Unlike most Scottish children born in the sixties, my interest in football never extended to supporting a team south of Hadrian's Wall. It was enough to have a fierce emotional investment in the local club Aberdeen, a strong attachment that will never be severed.
I will admit though that back in the heady days of king collars and kipper ties (the seventies for those of you too young to remember), Southampton made you sit up and take notice.
Maybe it was those menacing red and white shirts or perhaps it had more to do with manager Lawrie McMenemy's omnipresence on television panels. Or was it star striker Mick Channon's uncompromising West Country accent?
It might equally have been their unlikely triumph in the 1976 FA Cup Final against Manchester United, one of the first
Wembley showpiece events I can recall watching on the small screen.
Liverpool certainly played the sexy football back in those days but for non-glory hunters, the Saints held intrinsic appeal. Their teams of the seventies, ably managed by the indefatigable Geordie had no right to rank amongst the big boys.
Yet they seemed to thrive on being regarded as merely a provincial club and their stirring performances conveyed a dogged determination to disregard the accepted footballing hierarchy of the day.
Some might say little has changed on England's south coast. Southampton are still in the business of defying odds and in new boss Paul Sturrock, they've found a manager clearly in keeping with the club's personality.
'Luggy' Sturrock's entire playing career was spent with unfashionable Dundee United under the aegis of Jim McLean, a man who history will surely record as one of Scotland's great club managers. The famously taciturn McLean took great pride in describing United as the little corner shop going up against the big Scottish supermarkets.
As Dundee United together with their 'New Firm' rivals Aberdeen, successfully upset the balance of power in the Scottish game in the eighties, Sturrock became arguably McLean's most valuable chess piece. An honest, old-fashioned inside forward with bags of skill, he was a player opposing fans feared but nevertheless respected.
Sturrock would certainly have added to his haul of twenty Scottish caps had it not been for strong striking competition from Kenny Dalglish, not to mention Charlie Nicholas, Maurice Johnston and Frank McAvennie.
In 1986, my first year as a football commentator with BBC Scotland, the editor asked me to follow the fortunes of Dundee United in the UEFA Cup from start to finish. Not in our wildest dreams did we expect European involvement past Christmas.
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This is a manager with the innate ability to cajole and inspire. Amiable yet demanding, humourous while constantly searching for innovation, Sturrock's thirst for knowledge will serve him well at St. Mary's.
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Remarkably though, United kept upsetting the apple cart and my travels with them took me to Split, Barcelona, Moenchengladbach and ultimately Gothenburg for the first leg of the 1987 UEFA Cup Final. The fact that United lost 2-1 on aggregate was no disgrace; indeed their magnanimous fans were singled out by European football's governing body for their sporting behaviour after the return leg at Tannadice.
Throughout these Euro adventures, Sturrock was a compelling and intelligent figure on and off the park. A deep thinker about the nuances of football, this was clearly a man destined to contribute to the game long after his playing days were over.
In 1989, he began coaching at Tannadice, before motoring twenty minutes down the A90 to take charge of St. Johnstone four years later. Not until 1998 did he get the chance to manage his beloved United but the chemistry had changed and two games into the 2000-2001 season, Sturrock resigned, citing the need for a sabbatical from football.
In reality, a change of scenery was what the doctor ordered. Saying goodbye to the SPL, Sturrock tried his luck in England's lower echelons with Plymouth Argyle. It was a match made in heaven.
Thriving on a new way of life and climate in his adopted city, Sturrock quickly won over the Home Park punters and even turned his hand to working as a restaurant critic for a local newspaper. In three-and-a-half years with limited funds, Sturrock had taken Argyle from the depths of the Third Division to the upper reaches of the Second.
Bigger clubs than Plymouth of course pay heed to such managerial achievements in the lower divisions and it should have been no surprise when Southampton chairman Rupert Lowe came calling last week.
Mind you, having toiled for so many years in less than glamourous football surroundings, is Paul Sturrock ready for the rarified air of the Premiership? Only time will provide the answer but there's considerable evidence to suggest that this opportunity has come in the prime of his career.
This is a manager with the innate ability to cajole and inspire. Amiable yet demanding, humourous while constantly searching for innovation, Sturrock's thirst for knowledge will serve him well at St. Mary's.
At a time when Southampton fans have been bemoaning Gordon Strachan's departure, the Saints might just have stumbled on the next best thing.
