Oscar Gobern was born and raised in Birmingham, his father a Jamaican-born chef and his mother a teacher. Released by Aston Villa, Oscar soon had Wolves, Coventry and Southampton on his trail. He chose the Saints, based on who treated him the best when on trial.

A back problem kept him out for most of his first season, but

his debut was a memorable one, in that he came on at half-time at Preston and helped turn a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 victory.  

A tall midfielder, Oscar was at home whether playing centrally or wide. Not impressed by him in either position, Alan Pardew loaned him to MK Dons, where he briefly played alongside his older brother, Lewis. In the promotion season of 2010-11, Nigel Adkins frequently utilised him from the bench to good effect, especially in the run-in, but his contract was up in the summer and the renewal terms Saints offered did not meet his expectations.

He opted to stay in Division One by joining Huddersfield on a two-year contract, with a tribunal fixing his fee at £275,000, plus potential increments: £30,000 after 15, 30, 45 and 60 appearances; and a further £50,000 if the Terriers were promoted, either in 2012 or 2013. During 2011-12, Oscar played 21 times and, with promotion duly gained, Southampton recouped another £80,000. But he would hardly feature, in the Championship, in 2012-13. Saints fans, partial to a visit to Eastleigh’s Silverlake stadium had another chance to catch Gobern in action but he was only there a season before moving sideways to another club in the National League.