Matt Le Tissier and Tom Deacon are back with Southampton Football Club’s matchday show, Early Doors!
LIV Golf star Richard Bland is this week’s special guest, ahead of competing in the PGA Championship and defending his Senior PGA Championship title, while we look back on some great memories against today’s opponents, Manchester City.
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Hello and welcome to Early Doors. My name is Tom and it’s not a pleasure to welcome you to the ninth episode and interesting enough, it’s our penultimate show of the season. But we’ve got a great one for you. We’ll have some of the best goals against today’s opponents, Manchester City on the way. Plus, we’ll have the PO Cruis’s concourse challenge and of course a vital taking on the Tis. Talking of Matty. Matt, you you’re all right there. Of course, he’s at the dart spot. What’s going on here? Ah, the dubious decisions panel. I see you’re still not over that poor result for you. If he’s wrong, he’s wrong, mate. Okay. Well, I tell you what will cheer you up, Matty. Uh, we have pro golfer and huge thanks van joining us today. It’s one and only Richard Bland in the house. It’s going to be a great show. Come on. It’s going to be lovely. Let’s roll those titles. [Music] A cannot wait for this, Matt. The penultimate show of the season. It’s gone so quick, hasn’t it, hasn’t it? Just Oh, it’s expert stuff back at the Dell. Loving this. And how excited are you to have Richard Bland, your bestie, on the show? It’s uh it’s lovely, actually. Yeah, know obviously golf is my second passion and uh him being a rather good professional golfer is obviously quite handy to have as a good mate. Yeah, and I love the fact we’ve left him over there, he’ll be on the show very very shortly. While we are in the Dell, something that’s coming up which is amazing is the mental health awareness week which starts on the 17th. And if you get here at 9:00 a.m. there’ll be a free coffee and a chat which is so important as well. It’s so good to talk, isn’t it, Matt? Always is, mate. Always is. And you’re very good at it. Yeah. Never stop. Never stop. So, if that’s something that you can get on board with and and use, then make sure you come along for that. Right, let’s kickstart the show, Matt, uh, with the goal mine, looking back at some of our best goals against Manchester City. Would you like to introduce this? Yeah, why not? Okay, here it is. Nailed it. [Music] [Applause] Here he is. Punch in the passing field. Surely a chance Rodriguez saved by the back of the net. Oh, lovely ball. Go on Brett. [Applause] Oh dear. [Music] [Applause] Lambert. Oh my word. doing the goal. Previous guest on the show. Previous guest on the show. Yeah. Oh, that’s nice. Pressing the ball. Oh sh to Saint. What a strike. And what a way to get your first goal for the club. Tat picked it up midway inside the man to Mané. Man, beautiful. Right footed Davis then into the heart of the box. Still not in. And then bundled in by Sio Mané. Now Tadic has gone in behind Dis. They’re trying to stay outside. Man’s on a hat trick. Oh, easy. Patrick for Sio Mané. Milana pushing header forward. Saints are breaking now. Osaldo down the left. Company back. Have some of that. Wow. That is rude. Tony. Wow. Oh, hello. Oh, hang on. We’ve got retro. Oh, Tony Cotton. Oh, dear. Why have Cotton when you can have silk dodgy keeper is on side again on the left area once more. Punch him there again. Low ball across the box. Oh, that’s a great finish. That is a tidy finish. Well, he couldn’t have placed it any better if he wanted to. [Music] Shoot. Shoot. Slight slight deflection, but I’ll claim it. [Music] [Applause] What was he doing? I tell you what, very bad Man City. Wowers. Uh, some top goals there. Some very memorable goals. Um, poor defending, poor keeping. Wow. I mean, there was some shocking goalkeeping going on in that and own goals galore. Yeah. What took me through that last drive, 1995. Oh, yeah. That was a corner I used to do quite often, actually. Just play it short, play it back to me and I’m shooting and if anyone gets in the way, so be it. So be it. Uh the deflection took it into the roof of the net. Yeah. Well, it was on target. It was going in. My goal. Yeah, absolutely. Uh dubious goals. Yeah, dubious. Don’t talk about them. Let it go. Uh however, Daniel Valdo, what a finish that That was the pick of the goals I think for me in their absolutely superb goal. Yeah, obviously one of the few things he did decent while he was here. Yeah, can I say that? Yeah, you can. I’m just enjoying that as everyone else is as well, but a stunning goal. Uh and then what a finish from Gareth Barry as well. I forgot which team he was playing for. I mean that was that was so tidy, you know. It was just a little stroke into the corner of the net past his own goalkeeper. Brilliant. I think he lost his bearings, I think. Yeah, and we can’t not mention it. The sad man hattick. What a player he was. just a smile immediately on my face. I mean, we had Sadadio Mané. I know. I mean, that team that that he was in, uh, back under Ronald Kumman was was probably one of my favorite Saints teams of all time. Right. Okay. Um, Matt, um, we’re hoping for more goals like that to against today’s opponents. Would be nice. Uh, talking of opponents, it’s time for taking on Latis. Okay. Thank you, Rocket. It is one of my favorite bits of the show as well. And let me tell you a little story. 