With Nicholl's departure came a busy transfer period, as players including brothers Ray and Rod Wallace, Jimmy Case, Steve Davis and Paul Rideout all left the club.

In the Full Members' Cup – the last before the tournament was discontinued – the Saints beat Second Division sides Bristol City and Plymouth Argyle, then league rivals Chelsea, before losing in their first and only final appearance to Nottingham Forest.

[1] He was also credited for giving debuts to several successful players at a young age, including Matt Le Tissier, Alan Shearer, Francis Benali, and brothers Ray and Rod Wallace.

[2] Nicholl was replaced in the summer of 1991 by Ian Branfoot, who had previously worked as a coach at Southampton between 1977 and 1983, before having a successful five-year spell as manager of Reading in the Second and Third Divisions.

[3] Ahead of Branfoot's arrival, brothers Ray and Rod Wallace both left Southampton, after having unsuccessfully requested transfers several times during the previous season.

[6] In dismissing a player described by club historians as "a favourite of the fans",[3] this decision has been identified by commentators as one of the primary early reasons for the supporters' disapproval of Branfoot as manager.

[9][10] Centre-back Steve Davis, who had struggled to break into Southampton's first team, also left in August to join Fourth Division side and former loan club Burnley.

The pre-season period started in July with five straight wins, as the Saints beat a Kuwait Olympic XI 5–0, Third Division side Exeter City 3–0, South Western League club Torpoint Athletic 5–3, Plymouth Argyle of the Second Division 2–1, and another South Western League side, Bodmin Town, 5–0 (the final match saw Alan Shearer score a hat-trick).

[28] The final two pre-season friendlies included a 4–1 win over Bournemouth for Brian Tiler's testimonial and their only loss, a 0–1 defeat at home to Spanish side Real Sociedad.

[28] Ian Branfoot's debut season with Southampton started poorly, as they faced two marginal defeats in their opening fixtures, losing 2–3 at home to Tottenham Hotspur and 0–1 at Notts County, who had recently been promoted from the Second Division.

[30] An undefeated October saw the South Coast side draw 1–1 with Oldham Athletic and 0–0 with Norwich City, before picking up an unexpected 3–1 away win at Nottingham Forest, with Matt Le Tissier scoring his first double of the season.

[32] Despite being at the bottom of the league table, Southampton embarked on a winning streak in March which saw them pick up six victories in a row – the first time they had done so since the early stages of the 1964–65 season.

Southampton entered the 1991–92 FA Cup in the third round against Queens Park Rangers, a First Division side who were sitting 13th in the league table before the game – nine positions ahead of the Saints.

[35] QPR came close to scoring on numerous occasions in the second half, including a late penalty for a foul by Jason Dodd, but goalkeeper Tim Flowers kept the attacks at bay to keep the 2–0 win safe.

[35] Stuart Gray put the visiting Saints ahead within ten minutes with his only goal for the club, before Shearer doubled their lead with a header from a Le Tissier free kick; Andrei Kanchelskis pulled one back for the hosts just before the break.

[35] After half-time, United increased the pressure on Southampton's goal and finally scored an equaliser in stoppage time at the end of the game, when Brian McClair converted "the flukiest of chances".

Despite chances for both sides to score during each half, it remained goalless as both teams played defensively to avoid letting in a goal – club historians report that the game was described by commentators as "drab".

[38] The club faced Sheffield Wednesday in the third round, drawing 1–1 at Hillsborough Stadium before beating the newly-promoted First Division side 1–0 in the replay thanks to a Barry Horne header.

[38] In the final Full Members' Cup before the tournament was discontinued, Southampton entered the second round against Bristol City of the Second Division, winning 2–1 thanks to second-half goals from Alan Shearer and Matt Le Tissier.

[39] In the area semi-finals, Southampton beat fellow First Division relegation risks West Ham United 2–1 at home, with a Shearer header followed in the last five minutes by a winning Le Tissier penalty.

The first was a friendly with the Saudi Arabia national team less than a month after the start of the league, which the visiting Saints lost 2–5 with their goals coming from Matt Le Tissier and Neil Maddison.