Nigel Adkins had questioned whether Albion could keep up.

The Southampton manager was just doing his job, testing the mentality of his rivals as Saints and Seagulls battled at the top of League One in 2010-11.

Ten years ago today, Gus Poyet’s squad provided the definitive answer, thanks to a title-clinching win at Walsall and then a cheeky phone call to the Southampton boss from the team coach as they headed home.

It was the final word, at least for Albion, in a high quality season, although Adkins and his men later went on to take the second promotion spot.

Inigo Calderon, who had thought about joining Southampton the previous summer, remembers it well.

Try driving up the M6 out of Birmingham without taking a glance to your right.

Any football fan will surely take a quick look towards the Banks’ Stadium and that big red stand behind the far goal as they speed past.

But not many will have as much good reason to do so as Seagulls supporters who were there on that great day.

For Calderon, Walsall’s home is particularly special.

He also made his debut in English football there, in a 2-1 win on a snow-lined pitch in January, 2010.

Ten years ago today, Poyet’s already-promoted Albion won 3-1 to win the League One title with four games to go.

Calderon, now back in the Basque country as coach of the under-18s at Alaves, said: “Walsall is a special place for me. I remember the goals. Mine was from a corner.

“I remember everyone running to the fans at the end.

“To share this emotion with them was really good.

“I think winning the title was a matter of being fair with us for the stuff we played that season.

“When they got promoted to the Premier League in 2017 they couldn’t win the league and that was not fair.

“The main thing was to get promoted but, when you have played that well, you want everything.”

With their split centre-backs, attacking full-backs and tactical flexibility, Albion played a brand of football rarely, if ever, previously seen in League One.

Calderon said: “I think a lot of players played at the best level.

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“I remember playing games at home and players on the other teams just looking to their coaches on the bench and asking for any advice.

“We were playing so well and they didn’t know what to do.

“The atmosphere was great. We just wanted to play games.

“I played about 50 games but no one felt tired.”

Calderon struck up a partnership with centre-back Gordon Greer, who had signed from Swindon as captain in the summer.

Greer was asked to pull wide and allow Calderon scope to attack.

It was a daring tactic which led to some interesting exchanges on the pitch.

Calderon said: “I liked to go forward, that was my style and he was not used to that.

“He was always shouting to me, ‘Wait, stay here with me’.

“That was quite funny because Gordon on the pitch was not a happy man.

“Well now it’s funny but, at the time, it was a bit too aggressive for me!

“But now I can just laugh.

“Even the season before, when we escaped relegation, we were playing really well and playing that way.

“We had Marcos Painter on the left.

“Gordon was the new one and he had to accept it and, in the end, I think he enjoyed it a lot.

“His best attribute was playing with the ball and that’s why he was so many years with Brighton, because the style suited him.

“I got on well with Gordon but on the pitch everything changed. You had to do everything good or you would have some problems with him.

“For me that was good. I had to raise my level or he would be shouting at me. That’s the kind of leader you need.

“Afterwards, you are good friends. I still have good relations with a lot of them - with Gary (Dicker), Ashley (Barnes), Elliott Bennett.”

The measure of Albion’s quality is they headed home so far ahead of a Saints team including Adam Lallana, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Rickie Lambert, Morgan Schneiderlin, Dean Hammond and Jose Fonte.

Saints closed the gap to just three points over the last few games as Albion took their foot off the pedal.

 

 

Calderon said: “I remember the rivalry with them.

“Nigel Adkins had said something in the press during the season, like we were lucky to be up there.

“I remember one of the lads calling him when we were coming back from Walsall to say something about it. It was quite fun.

“We were on the bus home and we stopped at a petrol station to get some food and drink because we had won the title.

“I remember the parade on the seafront and it was nice and sunny and then we went to the Amex so everything was perfect, like in a movie.”

Calderon still keeps in occasional touch with Poyet.

One or two text messages a year, no more than that.

He recalled: “Gus kept it quite simple in terms of tactics. We understood him.

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“You could see the great ambition he had. He wanted to win everything, even in a training session. That stays with you.

“I understood the way they wanted to play.

“I was important in those terms because there were not that many Spanish players at the time, like there were later.

“The style was one I had always played and I could get the message on to the pitch with the rest of the team mates.”