Southampton Football Club is an English association football club based in Southampton, Hampshire. Founded in 1885 as St Mary's YMA, they became a professional club in 1891 and co-founded the Southern Football League in 1894. [1] Southampton won the Southern League Premier Division championship six times between 1896 and 1904, [2] and were later elected to the Football League Third Division in 1920. [3] The Saints finished as runners-up in their first Football League season, [4] and the following year received promotion to the Second Division as Third Division South champions. [5] The club first entered the First Division in 1966, [6] and currently play in its modern-day counterpart, the Premier League. [7] Southampton won the FA Cup in 1976, reached the final of the League Cup in 1979 and 2017, and won the League Trophy in 2010. [7]
Since the club's formation, a total of 220 players have made 100 or more appearances for Southampton. Winger Terry Paine holds the record for the highest number of appearances for the Saints, having played 816 times for the club between 1957 and 1974, [8] while ten other players have made more than 400 appearances for Southampton. The club's top goalscorer is Mick Channon, who scored 228 goals in all competitions in two spells with the club, between 1966 and 1977, and from 1979 to 1982. [9] Matt Le Tissier is the only player to have won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award three times, while six other players (Peter Shilton, Tim Flowers, James Beattie, Rickie Lambert, José Fonte and James Ward-Prowse) have received the accolade twice. [10] Le Tissier is also the only player besides Channon to have scored over 200 goals for Southampton.
Pre-1960s | 1960s– | ||
---|---|---|---|
GK | Goalkeeper | ||
FB | Full back | DF | Defender |
HB | Half back | MF | Midfielder |
FW | Forward |
Player | Nationality | Pos | Club career | Starts | Subs | Total | Goals |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Appearances | |||||||
Jack Farrell | England | FW | 1895–1898 1899–1900 | 116 | — | 116 | 57 |
Watty Keay | Scotland | FW | 1895–1900 | 113 | — | 113 | 34 |
Samuel Meston | Scotland | HB | 1895–1906 | 413 | — | 413 | 27 |
Joe Turner | Scotland | FW | 1895–1898 1901–1904 | 200 | — | 200 | 86 |
George Clawley | England | GK | 1896–1898 1903–1907 | 267 | — | 267 | 0 |
Harry Haynes | England | FB | 1896–1900 | 110 | — | 110 | 6 |
Jimmy Yates | England | FW | 1897–1898 1898–1901 1904–1905 | 106 | — | 106 | 29 |
Arthur Chadwick | England | HB | 1897–1901 | 141 | — | 141 | 10 |
Jack Robinson | England | GK | 1898–1903 | 201 | — | 201 | 10 |
Harry Wood | England | FW | 1898–1905 | 271 | — | 271 | 84 |
Archie Turner | England | FW | 1899–1902 1904–1905 | 133 | — | 133 | 43 |
Bert Lee | England | HB | 1900–1906 1911–1915 | 369 | — | 369 | 18 |