41 up. you were Matt going into this and then the fans have come back wave after wave. There has been some dubious moments which we highlighted with you throwing darts at the panel uh at the start of the show but how does it feel to be neck and neck four at the moment? Yeah, I’ve been a little bit disappointed in in my um efforts over the last few shows to be honest and uh hopefully back on track today. I need to lift my game. You’re right. I need to lift my game. Okay, so uh the time will start. You’ll have 30 seconds. Uh to start the time, we will need Rocket to come in and bring us the whistle. Thank you very much, Rocket. Uh top stuff, mate. Do you think he can do it? Yeah, he’s got it. Okay, here we go then. All right, Matt. Uh when I start the time, uh you’ll have 30 seconds to give me as many correct answers as you possibly can. Uh and he’s only just a little bit sweating now, so we’re okay to get into this. Ah, your question. I’m taking you on the t is name clubs in the top four divisions that have the word city in their name. Oh my word. Your time starts. Uh, Manchester City, uh, Leicester City, uh, Sulford City, um, Oh no, don’t do that. Don’t do that to me again. Um, oh my goodness. How many more cities is it? It’s probably Bristol City. Um, oh, Cardiff City. Uh, Norish City. It’s not bad. It’s not bad. It’s not bad. Had a blank again. I know. I’m worried. Yeah, I’m worried. I didn’t have that many balls. What was going through your mind? How was you systematic? How were you trying to work that one? go through the alphabet trying to Yeah, I was trying to Yeah, that was hard. Six cities, correct? Oh, man. Um, how do you think the fans are going to do? How many of them is there? Okay, I think 30. I think I might be in a little bit of trouble. All right, six is the score to beat. Let’s find out if the fans can do it. Hi, I’m Elliot. And I’m Felix. We’re taking on Latis. [Music] Birmingham City, correct? Bristol City, correct. Uh, Leicester City, correct. Coventry, correct. Manchester City, correct. Uh, Norwich City, correct? Um, it’s getting tricky. Uh, should be more, shouldn’t it? Like 5 seconds left, lads. Keep going. Oh no, there’s a lot of towns in there. Yeah, I’m getting absolutely How have I got away with that? That’s incredible stuff there, man. That is unbelievable. That means we’re all tied going into the last one of the season. Edible will think we fix that. We haven’t though. Bradford City, Bristol City, Cardiff City, Exat City, Lincoln City, oh my god, sulfur city, Swansea City, so many. But hey, you were so relieved with that. I’ll take the draw. I’ll take the draw. Thanks, lads. Uh Matt, well, as you have perfectly said, that goes down to the wire then. Uh the last early doors of the season. We’ll find out. We maybe have a champion. Could be another draw. You never know. You never know. All right, here we go then. Okay, it’s time to head over now to Staple Wood where Kenzie Benali is back with another quickfire crossbar. This time, the Saints Academy stars are taking on our official holiday partner, Piano Cruises. Hello. Welcome to a gloriously sunny Staplewood where today piano cruisers are taking on our under nines and under 10s in another crossbar [Music] challenge. All right, it’s time to meet the teams. We have Ben here from PO Cruises and Louie from Saints Foundation. Louis, we’ll come to you first because we have had a late substitution. How you feeling about taking on the Quickfire Crossbar? Got the call up last night. I haven’t kicked a football in a while, but feeling good after a bit of practice. Yes. Love that. Uh Ben, what about you? You looking forward to this? Yeah, looking forward to it. I’m not sure it will go too well. Um probably up against some stiff competition, but we’ll give it our best shot. Definitely are. Are you a little bit nervous about taking on our under nines and tens? Yeah, absolutely. I don’t want to go home beating, so Oh, fighting talk. We love that. Guys, you’ve got one minute on the clock. Good luck. [Music] You know, cruisers, you have 60 seconds on my whistle. [Music] Two in a row for Louis. Three in a row for Louie. Oh my goodness. Four, Ben. Unbelievable stuff. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before on Quickfire Crossbar. Oh my word. That was another one. That hit. We’re on five. This is phenomenal. Oh, that was close as well. Louis said he hasn’t played football in months. I don’t believe him. Oh, I think this might be the best effort we’ve seen from a sponsor. Come on, guys. Not long left. I tell you what, what an effort this is from PNO Cruises. Oh, they’re retrieving their own balls as well, which is going to eat into their time. All right, you’ve got 10 seconds left, guys. Oh, so close. Two. One. Oh, that was an unbelievable effort. That definitely deserves a handshake. That was five. So, under nines and under tens, over to you. Five is the score to be. [Music] It’s over to our academy stars. Here we go. Oh, Bull Boy’s just been hit. Bull boy down. Oh, yes. Very, very nice. Oh, that was another. That’s two. Very well done. Oh, so close, Tommy. Oh, great effort again. Come on, Josh. Oh, so close. Come on, Raphael. Great effort, guys. Keep it going. Oh, yes. Donatello. Right, 10 seconds left, guys. Oh, yes. Four, three, two, one. Oh, what an effort that was by our under nines and under tens. Just falling short there. They finish on four. What an effort that was, boys. So, it finishes 54 in favor of PO Cruises and they become just the second club partner to beat our academy stars. We’ll see you next time on Quickfire Crossbar. A so close. The Academy by PO Cruises. Oh, incredible. It was a ship shaped