SOTON in ecstasy read the front page of the Southern Evening Echo.
44 years ago today, Saints shocked the world as they triumphed in their David and Goliath style FA Cup Final encounter with the might of Manchester United.
And the heroes of 1976 left a city delirious.
It was as unexpected a victory as they come with the fancied top flight side overwhelming pre-match favourites against Lawrie McMenemy's second division underdogs.
So victory was all the more sweet for captain Peter Rodrigues and his men.
What a marvellous day it was for Saints.
The club they said had no chance proved the world wrong.
They went to Wembley for the first time. It was only the third time in the club's history that they had reached the cup final and you had to go back to 1902 for the last time.
Doubters said Saints had had an easy path to the final. But who cares? You have to be in it to win it.
Manchester United were perhaps the greatest club in England, if not Europe. They thrilled the world of football that year.
But in the super Saints, ready and raring to go for their May 1 showdown, they had more than met their match.
The teams emerged some seven minutes before kick off with Lawrie McMenemy and Tommy Docherty at their head. Behind the Saints manager there came Peter Rodrigues, the captain, for whom the cup final represented a fairy story. Only a year ago, given a free transfer by Sheffield Wednesday, he was thinking about going out of football.
Saints, who won the toss, defended the east end, where most of their supporters were.
The yellow and blues had a number of early attacks, but the match remained goalless at the break.
There was a lot of early second half pressure from United but Saints were up to the test and kept going.
The game was finely balanced with Saints a splendid advertisement for the Second Division.
It all erupted in the 83rd minute when Saints swept into the lead with a brilliant goal scored by Stokes, described in the Daily Echo match report as a 'great little competitor'. McCalliog fashioned the opening with a brilliant pass and Stokes was swamped by ecstatic team-mates.
The clocked ticked slowly to the close for thousands of delighted fans and Saints had won the cup!
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