New boy David McGoldrick has recalled one of the biggest disappointments of his career — when he was in the Southampton team beaten by Ipswich in the 2005 FA Youth Cup final.
The teams drew 2-2 on the south coast, with McGoldrick on target from the penalty spot for the young Saints, but Ed Upson’s extra-time goal in the return leg was enough to bring the trophy to Portman Road for the third time in the club’s history.
McGoldrick, 25, said: "In the second leg we didn’t really turn up. There was a great atmosphere, to be fair, but we were poor on the night and Ipswich deserved to win.
"There are a lot of the players from that Southampton team now playing first team football in the Premiership, Championship and elsewhere.
"Theo Walcott was in the team and Gareth Bale was on the bench. Adam Lallana, who is now the Southampton captain, was also a substitute. Nathan Dyer is at Swansea, Martin Cranie at Barnsley and Lloyd James at Leyton Orient.
"Leon Best was also in the team. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was at the club — he trained with us but was a bit younger — and look at him now. It was a great experience.
"Southampton had a great academy and they still do when you see the players they are producing down there. Theo and Gareth were a bit special when you saw what they could do in training.
"They had tremendous athleticism, that was the big difference to everyone else, and they have gone on to achieve big things.”
McGoldrick has not given up hope of rubbing shoulders again with the likes of Walcott, Bale, Lallana and Dyer, all of whom are top-flight regulars these days. He said: "You never know what can happen in football. You even see players coming from non-league straight into the Premier League so you never know what the future holds. "I’m only 25 so I’ve certainly not given up hope of playing in the Premiership. It would be nice to play against them for Ipswich but at the moment I just want to help the club get up the table and away from the threat of relegation.”
McGoldrick celebrates netting from the spot in the FA Youth Cup final first leg at St Mary’sWhat to read next:
Blues forward Omari Hutchinson and his England U21s teammates face Spain in the European Championship quarter-finals in Slovakia (KO 8pm, Channel 4).
Napoli are reported to have offered former Blues loanee Jens Cajuste to Udinese as they look to sign Italian international striker Lorenzo Lucca in a cash-plus-player deal.
TWTD’s seventies-style supercomputer, the Osborne 1.0, has been fired up once again and the results of the TWTD Questionnaire 2024/25 are now available.
Ed Upson, the scorer of the goal which won Town the FA Youth Cup in 2005, has announced he is hanging up his boots, aged 35.
The TWTD Prediction League was as keenly contested as ever during 2024/25 but with BigAlsMate’s emerging as the winner by five points.
Omari Hutchinson says he and his England U21s teammates have to look to dominate Spain in Saturday’s European Championship quarter-final in Trnava, Slovakia.
Trabzonspor are concerned by Blues defender Axel Tuanzebe’s injury record, according to a Turkish report.
Former Town striker Liam Delap has been named in the PFA’s Young Player of the Year Top Six.
Blues forward Omari Hutchinson won his seventh cap as England’s U21s made it through to the knockout stages of the European Championship, despite being beaten 2-1 by Germany in their final group game in Slovakia.
Academy youngster Shakil Nicolaou has signed his first professional deal.