50 Fun Facts About Southampton

Southampton were founded in November 1885 by members of what organisation?

A church young men's association, the St Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association, founded the club on 21 November 1885, giving it both its name and the 'Saints' nickname.

Where did the young St Mary's side play most early games, interrupted by pedestrians exercising their right to roam?

The Common, the city's open parkland, hosted most early St Mary's matches, with play halted whenever walkers crossed the pitch; bigger cup ties moved to the County Cricket Ground or the Antelope Ground.

How many times did Southampton win the Southern League championship before joining the Football League?

Six Southern League titles came in 1897, 1898 and 1899, then 1901, 1903 and 1904, all before the Saints joined the Football League's new Third Division in 1920.

Southampton lost their first FA Cup final, in 1900, by what score to Bury?

Bury won 4-0 at Crystal Palace on 21 April 1900, Southampton's first final as a Southern League side; two years later they lost a replayed final 2-1 to Sheffield United.

Which two Spanish clubs owe their red-and-white colours to 50 Southampton shirts bought in England in 1909?

Athletic Bilbao and Atlético Madrid both took red and white from the 50 Southampton shirts Juan Elorduy brought back from England; Madrid was then a branch club of Bilbao, and both had previously worn blue and white.

The Dell, opened in 1898, cost how much to build?

£10,000 was put up by fish merchant George Thomas, who built The Dell and leased it to the club until they bought it in 1906; it remained home for 103 years, until 2001.

Southampton's 1922-23 campaign is known as the 'Even Season' because of what?

14 wins, 14 draws and 14 defeats in the Second Division, with 40 goals scored and 40 conceded, left Southampton mid-table on exactly 42 points from 42 games.

In November 1940 Southampton briefly had to play home games at Fratton Park because of what?

A bomb cratered and flooded The Dell pitch: the 18-foot hole broke an underground culvert and left the ground under water, so the Saints borrowed Portsmouth's Fratton Park for a spell.

In 1950 The Dell became the first ground in England to have what?

Permanent floodlighting was switched on at The Dell for a friendly against Tottenham on 31 October 1950, the first such installation at an English ground; by the 1990s its 15,000 capacity was the smallest in the top flight.

Which striker set Southampton's club record with 44 goals in the 1959-60 Third Division title season?

Derek Reeves scored 39 league goals and 44 in all competitions in 1959-60, a club record, as Ted Bates's side took the Third Division title; Bates later led the club into the First Division in 1966.

Which striker scored 30 of Southampton's 85 goals as they first reached the First Division in 1966?

Martin Chivers hit 30 league goals as Ted Bates's side finished runners-up to Manchester City in 1965-66; Ron Davies arrived that summer and top-scored in the First Division the next season.

Southampton's first European campaign, in the 1969-70 Fairs Cup, ended with a third-round exit to which club?

Newcastle United, the holders, went through on away goals after a 0-0 draw at The Dell and 1-1 at St James' Park; Southampton had beaten Rosenborg and Vitória de Guimarães to get there.

Who scored Southampton's winner against Manchester United in the 1976 FA Cup final?

Bobby Stokes struck in the 83rd minute from Jim McCalliog's pass to beat Manchester United 1-0 at Wembley, a shock win for a Second Division side; McMenemy's men had gone down in 1974 under the enlarged relegation rule.

Southampton's 1979 League Cup final ended in a 3-2 defeat to which club?

Nottingham Forest, the holders, came from behind at Wembley, Garry Birtles scoring twice after David Peach had put Saints ahead; Southampton had returned to the top flight a year earlier as runners-up to Bolton.

Which reigning European Footballer of the Year did Lawrie McMenemy sign for Southampton in 1980?

Kevin Keegan, Ballon d'Or winner in 1978 and 1979, joined from Hamburg for £420,000, scored 26 league goals in 1981-82 to be voted PFA Player of the Year, then left for Newcastle.

Southampton's 1983-84 runners-up finish left them how many points behind champions Liverpool?

Three points separated them: Liverpool took the title with 80 points to Southampton's 77, and Saints also lost that season's FA Cup semi-final 1-0 to Everton at Highbury.

Which Guernsey-born Southampton midfielder was PFA Young Player of the Year in 1990?

Matthew Le Tissier, born in Guernsey in 1968, spent his whole career at Southampton from 1986 to 2002, scoring 161 league goals and winning eight England caps.

