13SATURDAY, AUGUST 15, 2009 THE DAILY ECHO

Saints spotlight

WHEN a former England interna-tional calls, chances are you lis-ten. But Jeremy Stagg didn’t.

The Toynbee pupil enjoyed playing foot-ball. He was a hard working wideman andso good that in his early teens he was court-ed by Tottenham, QPR and Brighton, whowere then managed by Alan Mullery,wwrriitteess SSIIMMOONN PPEEAACCHH.

The former England international heard ofStagg’s potential and took it upon himself tocall his parents, in an attempt to seal thedeal.

But it wasn’t to be.The born and bred Eastleigh boy decided

against a move along the coast, insteadsigning for Saints as an associate school-boy. “I was very proud to play for them,” hesaid on signing for Saints. “At that particulartime they were one of the top Division 1sides.

“You learn a hell of a lot when you areworking with players of the calibre of KevinKeegan, Alan Ball, Peter Shilton, CharlieGeorge – they were all terrific players.

“You could do nothing but learn from play-ers like that.”

And the youth sides weren’t bad either.The likes of George Lawrence, ReubenAgboola and Danny Wallace were allStagg’s peers in his youth and reserve days.

Ian Branfoot was Stagg’s boss throughouthis time at Saints, first running the youthside before earning promotion to thereserves.

He is also somebody Stagg – now manag-er at Sydenhams Wessex Premier sideLymington Town – is keen to defend.

“Southampton fans may not remembergood things about him as manager but hewas a top, top coach,” he said.

“He was great for youngsters and putthings over so simply, all his methods weresuperb.”

Under Branfoot, the midfielder progressedthrough the ranks. After two years as aschoolboy, and a further two as apprentice,he spent a short spell as a professional.

But then that was it.Saints decided not to keep him on after

Stagg rejected their last chance of respite. “Igot offered a spell in Sweden,” he said.“There were a few guys over there and theywanted me to come back afterwards andsee whether I had changed in certain areas.But I declined because I thought I would tryand make it here.

“I had contacts at Bristol Rovers and York,

but nothing materialised.”So he dropped out of the league.An unhappy spell at Woking followed

before he signed with Andover, where hewould stay for six years.

Stagg was a consistent performer for theLions, excelling in their midfield.

He impressed so much so that Bashley,who had just won the Wessex League forthe third year on the trot, forked out nearly£7,000 to sign him.

And what a great move it proved to be.“We won the Southern League in my first

season there, and in Bashley’s first seasonin the division,” said Stagg.

“They paid some big money for myself andJason Lovell (£6,000 from Wimborne) and,after a bit of a slow start, we eventually wonthe league and had some good cup runs.”

Cult figure

Stagg spent ten happy years at Bashley,becoming a cult figure at the RecreationGround. He helped Bashley to the FA Cupsecond round in 1995 and he left the club afew years later.

“I regret leaving Bashley when I did. I stillhad a year or two left in me,” he recalled.“My father died and after that I never reallygot back to playing.

“My mate Leroy Whale was at Andover soI went and joined them, but I struggled withfitness and that was it really.”

After finishing playing, Stagg continued hisjob as a postman, deciding to concentratehis time on developing and following sonLiam’s career instead.

He coached at Colden Common andAlresford Town, during his son’s spellsthere, before deciding to take a punt at man-agement this summer.

“I saw the Lymington job advertised so Iapplied for it,” he said. “I’ve always wantedto give management a go but was waitingfor the right time.

“It is hard work. There are a few teethingproblems but we’re getting there. We’ve gota good capable squad but these things taketime. It’s a complete rebuilding job.”

Furthermore, the job kills two birds withone stone, with son Liam now playing fortheir reserve side.

The move reaffirms his commitment to hisfamily and he admits the thing he is mostlooking forward to is celebrating his 25thwedding anniversary with wife Juliana nextyear.

For a grounded family man, that’s no sur-

prise. Neither are his views on what couldhave been.

“We’ve all got regrets in life,” he said. “If I’dknown what I do now, then going to Swedenwould probably have been the best route totake.

“And sometimes I regret not moving awayfrom my local area when I could have, toallow me to develop somewhere else. But itwasn’t to be.

“We all have regrets but we carry on.”

SAT on an old woodenbench, Jeremy Staggwasn’t to know that hewas squeezed inbetween the futureEastleigh reservemanager, on one side,and a future Englandinternational, on theother.

The players of theSaints youth side 29years ago have allmoved on.

Some still findemployment in foot-ball, whereas otherswork as everythingfrom builders to carsalesmen.

But, whatever theircareer path, theLymington managerstill keeps in contactwith many of them.

“I remember quite abit about those daysand I still keep intouch with a few ofthem,” said Stagg.

“I see Paul Wiltshire(sat on Jeremy’s left)now and again, he isrunning the Eastleighreserve side and, obvi-ously, Ian Baird, is

down at Eastleightoo as manager.

“I’m still quiteclose to BarryBlankley, whohas just leftSalisbury, andthen there’sMartin Foyle,who is York

City manager atthe moment.”Stagg may not

have made it in the

pro game but 11 of theplayers he is picturedwith did, includingReuben Agboola, whohe recently bumpedinto.

“I saw Reuben forthe first time since Ileft Southamptonabout three weeksago,” he said.

“He’s working in agarage onSouthampton Road,and I’m working as apostman, and bychance I was deliver-ing to him.

“It was great to seehim again.”

Another to progressfrom the youth teamwas Danny Wallace,the oldest of threebrothers.

“Danny is a bit of alegend atSouthampton,” hesaid.

“I haven’t seen himsince we left but hewas a very quick play-er. He frighteneddefences and was alovely happy go luckychap.

“And he got a luckybreak.

“There was a fewinjuries one day, gotthe call up (at OldTrafford, of allplaces), made use ofit and never lookedback.

“He may have gotlucky but you need tohave the talent to gowith that – and Dannycertainly had that.”

SAINTS’ YOUTH/RESERVE SIDE 1980-81. Back (from left): Reuben Agboola, Pete Vacher, Joe Blochel, Colin Dixon, Martin Foyle,Alastair Sperring, Ian Baird, George Lawrence, Mark Whitlock, David Madden, Ian Juryeff. Front: Russell Burtenshaw, Paul Wiltshire,Jeremy Stagg, Danny Wallace, Chris Hodge, David Puckett, Steve Richardson, Steve Baker, Tim Cole, Wayne Pratt.

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