TO mark the 20th anniversary since the opening of St Mary's Stadium, we continue to look at the events surrounding the occasion.
By July 2000, the planning stages were over and work had begun on Saints' new home.
Visitors centre opened
Saints fans were able to see for themselves exactly how the club's new home would look when a new visitors centre opened on the site on July 21, 2000.
The Saints Visitors Centre at the stadium site
A virtual reality screen showed how the finished product would look and those wishing to reserve their place were able to check out the view on screen from any given seat.
They were also able to look out over the work from a special viewing platform and tours of the building site were arranged.
READ MORE:
- Beginning of construction of 'The New Dell'
- Looking back at Saints' best-laid plans for a new stadium
- Behind-the-scenes tour of The Dell
- More behind-the-scenes pictures
- Saints 3-2 Arsenal – last competitive match at The Dell
The visitors' centre was officially opened by then-club chairman Rupert Lowe and then-Southampton mayor Peter Wakeford.
Official opening of the Saints Visitors Centre by then-mayor Peter Haywood, Rupert Lowe, Mary and Ted Bates
The public got their big chance on July 22, with a free gala fun day. There was a host of special activities including a bouncy castle, soccer speed gun, a target wall and an inflatable goal.
Work had already begun at this point, with the steel girder structure of the east stand clearly recognisable and in place.
The new stadium fun day
The centre was a huge success
The new Dell's visitor centre did some brisk business as thousands of fans poured in through their gates to capture an insight into how they were about to start watching their heroes.
The centre celebrated a milestone in the exciting new development by welcoming the 10,000th visitor within six weeks.
READ MORE:
- Pictures of the demolition of The Dell
- Pitch invasion at The Dell after last ever match
- Photos from the last floodlit match at Saints' former ground
- The Dell – a brief history of the much-loved ground
- Saints 1-0 Brighton – last match played at The Dell
Saints fan Richard Green, 32, and his five-year-old daughter Lauren, had made a special outing to the St Mary's area to see how the new ground was taking shape, and found themselves in the spotlight.
10,000th visitor the new Dell Richard Green with his daughter Lauren
He was quick off the mark to pre-register for a season ticket for the dream stadium. He said at the time: "I am pleased we have got a new stadium - it is something we have needed.''
His prize for being the 10,000th visitor was a copy of the video The Comeback, which tells the story of how the Dell boys battled back from three goals down to draw with the mighty Liverpool on August 26, 2000.
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