performance from Pino Cruises. Yeah, you would say they’re feeling probably very buoyant about anything. And for the academy, it’s going to be all hands on deck. Should I stop that? Is that not I mean, why why not? Okay. Uh let’s say bonvoage to that segment then, Matt, as we move on. It’s time to visit the vault. So, it’s coming at you thick and fast on today’s early doors. Um and there were so many possible brilliant games to look at. Maybe the one from 1999 with a 2016 2013 under Moritzio Pochettino that Gareth Bay old goal. We had the hattick from Sunman. But one that we haven’t spoken about is a game 1999 Matt back at the Dell. Do you remember this one? Second round of the League Cup League Cup game. A replay after a nil nil at Man City. This one definitely wasn’t nil. Definitely. We’re going to take you right back to this game. It’s the vault against Man City in 1999. Let’s have a little look. Love the ball. Doing brilliantly there to feed Kennedy down the left again for City. He’s got Go and Dickoff in the box and delivers the cross. Dick off. Great goal. Play Dickoff for Manchester City. 11 minutes gone. The first division team in [Applause] front. Oakley with a clever ball. Hughes tried the acrobatic kick but almost came and did Salt who goes down and the referee points to the penalty spot. And Southampton 11. 16 minutes gone. Now Dean Richards through the salt. Danger here. PT on [Applause] side. The second attempt. Manchester City getting away. Southampton should be in [Applause] front. That could be it. And it is. No. How did that stay out? All the fans were up applauding. I honestly thought the ball must have crossed the line, but it didn’t somehow or other. Manchester City survived. Lund Bam’s free kick. Looks for Hughes. Edge of the box. Half clear and Oakley shoots and scores. Oh, he’s got a few already with his right foot. This time the left one. Ali’s cross. It’s flat and dangerous, but Jobson gets it away. Oakley again lines up the shot. He’s having a night and a half. It’s a clever little ball for [Applause] Kennedy. It was a good strike and it comes to Cota and he fires it in and City back in the match. Well, well, well. What a tie we’ve got now. Opportunity for City to get the ball in Southampton’s box, which they do. Go to with a chance. He’s equalized. But Southampton thought they were coasting. Think again. Well, would you believe it’s a beautiful ball being knocked in towards Has he done it again? No, because the offside flag stops the celebrations. Sorry, I was just about to say we need something special from Latiz, but Oh, that is desperately close. That is incredibly close. Well, perhaps Latiz there’s not even half a yard in this. There is not even half a yard in it. [Applause] [Applause] Heat. [Applause] Heat. going to lead us off the fullback Thiato. Good recovery. Bam. Knocks in his right foot. What a game. Drop the football match. It took me back. I didn’t know if there was going to be more goals in that, but I tell you what, Matt, you said you didn’t head the ball much and that’s why you couldn’t get more of those quiz answers ready. What a thundering header that was. Can’t believe it got disallowed. Come on. Let seriously, the defant should go to the attacker. Wasn’t even half a yard. You were the commentator. Uh let’s talk about that game. A real thriller. 4-3 in the end. What a game. Um dozy um when he got the opportunity to take a penalty, he could bury them. He was decent at penalties, does he? Yeah. Yeah. He was all right. He didn’t get to take too many though. Obviously not. No. Clearly the only reason he got that one was because I was on the bench in the first place. Yeah. Did he look to you for any tips at all? No. No. Nothing. Absolutely not. Talking about the winning goal though, Dean Richards. What a player. Bless him. Absolutely. Sad that he passed in 2011, but what a player. Um, what was he like as a player and and as a as a guy to have around? Well, great player and a great bloke in the change room as well. Yeah, really was top guy. I can’t believe it’s 14 years since he’s passes. Madness. Unbelievable. Yeah, God bless his soul. He was a top bloke. Yeah. Um, and of course Oakley as well with some beautiful finish. Matt should have scored more goals than he actually did. He was good from those positions and he just didn’t have I don’t think he had enough confidence in himself to shoot from that range often enough. So, you saw what you could do there. A couple of good finishes. Yeah. We’d love to have you on the show as well, Matt, so he can tell you that as well to your face that you should have scored more goals. So, make sure that happened in a nice way. Yeah. Yeah. No, of course he should. He made a lot of money from me, did Matt Oley? He was my apprentice. He cleaned my boots in the in one of my best seasons. And I used to pay my apprentice £5 for every goal I scored. Wow. And I think I got 30 that season. He was my apprentice. We’ll ask him, Matt. We’ll ask him what you spent that money on. Was he invested in it? Exactly. Uh top stuff, Matt, in that game. And what did we saw? Dave Jones just looking defeated 3-1 up. Did he say anything to you at the bench when he’s like, “Right, Matt, go and rescue the day.” Uh, no. Well, I think actually um I think we were winning when I came on. Yeah. And so I I mean wasn’t my fault clearly. Well, you weren’t Marking Sean Go. That’s No, exactly. That’s That’s not my job. It’s not my job. But no, we managed to get it over the line in the end and it was it was cracking entertainment. Uh great