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Jim Steele made 201 appearances for Southampton Football Club between 1972 and 1977. He was signed by the legendary Ted Bates for a club record fee of £80,000 at the time, joining from Scottish side Dundee.
A robust, no-holds-barred defender, Steele was at the heart of the Saints defence with Mel Blyth for the 1976 FA Cup Final against Manchester United.
Following his departure from Southampton, he joined the Washington Diplomats, before going on to be registered to play for Pittsburgh Spirit (an indoor football team), Memphis Rogues and Chicago Sting. <!-- ######## START FLOATED VIDEO SNIPPET ######## -->
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In this, the third interview of our special 1976 series - we speak with Jim about his time at Southampton, his fondest memories of that famous cup win, and reflect on the current Southampton team - with Jim telling us which current Saint he'd most likely to play alongside!
Jim was speaking to St. Mary's Musings at a Mayoral Reception at Southampton Guildhall on Friday the 1st of May, 2015. The event was to raise awareness and provide publicity ahead of the forthcoming 40th anniversary celebrations of the club's one and only FA Cup win.
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Jim, does the term ‘FA Cup Winner' still sound great, even after 40 years?
Yeah, absolutely fantastic. I can't believe it's coming up to forty years! It's like it's just flown past.
Even 40 years on, does it still make it special that the people of Southampton still want to commemorate it?
Oh, for sure. It's the only thing they've ever really won - and what's coming up will be fantastic.
What's your favourite memory of the final?
Stokesy scoring the goal! It was fantastic, Stokesy got it for us.
Would it make it even more special for the current squad to win it next year?
It would be fantastic, because it'd be 40 years since we won it. If they win it in, 40 years on, it'd be fantastic. And, I think they've got a good enough team to do it.
If you had to pick one player from the current team to play alongside, who would it be and why?
To play alongside? Well, Fonte has had a fantastic year. Me being a sweeper, and him attacking the ball, I could play with him and we could play offside all-day!
St. Mary's Musings would like to thank Jim for his time.