The 1994–95 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 94th season of competitive football, their 25th in the top flight of English football, and their third in the FA Premier League. After two seasons finishing just two positions and one point above the relegation zone, Southampton's first and only full season with Alan Ball as manager saw them achieve 10th place in the league – their highest position since the 1989–90 season. The club also improved their form in both the FA Cup and the League Cup, reaching the fifth round in the former (for the first time since 1991–92) and the third round in the latter.
Having brought in several new players in the wake of his arrival halfway through the previous season, Ball made only two signings ahead of the 1994–95 season, adding defender Peter Whiston and goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar. Several players were released, including Kevin Moore, Ian Andrews, Steve Wood and Colin Cramb. During the campaign, the club bolstered its attacking force by spending just over £2.5 million on strikers Neil Shipperley and Gordon Watson, while players such as Nicky Banger, Iain Dowie and Jeff Kenna were also sold. The result was a marked improvement on the previous season, as the Saints enjoyed spells of good form both early and later on in the campaign, remaining clear of the relegation zone for the majority of the time.
In the FA Cup, Southampton faced First Division opposition in the third and fourth rounds, beating Southend United 2–0 before facing Luton Town. After a 1–1 draw away, the Saints hosted the replay and thrashed Luton 6–0, their biggest win of the season. In their first fifth round tie in three years, the club hosted FA Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur. After holding them to a 2–2 draw for 90 minutes, they conceded four goals from Spurs in extra time to lose 2–6, marking their heaviest defeat in the tournament since 1910. In the League Cup, Southampton beat Huddersfield Town of the Second Division 5–0 in the second round on aggregate, before facing elimination at the hands of fellow top-flight side Sheffield Wednesday, to whom they lost 0–1.
Southampton used 27 players during the 1994–95 season and had 14 different goalscorers. Matt Le Tissier finished as the season's top scorer for the third year in a row with 29 goals, including 19 in the FA Premier League and five in each cup. Jim Magilton made the most appearances for the club during the campaign, playing in every game across all three competitions. At the end of the year, Le Tissier became the first (and to date only) player to win the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award a third time, as well as the third to win it in consecutive seasons. The average league attendance at The Dell in 1994–95 was 14,685. The highest attendance was 15,210 against Queens Park Rangers in April; the lowest was 12,032 against Huddersfield in October.
Background and transfers
Having signed a number of players the previous season after taking over as manager in January 1994, Alan Ball made only two first-team signings in the summer ahead of the 1994–95 season: centre-back Peter Whiston arrived from Ball's previous club Exeter City for £30,000, while Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar arrived on a free transfer. Leaving on free transfers in the summer were centre-backs Kevin Moore, who reunited with former Saints manager Ian Branfoot at recently relegated Third Division side Fulham, and Steve Wood, who moved to Oxford United, who had recently been relegated to the Second Division. During the early stages of the campaign, Colin Cramb – who had made just one substitute appearance since being signed ahead of the previous season – was sold to Falkirk, while out-of-favour goalkeeper Ian Andrews moved to Bournemouth for £20,000. September also saw the arrival of Danish winger Ronnie Ekelund, who joined from Spanish champions Barcelona on loan, with the option for a permanent move for a fee of £500,000.
Ball continued to sell out-of-favour players throughout the course of the season. In October, centre-back Matthew Bound moved to Second Division side Stockport County for £100,000, while striker Nicky Banger was loaned – and subsequently sold, for £250,000 – to FA Premier League strugglers Oldham Athletic. December saw central midfielder Neal Bartlett offloaded to local Southern League club Fareham Town and winger Paul Allen sent out on loan to Luton Town in the First Division. In the new year, Ball spent a club record £1.4 million on 20-year-old Chelsea striker Neil Shipperley, which preceded the sale of Iain Dowie to Crystal Palace for £500,000. Also in January, Allen was loaned out for the rest of the season to Stoke City. The final transfers took place in March, when Jeff Kenna was signed by eventual champions Blackburn Rovers for £1.5 million, striker Gordon Watson was signed from Sheffield Wednesday for £1.2 million, and young winger Christer Warren joined from Southern League side Cheltenham Town for £40,000.