George Molyneux | England | FB | 1900–1905 | 229 | — | 229 | 0 |
Fred Harrison | England | FW | 1901–1908 | 249 | — | 249 | 156 |
Tommy Bowman | Scotland | HB | 1901–1904 | 148 | — | 148 | 7 |
John Fraser | Scotland | FW | 1902–1905 | 112 | — | 112 | 33 |
George Hedley | England | FW | 1903–1906 | 113 | — | 113 | 54 |
Fred Mouncher | England | FW | 1903–1907 | 162 | — | 162 | 23 |
Tom Burrows | England | GK | 1904–1911 | 111 | — | 111 | 0 |
Harry Brown | England | FW | 1905–1906 1910–1913 | 100 | — | 100 | 43 |
Frank Jefferis | England | FW | 1905–1911 | 226 | — | 226 | 61 |
Horace Glover | England | FB | 1906–1911 | 209 | — | 209 | 7 |
John Robertson | Scotland | HB | 1906–1912 | 194 | — | 194 | 2 |
Jack Eastham | England | FB | 1906–1912 | 208 | — | 208 | 4 |
Joe Blake | England | FW | 1906–1920 | 183 | — | 183 | 14 |
John Bainbridge | England | FW | 1907–1910 | 113 | — | 113 | 26 |
John Johnston | Scotland | HB | 1907–1911 | 139 | — | 139 | 1 |
Herbert Lock | England | GK | 1907–1909 1922–1923 | 101 | — | 101 | 0 |
Bert Trueman | England | HB | 1908–1911 | 106 | — | 106 | 5 |
Percy Prince | England | FW | 1908–1914 1919 | 103 | — | 103 | 29 |
Alec Campbell | England | HB | 1908–1909 1913–1914 1915–1926 | 208 | — | 208 | 15 |
Sid Kimpton | England | FW | 1910–1920 | 176 | — | 176 | 36 |
James Denby | England | HB | 1911–1915 | 162 | — | 162 | 12 |
Jim McAlpine | Scotland | HB | 1911–1915 | 172 | — | 172 | 3 |
Sid Ireland | England | HB | 1911–1915 | 156 | — | 156 | 2 |
Len Andrews | England | FW | 1912–1919 | 215 | — | 215 | 53 |
Arthur Dominy | England | FW | 1913–1926 | 392 | — | 392 | 155 |
Joe Barratt | England | FW | 1919–1922 | 102 | — | 102 | 8 |
Fred Foxall | England | FW | 1919–1922 | 115 | — | 115 | 13 |
Tom Parker | England | FB | 1919–1926 | 280 | — | 280 | 13 |
Fred Titmuss | England | FB | 1919–1926 | 246 | — | 246 | 0 |
Bill Rawlings | England | FW | 1919–1931 | 377 | — | 377 | 198 |
Bill Turner | England | HB | 1919–1924 | 200 | — | 200 | 1 |
Bert Shelley | England | HB | 1920–1932 | 465 | — | 465 | 9 |
Tommy Allen | England | GK | 1920–1928 | 327 | — | 327 | 0 |
Ted Hough | England | FB | 1922–1930 | 195 | — | 195 | 0 |
Bill Henderson | England | FW | 1923–1928 | 177 | — | 177 | 10 |
George Harkus | England | HB | 1924–1936 | 334 | — | 334 | 8 |
Arthur Bradford | England | HB | 1924–1930 1931–1932 | 248 | — | 248 | 5 |
Stan Woodhouse | England | HB | 1924–1936 | 383 | — | 383 | 5 |
Michael Keeping | England | HB | 1924–1933 | 286 | — | 286 | 13 |
Dick Rowley | Ireland | FW | 1926–1930 | 117 | — | 117 | 62 |
Bill Adams | England | FB | 1927–1936 | 219 | — | 219 | 3 |
Bill Luckett | England | HB | 1928–1936 | 229 | — | 229 | 10 |
Willie White | Scotland | GK | 1928–1932 | 107 | — | 107 | 0 |
Herbert Coates | England | FW | 1928–1934 | 111 | — | 111 | 27 |
Johnny Arnold | England | FW | 1929–1933 | 110 | — | 110 | 46 |
