When Frank Worthington left after one season to join Brighton & Hove Albion, the club signed Scottish striker Joe Jordan from Italian side Hellas Verona as his replacement.

Later in the season, the club brought in Andy Townsend, George Lawrence and Jimmy Case, while Steve Williams, Reuben Agboola and Ian Juryeff departed.

The Saints started their league campaign poorly, dropping to the bottom of the table by picking up just one point from their first four games, before embarking on a 14-game unbeaten run to break into the top five.

First, striker Frank Worthington departed after one successful season, following an incident which led to him falling out with manager Lawrie McMenemy; he moved to Brighton & Hove Albion in the Second Division.

[1] In August, centre-back Ken Armstrong also left after just one year with the club, sold to recently relegated Birmingham City;[2] and out-of-favour forward Martin Foyle moved to local Fourth Division side Aldershot for a fee of £10,000.

According to club historians, Wise had previously been fined by McMenemy for his involvement in a "nightclub incident" with Agboola; he then, according to his own autobiography, "overplayed his hand, upon his return to the fold, in attempting to bid-up his apprentice's wages", which led to his departure shortly thereafter.

[24] Another repeat from the season before saw Oxford United host the Saints, which ended in a 3–0 victory for the top flight side, which was followed by a 1–2 defeat at Orient and a 1–0 win over Reading.

[25] After they signed Kevin Bond at the end of September, the team's defensive record improved and they picked up a number of key wins to start moving up the league table.

[29] In the final few games of the run, regular starters Mark Wright and Steve Williams had been dropped following a "dressing room brawl" at half-time during a League Cup tie.

[28] Over the Christmas period, Southampton dropped to ninth in the table after a string of poor results, including two home defeats against Watford and Sheffield Wednesday.

[29] The Saints picked up their biggest win of the campaign the next month, as they beat Queens Park Rangers (who would end the season avoiding relegation by just one point) 4–0 with goals from Joe Jordan, David Armstrong, Danny Wallace and Steve Moran.

[30] As they set their sights on a place in the next season's UEFA Cup, Southampton went on a short unbeaten run of five games in April, during which time they picked up vital wins over mid-table sides Luton Town (a 1–0 victory in which Wallace scored the only goal), Leicester City (an "end-to-end" contest which ended 3–1) and Aston Villa (a 2–0 win which featured the Football League debut of midfielder Andy Townsend).

[33] The last four games of the season included two wins – over relegation-fighting Ipswich Town and Coventry City – a final day 1–1 draw with runners-up Liverpool, and a 0–1 defeat to Arsenal.

However, due to the subsequent banning of English sides from UEFA competitions in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster, the club would not play in Europe until the 2003–04 season nearly 20 years later.

[39] Alan Curtis doubled the hosts' lead a minute before half time, taking advantage of a slip by Black Cats goalkeeper Chris Turner and chipping in for 2–0.

[40] Barnsley almost went ahead early on through young striker Steve Agnew, but it was the hosts who opened the scoring after a spell which saw six corners in 15 minutes, the last of which was converted by Moran from close range.

In the first leg at The Dell, the First Division hosts edged the fixture 3–2, with Steve Moran scoring a goal in each half, either side of a Joe Jordan header just before the hour mark.

Despite the home advantage, the side were almost knocked out of the competition, trailing 1–2 for almost all of the second half; in the penultimate minute of the game, however, Danny Wallace converted a close range effort to force a replay.

[42] This time, the hosts took full advantage of the setting, thrashing Southampton 4–0 to prevent them from making it past the fourth round for the sixth consecutive season – goals came from Gary Waddock, Warren Neill and Fenwick (two).

In the first leg at home, the Saints were held to a goalless draw against the German visitors; after the game, manager Lawrie McMenemy commented that "We had the chances, but we didn't knock them in".