Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club (originally St. Mary's YMA) is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints. Based in the city of Southampton in Hampshire, the team was formed in November 1885. In 1898 the team moved into The Dell, the ground which was to be their home for over 100 years. However, as a result of poor stadium capacity, the team moved to St Mary's Stadium in 2001.

Southampton in the Premiership

Southampton were founding members of the Premiership in 1992-93, having played in the top flight of English football since 1978. In May 2005 they were relegated to the 2nd tier of English football for the first time in 27 years, following a season of internal turmoil and poor displays on the pitch.

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Ian Branfoot was sacked in January 1994 with Southampton battling relegation. He was replaced by Exeter manager Alan Ball, who like Branfoot was a former Southampton player. Ball secured Southampton's survival for the 1993-94 season and guided them to a respectable tenth-place finish in 1994-95. But he was lured to Manchester City in the summer of 1995 and Southampton turned to long-serving coach David Merrington to take charge of the team in 1995-96. Southampton finished 17th with 38 league points, avoiding relegation on goal difference. Two important wins during the final weeks of the season did much to ensure that Southampton and not Manchester City would achieve Premiership survival. First came a 3-1 home win over eventual double winners Manchester United, then came a 1-0 away win over relegated Bolton Wanderers. Merrington was dismissed a few days after the end of the season and replaced by former Liverpool and Glasgow Rangers manager Graeme Souness.

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Southampton fared little better in 1996-97 despite the arrival of Souness, whose track record included two Scottish league titles with Rangers and an FA Cup victory with Liverpool. He resigned after just one season in charge, which had seen Southampton finish 16th in the Premiership, and Southampton's directors turned to Dave Jones—one of the most respected managers outside the Premiership who had won promotion to Division One with Stockport County as well as reaching the League Cup semi finals.

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With such an inexperienced manager, Southampton were tipped by many observers to be relegated from the Premiership in 1997-98. But thanks to the addition of young striker Kevin Davies, and the acquisition of a few more competent players, Southampton achieved a respectable 11th place finish in the table. Their form dipped in 1998-99 but they avoided relegation on the last day of the season. In 1999 Southampton were given the go-ahead to build a new 32,000-seat stadium in the St Mary's area of the city, a welcome move after playing in the cramped Dell since 1898.

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During the 1999-2000 season, Dave Jones quit as Southampton manager to concentrate on a court case after he was accused of abusing children at the children's home where he had worked during the 1980's. The accusations were later proved to be groundless but it was too late to save Jones's career as Southampton manager and he was succeeded by ex-England team manager Glenn Hoddle.

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Glenn Hoddle helped keep Southampton well clear of the Premiership drop zone but he defected to Tottenham Hotspur just before the end of the 2000-01 season. He was replaced by first-team coach Stuart Gray, who oversaw the relocation to the St Mary's Stadium for the 2001-02 season. But Gray was sacked after a disastrous start to the season, and in came ex-Coventry manager Gordon Strachan as his replacement.

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Gordon Strachan did much to revitalise Southampton during the 2001-02 season, and they finished in a secure 11th place in the final table. They did even better in 2002-03, finished eighth in the Premiership and coming runners-up in the FA Cup to Arsenal. Strachan resigned the following March and was replaced by Paul Sturrock, who was in the process of guiding Plymouth Argyle to their second promotion in three seasons.

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Paul Sturrock suddenly announced his resignation just after the start of the 2004-05 season, and first-team coach Steve Wigley was put in charge of the first team. But a bad run of form saw Southampton battling near the foot of the Premiership table, and the club's directors felt that a more experienced manager was needed. So they turned to former Portsmouth, West Ham and Bournemouth manager Harry Redknapp.

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On 15th May 2005, Southampton were finally relegated from the Premiership following a 2-1 home defeat to Manchester United, thus ending 27 successive seasons of top division football.

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