Saints are in the League Cup final for the first time since 1979.

But how has life changed since the club played Nottingham Forest at Wembley 38 years ago next month?

Looking back through the Southern Daily Echo archives, you could buy a new four-bedroom house in Five Elms in Romsey for £31,500. New two and three bedroom houses at Ingleside in Netley started at just £15,950.

You could rent - rent, not buy - a 26 inch screen colour television from DER Rentals for just £8.10 a month. An advert in the Echo said 'these are not new but good-as-new sets, kept in top condition by us'. The televisions came with 'remote control sets' - an offer so good the company felt obliged to put an exclamation mark after.

You could buy a brand new dish washer for £229 and a brand new fridge freezer for £194.90, while you could also attend - at Southampton Guildhall no less - a 'Microwave Owen Demonstration Evening'. Tickets were free.

On BBC1 the day before the Wembley final, Saints fans could relax in front of their television - rented or otherwise - and watch a Tom & Jerry cartoon (7pm) followed by The Dawson Watch (with Les Dawson), The Other One (with Richard Briers), the News at 9pm followed by the 1979 World Figure Skating Championships (from Vienna).

If you didn't fancy that, on Southern (ITV) you could watch The Jim Davidson Show at 7pm followed by Winner Takes All with Jimmy Turbuck.

Heady telly days indeed!

Sports buffs were catered for over on BBC with Pot Black Snooker and International Pro-Celebrity Golf, featuring actor Peter Falk - best known for playing detective Columbo - partnering Seve Ballesteros against Lee Trevino and Lew Hoad (former tennis player).

If you fancied a night out at the flicks, the ABC cinema in Southampton were showing The Deer Hunter (starring Robert Di Nero) and National Lampoon's Animal House starring John Belushi.

The Gaumont Theatre in Southampton had an eclectic range of performers coming in the following few weeks.

They included Light Entertainment giants Little and Large, the Welsh National Orchestra, David Essex, Nana Mouskouri and Judas Priest.

Number one in the music charts was Gloria Gaynor's 'I Will Survive' followed by Elvis Costello's 'Oliver's Army' and 'Tragedy' by the Bee Gees. The Sex Pistols, Blondie, Abba, Thin Lizzy and Queen, Dire Straits, Buzzcocks, The Jam, Chic and Rod Stewart were also in the top 30.

Compare that to today's top 30 ...

Number one in the album charts on March 17 1979 was the Bee Gees' 'Spirits Having Flown', which had just knocked Blondie's 'Parallel Lines' off top spot. It would be replaced at number one by Barbra Streisand's 'Greatest Hits' and The Very Best of Leo Sayer.

Art Gurfunkel's 'Bright Eyes' would go on to become the biggest selling UK single of 1979, followed by 'Heart of Glass' by Blondie.

Saints took on Forest at Wembley with the political situation in Great Britain highly volatile after the Winter of Discontent featuring a huge number of workers striking. They included grave diggers and rail workers (not much different to this year for Southern Rail customers!) and lorry drivers.

A few days after the League Cup final, Prime Minister James Callaghan lost a motion of 'No Confidence' in his Labour government and had no option but to call a General Election. Margaret Thatcher subsequently became the first female PM in history.