Alan Shearer announced himself in April 1988 by scoring a hat-trick against which club at the age of 17?

Arsenal were beaten 4-2 at The Dell on 9 April 1988 as Shearer, at 17 years and 240 days, became the youngest First Division hat-trick scorer; he left for Blackburn in 1992 for a British-record £3.6 million.

Which two Souness signings scored twice each in Southampton's 6-3 win over Manchester United in 1996?

Egil Østenstad and Eyal Berkovic each scored twice, Le Tissier once and a David May own goal completed the rout of Ferguson's champions at The Dell in October 1996; Souness quit after one season.

Which Latvian striker helped Le Tissier keep Southampton up in the 1998-99 'Great Escape'?

Marian Pahars, signed from Skonto Riga in March 1999, scored twice in the final-day 2-0 win over Everton that kept Saints up; they had spent much of the season in the relegation zone.

Which former England manager took over Southampton in 2000, then quit for Tottenham a year later?

Glenn Hoddle, England manager from 1996 to 1999, replaced Dave Jones in January 2000 and left for Tottenham in March 2001; Jones had stood aside to fight abuse charges that collapsed in court.

The last ever league goal at The Dell, in a 3-2 win in May 2001, was scored how?

A Le Tissier half-volley on the turn, late in the final league game at The Dell on 19 May 2001, won it 3-2; he had come off the bench, and the club moved to St Mary's that summer.

Southampton reached the 2003 FA Cup final, losing 1-0 in Cardiff, powered by 24 goals from which striker?

James Beattie's 23 Premier League goals, behind only van Nistelrooy and Henry that season, earned him an England call-up; the final was played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium while Wembley was rebuilt, and Saints finished eighth.

Which manager did Rupert Lowe appoint in December 2004, days after he resigned at Portsmouth?

Harry Redknapp crossed the south-coast divide on 8 December 2004, signed his son Jamie, and took Saints down on the final day in May 2005, ending 27 seasons in the top flight, before returning to Portsmouth that December.

Which England rugby World Cup-winning coach joined Southampton's staff in June 2005?

Clive Woodward, who had coached England to the 2003 Rugby World Cup, was brought in by chairman Rupert Lowe as performance director in June 2005 and left in 2006 to join the British Olympic Association.

Which 17-year-old left-back broke into Southampton's side in 2006-07 before a £5 million sale to Tottenham?

Gareth Bale, then a left-back, scored five goals in 2006-07, several from free-kicks, at the age of 17, and joined Tottenham in May 2007 for an initial £5 million; Theo Walcott had been sold a year earlier.

Which Swiss-German businessman bought Southampton out of administration in 2009, a year before his death?

Markus Liebherr, heir to the Liebherr crane and machinery fortune, completed his takeover in July 2009 and died in August 2010; the Markus Liebherr Pavilion at the Staplewood training campus is named after him.

Southampton's 4-1 Wembley win over Carlisle in March 2010, their first silverware since 1976, came in which competition?

The Football League Trophy, then sponsored as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy, was won 4-1 in front of 73,476 at Wembley; Saints had begun that League One season on minus 10 points after administration.

Rickie Lambert, Southampton's first big signing under the new owners in 2009, arrived from which club?

Bristol Rovers sold him for about £1 million in August 2009; he scored 36 goals in his first season at Saints, was Championship Player of the Year in 2012 and won an England call-up in 2013.

Nigel Adkins had twice won promotion with which club before joining Southampton in 2010?

Scunthorpe United won promotion to the Championship under Adkins in 2007 and again in 2009 via the play-offs; he joined Saints in September 2010 and took them up twice more.

Which Argentine coach replaced Nigel Adkins in January 2013 and later left for Tottenham?

Mauricio Pochettino arrived from Espanyol in January 2013, led Saints to eighth in 2013-14, then left for Tottenham; Ronald Koeman succeeded him and took the club to seventh and then sixth.

How long did Sadio Mané's record-setting hat-trick against Villa in May 2015 take?

176 seconds, two minutes 56 seconds, separated Mané's first and third goals in the 6-1 win on 16 May 2015, beating Robbie Fowler's 1994 mark; Saints finished seventh and qualified for the Europa League.

Which Southampton striker was denied a 2017 EFL Cup final hat-trick by a wrong offside call?

