James Beattie celebrates his 37th birthday today.

The former Saints striker played 235 games for the club between 1998 and 2004, scoring 76 goals.

He joined from Blackburn Rovers for £1m as a replacement for Kevin Davies, who moved the opposite direction for £7.5m.

His tenacity quickly made him a fan favourite and won him two player-of-the-year awards, plus an England call-up in 2003, the first of five caps.

When Harry Redknapp arrived in December 2004, he preferred Peter Crouch as a starter, and sold Beattie to Everton for £6m to raise money for the transfer window.

Beattie top-scored for his new club, but soon found himself moving around several clubs, including Sheffield United, Stoke and Rangers.

He became player-coach of Accrington Stanley in 2012, and was manager a year later.

He left the post by mutual consent last September.

Ex-Saint Fred Kemp celebrates his 69th birthday today.

Born in Salerno, Italy, to an Italian mother and English father, he brought a touch of exotic Latin swagger to a football league filled with British players.

Starting out as a forward, the player plucked by Ted Bates from Wolves reserves scored on his Saints debut in 1965.

But he ended up in the reserves for a couple of seasons until a conversion to wing-half brought him back to the first team, where he was almost ever-present as Saints qualified for Europe.

But by 1970 the Saints had a settled midfield that didn’t include Kemp, and he left to join Blackpool.

After a spell in South Africa, he returned to play non-league football, then moved back to Wolverhampton, where he played in Wolves charity matches into his mid-forties.

He also developed a business, supplying furniture to offices and schools.