Despite an appalling start which saw the side spend much of the first month of the campaign in the relegation zone, the Saints finished the season 15th in the league table – their highest position in four years.

Despite enjoying the majority of chances on goal and going into half-time on level terms, the Saints lost 1–3 to Forest, exiting the tournament at the same stage as in all but one of the previous ten seasons.

[1] Bates quickly established himself as a key player in the Saints side and would go on to make over 200 appearances for the club in a 16-year playing career, before holding numerous coaching roles and serving as manager for almost 20 years, taking them to the First Division for the first time in their history in 1966.

[6] Other signings in the summer included centre-half David Affleck, who joined from Clapton Orient for the biggest fee paid by the club since Johnny McIlwaine's £2,650 signing in 1930;[7] centre-forward Billy Dunn, who was brought in from Brentford for £750 and scored a handful of goals in the first half of the season,[8] goalkeeper Sam Warhurst, who joined from Bradford City and took over as first choice in his position;[9] right winger Billy Bevis, who switched from local rivals Portsmouth, and had been first seen by Parker during a trial at Norwich;[10] centre-forward Benny Gaughran, who was transferred for free from Scottish side Celtic;[11] and left winger Harry Osman, who joined free from Plymouth Argyle and scored 22 goals in his debut season.

[15] Also departing in May was Welsh half-back Billy Moore, who had made just one appearance in his single season with the Saints, and left to join First Division title challengers Wolverhampton Wanderers (although his stay was cut short due to injury).

[16] In June, Southampton lost two players: 1936–37 top scorer Jimmy Dunne, who returned to Ireland to serve as a player-coach at Shamrock Rovers,[17] and fellow forward Fred Tully, who had played over 100 times for the Saints since 1933 before moving down to Clapton Orient in the Third Division South.

[25] Before the end of 1937, Southampton accepted a £1,000 offer for Benny Gaughran – who had joined in the summer – from top-flight side Sunderland, as well as selling Ted Withers to Bristol Rovers in the division below.

The side lost 3–4 to Norwich City on the opening day of the season and did not score again in their next five games: 0–1 and 0–5 against Chesterfield, 0–0 against Aston Villa, 0–2 against Bradford, and 0–0 against Plymouth Argyle.

[29] After a 3–3 draw against West Ham United on 18 September which included the side's first goal in 524 minutes of play,[30] the Saints found themselves in the relegation zone just one point above bottom-placed Fulham.

[31] A surprise 2–1 away win over recently-relegated Manchester United started off a drastic improvement in form, during which time they also picked up three consecutive victories over fellow strugglers Sheffield Wednesday (5–2), Stockport County (4–1) and Barnsley (2–0).

[29] Immediately after this, however, the team went on an unbeaten run of eight games, which included five victories (over Bradford, Blackburn Rovers, Barnsley, Luton Town and Newcastle United).

[34] Following this, however, the Saints would pick up just two more wins and one draw from their last nine fixtures, which included a third 0–5 defeat of the campaign – this time against Tottenham Hotspur – as well as two 0–4 losses against Coventry City and Plymouth Argyle.