Southampton Odds

Southampton Odds

There is always a wide range of choices when it comes to Southampton betting odds. From Southampton F.C odds to win the league to odds for Southampton to be relegated, there are plenty of Southampton F.C odds to take advantage of.

Odds on Southampton to finish top four have become popular with bettors due to the fact that Southampton seem to be improving season upon season. However, with five different managers taking the hotseat in the past five years, Southampton manager betting odds might be more tempting.

History

Southampton Football Club are a current Premier League club located on the South Coast of England. After being promoted in the 2011/2012 season, their current run of consecutive Premier League seasons is now seven. Southampton Football Club are one of the founder members of the Premier League.

Southampton F.C history begins in 1885. Members of the St. Mary’s Church of England Young Men’s Association founded a football team, and this team became known firstly as St. Mary’s Y.M.A and later St. Mary’s F.C.

The club were awarded a place in the Southern League in 1894, and with that the club name changed again. Now known as Southampton St. Mary’s, the club won the Southern League in 1897. Following that league victory, the club name was altered and the teams became known simply as Southampton F.C.

Southampton entered a successful period in the late 1890’s and early 1900’s. The club won a further six Southern League titles in 1897, 1898, 1899, 1901, 1903 and 1904. 

During this period of Southern League title wins, the club moved to a new stadium. Called the Dell, Southampton F.C would play their home games here for the next 103 years.

Following 22 years in the Southern League, Southampton were awarded a place in the new Football League Third Division in 1920. In 1921, they gained promotion to the Second Division. Their 1922/1923 was strange in the sense that the club finished with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 defeats and their goals for and against record was exactly the same as each other.

Southampton stayed in the Second Division for 26 seasons. They narrowly missed out on promotion on a number of occasions, but in 1953 the club were relegated back to the Third Division.

Seven years later, and Southampton were back in the second tier. The club won the Third Division title and headed back to the Second Division in 1960.

A period of six years in the Second Division followed, until in the 1965/1966 season Southampton gained promotion again and became a First Division club for the first time in their history. 

The following eight seasons saw Southampton qualify for Europe, firstly appearing in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup in the 1969/1970 season, and then the UEFA Cup in 1971.

Southampton suffered relegation in the 1973/1974 season. Lawrie McMenemy was brought in as manager, and the club lifted the FA Cup in 1976, the first time in their history.

The FA Cup win led to another season in Europe for Southampton, qualifying for the European Cup Winner’s Cup.

The following season, the 1977/1978 campaign, saw Southampton promoted once more. This led to a 27 year stay in the English top flight.

McMenemy continued to attract the better players, and in 1980 Southampton signed Kevin Keegan. Southampton began to play an attractive style of attacking football, in the process consolidating their First Division status.

Their attacking play continued, and in the 1983/1984 season Southampton finished second in the table, their highest ever league finish. As the 1980’s progressed, Southampton became a mid-table side, with consecutive finishes of 14th, 12th,12th, 13th and 7th.

Lawrie McMenemy left the club after the 1984/1985 season, and Chris Nicholl replaced him. Nicholl kept Southampton in the top flight, obtaining respectable positions in the table, but this wasn’t enough for the Southampton hierarchy and Nicholl was fired.

During the late 1980’s, Southampton saw the emergence of Matt Le Tissier, who would go on to be an all time Southampton legend. Alongside Le Tissier was Alan Shearer. Shearer would later be sold in 1992 to Blackburn Rovers for a British transfer record fee of £3 million.

The Premier League was founded in 1992, thus Southampton became a founder member. Southampton still failed to challenge for trophies, their highest league position in the next ten years was 10th, and apart from the 2002/2003 season where they were runners up in the FA Cup, they never proceeded past the Fourth Round stage.

Graeme Souness became Southampton boss in in the mid-1990’s. Like Laurie McMenemy before him, Souness bought attacking players to the club in the hope that performances would improve. However, Souness lasted for just one season, leaving the club after he signed Ali Dia. Dia was claimed to be the cousin of George Weah, the former FIFA World Player of the Year and also a Ballon D’Or winner, but his performance left Souness in no doubt that he had signed a poor player.

Dave Jones took over, but performances didn’t improve. Jones quit and was replaced by Glenn Hoddle, until Hoddle left in the 2000/2001 season. Stuart Gray was then promoted from team coach to Southampton F.C manager.