football match that evening and uh and yeah, I’m sure Dave would have smiled at the end eventually. Okay. Top stuff. Brilliant addition of the vault there against today’s opponents. Right then, amazing memories. And it’s time to get a few more of those now as our producer Rocket heads out once again to speak with the fans at St. Mary’s. [Music] Earliest memory is probably the um Theo Walcott’s debut which was against uh Wolves. I think we drew nil nil. Yeah, you could tell like from he came on as a sub his first 20 minutes. Yeah, you could tell like some West Brom last season when we at playoffs before we went to leads. Yeah. What was so good about that then? The atmosphere. Everyone just so happy. Were they? Yeah. Shane Long’s goal. Feed Shane Long. His first touch is good. He shoots. He puts that Shane Long’s goal. Greatest moment. Really great recent times. Yeah. I got to go. First home game Birmingham 2002. Yeah. Yeah. Why was that special then? Just the first game. First game as a seven-year-old in the stadium. Oh my goodness. You never forget your first game, do you? Never. Never forget the first game. What was your first game? Arsenal. Was it at the Dell? No way. Yeah. Bob Wilson in goal. Dad took me to the Dell, but I don’t remember. I want to say it was Leeds. Southampton Leads at the Dell in the ‘9s, but I in the ‘9s. Yeah. And you’ve been coming ever since. I’ve been suffering a long time. Yeah. God bless you. 55 years ago. 55 years ago. My old man used to be the only policeman on duty at the Dell, right? And he used to drop me off at 12:00, sat on the wall on the West End, and he used to his job was the whole game was to walk around the the pitch and used to leave me there and I haven’t missed Well, I’ve got stopped supporting them now since 5 years old. Really? That’s unbelievable. Mine was uh Southampton versus Southampton. It was uh I think it was the youth team versus the main team. Really? Yeah. Who won? I think it was the main team. I hope so. I think so. When was dad’s first game? Oh, 1985. 1985. Bobby Stokes. Oh, look at this. Bobby Stokes. Big World. Oh, he’s there. Stokes has put Southampton in the lead. Bobby Stokes. Jim Mott put him through. Ricky Shannon. Yeah. Ricky Shannon. The cup that went to bed. Oh yeah. Apparently with Peter Osgood. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, good memories. Happy days. [Music] Oh, I love that. Thank you so much, Rocket. That is a brilliant feature to the show. Getting to hear from the fans what their memories are. First game. Uh, what was yours, Matt? Uh, my first game at the Dell uh was in Nick Holmes’s testimonial match against Benfica. Oo, that is a good contest. Although I did make a first team appearance before that at St. James’s Park down at Exit. Oh, City. Exit City. Yes. One of the four. Yeah. Okay. That’s the one I missed. Yeah. Okay. All right. I’m pointing right back at you. Yeah. Uh, anyone going to No. Well, my first memory. No, no, it’s fine. First memory. Thank you, Matt. 31st of December 1994, first football game, watching a two- thriller against Manchester United where I watched all the fans just praying towards a player and I was like, “What’s going on? God, God, you.” And uh and then at which point I remember asking my dad cuz I kept hearing them say, “The referee’s a waiter.” Uh, and because it was all in black, I asked my dad, “Why are they calling him a waiter?” Yeah, fair enough. So, there you go. But two all. Jimmy, glad your ears fixed. Yeah, I have them fixed. I like the fact we’re having a bit of a laugh. Now, let’s h get on our guest for the show. Uh, and what a guest it is. Um, he is the reigning senior PGA Championship and senior US Open Golf Champion. He’s a winner on the European tour and one of the current stars of Live Golf. But most importantly, he’s a huge Saints fan. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s Richard Bl. Lovely to see you. Come and take a seat. How are you, matey? Thanks very much for coming on. No worries. A two besties together. This is perfect. Uh Blandy, can I call you Blendy? You can indeed. Okay. Worse. It’s great to have you on the show, F. I know that we got managed to get their schedules together. Uh but um listen, what have you been up to this year? Uh yeah, I’ve just got back from Korea. a couple of days ago. So, I’m a little jet-lagged. So, if he falls asleep, it’s not as you’re boring him. Yeah, I’m not I’m not 100% certain what time of day it is right now, but uh yeah, I just had a uh busy couple of weeks uh playing in Mexico, then then Korea, and then home. So, I’m home for about another three or four days, and I’m off to America for two weeks for the PGA Championships. Uh and then to defend the senior PJ. So, wow. Not busy, Dandy. What you’re saying, Dy. Not busy at all. A lot of air miles. Love air miles. But no, exciting couple of weeks coming up. So, uh, yeah, hopefully hopefully the game holds up. Yeah. Before we get into your credentials, your CV, are you still enjoying the golf? I am. Yeah. Uh, you know, I love competing. Um, he’s getting better with age as well. That’s really annoying. Maturing like a fine wine. Yeah. I don’t know what it is. You know, my my score report always says I was a bit of a slow learner. So, uh, I was I took I took that into took that into my golf as well. But, uh, yeah, I you know, I love competing. It’s uh you know to to put yourself against some of the best players in the world every time you peg it up is uh is a huge thrill and uh and yeah you know I’m kind of hold on my own some weeks