Johnny McIlwaine | Scotland | HB | 1930–1932 1933–1936 | 123 | — | 123 | 20 |
Bert Scriven | England | GK | 1930–1937 | 241 | — | 241 | 0 |
Arthur Roberts | England | FB | 1931–1938 | 167 | — | 167 | 0 |
Charlie Sillett | England | FB | 1932–1938 | 191 | — | 191 | 10 |
Dick Neal | England | FW | 1932–1937 | 186 | — | 186 | 19 |
Tom Brewis | England | FW | 1932–1937 | 123 | — | 123 | 18 |
Arthur Holt | England | FW | 1933–1939 | 222 | — | 222 | 50 |
Fred Tully | England | FW | 1933–1937 | 107 | — | 107 | 10 |
Ted Bates | England | FW | 1937–1953 | 217 | — | 217 | 64 |
George Smith | England | FB | 1939–1948 | 102 | — | 102 | 1 |
Eric Webber | England | HB | 1939–1951 | 192 | — | 192 | 0 |
Don Roper | England | FW | 1946–1947 1956–1959 | 133 | — | 133 | 42 |
Bill Ellerington | England | FB | 1946–1956 | 237 | — | 237 | 11 |
Bill Rochford | England | DF | 1946–1950 | 134 | — | 134 | 0 |
Eric Day | England | FW | 1946–1957 | 422 | — | 422 | 158 |
Joe Mallett | England | HB | 1947–1953 | 223 | — | 223 | 3 |
Stan Clements | England | HB | 1947–1954 | 120 | — | 120 | 1 |
George Curtis | England | FW | 1947–1951 | 183 | — | 183 | 12 |
Charlie Wayman | England | FW | 1947–1950 | 107 | — | 107 | 77 |
Ian Black | Scotland | GK | 1948–1950 | 104 | — | 104 | 0 |
Len Wilkins | England | HB | 1948–1958 | 275 | — | 275 | 0 |
Bryn Elliott | England | HB | 1950–1958 | 251 | — | 251 | 2 |
John Christie | Scotland | GK | 1951–1959 | 217 | — | 217 | 0 |
Pat Parker | England | HB | 1951–1959 | 145 | — | 145 | 0 |
Fred Kiernan | Ireland | GK | 1951–1956 | 136 | — | 136 | 0 |
Johnny Walker | Scotland | FW | 1952–1957 | 186 | — | 186 | 52 |
Tommy Traynor | Republic of Ireland | FB | 1952–1965 | 487 | 0 | 487 | 8 |
John Page | England | HB | 1952–1961 | 216 | — | 216 | 25 |
John Hoskins | England | FW | 1952–1959 | 238 | — | 238 | 67 |
John Flood | Scotland | FW | 1953–1958 | 129 | — | 129 | 29 |
Bobby McLaughlin | England | HB | 1953–1959 | 178 | — | 178 | 5 |
Tommy Mulgrew | Scotland | FW | 1954–1962 | 330 | — | 330 | 100 |
Derek Reeves | England | FW | 1955–1962 | 311 | — | 311 | 173 |
Terry Paine | England | FW | 1957–1974 | 812 | 4 | 816 | 187 |
John Sydenham | England | MF | 1957–1970 | 401 | 1 | 402 | 40 |
Brian Clifton | England | FW | 1957–1962 | 123 | — | 123 | 36 |
Ron Davies | Wales | FB | 1958–1964 | 192 | — | 192 | 0 |
Tony Godfrey | England | GK | 1958–1965 | 149 | 0 | 149 | 0 |
Cliff Huxford | England | MF | 1959–1967 | 317 | 3 | 320 | 4 |
George O'Brien | Scotland | FW | 1959–1965 | 281 | — | 281 | 180 |
Ron Reynolds | England | GK | 1960–1963 | 111 | — | 111 | 0 |
Tony Knapp | England | DF | 1961–1967 | 260 | 0 | 260 | 2 |
Ken Wimshurst | England | MF | 1961–1967 | 167 | 4 | 171 | 12 |
Martin Chivers | England | FW | 1962–1968 | 189 | 1 | 190 | 106 |
Stuart Williams | Wales | DF | 1962–1966 | 165 | 2 | 167 | 3 |
