Southampton Football Club - The Saints

Southampton Football Club History

2006-07 Season

6th in the Championship. Lost to Derby County on penalties in the Play Off semi finals.
League Cup: 3rd round: Notts County a. 0-2
FA Cup: 4th round: Manchester City a. 1-3

Highlight:
6-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers, 31/3/07

Low Spot:
Losing on penalties to Derby County in the play off semi final, 15/5/07

Good:
Gareth Bale
Where it was Theo Walcott the year before it was Gareth Bale this time around.
The young Welsh left back had the big boys hovering round St Mary's again but it wasn't his defensive attributes causing the interest. A series of stunning free kicks allied to his general comfort and ability on the ball were the things making the football world sit up and take notice.
Will have to work on the defensive side of his game but his footballing ability is there for all to see. An important prospect.
Gregorz Rasiak
Nowhere near good enough for Tottenham but the Poles' 21 goals showed again what a potent force he is at Championship level.
Looked to have benefitted from his time at White Hart Lane despite failing to make the grade as his touch and awareness were more apparent to back up his strength and aerial ability.

Bad:
Nathan Dyer
Quick but clueless would be the most accurate assessment of the wingers' performances during this season.
Young enough to improve and disprove this verdict but needs to knuckle down if he is to succeed.
Inigo Idiakez
Having been star of the show at Derby the Spanish playmaker struggled to make an impression at St Mary's and, having recovered from injury and returned from a loan spell to QPR, he conjured a vital penalty miss in the play off semi finals at, you've guessed it, Derby.

In Brief:
The season started well with only one defeat from the first nine although the annoying tendancy to draw games remained a barrier to real progress.
So was the run of five points from seven games that followed this impressive start.
From November to January the club produced excellent form but after another stumble it needed three consecutive wins at the end of the season to clinch a play off spot.
A poor performance in the home leg of the semi final with Derby left the Saints with it all to do at Pride Park but a fine display saw them take the tie to extra time and then penalties.
Misses from Leon Best and Inigo Idiakez, however, sealed their fate and another season in the Championship awaits.
Overall, however, this was a satisfactory campaign and the club should be in a position to make another challenge next season. Whether Gareth Bale, their latest young star, is around to play his part is another matter.

Southampton FC - Club History

Southampton Football Club was formed in 1885 and had its origins in St. Mary's Church, the club originally being called Southampton St. Mary's.

Although the club, known as Southampton from 1897, did not gain league status until 1920 on the formation of a third division they already had a proud history.

Around the turn of the 20th century Southampton won the Southern League in six out of eight seasons and also made a major impact in the FA Cup.

They reached the semi finals in 1898 and 1908 as well as going all the way to the final in 1900 and 1902.

The Saints had knocked out Everton, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion to reach their first final before losing heavily to Bury, 0-4, at the Crystal Palace.

Two years later Southampton took revenge on Bury along the way to their second final, this time to face Sheffield United.

The first game finished 1-1 before the Saints were defeated 2-1 in the replay, United's immense goalkeeper William "Fatty" Foulke proving too big an obstacle to overcome.

Southampton's most famous player from this era was the celebrated amatuer sporting all rounder, C.B. Fry.

Fry had represented England whilst with the Corinthians club as well as playing test cricket, rugby union for the Barbarians and holding the world record for the long jump.

Southampton won the Division Three South championship in 1922 but remained locked in Division Two until 1953 when they were relegated back to Division Three South.

The Saints had looked certain to be promoted to Divsion One in 1949 when they led the table by eight points with only seven games remaining (only 2 points for a win then remember).

The team collapsed after an injury to their centre forward, Charlie Wayman, however. Wayman had scored 32 goals up to getting injured. Without him the club lost out on promotion by one point behind Fulham and West Bromwich Albion.

In 1960 Southampton won the Division Three title to return to Division Two and in 1966 they won promotion to the first division for the first time in their history.

This was the era of Terry Paine, the Saints and England winger, who went on to make a club record 713 appearances in the league and 809 in total.

Southampton dropped back into Division Two in 1974 returning to the top flight in 1978.

During that time the Saints claimed their single FA Cup triumph in 1976 when a Bobby Stokes goal gave them victory over Manchester United.

In 1979 Southampton also made it to the League Cup final only to lose an exciting game against Nottingham Forest 3-2.

Southampton remained a top flight club for 27 years until suffering relegation last season.

In that time the club gained a deserved reputation for producing outstanding individuals and attractive, attacking teams.

The Saints qualified for the UEFA Cup on several occassions without making a huge impact on the European scene and were runners up in Division One in 1984 behind Liverpool.

Players such as Kevin Keegan, Danny and Rod Wallace, Mattthew Le Tissier and Alan Shearer all graced the Dell during this period.

In 1992 the club reached the final of the Zenith Data Systems Cup but lost again to Nottingham Forest by 3-2.

A move to the impressive St. Mary's Stadium in 2001 seemed to signal a move forward for the Saints and in 2003 the club reached another FA Cup final only to lose by the only goal of the game to Arsenal.

Southampton were relegated last season in a blur of managerial changes and are now hoping to move forward after the controversial appointment of ex England rugby union supremo Clive Woodward to the coaching staff.

It could be interesting.

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