List of Southampton F.C. managers

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The following is a list of Southampton managers from the founding of Southampton F.C. in 1885 until the present. The first secretary manager of the club was Cecil Knight from 1892 to 1895; the first full-time manager of the club was George Swift from 1911 to 1912.

Contents

The most successful managers are, in terms of trophies and honours, Ernest Arnfield, with whom the club won the Southern Football League five times and the Western Football League Division 1A once; and (since the start of the Football League era), in terms of win percentage, Nigel Adkins.

The longest-serving manager has been Ted Bates from 1955 to 1973, for 850 matches. (Bates – "Mr Southampton" – had played for the club from 1937 to 1955, and also served as a club director for 20 years after managing it.)

Managers

As of match played 26 May 2024
NameNationalityFromToMatchesWonDrawnLostWin% [1] Honours
Cecil Knight [2] Flag of England.svg  England August 1892May 1895251528060.00 [3]
Charles Robson [2] Flag of England.svg  England August 1895May 1896231607069.57 [4]
Alfred McMinn [2] Flag of England.svg  England August 1896May 1897271971070.37 [5] 1 Southern League championship
Ernest Arnfield [2] Flag of England.svg  England August 1897May 1911514268107139052.14 [6] 5 Southern League championships
2 FA Cup Finals
George Swift Flag of England.svg  England August 1911May 191239101118025.64 [7]
Ernest Arnfield [2] Flag of England.svg  England August 1912May 1919121462550038.02 [8]
Jimmy McIntyre Flag of England.svg  England August 1919December 1924209857747040.671 Third Division South championship
Arthur Chadwick Flag of England.svg  England October 1925May 19312561006096039.06
George Kay Flag of England.svg  England May 1931May 19362197643100034.70
George Goss Flag of England.svg  England May 1936March 19373210814031.25
Tom Parker Flag of England.svg  England March 1937June 194397292246029.90
Arthur Dominy Flag of England.svg  England June 1943January 19460000!
Bill Dodgin Flag of England.svg  England January 1946August 1949137652844047.45
Sid Cann Flag of England.svg  England August 1949December 1951107413333038.32
George Roughton Flag of England.svg  England March 1952September 1955156633756040.38
Ted Bates Flag of England.svg  England September 1955November 1973850333212305039.181 Third Division championship
Lawrie McMenemy Flag of England.svg  England November 1973June 1985539225144170041.741 FA Cup
1 Football League Cup final
Chris Nicholl Ulster Banner.svg  Northern Ireland July 1985May 199129310086107034.13
Ian Branfoot Flag of England.svg  England June 1991January 1994128373457028.911 Full Members Cup final
Alan Ball Flag of England.svg  England January 1994July 199567222421032.84
David Merrington Flag of England.svg  England July 1995June 199648151320031.25
Graeme Souness Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland July 1996June 199748141519029.17
Dave Jones Flag of England.svg  England June 1997January 2000113372254032.74
Glenn Hoddle Flag of England.svg  England January 2000March 200152221218042.31
Stuart Gray Flag of England.svg  England March 2001October 2001196211031.58
Gordon Strachan Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland October 2001February 2004110393239035.451 FA Cup Final
Steve Wigley (caretaker)Flag of England.svg  England February 2004March 20042020000.00
Paul Sturrock Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland March 2004August 200413526038.46
Steve WigleyFlag of England.svg  England August 2004December 200417368017.65
Harry Redknapp Flag of England.svg  England December 2004December 200549132115026.53
Dave Bassett & Dennis Wise (caretakers)Flag of England.svg  England December 2005December 20053111033.33
George Burley Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland December 2005January 2008109452539041.28
John Gorman & Jason Dodd (caretakers)Flag of England.svg  England January 2008February 20086114016.67
Nigel Pearson Flag of England.svg  England February 2008May 200814374021.43
Jan Poortvliet Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands May 2008January 2009328816025.00
Mark Wotte Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands January 2009July 200918477022.22
Alan Pardew Flag of England.svg  England July 2009August 201064341713053.131 Football League Trophy
Dean Wilkins (caretaker)Flag of England.svg  England August 2010September 20103003000.00
Nigel Adkins Flag of England.svg  England September 2010January 2013124672532054.03
Mauricio Pochettino Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina January 2013May 201460231819038.33
Ronald Koeman Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands June 2014June 201691441730048.35
Claude Puel Flag of France.svg  France June 2016June 201753201320037.741 Football League Cup Final
Mauricio Pellegrino Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina June 2017March 2018 [9] 3481313023.53
Mark Hughes Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales March 2018December 20182751012018.52
Kelvin Davis (caretaker)Flag of England.svg  England December 2018December 20181001000.00
Ralph Hasenhüttl Flag of Austria.svg  Austria December 2018November 2022173594173034.10
Rubén Sellés (caretaker)Flag of Spain.svg  Spain November 2022November 20221010000.00
Nathan Jones Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg  Wales November 2022February 202314509035.71
Rubén Sellés (Interim Manager)Flag of Spain.svg  Spain February 2023May 2023172411011.76
Russell Martin Flag of Scotland.svg  Scotland June 2023Present54301113055.561 EFL Championship play-offs winners

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The 1922–23 season was the 28th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's first in the Second Division of the Football League. Having secured promotion from the Third Division South as champions the previous season, the largely unchanged Saints team avoided relegation comfortably and finished in the middle of the league table in their first season as a second-flight club. After a poor start to the campaign in which they picked up only one point from their first five matches, Southampton began to improve in form and move up from the Second Division relegation zone. The club picked up several wins over higher-placed opponents challenging for the division's two promotion places, allowing them to finish mid-table. Southampton finished in 11th place with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses, and an even goal average.

The 1930–31 season was the 36th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's ninth in the Second Division of the Football League. After securing their place as a top-half side in the Second Division over the past two seasons, the Saints began to lose their footing on the league and dropped to ninth in the division. The club failed to win any of their first four games of the campaign, briefly struggling to stay above the two relegation places, but had soon made their way to the top half of the division where they remained for the rest of the season. The Saints were unable to challenge for promotion to the First Division, however, briefly reaching the top five but remaining a long way off the top two sides. Southampton finished the season in ninth place in the table with 19 wins, six draws and 17 losses.

The 1931–32 season was the 37th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's tenth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the Second Division league table for the past three seasons, the Saints struggled to challenge in 1931–32 and ended up finishing in 14th place, closer to relegation than promotion. Southampton's first season with manager George Kay started strongly, as the team picked up four wins in their first five matches and reached the top of the Second Division league table for the first time in the club's history. Form quickly deteriorated, however, and the club was briefly involved in a fight for survival in the new year. After picking up a few more wins, Southampton secured their safety and finished in 14th place with 14 wins, 14 draws and 14 losses.

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References

Notes

  1. Win% is rounded to two decimal places
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Secretary of the committee that chose the team
  3. Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. pp. 14–17. ISBN   0-907969-22-4.
  4. Saints – A complete record. pp. 18–19.
  5. Saints – A complete record. pp. 20–21.
  6. Saints – A complete record. pp. 22–49.
  7. Saints – A complete record. pp. 50–51.
  8. Saints – A complete record. pp. 51–54.
  9. "Mauricio Pellegrino: Southampton sack manager with eight games left of season". BBC Sport. 12 March 2018. Retrieved 12 March 2018.