The 20010/2001 season was Southampton’s last playing at the Dell. Aptly, Matt Le Tissier scored the final goal in the historic ground. Southampton moved to the St. Mary’s Stadium in time for the 2001/2002 campaign.

During the 2001/2002 season, Gray was sacked and Gordon Strachan replaced him. Strachan led the club to 11th and 8th place finishes. Strachan also led his club to Wembley, but Southampton were beaten in the FA Cup Final 1-0 by Arsenal.

Halfway through the 2003/2004 season, Strachan left. Paul Sturrock and Steve Wigley both attempted the managerial reins, but both failed and in December 2004 Harry Redknapp was appointed boss. Not a popular choice with Southampton fans following his time at Portsmouth and Bournemouth, Redknapp couldn’t save the club from relegation and they fell through the trapdoor.

It would be another seven years before Southampton would return to the Premier League, and things got worse for the club before they got better. Redknapp resigned, and in 2006 the chairman Rupert Lowe resigned also. Amidst the changes on and off the field, Southampton slipped down the table and in the 2008/2009 season they were relegated to League One.

This further relegation was compounded by serious financial problems. After going into administration, the club was eventually bought by Markus Liebherr, who then employed Alan Pardew as manager.

The club started their first season in League One with a ten points deduction, a punishment given due to going into administration the year before. This put paid to promotion hopes, but the following season Southampton did achieve promotion after finishing second, and they were in the Championship once again.

Successive promotions followed. Nigel Adkins, the new Southampton manager, had led his club back to the top flight of English football in the 2011/2012 season. However, Adkins was sacked and replaced with Mauricio Pochettino who led the club to 14th position.

The following season was more of a success. Southampton finished 8th, and established themselves once more as a Premier League side. 

Even after the departure of Pochettino and the selling of some of the club’s best players, Southampton still continued to impress. Ronald Koeman had come in as manager and led his club to positions of 8th and 6th, despite the fact that during each transfer window during this time, Southampton sold at least one of the best player.

In the summer of 2016, Koeman left the club and joined Everton. Claude Puel was handed the Southampton managerial reins. Puel lasted just one season, despite reaching the League Cup Final. Mauricio Pellegrino took over, but was sacked in March 2018 and replaced by current boss Mark Hughes.

Crest

The Southampton football crest has largely remained the same throughout its history. Initially, the club used the Southampton coat of arms as it’s badge. In the 1970’s a competition was launched, inviting fans to design a new Southampton F.C crest.

The winning design was created by Rolland Parris. This crest featured a shield with a red and white scarf above and ‘Southampton F.C underneath. Inside the shield, an image of a tree was displayed, representing the nearby forests; a river, representing the relationship Southampton has with water; and a white rose, the symbol of the city of Southampton.

On top of the crest, an image of a halo and a football is displayed. The halo represents the Southampton Football Club nickname ‘The Saints’.

In 2010, a modified version of the badge was released to celebrate the club’s 125th anniversary. Featuring a gold outline, the football was replaced with ‘125’ and the date of formation was also displayed.

This crest was used for just one season, with the club reverting back to the old badge for the 2011/2012 season.

Colours

Southampton have worn red and white striped shirts since the 1896/1897 season. Initially worn with dark blue shorts and dark blue socks, the club kept the same colours until 1948. 

From this season, the Southampton colours were modified slightly. The shirt remained the same, but the shorts colour became black and the socks alternated between red and white.

This has remained the standard Southampton kit, save for two seasons between 2012 and 2014 when all red kits were worn. Sock colour has varied between red, black and white, but for the last five seasons red socks have been worn.

As St. Mary’s Y.M.A, the colours of choice varied. The first kit featured a white shirt with a diagonal red stripe, white shorts and black socks. For the 1889/1890 season, the kit colours changed to a red and white quartered shirt with white shorts and red socks. 

From 1891 to 1894, the red and white quartered shirt remained but the shorts and socks colour changed to dark blue.

As Southampton St. Mary’s, the colours remained the same though the shirt was a half red half white affair, rather than quartered.

Southampton Stadium

The Southampton football stadium is St. Mary’s. Southampton have played their home games here since 2011 since moving from the Dell. The Southampton F.C stadium capacity stands at 32, 689, making it the largest football stadium in the South East of England.

