Premier League's QUIRKIEST EVER STADIUM⁉️ THE DELL Southampton Tour in 2024 ⚽️

In 2001 Southampton Football Club left their ICONIC former football stadium THE DELL 🏟️ In 2024 we take a look around that former football ground and reminisce about the "good old days" in Southampton. On Ry's Football Paradise we take a look at abandoned and former great football stadiums as well as taking a look at the modern grounds and jumping on stadium tours... LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS BELOW 👉🏽 WHERE NEXT⁉️ We've got an Emirates stadium tour as well as a wonder around the former Arsenal ground coming to the channel THIS WEEK 👍🏽 ...so SUBSCRIBE to make sure you don't miss out! ⚽️🏝️
#stadiumtour #football #southampton

[@DavidGreenland-ur6rh]

I used to love to go to the Dell in the 1950s. The atmosphere was great. Note - Ted Bates not only played but, as a manager, he rescued the team from the "oblivion" of the lower leagues. Thanks for the video - good to know the place was used quite tastefully.

[@chicharito229]

As a Man United fan, I have to say Matt Le Tissier was one of my favourite players growing up.

[@RysFootyParadise]

An enigma, a maverick, a sausage & egg McMuffin eating legend

[@robertbaglin3973]

Went there a few times with UTD a right shitole of a ground especially the away end.

[@RysFootyParadise]

@@robertbaglin3973were you there when Le Tiss chipped Schmeichel?

[@dwaynetaylor1575]

That place was a fortress.The fans was so loud it was crazy times

[@onechopbuddy3849]

Being in the away ‘corner’ at the dell was a great day out, loved going there

[@gphill3954]

You would have entered the set of buildings via Milton Rd and that was the name of the the stand where Le Tiss scored the final goal. The other end was The Archers (Rd) end. The sides were the East & West Stands respectively. The dug outs were in the East Stand and that is also where the players entered into the pitch from the corner of The Milton/East stands. I was lucky enough to be at both thrashings of United.

[@terrysaint7629]

Sorry you have the East and West the wrong way around. The North was Archers road the South Milton road. The players entered from the south end of the west stand with the dug out the same side. I saw all the England World cup winners play there with their respective teams. Up the Saints.

[@gphill3954]

@@terrysaint7629 quite right thanks. The Milton was South Side, so I got the stands mixed up. Cheers for the correct info.

[@dom.b1972]

Went to The Dell once, the two tier standing Milton Rd End always intrigued me. Looked amazing when full.

[@RealDaveBenham]

Dell resident and Saints fan here, if you look closely at the walls around the grassed area there’s football boot imprints as a little nod to the past. There’s also photos of the ground inside the blocks. Always makes me chuckle that the development next door is Crossley Place - only guy to save a Le Tiss penalty!

[@RysFootyParadise]

Haha true! 😅 thanks for sharing that mate 👍🏾 I’ll pop up for a cuppa next time… ☕️

[@barrygentry5364]

@@RysFootyParadisewhat makes it funnier is that it is a No Through Road.

[@UndercoverUploads]

Crossley Place*

[@RealDaveBenham]

@@UndercoverUploads Doh! Thanks, walk past it every day too lol

[@RealDaveBenham]

@@RysFootyParadise Kettle is ready anytime lol

[@bertvanvliet125]

Did watch my first ever English football match here in 1976-77 Saints v Luton Town with my girllfriend Karen and her Dad. Still look for the Saints score now. Those were the days, Whenever I hear the name of Mick CHannon or Le Tiss reminds me of the Dell. 🥵

[@yv3652]

I used to stand in Milton Rd end from 10yrs old early eighties. You were squashed in but the atmosphere was loud and electric.

[@lesliegiles8401]

Memories I used to go there as a sixteen year old thanks for the view

[@thebogeyman-golf3780]

Big teams always struggled there. The atmosphere was immense.