Denis Hollywood | England | DF | 1962–1972 | 266 | 1 | 267 | 4 |
Jimmy Melia | England | MF | 1964–1968 | 152 | 3 | 155 | 12 |
Tony Byrne | Republic of Ireland | DF | 1965–1974 | 101 | 13 | 114 | 3 |
Dave Walker | England | DF | 1965–1973 | 223 | 8 | 241 | 1 |
Mick Channon | England | FW | 1966–1977 1979–1982 | 602 | 5 | 607 | 228 |
Ron Davies | Wales | FW | 1966–1973 | 277 | 4 | 281 | 153 |
Hugh Fisher | Scotland | MF | 1967–1976 | 188 | 47 | 235 | 76 |
Eric Martin | Scotland | GK | 1967–1975 | 289 | 1 | 290 | 0 |
Jimmy Gabriel | Scotland | MF | 1967–1972 | 223 | 1 | 224 | 27 |
Bob McCarthy | England | DF | 1967–1975 | 137 | 0 | 137 | 2 |
Joe Kirkup | England | DF | 1968–1973 | 192 | 1 | 193 | 4 |
John McGrath | England | DF | 1968–1973 | 194 | 1 | 195 | 2 |
Bobby Stokes | England | FW | 1969–1977 | 238 | 26 | 264 | 55 |
Brian O'Neil | England | MF | 1970–1974 | 171 | 2 | 173 | 19 |
Jim Steele | Scotland | DF | 1972–1977 | 200 | 1 | 201 | 2 |
Paul Gilchrist | England | FW | 1972–1976 | 120 | 13 | 133 | 22 |
Paul Bennett | England | DF | 1972–1976 | 137 | 0 | 137 | 2 |
David Peach | England | DF | 1974–1980 | 278 | 4 | 282 | 44 |
Nick Holmes | England | MF | 1974–1987 | 535 | 8 | 542 | 64 |
Peter Osgood | England | FW | 1974–1977 | 157 | 4 | 161 | 36 |
Ian Turner | England | GK | 1974–1978 | 107 | 0 | 107 | 0 |
Mel Blyth | England | DF | 1974–1977 | 135 | 0 | 135 | 7 |
Manny Andruszewski | England | DF | 1975–1980 | 98 | 2 | 100 | 3 |
Malcolm Waldron | England | DF | 1975–1983 | 217 | 1 | 218 | 11 |
Steve Williams | England | MF | 1976–1984 | 346 | 3 | 349 | 27 |
Ted MacDougall | England | FW | 1976–1978 | 105 | 0 | 105 | 48 |
Peter Wells | England | GK | 1976–1982 | 160 | 0 | 160 | 0 |
Alan Ball | England | MF | 1976–1980 1981–1982 | 234 | 0 | 234 | 13 |
Trevor Hebberd | England | MF | 1977–1982 | 82 | 31 | 113 | 11 |
Phil Boyer | England | FW | 1977–1980 | 162 | 0 | 162 | 61 |
Chris Nicholl | Northern Ireland | DF | 1977–1983 | 268 | 0 | 268 | 9 |
Graham Baker | England | MF | 1977–1982 1987–1989 | 191 | 8 | 199 | 36 |
Ivan Golac | Yugoslavia | DF | 1978–1982 1983–1985 | 196 | 1 | 197 | 4 |
Steve Moran | England | FW | 1980–1986 | 217 | 12 | 229 | 99 |
Reuben Agboola | Nigeria | DF | 1980–1985 | 111 | 1 | 112 | 0 |
Danny Wallace | England | FW | 1980–1989 | 299 | 18 | 317 | 79 |
David Puckett | England | FW | 1981–1986 | 59 | 52 | 111 | 16 |
Steve Baker | England | DF | 1981–1988 | 89 | 13 | 102 | 0 |
David Armstrong | England | MF | 1981–1987 | 272 | 0 | 272 | 71 |
George Lawrence | England | MF | 1981–1987 | 83 | 21 | 104 | 15 |
Mark Wright | England | DF | 1982–1987 | 222 | 0 | 222 | 11 |
Peter Shilton | England | GK | 1982–1987 | 242 | 0 | 242 | 0 |
Mick Mills | England | DF | 1982–1985 | 123 | 0 | 123 | 3 |
Mark Dennis | England | DF | 1983–1987 | 129 | 0 | 129 | 2 |
Kevin Bond | England | DF | 1984–1988 | 173 | 1 | 174 | 6 |