Manolo Gabbiadini, signed from Napoli weeks earlier, had a goal wrongly ruled offside before scoring twice; Zlatan Ibrahimović's late header won it 3-2 for Manchester United at Wembley on 26 February 2017.

Liverpool's £75 million for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 was a world record for what?

A defender had never cost so much: the fee topped the £50 million or so Manchester City paid Tottenham for Kyle Walker in 2017, and van Dijk had joined Saints from Celtic for about £13 million in 2015.

After losing 9-0 at home to Leicester in 2019, what did Southampton's players and staff do with their match wages?

Donated them to the Saints Foundation: the players and coaching staff gave their match wages to the club's charity after the 25 October 2019 humiliation, and Southampton conceded nine again at Old Trafford in February 2021.

In April 2020 Southampton became the first Premier League club to do what during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Defer players' salaries is what Saints announced on 8 April 2020: players, manager Ralph Hasenhüttl and the board put off part of their pay for April, May and June; the club finished that season 11th on 52 points.

Gao Jisheng sold his 80% stake in 2022 to Sport Republic, financed by which Serbian businessman?

Dragan Šolak, founder of the United Group telecoms business, bankrolled Sport Republic's £100 million purchase in January 2022 from Gao, who had paid around £210 million for the stake in 2017.

Which manager was sacked in February 2023 after Southampton lost seven of eight league games under him?

Nathan Jones lasted under 100 days after leaving Luton in November 2022, winning one of eight league games; Rubén Sellés stepped up but could not prevent relegation after 11 seasons in the top flight.

In 2023-24, Southampton set a club record by going unbeaten in how many matches in all competitions?

25 matches without defeat, from late September 2023 until February 2024, set the club record; Saints finished fourth and beat Leeds 1-0 in the play-off final at Wembley.

Southampton's relegation on 6 April 2025 set what unwanted Premier League record, measured by games left?

Earliest drop in the competition's history by games remaining: seven, one more than Derby in 2008 and Huddersfield in 2019; Saints lost 3-1 at Tottenham to go down, and Ivan Jurić left the next day.

Which club did Southampton beat in the 2024 Championship play-off semi-final?

West Bromwich Albion were beaten 3-1 on aggregate in May 2024, a goalless draw at The Hawthorns followed by a 3-1 win at St Mary's, before Adam Armstrong's goal beat Leeds in the Wembley final.

The tree on the Saints' crest, designed by fan Rolland Parris in 1974, represents what?

The New Forest and the city's Common are what the tree stands for; the halo is for the Saints, the water for the port, the ball for football, and the white rose is the city's emblem.

Which club conceded eight without reply at St Mary's in October 2014?

Sunderland lost 8-0 on 18 October 2014, Graziano Pellè scoring twice and Santiago Vergini opening the rout with a spectacular own goal; Ronald Koeman's side finished seventh that season.

Which player holds Southampton's appearance record with 815 games between 1956 and 1974?

Terry Paine, a winger who played in England's 1966 World Cup squad, made 815 appearances in all competitions for Saints from 1956 to 1974, a club record, before moving to Hereford.

Albert Brown scored seven for Southampton in an 11-0 win in 1901 over which club?

Northampton Town were beaten 11-0 in the Southern League on 28 December 1901, with Albert Brown's seven goals in one match setting a club record.

How old was goalkeeper Willy Caballero, then Southampton's oldest ever player, in January 2023?

He was 41 years and 122 days; the youngest, Theo Walcott, was 16 years and 143 days in 2005.

St Mary's Stadium's record attendance of 32,363 was set in April 2012 against which club?

Coventry City were beaten 4-0 on 28 April 2012 in the last home game of the promotion season; the stadium had opened in August 2001, replacing The Dell after 103 years.

Which anthem do Southampton sing with its original words, unlike most clubs who borrow the tune?

When the Saints Go Marching In, the gospel standard, was adopted because of the nickname; most clubs that borrow the tune rewrite the words, but Southampton keep the original lyric.

Which forward is Southampton's all-time leading scorer with 228 goals across two spells?

Channon's two spells ran from 1966 to 1977 and 1979 to 1982, and he went on to become a successful racehorse trainer.

Southampton's Staplewood training campus sits in which village on the edge of the New Forest?

Marchwood, on Southampton Water opposite the city, is home to the Staplewood Campus, which was redeveloped from 2014 and houses the first team and academy under one roof.