[@christinecrockford1654]

There was 3 Wallace brothers playing in same team at once Danny Raymond and Rodney

[@stevewall4589]

Great video. I only went to the Dell. A 4-1 win for my team Aston Villa in 1998 and celebrating a new club record of 12 games unbeaten at the start of the season. Great away day and always remember the pub by the train station serving up steak and cheap beer.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Villa were class up to Xmas in that 98/99 season weren’t they 👏🏽

[@rgrRyan]

Great video, really enjoyed this and as a Southampton fan who went to their first game in 1991 ive never been back to where The Dell was since Rosler scored against Brighton. I was lucky enough to be a 10 year old behind the goal when MLT scored those 2 goals against Newcastle in 1993, still have the programe of the game. So many great memories of the dell including beating Man Utd 6-3, beating Newcastle pretty much every season and relegation survivals. I had a season ticket from 96 until the last game at the dell and still have a season ticket to this day at St Marys. Stokes court is named after Bobby Stokes who scored the winner in the 1976 FA Cup Final and Ted Bates was with the club as player, manager and president but sadly died in 2003, was a shame the Portsmouth fans booed his minute silence and it had to be cut short as that was the game that proceeded his death. Great video snd been subbed a while as love the football shirt vids

[@RysFootyParadise]

Hey mate, thanks for sharing your memories - if you ever wanna jump in on a video I’d love to capture a fans perspective of Southampton over the years 🍻 no worries if it’s not your thing

[@Bigaitch]

Cracking video - I have only just discovered your channel which is remiss of me as I love things like this. Keep up the good work. Another site to consider would be Somerton Park, Newport. Fascinating history.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Thanks for tuning in 👍🏾 I’m sure I’ll cover every blade of grass of every pitch in the country at some point 😅

[@davidjuson5608]

There was no hope of ever changing the name of The Dell when it became a housing estate, it was known as "the dell" before it was transformed into a football ground. Incidentally, the first one in England to have stands with covered seating on both sides of the pitch. The Dell was carved out by a stream called Rollsbrook which was, in the 1880s, channelled into a culvert by the Didcot, Newbury & Southampton Railway Company when the dell was excavated to accommodate railway sidings. For reasons far too complex to go into here the DN&S were obliged to merge their system with the London & South Western lines at Winchester leaving the dell looking like a quarry. One of the Saints' directors, George Thomas, saw its potential as a stadium and developed it at his own expense. You mentioned the bomb: it landed in the Milton Road penalty area during the Southampton Blitz of November 30th and December 1st 1940. It shattered the culvert and Rollsbrook was damned, and the pitch swamped. Nice presentation by the way. Thank you.

[@christinecrockford1654]

I used to go too the dell in the millton road end great atmosphere

[@user-cs7cb5ld3n]

Great video. Having been a Saints fan since January 1980 I went to The Dell for the first time during easter 1985, 17 years old, with my best mate Thomas, and we saw Saints play Everton. A 1-3 loss unfortunately - against the champions to be - but the atmosphere inside The Dell I will never forget. Then Saints legend keeper Peter Shilton had a world class save 10 meters away from our position in the stands, and Joe Jordan scored for Saints while George Lawrence missed a pen for Saints. I loved that stadium and will always miss it and I thank you for making this video 🥰 Sincerely yours, Kristian, family doctor, Copenhagen, Denmark.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Thanks for watching Kristian and sharing your memories 😊 🇩🇰

[@maccgordon8310]

Visited as an Everton fan once in the 60s. One stand looked like a row of big balconies. The locals nicknamed them, 'The Chocolate Boxes'.

[@paulyalden598]

Went to the Dell in 1987. Pompey won 2nil Play up Pompey🤗⚽️👍

[@dougsmith9748]

Still can’t hear you from down there fish 🐟

[@JoshuaGrunge2000]

@@dougsmith9748same league now Worzel

[@simonbondsfield4249]

I went to Fratton Park in 2019, when we beat you 4-0 😂

[@user-sp1bi7hz2x]

Loved the tour. I went to the Dell regularly from 1967 until I emigrated to Australia in 1994. Still a Saints fan who loves nothing better than seeing Saints touch up Man United.

[@RysFootyParadise]

😅 happened most seasons in the 90s when I grew up… still love Le Tiss

[@tradingcardboss]

Great vlog you should perhaps do a video on Charles William Miller who came from Brazil to Southampton and took the first football and FA rules back to Brazil to set up the game there

[@RysFootyParadise]

Great suggestion mate, I’ll be back in Southampton next month so probs a good time to cover that 👍🏾

[@dev0nSA1nt]

yes!! when brazil won the world cup in 2002 they had a banner saying thank you man from southampton, and atletico and bilbao got their stripes from us

[@tradingcardboss]

@@dev0nSA1nt agree 👍

[@ryancarr1997]

Can’t believe they haven’t named a block after Ali dia😂 love these former stadium vids. Favourite so far is the Highbury love how they’ve kept that old main stand facade untouched

[@RysFootyParadise]

Was there Friday, but got a backlog of videos to edit up so it might be the end of the week before I get Highbury up 😅👍🏾

[@RysFootyParadise]

Ps. Ali Dia 🤣 wasn’t he “related” to Roger Miller or George Weah? 😅

[@ryancarr1997]

@@RysFootyParadise was supposed to be George weah’s cousin mate and souness fell for it😂

[@RysFootyParadise]

@@ryancarr1997that’s the one haha I remember hearing about it on that Quickly Kevin podcast 🤣 only in the 90s!

