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.

The 1970's and 1980's

Although Southampton had made several appearances in the First Division of the English league, they never really grabbed the headlines until the 1975-76 season—when they were a Second Division side. A Southampton side managed by Lawrie McMenemy was drawn to play Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium, and surprised all observers by beating United 1-0 thanks to a goal from striker Bobby Stokes (1952-1995). Southampton continued to progress well under McMenemy's stewardship, finishing runners-up in the league in 1983-84 and making a few threats to win the league title—a feat which Southampton has yet to achieve.

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Lawrie McMenemy left in 1986 to be succeeded by Chris Nicholl, who was sacked after five years in charge despite preserving the club's top flight status. He was replaced by former Southampton player Ian Branfoot, who until the end of the 1990-91 season had been assistant manager to Steve Coppell at Crystal Palace. By this stage a key player in the Southampton lineup was Guernsey-born striker Matthew Le Tissier, who was voted PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990 and later made seven appearances for the England team—he finally retired in 2002 at the age of 33.

Related Topics:
Guernsey - Matthew Le Tissier - PFA Young Player of the Year - 1990 - 2002

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