Jimmy Case | England | MF | 1985–1991 | 269 | 3 | 272 | 14 |
Andy Townsend | England | MF | 1985–1988 | 89 | 12 | 101 | 5 |
Glenn Cockerill | England | MF | 1985–1993 | 340 | 18 | 358 | 39 |
Gerry Forrest | England | DF | 1985–1989 | 131 | 3 | 134 | 1 |
Matt Le Tissier | England | MF | 1986–2002 | 462 | 78 | 540 | 209 |
Tim Flowers | England | GK | 1986–1993 | 251 | 0 | 251 | 0 |
Kevin Moore | England | DF | 1987–1994 | 180 | 5 | 185 | 13 |
Rod Wallace | England | FW | 1987–1991 | 132 | 19 | 151 | 56 |
Alan Shearer | England | FW | 1988–1992 | 140 | 18 | 158 | 43 |
Russell Osman | England | DF | 1988–1991 | 120 | 4 | 124 | 6 |
Francis Benali | England | DF | 1988–2003 | 321 | 48 | 359 | 1 |
Neil Maddison | England | MF | 1988–1997 | 167 | 30 | 197 | 19 |
Neil Ruddock | England | DF | 1989–1992 | 130 | 8 | 138 | 13 |
Micky Adams | England | DF | 1989–1994 | 171 | 3 | 174 | 7 |
Barry Horne | Wales | MF | 1989–1992 | 148 | 3 | 151 | 13 |
Jason Dodd | England | DF | 1989–2004 | 453 | 30 | 483 | 13 |
Jeff Kenna | Republic of Ireland | DF | 1991–1995 | 126 | 5 | 131 | 4 |
Richard Hall | England | DF | 1991–1996 | 148 | 8 | 156 | 14 |
Iain Dowie | Northern Ireland | FW | 1991–1995 | 133 | 10 | 143 | 32 |
Ken Monkou | Netherlands | DF | 1992–1999 | 224 | 9 | 233 | 13 |
Simon Charlton | England | DF | 1993–1997 | 121 | 15 | 136 | 3 |
Dave Beasant | England | GK | 1993–1996 | 103 | 2 | 105 | 0 |
Jim Magilton | Northern Ireland | MF | 1994–1997 | 148 | 8 | 156 | 18 |
Matt Oakley | England | MF | 1995–2006 | 282 | 28 | 310 | 20 |
Claus Lundekvam | Norway | DF | 1996–2007 | 403 | 10 | 413 | 2 |
Egil Østenstad | Norway | FW | 1996–1999 | 92 | 17 | 109 | 33 |
Kevin Davies | England | FW | 1997–1998 1999–2003 | 89 | 36 | 125 | 25 |
Paul Jones | Wales | GK | 1997–2003 | 220 | 3 | 223 | 0 |
James Beattie | England | FW | 1998–2004 | 188 | 47 | 235 | 76 |
Wayne Bridge | England | DF | 1998–2003 | 161 | 13 | 174 | 2 |
Chris Marsden | England | MF | 1999–2003 | 137 | 15 | 152 | 8 |
Marians Pahars | Latvia | FW | 1999–2006 | 127 | 29 | 156 | 45 |
Jo Tessem | Norway | MF | 1999–2004 | 78 | 51 | 129 | 16 |
Rory Delap | Republic of Ireland | MF | 2001–2006 | 135 | 17 | 152 | 5 |
Anders Svensson | Sweden | MF | 2001–2005 | 116 | 31 | 147 | 13 |
Paul Telfer | Scotland | DF | 2001–2005 | 129 | 19 | 148 | 1 |
Brett Ormerod | England | FW | 2001–2006 | 74 | 42 | 116 | 19 |
Fabrice Fernandes | France | MF | 2001–2005 | 88 | 18 | 106 | 6 |
Antti Niemi | Finland | GK | 2002–2006 | 123 | 0 | 123 | 0 |
Danny Higginbotham | Gibraltar | DF | 2003–2006 | 96 | 10 | 106 | 4 |
Andrew Surman | England | MF | 2006–2009 | 128 | 18 | 146 | 18 |
Jermaine Wright | England | MF | 2006–2008 | 95 | 5 | 100 | 1 |
Kelvin Davis | England | GK | 2006–2016 | 299 | 2 | 301 | 0 |
Bradley Wright-Phillips | England | FW | 2006–2009 | 66 | 55 | 121 | 25 |