[@simonross77]

😂

[@MarcSteele-rs4us]

Great video Ryan. I spent most my teenage years on the stand where you walked in. Did you know its where Alan shearer started his pro career, he scored a hat trick on his debut against Arsenal

[@gjh997]

Matt was a great player and is a great lad. 👍👍

[@faramir]

One of the chants was "One, Two, Three, Four, have you heard the Milton Roar? S-O-UTH-AMPT-ON" because of course the Milton Rd end was the popular one. As a primary schoolboy I misheard that as "One, Two, Three, Four, have you heard the milkman roar?", and wondered how on earth a single milkman could make himself heard above the racket.

[@highbury1972]

Hey Ry, I remember all the players who had Courts named after them. Local trivia , Tom Parker who played for Saints 1919-26 and Played 246 times and Manager of Saints 1937-1943 who went on to Captain Arsenal to their first Trophy The FA Cup in 1930 and Their First Tier One League Championship in 1930-31 and still holds the Arsenal record of 172 consecutive appearances is buried in St Mary’s church, Warsash. Tom Parker 19/11/1897- 1/11/1987. Maybe if you’re going to do a St Mary’s Stadium tour a stop off here? The Pronunciation of Uwe Rosler is Oo-Va. German language swaps the W for V and E for A sounds. Good work mate. Looking forward to the next one.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Thanks for the info mate 😊👍🏾 haha I know I did A-level German but like the funny Englishman way of saying it 😅 cracking player 👏🏽 and deffo worth a stop on the next visit… if I wasn’t struggling for time I had planned a visit 5 mins up the road to another previous Saints ground the Antelope ground which might be worth wondering round next time? 🍻

[@highbury1972]

@@RysFootyParadise Brilliant Mate! I grew up attending all The London clubs grounds. Back in the 80s some of the grounds were proper raw and lacked facilities. Todays grounds are a world away from the former shit pits. We have gone forward, but the Premier League has become too corporate for me. I can no longer afford to pay admission prices in todays world.

[@RysFootyParadise]

@@highbury1972 that’s a spot on assessment mate 👍🏾 I’ve literally been thinking lately - football has become “middle class” well… the Premier League at least…

[@highbury1972]

@@RysFootyParadise Just an update, Apparently Tom Parker who I mentioned was sold to Arsenal in 1926 to help pay for the building of new stands at The Dell.

[@LoughlanSharp]

I’m a new subscriber❤❤❤

[@RysFootyParadise]

Legend 👍🏾

[@matthewbartlett1977]

The game where Man Utd changed kits at half time was the 3-1 game in April 1996. The 6-3 game was the following season in October 1996. I read a story a few years back that Man Utd were fined something like £10K by the premier league for changing kits.

[@RysFootyParadise]

96 was the best year in my warped nostalgic memory 😁🍻

[@kevinwilson4447]

I went to the last game at the Dell vs Brighton , there wasn't much left of the grass in the centre circle after the match as fans were taking a chunk home , the seats went too , wasnt much left really (still got my seat) . miss the Dell 😓

[@RysFootyParadise]

Hope you’ve got that seat in a Saints themed ManCave?!

[@kevinwilson4447]

pride of place 😀

[@Eduardo-pc6gq]

I remember getting on the pitch and taking my chunk of turf home. Potted it up and kept it for quite are fair few years. Watered and cut regularly with kitchen scissors. Sorry to say I no longer have it.

[@raydegs1602]

Best days of my life.sadly missed

[@markwall6651]

Brilliant Ry, my only visit to the dell was to watch United in an fa cup game in 1977!! 2.2 draw. Stood in the away end (archers was it?) and could only see the the furthest half of the pitch! Awful! Hey can you do some photos on your vides maybe before and after of the aerial views. The modern dell from above does resemble a stadium!!!

