Southampton vs Sheffield Wednesday

26 / saints
ONCE
KNOWN
AT THIS
ADDRESS
Southampton . Southampton .
BY Barry Webb
For this Carabao
League Cup tie I am
pleased to be able to
have the opportunity to
feature a fine player who
appeared for both clubs: he is
striker DAVID HIRST...
David Hirst arrived at
Southampton from Sheffield
Wednesday on 17th October
1997 after spending 11 seasons
playing for the Owls, prior to
which he played for Barnsley.
In his time at Sheffield
Wednesday he notched up
nearly 300 appearances
and scored 106 goals.
Known as a strong and pacey
striker, he was top scorer
for the Owls in 1991 when
they were promoted back to
the old First Division. That
season they also won the
Rumbelows League Cup when
they defeated Manchester
United 1-0 in the final,
the goal scored by future
Southampton manager Nigel
Pearson. David was voted
into the PFA’s divisional Team
of the Year for 1990/91.
He played three times for
England, the first two caps
coming on the summer tour of
Australasia, vs Australia and
then New Zealand, scoring
David Hirst: the determined expression of a
hard worker.
his sole international goal
against the latter. His third
cap followed in February
1992 against France at
Wembley when he replaced
the injured Gary Lineker.
David’s career was plagued
by injuries, including a broken
ankle, but he fought his way
back into the Wednesday side
until it was reported – early
in the 1997/98 season – that
he was not getting on well
with his manager David Pleat,
and he made the move to
the south coast. He has said
that manager Dave Jones
was the reason he came to
Southampton. He soon took
over from striker Mickey Evans
who, a few weeks later, moved
to West Bromwich Albion.
David would go on to have
successful partnerships up
front with Kevin Davies and
later with Egil Østenstad.
In 1997/98 David made 28
league appearances and scored
nine times, helping the Saints
to an 11th place finish in the
Premier League. After being
on the losing side on his debut
against Blackburn Rovers, a
number of happier highlights
would follow and make him a
hit with Saints fans. A week
after his first start, on 25th
October, he delighted us
all by scoring twice in a 3-2
home win against Tottenham
Hotspur; his second was a
thunderous shot from 12 yards.
A further week later he was
again on the winning side in
a 2-0 victory at Everton.
Then, on 8th November, he was
far from restrained when he
scored the fourth goal, having
been set up by Matt Le Tissier,
in a 4-1 win against his first
club Barnsley. (That’s right: for
younger readers Barnsley were
actually in the Premier League.)
At Anfield on 7th February
1998 the Saints beat Liverpool