Time for Saints to convert: Roger Moore scores

Last updated : 19 September 2008 By Roger Moore

I'm not a religious man per se, but what with births, deaths and marriages, now and then I find myself in the house of God. At such times, I always show due deference - well, I am a great believer in insurance - and pay heed to the words of God's representatives here on earth. On one such occasion, I found the words of incredible poignancy and comfort.

The preacher told the story of an old man arriving in paradise to meet his maker. But before entry to the kingdom of heaven, the man was taken to review his time on earth. There, he found his life mapped in footsteps - a path along which he had walked. For much of his life, the path was represented by evidence of two people.

"Whose are the other footsteps?" the man asked. "Those," came the reply, "Are mine."

Looking further back along the path, the man noticed that at one point, the pair of footsteps became one. "And what happened there?" he asked.

"That," came the reply, "Is where your wife died."

"I knew it," said the old man. "Right when I needed you most, you abandoned me."

"No," came the reply, "That is when I carried you."

Now, I don't know or frankly care whether you believe in a God. But I do know that by virtue of being here and reading this, you do believe in Southampton Football Club.

I know that, like me, there have been times when our club has walked alongside you and times when it has carried you. In times of despair perhaps, your football club has been a source of comfort and pride.

If you are a fan of any standing, this club has furnished you with hope - time and again.

Well now, it needs you to help carry it.

Crowds of 14,900 are simply not sustainable for our club. Gone are happy times at The Dell when we might have survived on a hard-core of a little over a dozen thousand fans. The Cathedral of Football we craved, in return for our local parish ground, brings with it responsibility. It needs worshippers; let us make no bones about it, it needs you!

So today and for the foreseeable future, you have a choice. You have the choice to help carry your club through these difficult times or to look back and find that, halfway through your life, one pair of footsteps simply stopped.

This is not a debate about governance or blame. This is not a choice between regimes or leadership. This is not even about the current crop of players. This is a fundamental choice about survival - about the ultimate choice. Will I have a club left to support?

And here's the best bit. You don't even have to martyr yourself in the process, far from it. On Wednesday night, in return for my shekels, I was witness to a team of industrious footballers trying and frequently succeeding in playing attractive football. There were four good quality goals at a time when you may well have been sat at home watching six of Europe's elite manage just two poor finishes between them.

So what is stopping you watching the club you purport to love? Fear of failure perhaps? Think again. For ten years we saw fewer wins than any club in domestic English football, yet still 32,000 enjoyed a 1-0 loss to Bolton.

Lack of appetite? Think again. When did you last see eleven players give their all for the cause, working together, trying to play the ball on the ground with pace?

Lack of glamour? Think again. In Adam Lallana you are missing a footballer in the mould of Steven Gerrard, but with more skill; a real gem, a future superstar.

And therein lies the rub. If you want any chance to watch Adam Lallana in future, you need to insert your backside into a seat now. Because, if you don't then there is no hope of him surviving a further squad cull in January.

Finally, some might say that the price is simply too high. Times are tight. Banks don't go bust and get taken over without good reason. If we're not in a recession now, then Poortvliet and Wotte are not the only Dutchmen in Southampton.

But spending money is actually the quickest and simplest way to end recession - ask any basic economics student. You spend money at the club; it is spent on staff who may well spend money with you - if not directly then eventually through the normal business process and cycle of finance.

And if you simply do not have the cash, borrow it. As much, frankly, as you like. When a bank is losing £20billion, your five hundred quid or a couple of grand is as noticeable as a flea on the moon!

Seriously, ask yourself? Why am I not going to watch my team? And if you can find it in your heart to satisfy yourself with staying at home, I wonder whether you were ever really a Saint at all.