[3] After narrowly missing out on promotion to the First Division during the previous season, Southampton looked to build on their squad with two big signings in the summer of 1949: winger Ernie Jones for £6,000 (plus Alf Ramsey) from Tottenham Hotspur,[4] followed by Jack Edwards for £10,000 from Nottingham Forest.

[11] The new manager continued to sign players throughout the season, adding Bryn Elliott, Bill Molloy and Tom Lowder in October 1949,[12][13][14] followed by right-back Alex Anderson, and inside-forwards Jimmy McGowan and Ernie Stevenson in early 1950 (the last of whom the Saints paid Cardiff City a "five-figure fee" for, as well as sending Wilf Grant to the club).

[19] After dropping to seventh in the table following two losses in January, Southampton picked up wins over Bury and Sheffield United in February to return to the top five, with mixed fortunes over their next few games seeing them climb and fall between fourth and sixth.

[20] After a joint-record season loss of 0–4 against leaders Tottenham, the Saints boosted their squad with the additions of forwards Jimmy McGowan and Ernie Stevenson, both of whom played central roles in the last run of fixtures.

[21] After the break, Northampton sought to take advantage of the reduced Saints (who also lost Eric Webber towards the end), coming close to going in front on numerous occasions but for the Southampton defence and the crossbar; ultimately, the game finished level, and a replay was scheduled.

[21] With a depleted first team due to injuries, Southampton struggled to gain a hold on the home replay against Northampton, with the visiting Cobblers enjoying the majority of possession and goal-scoring chances in the opening 45 minutes.