the cup when Gordon Smith hit a shot directly at United keeper Gary Bailey, who pulled off a spectacular save. Brighton's chance of glory had gone, and they were crushed 4–0 in the replay. They had already been relegated from the First Division in bottom place. In spite of this setback, Case remained at the Goldstone Ground for nearly two years after the Seagulls were relegated, including a further FA Cup victory over Liverpool in January 1984. Southampton In March 1985, Case moved to Southampton for a nominal fee of £30,000 as Lawrie McMenemy's last signing for The Saints, to replace Steve Williams, who had been transferred to Arsenal in December 1984. He soon won over any doubters amongst The Dell fans with some robust tackling. In his first few weeks at the club, they finished fifth in the league, but were then denied UEFA Cup qualification due to the subsequent ban on English clubs in European competitions, which followed the Heysel Disaster that year. When McMenemy quit after the end of the season, Case was appointed club captain by new manager Chris Nicholl. In his first full season, Saints reached the semi-final of the FA Cup (after beating Case's former club Brighton 2–0 in the quarter-final) losing to Liverpool in an epic game at White Hart Lane on 5 April 1986, which Liverpool won 2–0 after extra time with both goals coming from Ian Rush. Victory would have made Case the first player to appear in three FA Cup finals with different clubs. Over his six years at The Dell, Case lost none of his bite in the tackle and he made up for any loss of pace by a broadening vision and excellent passing skills. Even in his mid thirties, he was still among the most highly regarded midfielders in the First Division. He was Saints player of the year for 1989–90 and in December 1990 was selected to represent the Football League against the Irish League. In this season Saints finished seventh in the First Division and Saints were playing at close to their best. One particularly memorable match was on 21 October 1989, when Saints defeated Liverpool 4–1, with goals from Paul Rideout, Rod Wallace (2) and Matthew Le Tissier in which Case controlled the midfield as The Saints humiliated Case's former club. During his time at The Dell, however, he did not add any major