The 1991–92 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 91st season of competitive football and their 22nd in the First Division of the Football League. The season was Southampton's first with manager Ian Branfoot, who replaced Chris Nicholl in the summer after six years. It was a disappointing year for the club, who finished 16th in the league after spending much of the year in the relegation zone. Outside the league, the club reached the sixth round of the FA Cup for the first time since 1986, were knocked out of the League Cup in the fourth round, and finished as runners-up of the final Full Members' Cup.
With Nicholl's departure came a busy transfer period, as players including brothers Ray and Rod Wallace, Jimmy Case, Steve Davis and Paul Rideout all left the club. New signings included Paul Moody, Iain Dowie, Terry Hurlock and Stuart Gray. The Saints started their first season with Branfoot on dreadful form, dropping into the relegation zone almost immediately and falling to the very bottom of the table by the end of 1991. However, a run of six consecutive wins starting in March (their joint-longest run of consecutive league wins since 1964) saw the team make progress towards mid-table, as they reached a season-high of 13th before settling three positions lower. This was the club's lowest First Division finish since their last relegation from the top flight in 1974.
In the FA Cup, Southampton reached the sixth round for the first time since the 1985–86 season, eliminating First Division rivals Queens Park Rangers and Manchester United, then Third Division side Bolton Wanderers, in the process. They were knocked out after a replay by another top-flight side, Norwich City. In the League Cup, the club made it past Scarborough of the Fourth Division and First Division high-flyers Sheffield Wednesday, before facing elimination at the hands of Nottingham Forest in the fourth round. In the Full Members' Cup – the last before the tournament was discontinued – the Saints beat Second Division sides Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle, then league rivals Chelsea, before losing in their first and only final appearance to Nottingham Forest.
Southampton used 29 players during the 1991–92 season and had 12 different goalscorers. In his final season with the club, Alan Shearer finished as the top scorer for the Saints, with 19 goals in all competitions. Matt Le Tissier was second with 15 goals, followed by Iain Dowie on nine. Shearer and goalkeeper Tim Flowers made the most appearances during the campaign, playing in 59 of Southampton's 61 games across all competitions. Flowers received the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award for the first time. The average league attendance at The Dell during 1991–92 was 14,070. The highest attendance was 19,264 against Manchester United in September and the lowest was 4,036 against Scarborough in the League Cup in October.
Background and transfers At the end of the 1990–91 season, manager Chris Nicholl was sacked by Southampton's board after six seasons in charge. In his first two seasons as manager, the Saints had reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup and the League Cup, respectively; however, during his tenure, Nicholl had only managed to lead the club to one top-half finishing position in the First Division. He was also credited for giving debuts to several successful players at a young age, including Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, Francis Benali, and brothers Ray and Rod Wallace. Nicholl was replaced in the summer of 1991 by Ian Branfoot, who had previously worked as a coach at Southampton between 1977 and 1983, before having a successful five-year spell as manager of Reading in the Second and Third Divisions.
Ahead of Branfoot's arrival, brothers Ray and Rod Wallace both left Southampton, after having unsuccessfully requested transfers several times during the previous season. They were sold for a combined £1.6 million – the highest fee set by a tribunal to date – to First Division title challengers Leeds United. The new manager's first transfer activity saw him release 37-year-old midfielder Jimmy Case on a free transfer to Bournemouth in the Third Division. In dismissing a player described by club historians as "a favourite of the fans", this decision has been identified by commentators as one of the primary early reasons for the supporters' disapproval of Branfoot as manager. Just two new players joined ahead of the start of the league campaign – striker Paul Moody was signed from Southern League side Waterlooville and left-back Matthew Robinson was signed as a trainee. Centre-back Steve Davis, who had struggled to break into Southampton's first team, also left in August to join Fourth Division side and former loan club Burnley.
After the opening three league games of the season, Branfoot signed winger David Lee from Third Division side Bury for £350,000. He was followed just over a week later by Northern Irish striker and former Southampton schoolboy Iain Dowie, who joined from West Ham United on 3 September for a fee of £500,000. Another week later, Branfoot signed former Reading acquisition Terry Hurlock from Scottish champions Rangers as a replacement for Case, paying £400,000 for his services. Later in September, the club sold striker Paul Rideout to Notts County for £250,000, left-back Andy Cook to Exeter City for £60,000, and midfielder Sergey Gotsmanov (who had only arrived a year before) to German club Hallescher FC for free. Defensive midfielder Stuart Gray signed for £200,000 from Aston Villa, who then briefly signed Alan McLoughlin on loan.
Transfer activity continued throughout much of the 1991–92 season. At the beginning of October, the club brought in centre-back Steve Wood – another key player in Branfoot's promotion-winning Reading side from 1986 – from second-flight side Millwall for a fee of £400,000. At the same time, fellow centre-back Russell Osman was loaned to Bristol City in the Second Division; he would later make his move permanent in December, for a fee of £60,000. In the second half of the campaign, Kevin Moore, Jon Gittens and Paul Tisdale were all sent out on loans until the end of the season, while McLoughlin was loaned out (and subsequently sold) to nearby rivals Portsmouth. During the latter stages of the season, Barbadian winger Michael Gilkes was loaned in from Reading, where he had played under Branfoot during his tenure as manager.
Players transferred in NameNationalityClubDateFeeRef.Paul Moody WaterloovilleJuly 1991UnknownMatthew Robinsonnone (free agent)July 1991FreeDavid Lee Bury26 August 1991£350,000Iain Dowie West Ham United3 September 1991£500,000Terry Hurlock Rangers9 September 1991£400,000Stuart Gray Aston VillaSeptember 1991£200,000Steve Wood MillwallOctober 1991£400,000Andy Williamsnone (free agent)January 1992Free
Players transferred out NameNationalityClubDateFeeRef.Ray Wallace Leeds UnitedMay 1991£1,600,000Rod WallaceJimmy Case BournemouthJune 1991FreeSteve Davis BurnleyAugust 1991£60,000Paul Rideout Notts County16 September 1991£250,000Andy Cook Exeter CitySeptember 1991£60,000Sergey Gotsmanov Hallescher FCSeptember 1991FreeRussell Osman Bristol CityDecember 1991£60,000Alan McLoughlin PortsmouthMarch 1992Unknown
Players loaned in NameNationalityClubDate fromDate toRef.Michael Gilkes ReadingMarch 1992End of season
Players loaned out NameNationalityClubDate fromDate toRef.Alan McLoughlin Aston VillaSeptember 1991October 1991Tommy Widdrington Wigan AthleticSeptember 1991October 1991Russell Osman Bristol CityOctober 1991December 1991Kevin Moore Bristol RoversJanuary 1992End of seasonJon Gittens MiddlesbroughFebruary 1992End of seasonAlan McLoughlin PortsmouthFebruary 1992March 1992Paul Tisdale Northampton TownMarch 1992End of season
Notes
Pre-season friendlies Ahead of the 1991–92 league campaign, Southampton played nine pre-season friendlies. The pre-season period started in July with five straight wins, as the Saints beat a Kuwait Olympic XI 5–0, Third Division side Exeter City 3–0, South Western League club Torpoint Athletic 5–3, Plymouth Argyle of the Second Division 2–1, and another South Western League side, Bodmin Town, 5–0 (the final match saw Alan Shearer score a hat-trick). August started with two games against Scottish opposition, as the club drew 0–0 with St Johnstone and picked up a 2-0 victory over First Division champions Falkirk. The final two pre-season friendlies included a 4–1 win over Bournemouth for Brian Tiler's testimonial and their only loss, a 0–1 defeat at home to Spanish side Real Sociedad.
First Division
Ian Branfoot's debut season with Southampton started poorly, as they faced two marginal defeats in their opening fixtures, losing 2–3 at home to Tottenham Hotspur and 0–1 at Notts County, who had recently been promoted from the Second Division. Their first win came in a 2–0 away victory over Sheffield United, however this was followed by a 0–4 defeat (the joint-heaviest of the season) at home to Leeds United and another three games spawning just two points. A 1–0 win over Wimbledon was a brief high point followed by another two losses, the second of which saw Arsenal emulating Leeds United's 4–0 thrashing of the Saints, with Ian Wright netting a hat-trick. By the end of September, Southampton had already dropped to 21st out of 22 in the First Division league table. An undefeated October saw the South Coast side draw 1–1 with Oldham Athletic and 0–0 with Norwich City, before picking up an unexpected 3–1 away win at Nottingham Forest, with Matt Le Tissier scoring his first double of the season.
Southampton remained in the relegation zone throughout most of the rest of the calendar year, only briefly pulling themselves out with a 1–0 win over Chelsea in late-November. Despite their poor run of results, the Saints did manage to hold their own against several high-profile opponents during this period, including holding Liverpool to a 1–1 draw and sharing the points with title hopefuls Leeds United in a 3–3 stalemate either side of Christmas. After an 11th defeat from their opening 22 games, however, the club ended December at the bottom of the league table with just 19 points. 1992 started in much the same manner, as the Saints lost two home games in a row – the first to Everton and the second to Sheffield United, who were also fighting against the risk of relegation. An away win over Tottenham Hotspur saw Southampton briefly leapfrog Luton Town at the bottom of the table, however they quickly returned their after another loss at Norwich City followed by three draws in a row against Chelsea, Coventry City and Liverpool.
Despite being at the bottom of the league table, Southampton embarked on a winning streak in March which saw them pick up six victories in a row – the first time they had done so since the early stages of the 1964–65 season. The games were all closely fought, with the Saints beating fellow strugglers West Ham United, mid-table side Crystal Palace and title contenders Manchester City 1–0 in the first three fixtures, which were followed by a late 2–1 defeat of relegation-threatened Luton Town, a 1–0 win over Everton at Goodison Park, and finally a 2–1 home win over Queens Park Rangers. By the end of the spell, Southampton had climbed from 22nd to 17th in the table, with eight points between them and the first relegation place. The penultimate six games included three wins and three losses, which was followed on the final day by another heavy defeat to Arsenal, this time 1–5 at Highbury, matching the season record heaviest defeats from earlier in the campaign – like the 0–4 loss at The Dell in September, this game also included an Ian Wright hat-trick.