Southampton: Amazing stat shows just how vital former Saints striker was

When it comes to talismanic goalscorers, Southampton fans have been pretty lucky.

They have been able to see Matt Le Tissier, Rickie Lambert and now Danny Ings in red and white stripes since the beginning of the Premier League era in 1992.

That list is, of course, leaving out another notable name who became a hero on the South Coast thanks to his ability to find the back of the net.

James Beattie honed his skills on the South Coast after joining from Blackburn Rovers, and his best season for Saints saw him net 23 top-flight goals back in 2002/03.

Not only is that a superb figure for any striker but fantastic whilst playing in the Saints team 17 years ago, and the stat below shows just that.

As seen by this tweet from OptaJoe, Beattie’s haul was the highest proportion of a teams goals scored by one player in any Premier League season to date.

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The England international’s teammates managed just 20 between them during that campaign and raises the point about where Saints would be without someone like Beattie.

The 2002/03 season was a great one for Saints and was clearly helped hugely by their leading striker.

An eighth-placed league finish was followed up with an appearance in the FA Cup final, which was narrowly lost to an excellent Arsenal team.

In all, Beattie scored 71 goals in 215 games for Saints across seven years and became quite a bargain when we look back on the price that was paid for him.

He was valued at around £1.26m and moved to the South Coast from Blackburn Rovers as part of the deal that took Kevin Davies the other way.

This actually means that he didn’t cost Saints anything overall, but if we were looking at a £1.26m transfer on its own, he would have cost £17,746 per goal.

Having a striker that can find the net in lots of different ways like Beattie did is vital for any team, but they come around rarely sometimes and must be enjoyed whilst they are playing.

Danny Ings is another of these players and he remains equally vital to the short and longer term future at St Mary’s.