SAINTS hero Marian Pahars made a long-awaited return to St Mary’s, visiting for the first time since his 2006 exit this week.
The former Latvian international was the star of a guest panel of 1999 teammates in The Halo, celebrating the side’s ‘great escape’.
Alongside Pahars were Matt Le Tissier, James Beattie, Franny Benali, Paul Jones, Jason Dodd and Jo Tessem, reliving their experiences in front of a sold-out lounge.
Pahars, who scored 45 goals in 155 appearances for Saints, was joined back in Southampton for the first time by his family.
Pahars was set to meet club chiefs including CEO Phil Parsons at Staplewood Campus on Friday, before greeting supporters at half-time of Saturday’s home fixture.
Awarded a commemorative medal by the club for scoring the first goal at St Mary’s in 2001, in a 3-1 defeat to Aston Villa, Pahars has decided to donate it back.
Brought with him this weekend from home, Pahars will present the memorabilia to Parsons at St Mary’s for the club to display.
For the nearly 200 supporters present at Thursday evening’s event, it was a unique chance to meet Pahars and his former teammates before and after the talk.
All players were accessible to share memories and take photographs, while the likes of Benali – the roommate of Pahars at Saints – pulled back the curtain.
Saints revealed ambitions to host more ‘class of’ evenings with a curated panel of former players throughout the season and beyond. More information to come here.
CEO Parsons recently told the Daily Echo, in an exclusive interview, of his ambition to use hospitality at St Mary's as one method to boost revenue.
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