Premier League Profiles: Who are Southampton?

Southampton Football Club was founded in 1885 by members of the St. Mary's Church association. The club was originally known as St. Mary's Young Men's Association F.C, the club went through more name changes in the early years but decided on Southampton FC when the club joined the Southern League in 1894. Southampton won three Southern League titles between the years of 1897 and 1899 and again between the years of 1901 and 1904. During this time, they moved to the newly built £10,000 stadium called The Dell where the club would spend the next 103 years.

The Saints joined the Football League in 1920 and at the time the Football League was split into North and South sections. They won promotion from the Third Division South and they then embarked on a 21-year stay in the Second Division. In November of 1940, they were forced to relocate and play their home games at Fratton Park, the home of local rivals Portsmouth. The cause of this was a bomb that landed on the pitch at The Dell which left an 18ft crater and caused the underground culvert to be damaged which flooded the pitch.

The Saints finally realised their dream of Division One football at The Dell, getting themselves promoted in 1966. The team was managed by Ted Bates and another part of that success was the goalscoring efforts by Martin Chivers. In the following season, Ron Davis arrived and scored 43 goals and Southampton stayed among the elite for a period of eight years. The finest moment in the club's history was their 1976 FA Cup win. Southampton was given no chance against Manchester United but won the game 1-0 thanks to a goal from Bobby Stokes. The game goes down as one of the FA Cup's greatest upsets.

In recent times, they have had a remarkable journey from League One to the Premier League. They achieved back-to-back promotions in 2011 and 2012 charting their rise from League One to the Premier League. Players and personnel such as Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Morgan Schneiderlin, Jose Fonte and Nigel Adkins were instrumental to The Saints rise through the divisions.