Mentioning 1976 to Sotonians is likely to conjure up one image: of skipper Peter Rodrigues triumphantly lifting the FA Cup. Bobby Stokes’s late winner for Saints against Manchester United had shocked the world. An unfancied second-division side had defied the odds and put its city firmly on the football map. During that season, the Saints were kitted out in double-thick stripes courtesy of Admiral. It remains a fan favourite to this day.
Mention 1976 to other Britons alive at the time, and very different memories are likely to be more prominent. For many, it was something of an annus horribilis. My Scouse and East Anglian grandparents recalled the Troubles raging in Ulster, the “Great Drought,” which frustrated their gardening efforts, and, worst of all, a severe economic crisis that forced the Labour Government to go cap in hand to the IMF. Abba bossed the charts. “Mamma Mia” indeed.
Half a century on, Ed Sheeran dominates our contemporary equivalent of the charts. Whether that has lifted the national mood any more than Abba did is up for debate. Hosepipe bans are back in vogue. Many citizens, weary of sustained assaults on their culture, have turned to a new non-violent show of defiance. Reminiscent of Northern Ireland, curb stones are being painted red, white and blue. Flags are being hoisted on lamp posts.
Perhaps more evocative of 1976 is the spectre of impending economic disaster. Several broadsheets cited a warning from Professor Jagjit Chadha, formerly of the National Institute of Economic and Social Research, that Britain’s financial predicament is “as perilous as the period leading up to the IMF loan of 1976.” With Chancellor Reeves poised to reach for the taxation button again in her upcoming Autumn Statement, she seems determined to make the Labour Government as unpopular as it was in the late 70s, albeit in record time.
Returning to Sotonia. Back in the second division, Saints have again embraced the double-thick stripes. We can but dream. Yet, if this Government can’t steady the ship, the echoes of ’76 may be the queues outside the Treasury, not the cheers at Wembley.
Dr Alexander Culley
Secretary, Reform UK Southampton
The U.K. is hurtling towards economic disaster: record debt, hidden liabilities, 45% state-run economy, record taxes, low growth, rising unemployment, spiralling benefits, inflation and unrest. This isn’t mismanagement — it’s sabotage and incompetence.