The Southampton F.C stadium address is Britannia Road, Southampton. As well as hosting Southampton matches, St.Mary’s has also been used for film premieres and music concerts.

Southampton spent 103 years of their history playing at the Dell, from 1898 to 2001. It had been the subject of redevelopment on numerous occasions, but when Southampton left the stadium, its capacity had been reduced to around 15,000, one of the smallest football venues in the Premier League.

Supporters

The most famous song sung by Southampton supporters is ‘When The Saints Go Marching In’.

There are various Southampton supporters clubs around the world. Whilst most of the Southampton support comes from the local area, there is a wide fan base across the globe. 

Southampton fans enjoy a rivalry with Portsmouth. These two sides contest the South Coast derby, and these clubs take part in one of the most fierce rivalries in English football.

Ownership

The current Southampton owner is Katharina Liebherr. Her father Markus had purchased the club in 2009 but after his passing, ownership fell to his daughter.

Throughout the 1990’s and 2000’s, Southampton struggled financially. Chairman Rupert Lowe resigned in 2006, and was replaced by Michael Wilde who was at the time Southampton’s majority shareholder.

The following season, Michael Wilde stepped down,and was replaced by Leon Crouch.

In 2009, after going into administration, the club desperately sought a buyer. Markus Liebherr purchased the club and brought with him Nicola Cortese to run the club’s business affairs.

Stats

Terry Paine is Southampton’s all-time leading appearance maker. Paine made a massive 809 appearances for the club between 1956 and 1974.

Southampton’s all time leading goalscorer is Mick Channon. Channon netted 227 goals for the club in two separate playing spells, the first coming from 1966/1977 and the second 1979/1982.

Theo Walcott is the youngest ever player to appear for Southampton. Walcott made his debut for the club aged 16 years and 143 days against Wolves in 2005.

Southampton’s biggest win in their history came in 1894. The club beat Newbury Town 14-0 in an FA Cup qualifying match.

Southampton’s biggest ever Premier League win occurred in 2014, when they beat Sunderland 8-0.

Southampton’s heaviest ever defeat has happened on three occasions. Southampton were beaten 8-0 by Crystal Palace in 1913, Tottenham Hotspur in 1936 and Everton in 1971.

The biggest attendance a Southampton side has played in front of was 32, 363. This number witnessed Southampton host Coventry City in 2012.

Southampton Players

The number of Southampton players in the 2018 first team squad is 27. 

There are a number of notable ex Southampton players who have become ingrained in the club’s history. Matt Le Tissier is a Southampton fans favourite along with Mick Channon, Terry Paine, James Beattie, Rickie Lambert, Ron Davies and Alan Ball.

The number of Southampton players who have played for England currently stands at 33, with current goalkeeper Fraser Forster a regular in England squads.

Ten players have made more than 400 appearances for Southampton Football Club. In descending order, these are Terry Paine, Mick Channon, Nick Holmes, Matt Le Tissier, Tommy Traynor, Jason Dodd, Bert Shelley, Eric Day, Claus Lundekvam and John Sydenham.

Southampton Manager

The current Southampton manager is Mark Hughes. Hughes took over in 2018 after the dismissal of previous boss Mauricio Pellegrino.

Hughes is the thirteenth Southampton manager in ten years. 

The most successful Southampton manager is arguably Lawrie McMenemy. McMenemy won the club’s first and only FA Cup, also leading his team to a League Cup final along with a European adventure.

The most successful Southampton manager in terms of games to wins ratio (with over 30 games managed) is Nigel Adkins, who maintained a win ratio of 54.03%, after winning 67 of his 124 games in charge. Southampton’s first three managers, Cecil Knight, Charles Robson and Alfred McMinn all had higher win percentage than Adkins, however none of these managers’s were in control of the club for more than 30 matches.

Ted Bates managed Southampton Football Club for an incredible 850 matches. His tenure began in 1955 and ended in 1973.

Honours

Southampton have only won one major honour in their history. The club won their first and only FA Cup in 1976. They were also runners-up in this competition on three occasions, in 1900, 1902 and 2003.

Other honours include the Football League Trophy in 2010, runners-up in the First Division in the 1983/1984 season, Southern League Champions on six occasions, Third Division South winners in the 1921/1922 season and third tier Champions in 1959/1960.