Central defender, Aaron Martin, twice had an unsuccessful trial with Southampton at U-12 level, but two ex-Saints were keeping an eye on him. Mark Dennis monitored his progress with Southampton schoolboys and then Eastleigh manager, Ian Baird, brought him through his club’s youth system.

Bournemouth were interested enough to give 19 year-old Aaron a trial, while Reading and Yeovil were also known to be watching him. At which point, ex-Saint Baird suggested to Alan Pardew that he check out his own backyard (see scrapbook section).

Tall and composed, Aaron impressed, on trial, when the Reserves drew 1-1 at Plymouth, and he was signed on a two-year contract.

There was already a queue at centre-back where Radhi Jaidi was going through a few partners and then, come January, two new contenders – José Fonte and Dan Seaborne – arrived. So Aaron was loaned out to Salisbury – at one Conference-tier up from Eastleigh – before making a couple of League One appearances for the Saints in the climax to the 2009-10 season. Having then played in Pardew’s last hoorah at Bristol Rovers in August 2010, Aaron spent the season behind Seaborne, whenever a deputy centre-back was required.

Even so, when his contract expired in the summer of 2011, Aaron signed a new three-year deal. He was back in contention when Seaborne was injured in a night-club fracas and he had a short run of games midway through the 2011-12 season, as the Saints led the Championship. He marked it with his first goal for the club – a late winner in the FA Cup at Coventry – and, soon after that run ended, he came off the bench to score his first League goal in a 4-0 romp v Derby. As Adkins signed Maya Yoshida to challenge José Fonte and Jos Hooiveld for a centre-back role in the Premiership, Aaron was on loan at Championship Palace.

Hardly getting a look-in there, he was ever-present in the last 12 games of the 2012-13 season, on loan at League One Coventry. Back at St Mary’s, he faced a revised challenge. During the summer, Seaborne left, but Dejan Lovren arrived. Any hopes Aaron had of moving up from fifth-choice centre-back were put on hold when he incurred a ligament-injury in a pre-season friendly at, of all places, Eastleigh. That would be it as far as his career at St Mary’s went but he has since remained involved with League football and as he turned 30 he was turning out regularly for Exeter City.