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.

[16] With relegation to the Third Division South still a possibility, Southampton added another forward in March when they signed Tom Brewis from York City, after securing a loan from a club director due to financial difficulties.

[21] The stint at the top of the table was short, however, and after five more games the Saints were just hanging onto a top-ten position following defeats at the hands of promotion hopefuls Spurs, Stoke City, Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bradford Park Avenue.

[25] The Saints were never able to keep up a good run of results due to ongoing illness and injury problems – according to club historians, manager George Kay used a total of 30 players during the league campaign, including two goalkeepers, three right-backs, five left-backs, five right-halves, five centre-halves, two left-halves, nine outside-rights, nine inside-rights, six centre-forwards, seven inside-lefts and four outside-lefts.

[20] On 28 November the team lost 5–0 at Notts County, who had been recently promoted from the Third Division South, before suffering their biggest home league defeat the next week when they were thrashed 6–0 by Plymouth Argyle,[20] who were fifth in the table at the time.

[27] However, a strong finish to the campaign saw the side pick up wins over Swansea Town, Nottingham Forest, Notts County and Plymouth Argyle, losing just once in their last eight fixtures and securing their Second Division status for another year.

[30] The match took place at Roker Park on 9 January and ended as a goalless draw, with club historians highlighting the defensive performances of goalkeeper Bert Scriven, right-back Bill Adams and centre-half Arthur Bradford, while suggesting that "Had Charlie Sillett made the most of his opportunities then there would have been no need for a replay".

[20] The Saints reacted in the second half, with goals from Sillett and Michael Keeping giving the Second Division side a chance of a comeback, however a "glorious opportunity" missed by Johnny Arnold and a penalty for Sunderland later on sent Southampton out of the tournament in the third round for the fifth consecutive season.

The first was a friendly match against a Royal Air Force side at The Dell in November, which the Saints won 4–0 thanks to a brace from Frank Matson and goals from Peter Dougall and Arthur Holt.

[31] A second friendly in January against Third Division South club Exeter City ended in a 2–0 loss, which was followed in March by a 6–1 thrashing at the hands of a team representing the Dutch FA in Rotterdam (the only goal for the visitors scored by Arthur Wilson).

[31] A final friendly, at a side representing the Southern Command, took place in April and ended in a 3–1 win for Southampton, thanks to goals from Johnny Arnold, Tom Brewis and Ted Drake.

[31] Five days after the final friendly, Southampton hosted local rivals Portsmouth in the inaugural Hampshire Combination Cup, which also featured Third Division South sides Aldershot and Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic.

Saints regulars Drake, Arnold and Frank Campbell were injured, leading manager George Kay to give official debuts to Holt at centre-forward and Henry Belcher at right-half.

[35] Southampton went ahead after just four minutes, when Neal headed in a cross from Bill Luckett after a move started by Rawlings, but were quickly dominated by Pompey who scored through Frederick Cook, Jack Weddle, Worrall and Easson (twice).