It was 41 years ago that Southampton were involved in one of the biggest upsets in FA Cup history when as a second-tier team they defeated overwhelming favourites Manchester United 1-0 in the final at Wembley. It is the only major trophy the Saints have won, but what a scalp!
The south coast team will be hoping for a repeat performance tomorrow, this time in the Football League Cup final, against Jose Mourinho's men who will once again start as strong favourites.
That final in 1976 is well worth recalling. On the morning of the match the Daily Express even came out with a banner headline "Easy United" forecasting a big win for the Red Devils.
Only three years earlier another Division Two side, Sunderland, had created a huge shock by defeating powerful Leeds United in the final. In light of the Sunderland result, United manager Tommy Docherty repeatedly warned his team to "take nothing for granted". It seems they didn't hear him.
It wasn't the greatest match, with United not at their best despite a forward line of Steve Coppell, Sammy Mcllroy (who hit the bar with a header), Stuart Pearson, Lou Macari and Gordon Hill. On the day, Southampton's Peter Osgood and Mick Shannon looked the better players along with goalkeeper Ian Turner.
The game appeared to be drifting towards extra time, when in the 83rd minute former United player Jim McCalliog threaded a perfect pass through to winger Bobby Stokes who whipped the ball past Alex Stepney for a memorable upset victory.
When the final whistle blew, Saints fans gave their team and manager Lawrie McMenemy a thunderous ovation. For the manager it was a moment to savour and he commented, "It was not so long ago that the fans were throwing things at me."
Stokes actually won a car for his match-winning goal, but it was then discovered he couldn't drive and he continued to go to training by bus.
Like any good supporters, the Southampton fans came up with a song to mark the occasion. It uses the tune of The Wild Rover:
'Twas back in 1976, upon the first of May
We all went up to Wembley, to see Southampton play,
We showed 'em how to drink the beer,
We showed 'em how to sup,
We even showed United how to win the Cup
The League Cup has gone under many guises and this year it is simply called the EFL Cup. But next year will be very different with Thailand once again making its mark on English football. For the next three seasons the League Cup will be known as the Carabao Cup, named after the Thai energy drink company founded by local rock star Aed Carabao. They will be following in the footsteps of a host of sponsors, with the League Cup being variously called Milk, Littlewoods, Rumbelows, Coca-Cola, Worthington, Carling and Capital One. But most fans still call it simply, the League Cup
Many neutrals, with the exception of Portsmouth fans, would probably like to see the Saints repeat their efforts of 1976, but it is a stiff task. In recent weeks Mourinho seems to be getting the best out of his squad, especially Zlatan Ibrahimovic who is turning out to be a very astute investment.
Southampton have been a bit disappointing this year with erratic performances that have left them in 11th place in the league.
Founded by St Mary's Church in 1885, the club adopted the name Southampton St Mary's and the Saints nickname, when they joined the Southern League in 1895.
It wasn't until 1966 they finally reached the top flight of English football, then Division One, helped by such players as Terry Paine, Martin Chivers and the aforementioned Shannon.
Although they were relegated after eight years, they quickly bounced back and in 1984 finished runners-up to Liverpool in the title race, thanks to such fine players as Kevin Keegan, Alan Ball and Peter Shilton.
Two years later, Matthew Le Tissier joined the club. A wonderfully creative midfielder, in the next 16 years he was to score 161 goals for the Saints, many of them quite spectacular, in 443 matches. Surprisingly, Le Tissier only had eight appearances for England and he was controversially overlooked for the 1998 World Cup by manager Glenn Hoddle.
Le Tissier was frank about his relationship with Hoddle who also went on to be manager at Southampton. "We didn't get on," he said. "I couldn't warm to the man. He was very egotistical and incredibly arrogant."
In 1988 Alan Shearer made an immediate impact for the Saints, scoring a hat-trick in his first full debut. During the 1991-92 season Shearer received his England call-up and it was only a matter of time before the Saints sold him to Blackburn Rovers.
When Southampton were relegated in 2005, it ended a 27-year spell in the top flight, a fine record for a relatively small club.
They were then to suffer a spell of considerable financial instability and even spent two seasons in the third tier League Two.
However, the Saints climbed back and in 2012 returned to the Premier League where they have been quite successful despite a high turnover of managers and players. In recent years Southampton have been unable to keep their stars, selling the likes of Adam Lalana, Matthew Clyne , Morgan Schneiderlin and many more. The fans rightly feel that had they kept those players their fortunes would have been even better.
Saints fans feel their team are capable of upsetting United tomorrow. Of course it always helps if you have God on your side.