some weeks not but um yeah I yeah you love it I love it I wouldn’t swap it for the world. Well you had an amazing year last year winning the uh seniors US Open and the and the PGA as well back to back. I mean that that feeling must have been amazing. What did that mean to you winning those senior majors? Yeah. Um, yeah, it wasn’t something that you, you know, I was kind of on my radar the start of the year. Obviously, my, you know, my priority was always live and to, you know, and to keep playing there, but obviously I had the opportunity to play. As I’, as I’ve said before, I was kind of going into those events a little bit on the unknown. You know, there’s some, you know, some unbelievable legends playing the tournaments. Um, you don’t know what kind of level they’re playing at. I knew the level that I was playing at on Liv. So, let’s let’s put that in perspective, though, Rich. Yeah, because some of the names that have won those tournaments are unbelievable. Legends of the game of golf. You got Jack Nicholas, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tom Watson, Bernard Langer, Colin Montgomery, and now your name is up amongst them. How does that feel? Yeah, I’ve spoiled that a little bit. So, you deserved it, mate. You deserved. Yeah. You know, to Yeah. To to to have your name against those kind of players is you got to pinch yourself, you know, to see Jack Nicholas on a trophy in your name. Yeah. So, um, you worked hard for it, mate. I have. I have. Yeah, I saw that. I’ve witnessed it. I mean, he had a work ethic that was completely alien to me. Why so say, Matt? Why so? I don’t know. I don’t know. Just different game. Probably a lot of people don’t know. I used to live with Matt for a couple of years. So, yeah, I used to see him leave for training about half 9 and come back at about4 to 11. He’s done you. It was at least 1:00 cuz we stay for lunch. Yeah. Uh now the man sitting next to you, Richard, uh Matthew Leticier, uh famously caddied for you European tour. Uh you actually you didn’t win that one, but it’s not until you got rid of him that you actually won. So is there a coincidence with that? Very much so. Yeah. No, no, no. Um I don’t know how we it was my first year on tour. Um, and I don’t know how it kind of came about. I know how it came about. We were probably drunk somewhere. No, no, actually, I’ll tell you how it came about. So, he was playing on the challenge tour, which is like the level below the below the proper tour. And uh during the it was in between my last two seasons as a pro, and he said, “Will you come and cry for me in one of these events?” And it was only in France. So, I went down and caddy for him, but I had to leave early on the Sunday afternoon to get back for preseason training on the Monday morning. Gotcha. So when I left him on the 10th T on the last day on Sunday, he was in contention, right? I left, I fly home, I check the scores. Yeah. He’s completely dropped off the leaderboard and he’s he’s and he’s lost it completely. I’m thinking I must have been good. Like I’m not there. He falls apart. My bestie’s gone. What am I doing? So anyway, then wins his tour and he actually before he won his tour card, he actually said to me, “If ever I get on tour, you can come and caddy for me on tour for one event.” Right. So he get he gets his tour card, wins the tour championship on the P on the challenge tour and they said, “Come on, what what do you want to do?” And I was like, “Oh, let’s have a look.” And I thought, “Lock Lman is somewhere I’d always wanted to go and play and play.” Had you not played before? You not played there before that? Uh I I think I might have played there once before and I was like I need I want to go back there. Lman, I said I’ll come and cure you at Lman. And to be fair, he did all right. I think he finished 21st that week. Yeah. Yeah. I was around top 20. Yeah. It wasn’t too bad. Yeah, the good he’s he’s a cheap caddy. Only cost me a case of Malibu and about 4 L of Coke. So, it was pretty good. But that but that must be so nice. You live together and then you’re doing what you do professionally and then you get to have Matt there. It must have been a calming influence. Was he able to just make you smile? Calm down. It’s good fun. It it was good fun having him having him there. So, uh, although we did have one incident, I don’t know if you remember at Llman, one incident where dropped the bag on a tea box where I made the amateur mistake of resting the big tour bag down at the standing up at the side of the tea box as Rich is just about to tee off and as he’s and as he’s just about to take his club back like this in the corner of my eye, I spot the bag just starting to go like that and and I I I was like all sorts of things are going through my mind. He’s just about to have a swing. The clubs are just about to go like that. And as he took his club back, I just went, “Rick, stop.” And and then the bag I thought he was going to tell me like the wind had changed or something like that. And then the bag on the floor. You know that bag I’m supposed to be looking after? It’s on the floor, mate. Yeah. It was in bits. Yeah. So, but no, it was it was always good fun. It was It was good fun having him on the bag. I I I one of other memory of that week I can’t remember what round it was in my It was either the first or the second round. We were playing quite late cuz Llman was always a one start. So, you might have a sort of 3:30 tea off time. And a friend of uh of ours was up there that week, a guy called Ben Richards. And