Saints under-18s bid to reach the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup tonight. The club have never reached the prestige final in almost 50 years of trying. And they have never impressed more than they did in 1956 when they shocked the legendary Busby Babes at Old Trafford. Bob Brunskell takes a trip down memory lane with Dell great John Sydenham...

JOHN SYDENHAM went on to become one of Saints' all-time great wingers after helping propel the youth side into the semi-finals of the FA Youth Cup in 1956.

Saints lost out 7-5 to Manchester United on aggregate but Sydenham's lasting memory of the cup adventure was of the late, great Manchester United manager Matt Busby going into the Old Trafford dressing room and congratulating them on their performance.

The young Saints side had just won 3-2, becoming the first side to beat United in the Youth Cup, but the damage had already been done in front of a 20,00 crowd at The Dell where the Busby Babes had won the first leg 5-2.

"They took us by storm at The Dell, where we were all a bit overwhelmed by playing in front of such a big crowd for the for the first time.

"We didn't even have a proper youth side in those days - just a nursery side run by CPC Engineering that played in the local league.

"We'd had a great run through to the last four, beating the likes of Bristol City and Spurs at The Dell where I actually scored.

"But United were another matter. They had Alex Dawson, Mark Pearson and Nobby Lawton, who went on to play for the first team in 1958 after the Munich air crash."

Sydenham had a golden career, making more than 400 first-team appearances and helping Saints take the giant leap from third to first division football.

"Those early days were exciting," recalls Sydenham, a Southampton boy who went to St Mary's College and helped the city boys' team reach the final of the English Schools Trophy in 1954 only to lose out to Liverpool.

Sydenham played with future first teamers like Terry Paine, Terry Simpson, Tony Godfrey and Wesley Maughan in the youth side, earned an England youth cap and he ended the season making his league debut at The Dell.

Later on, he played for the England under-23 side but Army service put his career on hold. "I was one of the last to be called up for National Service before it was scrapped," he recalls with a wry smile.

"What made matters worse was that Terry Paine failed his medical at just about the same time. Once in the Army I played a few games for Saints, but for two years my appearances were limited.

"I played alongside great players like Alec Young, Jim Baxter and Ron Yeates in the Army, but it disrupted my career."

Sydeham still succeeded in becoming a great favourite with the fans, with his surging runs up the left wing. They used to joke that if there had been an open gate at the Milton Road End, he would have ended up in Milton Road itself.

"I was no great athlete at school," he says. "I only ran fast when I had a football at my feet!"

He rates his best Saints performance laying on all four goals for Ron Davies in a 4-1 win at Old Trafford.

"The biggest thrill was helping Saints win the third division in 1960 then the realisation, halfway through the last game at Manchester City, that we'd finally clinched promotion to the first division for the first time in 1966."

When he left Saints, Sydenham played for Aldershot (under old teammate Jimmy Melia) then at Bath City, managed by another ex-Saint David Burnside.

He began a love affair with Australia when he went there to wind down his career. Then after returning home for five years - he worked for Anglesea Motors in Shirley - returned Down Under as player-coach of the Greek-backed club Athena, where both Alan Ball and Ted MacDougall played for him.

Today, with his wife Jean, he lives in Perth where he runs an insurance company he formed 20 years ago.

Since the demise of their academy in Australia, Sydenham is Saints' representative there, keeping a close eye on any talent coming through.