Players transferred in NameNationalityClubDateFeeRef.Steve Bashamnone (free agent)July 1994FreeDuncan Speddingnone (free agent)July 1994FreePeter Whiston Exeter City10 August 1994£30,000Bruce Grobbelaar Liverpool11 August 1994FreeNeil Shipperley Chelsea6 January 1995£1,400,000Gordon Watson Sheffield Wednesday17 March 1995£1,200,000Christer Warren Cheltenham Town31 March 1995£40,000
Players transferred out NameNationalityClubDateFeeRef.Kevin Moore FulhamJuly 1994FreeSteve Wood Oxford UnitedJuly 1994FreeColin Cramb Falkirk30 August 1994UnknownIan Andrews Bournemouth5 September 1994£20,000Matthew Bound Stockport County27 October 1994£100,000Nicky Banger Oldham Athletic4 November 1994£250,000Rory Hamill Fulham18 November 1994FreeNeal Bartlett Fareham Town2 December 1994FreeIain Dowie Crystal Palace13 January 1995£500,000Jeff Kenna Blackburn Rovers15 March 1995£1,500,000
Players loaned in NameNationalityClubDate fromDate toRef.Ronnie Ekelund Barcelona15 September 1994End of season
Players loaned out NameNationalityClubDate fromDate toRef.Nicky Banger Oldham AthleticOctober 1994November 1994Paul Allen Luton Town9 December 199419 January 1995Paul Allen Stoke City20 January 1995End of season
Notes
Pre-season friendlies Ahead of the 1994–95 campaign, Southampton played ten pre-season friendlies. They started their pre-season preparations with a short tour of Northern Ireland, during which they beat Ards 3–1 and Cliftonville 2–1, before losing 1–2 at reigning Irish League champions Linfield. Back in England in early August, the Saints beat Second Division side Leyton Orient and First Division side Luton Town 2–1. The FA Premier League side concluded the pre-season period with a tour of the Netherlands and Belgium featuring five friendlies against local opponents – after victories over ARC (4–1) and Nuenen (6–1, including four goals for Craig Maskell), the Saints lost 2–3 at Belgian side Royal Antwerp, followed by marginal defeats at Cambuur (1–2) and Telstar (0–1) back in Holland.
FA Premier League
Southampton started the 1994–95 season with four fixtures against top opposition: opening week 1–1 draws with the previous season's league runners-up Blackburn Rovers and League Cup winners Aston Villa were followed by a 1–5 loss at third-place finishers Newcastle United (their heaviest league defeat of the whole campaign) and a 0–2 home defeat to Liverpool. The Saints picked up their first victory a couple of weeks later with a late 2–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, which was followed after another 1–1 draw (with Nottingham Forest) by three consecutive wins over teams slated for potential relegation: 3–1 against Coventry City, 3–1 over Ipswich Town, and 2–0 against Everton. Danish centre-back Ronnie Ekelund, who arrived on loan from Barcelona before the Nottingham game, made his full debut against Coventry and scored in each of the three wins.
After three straight wins which put them 7th in the league table, the Saints suffered three consecutive defeats as they lost 3–4 at Leicester City (who had been recently promoted from the First Division), 0–2 at West Ham United, and 1–3 at home to title challengers Leeds United (in which two goals were scored by former Saint Rod Wallace). The team rescued a point in their next game against Norwich City when a penultimate-minute penalty by Matt Le Tissier secured a 1–1 draw, with a visit to Manchester City the next week ending in a 3–3 draw in which Ekelund scored his last two goals during his loan spell. Southampton faced Arsenal at home in their next game, which was their first match since allegations emerged that goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar had been involved in match fixing; Grobbelaar played the match and kept a clean sheet, as the Saints won 1–0.
It would take another month for Southampton to win again after Arsenal, when a last-minute Le Tissier free kick gave the South Coast side all three points against Aston Villa the week before Christmas. After a 2–3 loss at home to Wimbledon on Boxing Day, the Saints dropped slowly down the table with a run of seven straight draws, ending up 15th by the middle of February. Results in this spell included a 2–2 draw with reigning league champions Manchester United, a goalless draw with Leeds United featuring the debut of new striker Neil Shipperley, and a 2–2 draw at Norwich City which set the new club record for consecutive draws. After a loss at Ipswich Town and two more draws (against Coventry City and West Ham United), the Saints dropped into the relegation zone for the first time all season with a 0–3 loss at title challengers Nottingham Forest.
After three months without a win, the Saints finally picked up their seventh victory of the season when they beat Newcastle United 3–1 at The Dell, scoring all three goals in the last seven minutes of the game (two of which were in injury time) to reverse an early deficit. The team followed this with their first back-to-back win since the previous October, when they edged out 7th-placed Tottenham Hotspur 4–3 to climb out of the drop zone again. After a 1–3 defeat at Liverpool, the Saints won another three games in a row, beating mid-table side Chelsea 2–0 at Stamford Bridge, Queens Park Rangers 2–1 at The Dell, and Wimbledon 2–0 at Selhurst Park. The club extended their unbeaten run to five games with a goalless draw against Sheffield Wednesday, a 3–1 win over Crystal Palace and a goalless draw at Everton, which resulted in them climbing to 10th place in the FA Premier League table. This position was confirmed after a 1–2 defeat at Old Trafford by Manchester United, who were chasing a third consecutive league title, and a 2–2 final day draw with Leicester City, who had already been relegated back to the First Division.
List of match results
Final league table
Results by matchday
FA Cup