and we were out quite late. We were on the golf course at like sort of 7:00 at night. And I know Matt was hungry. And we were I think we were going down, I think it’s like the 13th holes, the par five down the hill. And there was a couple of burger stands on the right hand side. And Ben had nipped off and got Matt a burger. And uh and like I didn’t realize until I’d got up to the green and he comes up about 50 yards behind me chomping on this burger and I’m like so I took it seriously obviously it was a proper job. It was a proper job. Can we take you back to the British Masters 2021 what that was like the experience the near misses and then and then unfolding how it did. Yeah. Uh yeah it was kind of a bit of a surreal week. Obviously it was during CO so there was no no crowds. Um, and yeah, I kind of wasn’t really showing a huge amount of form before it. Uh, I think I’d played like because of COVID, we couldn’t travel, we couldn’t do much. And it was a fiveweek stretch. We were playing a lot of tournaments, we were playing like two weeks at certain venues and we were playing I think in Tenneref for two weeks before at the same venue. Uh, and I’d kind of done okay. Um, and then yeah, got to the belfry uh quite late. I didn’t really I knew the course. I didn’t really felt like I needed a practice round. I think I maybe played nine holes and then yeah, it just kind of it kind of clicked into place that week. You know, te to green is probably still one of the best te to green po performances I had in my whole career. You I literally hardly missed a shot. Uh if I’d have even if I’d have probably putted like Matt that week, I would have probably won by 10. Um but uh zing. But yeah, you know, uh, you know, to birdie the last hole, which I then thought was probably to win. You know, if people saw my sort of emotion and my reaction, I thought that was cuz I was leading by one at the time and the weather was wasn’t that great. It was quite cold. I think it was a bit of drizzle. Uh, and so I had a two-shot lead and I thought I I I think I’ve finally done it. And then literally by the time I’d signed the scorecard, come back out, it literally cleared up. It was black blue sky. The temperature had gone up about 10° and I’m there going like this this just ain’t never going to happen. And and a guys couple made a couple of birdies and uh you know Guido made a unbelievable up and down at the last to you know to get in the playoffs. So but yeah there was just something about that playoff that you know what I ain’t losing this one. This this is this is it. This is I’m not letting this one go. I think for me one of the most amazing uh bits of television I’ve ever seen and I I I’m not a man who cries easily. But when you came off that green to be greeted by Tim Bart who’s been your coach for 400 years. Yeah. 401 I think 401 that interview for me still every time I see that interview now I still well up. Yeah. It was an amazing emotional moment. It was great to have Tim there you know because I couldn’t have any family there and they would have been there if it was playing in normal time. They’ve always come to the UK events. So to have Tim there who’s been there literally every step of the way. Uh yeah was very very special. Blandy, you are a huge Saints fan. So we want to get to know some of your best moments as we go behind closed doors. Oo. Are you ready? Myself and Matt are going to take it in turns to ask you questions. Don’t feel too much pressure. Okay. I do. Okay. Okay. I’ll go first. How did you begin supporting Saints? Uh I used to play football as a kid, you know. I I was actually quite good. I did have the opportunity to have trials for Southampton. I used to play in golf for my local team and then I got quite a nasty an ankle injury which kind of stopped me playing football and I then I took up golf. So uh but yeah decision to be fair. Uh well I would have been retired by now. You had two gloves then you moved to one glove. I like it. Yeah. Um, but you know, I’d lived in Southampton all my life, even though I’m from the kind of Midlands by birth, but I I consider myself Southampton. So, yeah, it was they were they were my team. And your first memories of of watching the Saints game, do you can you back? Yeah. Uh, my dad used to bring me to obviously to the old Dell. Um, I remember like Peter Shilton in goal. Uh, I think you know, I saw Kevin Keegan and Mick Shannon play a little bit. Wow. Um, yeah. I I I used to I used to love the old Dell. It was It was a It was a great place. Great place. And now we’re in the new Dell. We are. Yes. It’s bigger actually than the old D. Yeah. What’s nice, it’s not all standing as well, which is nice. Uh uh Richard, I got to ask this question. How did you and Matt actually become friends? Was it He was asking for golf advice? No, no, no. I I remember I always remember where I I’d sort of seen Matt at Stone Golf Club a few time. I was working there at the time um in the shop for Ian Young who was the professional there at the time and I and I remember it was clear as day that I think I was I’d worked in the morning and I was just going to practice in the afternoon and Matt came in with Klaus. Yeah. Uh and just they were going out to play and and Matt just said, “Anyone want to come for a game?” And I went like, “Yeah, okay. I got nothing to do. I’ll come out.” And I remember I shot nine under that day, 63. Oh, and I think I fleced them for a few quid, which was nice. Um, and then I think there was a bar opening in town. Never. Uh, and you invited me