The 2025–26 season was the 109th season in the history of Southampton, and the club's first season back in the Championship since the 2023–24 campaign, following their relegation from the Premier League in the preceding season. In addition to the domestic league, the club also participated in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.
Managerial changes Prior to the season starting, Will Still was appointed as the club's new manager on a three-year contract. On 2 November, Still was sacked as manager after sixteen games in charge and a win ratio of 25%, following which Tonda Eckert was appointed as interim head coach. On 5 December, Eckert was appointed as head coach, signing a contract until 2027.
Players
Transfers Players transferred in Date Player Club Fee Ref. 1 July 2025 DF Joshua Quarshie Hoffenheim Undisclosed 9 July 2025 FW Damion Downs Köln Undisclosed 10 July 2025 MF Sutura Kakay Sheffield Wednesday Undisclosed 16 August 2025 DF Rory Whittaker Hibernian Undisclosed 21 August 2025 DF Mads Roerslev Brentford Undisclosed 29 August 2025 MF Finn Azaz Middlesbrough Undisclosed MF Tom Fellows West Bromwich Albion Undisclosed MF Caspar Jander FC Nürnberg Undisclosed 1 September 2025 GK Hugo Fisher Brighton & Hove Albion Free transfer MF Léo Scienza Heidenheim Undisclosed 6 November 2025 MF Oriol Romeu Barcelona Free transfer 4 February 2026 FW Lewis Bailey Stoke City Undisclosed 11 February 2026 GK Jamie Jones Warrington Town Free transfer
Players loaned in Date Player Club Duration Ref. 25 August 2025 GK George Long Norwich City End of season 31 August 2025 DF Elias Jelert Galatasaray End of season 8 January 2026 GK Daniel Peretz Bayern Munich End of season 2 February 2026 FW Cyle Larin Mallorca End of season
Players transferred out Date Player Club Fee Ref.1 July 2025 MF Sam Amo-Ameyaw Strasbourg Undisclosed GK Adli Mohamed Al-Nasr Undisclosed FW Paul Onuachu Trabzonspor Undisclosed 2 July 2025 MF Kamaldeen Sulemana Atalanta Undisclosed 28 July 2025 DF Jan Bednarek Porto Undisclosed 25 August 2025 MF Tyler Dibling Everton Undisclosed FW Juan Göztepe Undisclosed 29 August 2025 MF Mateus Fernandes West Ham United Undisclosed 1 September 2025 FW Dom Ballard Leyton Orient Undisclosed DF Cameron Frederick Oxford United Undisclosed 7 January 2026 DF Zach Awe Salford City Undisclosed 9 January 2026 DF Ronnie Edwards Queens Park Rangers Undisclosed 22 January 2026 MF Ryan Fraser Western Sydney Wanderers Undisclosed 2 February 2026 FW Adam Armstrong Wolverhampton Wanderers Undisclosed DF Armel Bella-Kotchap Hellas Verona Undisclosed
Players loaned out Date Player Club Duration Ref. 4 July 2025 DF Juan Larios Cultural Leonesa 16 January 2026 8 July 2025 GK Ollie Wright Accrington Stanley End of season 31 July 2025 DF Sonnie Davis Eastleigh 2 January 2026 2 August 2025 GK Aaron Ramsdale Newcastle United End of season 6 August 2025 FW Rento Takaoka Valenciennes 9 April 2026 11 August 2025 FW Princewill Ehibhatiomhan Swindon Town 5 January 2026 14 August 2025 MF Daouda Traoré Real Betis 2 February 2026 25 August 2025 DF Joachim Kayi Sanda Red Star 1 January 2026 26 August 2025 DF Yukinari Sugawara Werder Bremen End of season 27 August 2025 DF Armel Bella-Kotchap Hellas Verona 2 February 2026 31 August 2025 FW Ben Brereton Díaz Derby County End of season 1 September 2025 DF James Bree Charlton Athletic 18 January 2026 MF Will Smallbone Millwall End of season DF Charlie Taylor West Bromwich Albion End of season 13 September 2025 DF Will Armitage Brackley Town 30 September 2025 17 October 2025 DF Will Armitage Aldershot Town 31 December 2025 GK Josh Jeffries Worthing 31 December 2025 3 January 2026 DF Sonnie Davis Chelmsford City 31 January 2026 7 January 2026 FW Damion Downs Hamburger SV End of season 13 January 2026 GK Gavin Bazunu Stoke City End of season 16 January 2026 DF Will Armitage Eastbourne Borough End of season 2 February 2026 FW Romeo Akachukwu Colchester United End of season MF Joe Aribo Leicester City End of season FW Princewill Ehibhatiomhan Salford City End of season DF Juan Larios Real Zaragoza End of season MF Daouda Traoré Bari End of season 23 March 2026 DF Jayden Moore Eastleigh End of season 27 March 2026 FW Will Merry Yeovil Town End of season
Players released Date Player Subsequent club Join date Ref. 30 June 2025 DF Derrick Abu Valenciennes 1 July 2025 GK Joe Lumley Bristol City DF Kyle Walker-Peters West Ham United 20 July 2025 GK Josh McNamara Eastleigh 2 August 2025 DF Joshua Lett Sunderland 30 August 2025 DF Lewis Payne Morecambe 12 September 2025 MF Adam Lallana None (retired) 1 September 2025 DF Nico Lawrence York City 6 November 2025 MF Brook Myers OSC Bremerhaven 10 February 2026 9 September 2025 FW Victor Udoh Dynamo České Budějovice 23 October 2025 4 January 2026 MF Ben Reeves None (retired) 5 February 2026 GK Khiani Shombe Hull City 5 February 2026
Pre-season and friendlies Southampton announced their first pre-season friendly in May 2025, with the Saints hosting Brighton & Hove Albion at St Mary's Stadium on 2 August. On 5 June, an away pre-season fixture against Eastleigh was confirmed. On 11 June, Valenciennes confirmed a fixture against the Saints at Staplewood Campus. A fourth friendly was added on 16 June as part of a training camp in Spain, with a fixture against Espanyol being arranged. On 18 July, a second friendly during the training camp in Spain was added against Castellón.