Adam Lallana | England | MF | 244 | 30 | 274 | 60 | |
Morgan Schneiderlin | France | MF | 2008–2015 | 228 | 33 | 261 | 15 |
Jack Cork | England | MF | 2008 2011–2015 | 129 | 24 | 153 | 3 |
Dan Harding | England | DF | 2009–2012 | 110 | 11 | 121 | 5 |
Rickie Lambert | England | FW | 2009–2014 | 219 | 16 | 235 | 117 |
Dean Hammond | England | MF | 2009–2013 | 130 | 15 | 145 | 11 |
José Fonte | Portugal | DF | 2010–2017 | 283 | 5 | 288 | 15 |
Guly do Prado | Brazil | FW | 2010–2014 | 80 | 38 | 118 | 23 |
James Ward-Prowse | England | MF | 2011–2023 | 323 | 87 | 410 | 55 |
Jack Stephens | England | DF | 2012– | 167 | 21 | 188 | 6 |
Nathaniel Clyne | England | DF | 2012–2015 | 99 | 5 | 104 | 5 |
Steven Davis | Northern Ireland | MF | 2012–2018 | 185 | 41 | 226 | 14 |
Jay Rodriguez | England | FW | 2012–2017 | 81 | 45 | 126 | 35 |
Maya Yoshida | Japan | DF | 2012–2020 | 172 | 22 | 194 | 9 |
Ryan Bertrand | England | DF | 2014–2021 | 237 | 3 | 240 | 8 |
Fraser Forster | England | GK | 2014–2022 | 162 | 0 | 162 | 0 |
Shane Long | Republic of Ireland | FW | 2014–2022 | 124 | 121 | 245 | 36 |
Dušan Tadić | Serbia | MF | 2014–2018 | 134 | 28 | 162 | 23 |
Cédric Soares | Portugal | DF | 2015–2020 | 133 | 5 | 138 | 3 |
Oriol Romeu | Spain | MF | 2015–2022 | 216 | 40 | 256 | 9 |
Pierre-Emile Højbjerg | Denmark | MF | 2016–2020 | 114 | 20 | 134 | 5 |
Nathan Redmond | England | MF | 2016–2022 | 181 | 51 | 232 | 30 |
Alex McCarthy | England | GK | 2016– | 150 | 0 | 150 | 0 |
Jan Bednarek | Poland | DF | 2017– | 225 | 7 | 232 | 9 |
Stuart Armstrong | Scotland | MF | 2018–2024 | 143 | 71 | 214 | 25 |
Danny Ings | England | FW | 2018–2021 | 89 | 11 | 100 | 46 |
Ché Adams | Scotland | FW | 2019–2024 | 126 | 65 | 191 | 49 |
Kyle Walker-Peters | England | DF | 2020– | 165 | 11 | 176 | 6 |
Adam Armstrong | England | FW | 2021– | 96 | 33 | 129 | 31 |
Francis Vincent Benali is an English football coach and former professional player.
Nicholas Charles Holmes is an English former professional footballer. He spent the majority of his playing career with Southampton, where he won the FA Cup Final in 1976. In 1987, he joined East Cowes Victoria for a season before retiring. From July 2002 to July 2009, Holmes was manager of Salisbury City.
Arthur "Archie" Turner was a professional footballer who played at outside-right in the 1900 and 1902 FA Cup Finals for Southampton, and made two appearances for England.
George Randolph Lawrence is a former professional footballer now retired. He played as a midfielder, spending most of his career with Oxford United, Southampton and AFC Bournemouth. He was known by the nickname "Chicken George" throughout his career.
Henry Thomas Offer was an English footballer who scored Arsenal's first-ever goal in the FA Cup "proper" rounds in 1891, and Southampton's first-ever league goal in 1894.