[@RysFootyParadise]

Good idea mate I’ll keep that in mind 👍🏾

[@markmay4954]

I'm very surprised that they have one building named after a chap from Pompey lol.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Must have been the demolition groups influence

[@ChubbBates-mh5xp]

I remember going to the Dell with Spurs when we were in the 2nd division,we needed a draw to get promoted depending on the other results. I was one of a few thousand Spurs fans who was there ticketless.All of us were putting pressure on the gate which was held in the middle with a giant padlock and a line police with their linked arms.eventually the lock broke. And about a thousand of us got in, sadly for the Saints fans it was their home end.

[@RysFootyParadise]

Oh sh!ttt - it’s a miracle a major crushing incident didn’t happen prior to 89… I know spurs were close in the early 80s at Hillsborough weren’t they - people on the side of the pitch

[@stefanfrancis2040]

I liked the grey kit, had it as a kid. I want to rebuy it

[@RysFootyParadise]

It’s become a thing of legend 🤩

[@maxytravis]

The highest attendance at the dell not 1969. On the monday after the fa cup final in 1976, There was a testimonial for Mick Channon. There was 3 people to every two seats in the stands. That many people got in to the terraces that young children were passed over the crowd and sat round the pitch on the touchline. Well over 31,000!! But never admitted, I was lucky to go to the final and the testimonial. I was 13 years old

[@RysFootyParadise]

ahh haha fair play. Mad how many people they'd squeeze into the old terraces

[@maxytravis]

@@RysFootyParadise was at wembley when we beat man utd. we were right inline with stokes as he hit the ball, and I swear time seemed to go slow as the ball ran towards the net.

[@Totalavulsion]

Would’ve been a nice touch if the developers had added a marker to indicate where the old centre spot used to be

[@RysFootyParadise]

Deffo! Bit of a red & white paint too 😁

[@owenyowenface]

I mis-read the title there,i thought the video was going to end with an official tour of the new ground and im thinking "well,it's the King Power stadium but with red seats" . Unique ground though The Dell.Especially off-putting for teams who turned up in grey away shirts 😂

[@RysFootyParadise]

Haha I thought I’d double the st Mary’s tour up with Portsmouth who don’t offer tours very often - February next opportunity- went down for Bournemouth but like to make the most of the fuel ⛽️

[@owenyowenface]

@@RysFootyParadise if you want some real excitement with your football ground tours you could always return to Southampton to watch Hampshire Hawks T20 or Southern Brave T100 at the Ageas Bowl between May and August. Best County Cricket Ground in England,and fairly new.

[@stephend7679]

Great names played there Terry paine. Keegan chanon ball Wallace brothers Frank Worthington etc..Great names some Great teams. LE TISS .HAS GOT TO BE THE NUMBER 1.ONE... SAINT....ALWAYS REMEMBER WHEN THEY BEAT MAN.U. SIX..THREE... GREAT OLD STADIUM THE DELL...

[@tradingcardboss]

Wallace court should have been Wallace Brothers as it was the first time 3 brothers played in a team together Danny ,Raymond and Rodney

[@RysFootyParadise]

True I was reading up about that the other day, fair play 😊

[@owendrfc6412]

Belle vue stadium doncaster rovers plz

[@LoughlanSharp]

I support the 22 games unbeaten saints fan

[@jonathanbaldwin2195]

Have you done Springfield park Wigan athletic old ground

[@RysFootyParadise]

Not yet but did the DW 😊

[@tradingcardboss]

The Stands were East Stand , West Stand , Milton Rd end

[@timfinn3395]

And Archers Road end

[@GarethLewis-hb5pi]

First 😊

[@Prem_ladsfanpage22]

2nd

[@derrygowley]

Would really like to see Leeds stadium

[@RysFootyParadise]

I’ll get my Man United shirt out ready…. 😅

[@Morrisrichtv]

Come meadow lane home of notts county come to a game

[@RysFootyParadise]

Possibly Friday next week 👍🏾

[@AldershotDave]

Uwe (Rosler) is pronounced "Oo-Vay"!! Le Tissier has the DISTINCTION of scoring the last goal at the Dell, not the RECORD!! The buildings on that site are FLATS not HOUSES!!

[@RysFootyParadise]

Feisty one you are 🤣

[@weneedtodosomething]

Le tissier is not a bad man. He has been hung out to dry for daring to say what he wants. The modern world sucks

[@Reginald3000]

It's got nothing on Kenilworth Rd