Competitions Overall record
Championship
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches On 26 June, the Championship fixtures were released.
Play-offs
Southampton finished 4th in the regular season and were drawn against Middlesbrough.
In the days before the first leg, a member of Tonda Eckert's staff was accused of spying on a Middlesbrough training session. The incident was reported to the EFL.
Southampton won 2–1 on aggregate. Middlesbrough advanced to the final after Southampton were disqualified for spying on other teams (see Southampton F.C. espionage incident).
FA Cup
Southampton entered the FA Cup in the third round and were drawn away to Doncaster Rovers. In the fourth round, they were drawn at home to Leicester City. In the fifth round, they were drawn away to Fulham. In the quarter finals, they were drawn at home to Arsenal. For the semi final, they were drawn against Manchester City.
EFL Cup
Southampton were drawn away to Northampton Town in the first round, to Norwich City in the second round and to Liverpool in the third round.
Squad statistics
PlayerLeaguePlayoffsFA CupEFL CupTotal1GKAlex McCarthy7000000000003000100002DFMads Roerslev5(4)0100000000010006(4)0103DFRyan Manning35(8)84020003020301043(8)8704MFFlynn Downes32(4)31201(1)01020202(1)01037(6)31605DFJack Stephens30(2)25000000000000030(2)2506DFTaylor Harwood-Bellis417902000401010104871109FWCyle Larin9(7)8201(1)0202(2)100000012(10)94010MFFinn Azaz36(5)105020103(1)110000041(6)117011FWRoss Stewart11(14)8201(1)1002(2)2001(1)00015(18)112013MFLéo Scienza30(7)71020003(1)000100036(8)71014DFJames Bree17(1)21020003(1)100000022(2)31015DFNathan Wood27(8)15020104(1)000300036(9)16017DFJoshua Quarshie11(2)02000002(1)000201015(3)03018MFTom Fellows25(12)020100040000(1)00030(13)02019FWCameron Archer11(19)42000002(1)100311016(20)63020MFCaspar Jander32(4)26020003(1)010100038(5)27023MFSamuel Edozie2(10)0000(2)0001(3)00000003(15)00024MFShea Charles21(10)3601(1)1000(2)1002(1)10024(14)66025GKGeorge Long0000000010000000100027MFKuryu Matsuki11(9)4101(1)0002(2)1200(2)10014(14)63028MFOriol Romeu0(6)0200000100000001(6)02032GKJamie Jones0000000000000000000034DFWelington12(6)0210(1)0002000000014(7)02137MFJoe O'Brien-Whitmarsh000000000(1)00000000(1)00038DFElias Jelert3(5)0000000200010006(5)00041GKDaniel Peretz200202010400000002603046MFJay Robinson7(19)200000010000(1)0008(20)20047MFMoses Sesay0000000000000(1)0000(1)00048MFCam Bragg7(9)0300(1)0004(1)110000011(11)14049FWNicholas Oyekunle0(3)00000000(1)00000000(4)00052DFSam Tabares0000000000000000000053MFBarnaby Williams0(1)00000000(1)00000000(2)00055DFTommy Dobson-Ventura0000000000000000000057FWSufianu Sillah Dibaga000000000(1)00000000(1)00058GKDylan Moody00000000000000000000Players with appearances who ended the season on loan7MFJoe Aribo0(7)0100000000000000(7)01016DFYukinari Sugawara1(1)0000000000010002(1)00021DFCharlie Taylor0000000000000(2)0000(2)00022FWBen Brereton Díaz0000000000001(1)0001(1)00031GKGavin Bazunu190100000000000001901042FWDamion Downs1(10)010000000001(2)0002(12)010Players with appearances who left during the season9FWAdam Armstrong24(5)113000000(1)0001(1)00025(7)113012DFRonnie Edwards8(3)00000000000301011(3)01018MFMateus Fernandes2(1)0000000000011103(1)11026MFRyan Fraser9(7)000000000001(1)10010(8)10033MFTyler Dibling0(1)0000000000000000(1)000
Most appearances
NameLeaguePlayoffsFA CupEFL CupTotal1DFRyan Manning358203030438512DFTaylor Harwood-Bellis410204010480483MFFinn Azaz365203100416474DFNathan Wood278204130369455MFLéo Scienza307203110368446MFCaspar Jander32420311038543MFFlynn Downes32411202137643MFTom Fellows25121040013013439MFShea Charles211011022124143810FWCameron Archer1119002130162036
Top goalscorers
NameLeaguePlayoffsFA CupEFL CupTotal1FWAdam Armstrong112900010211320.34FWRoss Stewart82512240211330.33MFFinn Azaz104102140011470.234FWCyle Larin8160214009220.415DFRyan Manning8430203038510.166MFLéo Scienza7370204017440.16DFTaylor Harwood-Bellis7410204017480.158MFKuryu Matsuki4200214126280.21FWCameron Archer4300013136360.17MFShea Charles3311212136380.16
Notes
References