By the time Lloyd James – Bristol-born, but of Welsh stock – made the Saints’ first team, he had played in the Southampton side that reached the Youth Cup Final in 2005; had been capped by Wales at three levels up to U-21; and had been converted from a midfielder to a right-back. His debut season of 2008-09 marked the second coming of Rupert Lowe, with a clear signal that the cash-strapped club must rely on its youth, under Dutch management committed to that philosophy.

That meant, on the one hand, that Lloyd got to play in almost every game but, on the other, that he was in a struggling – and ultimately relegated – side. But, then, the person who took the stick for this was Lowe,

while the fans appeared to appreciate the efforts of youngsters trying as hard as Lloyd.

In the summer of 2009, however, Alan Pardew arrived and brought in Graeme Murty as the first-choice right-back, with Lloyd moving to midfield, where he’d always felt “most comfortable”. But when Murty was very soon injured and an attempted come-back failed, Lloyd had a good run at right-back – until Jon Otsemobor arrived in January and Lloyd’s season fizzled out. Speaking in 2019 he recalled what happened next “I was on holiday and he (Alan Pardew) phoned me and said the club were going a different way so they weren’t going to be offering me anything.

I was still quite young and to be honest, it was weird because at the time you think, ‘I’ve been at a big club, I should be able to find a club quite easily’. The days were going past in the summer and nothing was coming up and in the end I had to go on trial at Colchester and within about three or four days, they had offered me a contract and I ended up signing for them for two years.”.

After two seasons with them, he moved within that division to Orient. Things went well at first with the Os before a broken leg which kept him out for six months and the club sliding into financial difficulties meant his next move was west to Paul Tisdale’s Exeter and then, when he left, to Forest Green of League Two, becoming a vegan at the same time.

Lloyd James is the 1000th player to play competitive football for the Saints.