Bellis on facing his boyhood club

Taylor Harwood-Bellis is going places. But on Saturday afternoon, he might take time to consider just how far he has already travelled.

Southampton’s 23-year-old centre-back will run out for the south coast side against his former club and the team he has supported since he was a boy.

Harwood-Bellis names his favourite FA Cup moment – away from Saints’ incredible run in this year’s tournament – as one that will resonate with everyone in the light blue half of Wembley today.

“Yaya Toure – that goal against Manchester United (in 2011),” he says. “I was at the game that day and it was just incredible, an unbelievable moment.”

That goal helped to seal a Final against Stoke City and Manchester City’s first piece of silverware in 35 years.

Now he’ll be doing all he can to ensure that Southampton remain in the hunt for a first Emirates FA Cup Final triumph in half a century.

Harwood-Bellis has been a central figure for Southampton in every sense. His partnership alongside Jack Stephens has been instrumental in Southampton climbing the Championship table and also upsetting the odds in the FA Cup.

There’s certainly an air of confidence around this Southampton side, and that has spread from the players to a group of supporters who have been in dreamland almost constantly so far in 2026.

Southampton’s remarkable defeat of Arsenal in the last eight was the embodiment of that, with the St Mary’s Stadium rocking as the Championship side ran out 2-1 winners.

“That was right up there for me, just with the atmosphere the fans created and where Arsenal were at the time,” he says.

“Obviously going 1-0 up and playing the way we did was great but when they scored a lot of people would have expected Arsenal to push on and us to lose, by maybe two or three.

“It would’ve been so easy for our heads to drop but they didn’t. I think the last ten minutes really showed what we were about.

“I’ve said before, we’ve shown so many different characteristics to win games of football this season.

“I think we’re at a level where we have options to do that regardless of who we’re playing.”

You can watch Saturday's game on TNT Sports 1, HBO Max, BBC One and iPlayer in the UK, with kick-off time at 5.15pm BST.

Click here to read article