to go. I think it was like a couple of days later and and it kind of just it kind of went from there. Oh, organically. Very organically. It was it was all, you know, it was always through golf that we that was our kind of Yeah. Everyone remembers the first time through jumping jacks. and to what a club. What a club. I think we kept that place afloat. I think we we we did a little bit. We did a little bit. Um best Saints game you’ve ever seen? One stick out. Saints game I’ve ever seen. Any others? And then the next question is favorite Saints goal. Just while you’re in that area. Best thing I’ve ever seen. Yeah, it’s always nice if you know we beat kind of like teams that I know lads that support. you know, if we ever kind of beat Liverpool or, you know, there’s a huge kind of Liverpool following out on tour. So, you know, or if you beat Man United, so uh those kind of things to, you know, kind of stick it to them. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They they they’ve stuck it to me enough over the past kind of 20 years. So, it’s always it’s always nice to get one back on them. But, uh no, I I I think the mo but the most favorite goal I’ve ever seen at the Dell would have to be, you know, as much as I don’t want to give him credit, it would probably be his last last last goal at the Dell. I think that was Yeah, you you talk about things that are just kind of written, you know, but uh to see that. No, we don’t. No, I don’t think I don’t think we actually I think we’ve deleted it actually, but you can find it yourselves. It’s a stunning but I think you know that that was just that that’s how Southampton needed to end at at the Dell and uh yeah and it you know Matt never really scored a tap in, did he? It was always it was always a early on. Amen to that. Now, I know you mentioned earlier about you you uh were a goalkeeper in your in your early days. If you had been a professional footballer and it wasn’t a goalkeeper, could you have played that on pitch anywhere? No. That’s that that’s rubbish. Uh I’m completely left footed. I It’s It’s like my But right-handed? Yeah. I’m right-handed at golf, left footed at uh you strange with kicking a football. Yeah. I literally couldn’t kick a football with my right foot from here to there. And it’s the same if I tried to play golf left-handed. You I can play to a pretty good standard right-handed and I would be I I wouldn’t break probably 200 left-handed. I I literally can’t hit it. I I I would have half the shots would be I’d miss it. Uh we may have touched on this already, but best moment in golf has to be Yeah, I I think I would have to go British Masters just because that kind of Yeah, that that obviously put me on the trajectory of where I’ve got to now. Give up a rich man behind closed doors. Thank you so much. But we couldn’t uh let you sit down here without taking part in a keep you up challenge. Are we mixing it up first? We’ll go with this first. Here we go. Sit down keep you up challenge. Now a little bit of dropped it already. That’s what is the record. One, two. Uh well Steven Davis did it all day. It’s basically let it bounce then just keep going like this and then whichever I can actually predict my score right now. Okay. Premonition what you visualize. I’m going for three. Okay. Oh, less. Yes. Go for it. It will be one. Go for it. And then we’ll give you positive mental attitude. Come on. Yay. He did. He called it. He called it. We’re going to give you We’re going to give you a chance now though a game you’re good at. Right. Here we go. So, sitting down. Keep it up. Golfy challenge. 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14. Oh, 14. Oh, I thought we were going to be the Steven Davis of golf there for a second. Well, we’ll take that though. Richard Bland, I know you’re going to stick around for the piano cruisers concourse challenge. I will. If you didn’t know, you are definitely sticking around for that. And while we get set up for that, let’s take a look at this week’s edition of the incredible Academy Goals. Uh yeah. Uh yeah. Uh yeah. [Music] [Music] Incredible goals from the academy. Matt, we’re in safe hands. Don Ballard, another hattick. Amazing. Brilliant stuff. Top stuff from him. 5-2 victory against Fulham. That moves them from the quarterfinals into the semi-finals will be happening against Monday against Crystal Palace. Cannot wait for that one. Now we have moved to the Northern Concourse where we’re getting ready for the piano cruises concourse challenge and last time out AFC Lakeside Youth got a whopping £395 for youth options. We’re back again. Another charity Spurgeons are up for uh getting as much money as they possibly can. Who’s going to help them? That’s the important question. Saints Foundation because they’re looking forward to the Bonali on tour. 36 miles. I even added it up on Google Maps. Uh yeah, 36 miles from Southampton to the White and back again. Huge challenge. Yeah, I think I’ve spoken for a lot now. You have a lot. That’s a lot. I’ve given a lot of facts there. Should we meet them? Shall we? Should I go over there? I’m going to stop talking. I’ll go over there. Hi, Charlie. How are you? Good, thanks. Okay. Tell me a little bit about what you guys are doing, exactly what the challenge entails. Uh so back for its third year, Franny Bonali, so Saints Legend, Saints Foundation ambassador, your friend Franny Bernal, Abut is taking 40 fundraisers on a track to raise money for us. So um three years ago we did South Down Sway. Last year we did Yorkshire. This year we’re doing