great memorial to Ted with us for every home game, just like Ted was, without exception in life.

Last summer, we lost Markus Liebherr. Markus may have been associated with the club for a tiny percentage of the time Ted did, his impact was immeasurable. Simply, had he not fallen in love with our club, we may not be here to tell the tale.

The club will host a memorial tournament at St. Mary’s this July where they will face as yet unnamed Premier League and La Liga opposition. This is great, something I truly welcome, but just like Ted, I hope the club have something more lasting in mind. A bust, a stand or my personal favourite, a renaming of and statue outside the new high tech training facility.

Men like Ted Bates and Markus Liebherr, don’t come along too often, and though they can have little physical impact on what happens with the club from now on, their legacy will live on through their hard work and their vision, and I don’t mind being reminded of that on a daily rather than yearly basis.

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