William James Gay"Lachie"Thomson was an English professional footballer who played as a defender for Stoke in the Football League before joining Southampton St Mary's for the inaugural Southern League season in 1894.
Frederick George Hollands as an English professional footballer who played as an outside-forward for Millwall Athletic and Southampton St Mary's in the 1890s.
Ernest James Taylor was an English amateur footballer who played for Southampton in the club's first two years in the Southern League.
Sidney William Cavendish was an English professional footballer who played at inside-forward for various clubs around the turn of the 20th century.
George Arthur Nineham was an English amateur footballer who played as a forward for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s. He was one of the few locally born players to make the transition from mainly friendly matches to Southern League football.
Robert Sherran Kiddle was an English amateur footballer who played as an inside-forward for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s.
The 1891–92 season was the seventh since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. For the first six years, the club had been restricted at first to friendly matches and then in cup tournaments organised by the Hampshire Football Association. In 1891, the team entered a national competition for the first time, when it competed in the qualifying rounds of the F.A. Cup.
William James Alfred Stroud was a football player and coach who played as a wing half. Born in Hammersmith, Stroud played the first half of his professional career with Southampton, and later played for Leyton Orient, Newport County and Hastings United. He retired from professional football in 1954, after which he worked in coaching positions at former clubs Newport County and Southampton.
Southampton Football Club is an English association football club based in Southampton, Hampshire. Founded in 1885 as St Mary's YMA, they became a professional club in 1891, and co-founded the Southern League in 1894. Southampton won the Southern League championship six times between 1896 and 1904, and were later elected to the Football League in 1920 as co-founders of the Third Division. The Saints finished as runners-up in their first season, and the following year received promotion to the Second Division as Third Division South champions. The club first entered the First Division in 1966, and currently play in its modern-day counterpart, the Premier League. Southampton won the FA Cup in 1976, reached the final of the League Cup in 1979 and 2017, and won the League Trophy in 2010.
The 1920–21 season was the 26th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's first in the Football League. At the end of the previous season, Southampton were one of a host of Southern League clubs elected to make up the new Third Division, finishing second in the inaugural season behind champions Crystal Palace. The Saints began the season strongly, winning seven of their first ten games to begin a lengthy run at the top of the league table until the end of the year. The club began to lose against several teams lower in the table in December, dropping a position as Palace continued to win the majority of their games. Southampton finished the season in second place with 19 wins, 16 draws and seven losses, four points behind the champions and one point ahead of third-placed Queens Park Rangers.
The 1925–26 season was the 31st season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's fourth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the league table in their first three seasons in the division, Southampton had their worst year to date in the second flight when they finished in 14th place, ending just six points above the first relegation position. The club suffered a string of losses at the beginning of the campaign, leaving them with points to make up in later months. Former player Arthur Chadwick was brought in as Southampton's new manager in October, and the club subsequently secured their position in the Second Division with a run of wins over the Christmas period, despite continuing to lose points. The club finished in 14th place with 15 wins, eight draws and 19 losses.
The 1929–30 season was the 35th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's eighth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing fourth in the Second Division the previous season – their highest position in the league to date – Southampton continued their efforts towards achieving promotion to the First Division, but finished three places lower in seventh. The club struggled at the beginning of the league campaign, remaining in the bottom half of the table due to a run of poor results. A period of form including six wins in eight games followed between September and November, enabling the Saints to move up as high as third place. The team remained in the top half of the Second Division table for most of the rest of the season, finishing in seventh place with 17 wins, 11 draws and 14 losses.
The 1931–32 season was the 37th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's tenth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the Second Division league table for the past three seasons, the Saints struggled to challenge in 1931–32 and ended up finishing in 14th place, closer to relegation than promotion. Southampton's first season with manager George Kay started strongly, as the team picked up four wins in their first five matches and reached the top of the Second Division league table for the first time in the club's history. Form quickly deteriorated, however, and the club was briefly involved in a fight for survival in the new year. After picking up a few more wins, Southampton secured their safety and finished in 14th place with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses.