The final six months of St Mary's Stadium being built

The ground was first broken in June of 2000 and the £32 million project was set to be finished by July 2001.

The decision to leave the team’s historic Dell home after 102 years was an emotional one for the club and supporters alike, but it was seen as an essential step for the long-term future of the club.

It was hoped the move would give the club the ability to grow and compete on a more even footing with the premier league fat cats.

READ MORE:

• When the St Mary's Stadium site first opened to visitors
• 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

By the end of 2000 the club’s state-of-the-art 32,000-seat stadium was well underway, and the skyline in the St Mary’s area of Southampton was rapidly changing.

The building of the Saints dream was carried out by Barr Construction who was already responsible for 17 major stadiums in England and Scotland, including Celtic Park in Glasgow.

Naming of the stadium

Glenn Hoddle’s new contract announcement overshadowed a second and equally important boost to the club’s future.

Saints agreed on a major new sponsorship deal with backers Friends Provident.

The company were to have their name on the shirts for another three years and secured naming rights for the new ground for five years. 

It was announced on October 2, 2000, that the Stadium was to be called the Friends Provident Stadium.

Briand Wilkinson and John O'Sullivan with a sign displaying the new name.

The name was changed again within the next couple of days to Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium.

Plenty of school trips

The next generation of Saints fans were given a sneak preview of the club’s new stadium - and improve their schoolwork at the same time.

Up to 7,000 pupils in the city were given special tours of the £32m Friends Provident St Mary’s Stadium.

The visits were to help improve their maths and history.

St Mary's School children get a look at the Saints new Stadium as part of the education package launched by the club.

Invitations were sent to primary and secondary schools in Southampton, and the tours took place for the next eight months.

Youngsters were given fun and educational packs tailored to each of their age groups.

READ MORE:

• More behind-the-scenes pictures
• Saints 3-2 Arsenal – last competitive match at The Dell
• Pictures of the demolition of The Dell
• Pitch invasion at The Dell after last ever match

For history there was information on what was on the stadium site before, dating all the way back to Saxon times.

For maths, the packs looked at how much the club spent on the new stadium, how much they got from sponsorship, how far the players travel to away games and more.

The New Saints stadium taking shape with Civic Centre clock in the background, viewed from Peartree Avenue

It was a one-off opportunity for youngsters to see the progress of the new stadium and to experience history being made.

Fans became a part of the stadium

It wasn’t just the youngsters that got a taste of the action – fans were offered the chance to make their mark on their own piece of the club’s new stadium.

Supporters were offered the opportunity in November 2000 to buy bricks and paving slabs engraved with their own special messages, which would form part of a walkway and a wall at the new ground in Northam.

Personalised bricks

And young Saints fan Elizabeth Mills was thrilled to become the first person to have a paving slab engraved.

Saints chairman Rupert Lowe presented the 11-year-old, who was terminally ill with cancer, with her paving slab carrying the message “Elizabeth Mills, Saints’ No. 1 Supporter 2001”.

READ MORE:

• 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

The idea followed the trend started by Aston Villa, where people can pay to have inscribed bricks and paving slabs.

The paving stones

Saints fans could pay £50 to have one of 10,000 pavers engraved, or £30 for one of 10,000 bricks.

The walkway is just outside the main entrance to the stadium in the east stand and the bricks were slotted into the walls on each side of the stadium.