the aisle of white. So we’re staying local, but we’re finishing just in time for the Arsenal game. Last game of the season on the Sunday. Amazing. And how’s the preparation been going? Plenty of training. Yeah, lots and lots of training. Excellent stuff. That’s what we like to hear. How you feeling about today’s challenge? Good. Good. I think we’re going to raise a record amount apparently. Wow, that is confident. That is confident. Well, uh I can tell you that you are doing the walking aid of the Saints Foundation. If you want to donate, the details will be on the screen. Uh but today you’re trying to raise money for a different charity who Tom is with now. Uh thank you very much, Matt. Yes, I am with uh Spurgeon’s charity, Katherine and Lucy. Guys, lovely to have you on Early Doors. Lucy, can you tell me a little bit more about the charity and what you do? So Spurgeons are a national family charity who work with families, children, and young people through a range of services within family centers, churches, schools, and prisons. At our prison family hub at HMP Winchester, we support children and families affected by imprisonment. So both inside and outside of the prison. Uh during custody, we can support to maintain family ties through our visits and the interventions we offer. And then towards release, we have our whole family multi- agency resettlement project which works with professionals and other projects like Saints Restart to form a whole package of support for the whole family to smooth the transition from custody into community and beyond. We also provide training for professionals to really highlight the impact of having a parent in prison um can have on children. All right, Catherine. Um what would a little bit of extra cash which hopefully the guys are going to win for you today where would it it go towards? Yep. So over the next couple of months we’re going to be running our campaign stop the stigma. The aim is to bring awareness of the impact of imprisonment of a parent on the children that we work with. So any extra money is going to be put towards counseling sessions, also towards stationary kits for the children that attend our homework club at HMP Winchester and also to help us provide the um intervention of story but dads where dads can read a story and then we send it home to the children and families so that the families can remain connected with dad whilst he’s in prison. Oh, I love that. That’s uh awesome. Um right, Catherine, Lucy, stick around here for this. Let’s try and win some money cuz I need to remind you guys how the PNO Cruises concourse challenge works. It’s brought to you by official holiday partner PO Cruises. Now, I don’t need to tell you because you’ve watched every single episode before, but there are five targets here uh next to me and all the guys need to do is kick the ball through the targets as many times as they possibly can within 60 seconds. We’ll add up the total score and then Southampton Football Club will donate that money to Spurgeon’s charity. Sounds easy. Actually, it’s very difficult. So, best of luck to the guys. Over to you, Matt. Okay, guys. Are we ready? As much cash as you can. 60 seconds. You start on my whistle. Are you ready? Three, two, one. Come on, lads. Oh, nearly. Lucky. Oh, that would be a 50 and a 10. Beautiful. Oh, he’s gone outside of the boot. Good effort. Keep them coming. Keep them coming. You’re ready. Go. You’re ready. Go. Yes. 25. Oh, nearly. 25. Sorry, mate. Plenty of time left. Plenty of time. 20 seconds still. Grab a ball. Grab a ball. Yes, there’s a 25. Keep it going. 10 seconds to go. Get yourself a ball there. Yes. Another 10 minutes. 5 4 3 2 1. Yeah, look at that. Excellent stuff from some of the Saints Foundation guys there. What did we get as a total? Uh, I thought we would grab 315, but apparently, as I said before, I was pretty slow at school. It was 320. 320. £320. Uh, right then, Lucy, were we happy with that? £320. That’s amazing. Thank you so much. Yeah, but okay. Little bit more. Yeah. Okay. Oh, do you know what? Taking the words right out of my mouth. Blandy, here you go. Big moment. Time to shine. Chip shot from the bunker. And Matt Latis, another opportunity. Two penalties. Here we go. What are you going for, Latis? I might go for the 25. 50 is looking a bit small. Yes, there we go. I was aiming for the 50. What was that, Bandy? What did you just hit? A 10. I was a I was aiming for the 50, but I got 25. Oh, we’ll take that. Split the difference. Here we go, Matt. No pressure. No pressure now, Matt. Try the same. Yes, that’s what they do. Two 25s. That means the grand total is £370. Got to be happy with that, Lucy. Brilliant. Absolutely amazing. Thank you so much. It will make such a difference. Oh, listen. continue doing the amazing work you do at Spurgeons. Thank you very much for having you on Early Doors. Matt Latis, get in here. It’s the end of the show. £370 was very good for the charity. Not bad at all, was it? Yeah, there was a bit of pressure when Blandy hit that 25. I know. I would never have lifted down if he got more money than me. Uh listen, I hope you’ve enjoyed Early Doors today. Enjoy the fan zones and of course the Dell. And if you want to know more about the Benali on tour, there’ll be some details on the screen uh right now. And then we’ll be back. I feel quite sad about this for our last Early Doors. I know. And that’ll be for the Arsenal game. But in the meantime, get ready for it, Matt. Up the See you next [Applause] [Music] [Applause] time. Heat. [Music]
