Southampton shares a long-standing South Coast derby rivalry with Portsmouth, in part due to geographic proximity and both cities' respective maritime histories.

For the start of their League career, Saints signed several new players on professional contracts, including Charles Baker, Alf Littlehales and Lachie Thomson from Stoke and Fred Hollands from Millwall.

Reaching those finals gave Southampton recognition, even internationally: in 1909, an Athletic Bilbao representative who played for affiliated team Atlético Madrid purchased 50 Saints shirts during a trip to England, which were shared between the two squads.

Although Keegan's Southampton career only lasted two years, Saints fielded an attractive side also containing Alan Ball, prolific goal-scorer Ted MacDougall, (who still holds the record for the largest number of goals in an FA Cup game – nine – for Bournemouth against Margate in an 11–0 win), MacDougall's strike partner at Bournemouth and Norwich City, Phil Boyer, club stalwart Mick Channon and Charlie George and in 1980–81 they scored 76 goals, finishing in sixth place, then their highest league finish.

Southampton continued to progress under McMenemy's stewardship, and with a team containing Peter Shilton (the England goalkeeper), Nick Holmes, David Armstrong, striker Steve Moran and quick winger Danny Wallace reached their highest ever league finish as runners-up in 1983–84[11] (three points behind the champions Liverpool) as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup losing 1–0 to Everton at Highbury.

McMenemy left at the end of the 1984–85 season to be succeeded by Chris Nicholl, who was sacked after six years in charge despite preserving the club's top flight status.

Another exciting young player to break into the Southampton team just after Le Tissier was Alan Shearer, who at the age of 17 scored a hat-trick against Arsenal in a league match in April 1988.

Souness resigned after just one season in charge, being replaced by Dave Jones who had won promotion to Division One with Stockport County as well as reaching the League Cup semi-finals.

Hoddle helped keep Southampton well clear of the Premier League drop zone but having received an offer he moved to Tottenham Hotspur just before the end of the 2000–01 season.

Gray was sacked after a poor start to the following season, and he was replaced by ex-Coventry City manager Gordon Strachan, who steered Southampton to safety and a secure 11th-place finish.

Chairman Rupert Lowe risked the ire of Saints fans when he appointed Harry Redknapp as manager on 8 December 2004, just after his resignation at South Coast rivals Portsmouth.

[13] Lowe and Southampton continued to make headlines after former England Rugby World Cup-winning coach Sir Clive Woodward joined the club—eventually being appointed technical director in June 2005.

Rupert Lowe resigned as chairman in June 2006, and Jersey-based businessman Michael Wilde, who had become the club's major shareholder assumed the post.

Following a club record £6 million being spent on transfers, Polish strikers Grzegorz Rasiak and Marek Saganowski performed well and the season saw the introduction of 17-year-old left-back Gareth Bale.

Although Pearson kept the team up, the board did not renew his contract due to financial constraints, and the relatively unknown Dutchman Jan Poortvliet was appointed manager.

Financial troubles continued to mount, resulting in more players being sold or loaned out and parts of St Mary's were closed off to reduce costs.

A 10-point penalty was imposed, but as the team was already being relegated due to finishing second from bottom of the Football League Championship this points deduction had to apply to the 2009–10 season.

[21] The Saints made their first big signing under Liebherr, striker Rickie Lambert, who was purchased on 10 August from League One side Bristol Rovers.

[34][35][36][37][38] In the final game of the 2014–15 season, a 6–1 victory against Aston Villa, Sadio Mané scored three goals in the space of 176 seconds, the fastest hat-trick in the history of the Premier League.

[52] Southampton suffered their worst ever defeat on 25 October 2019, losing 9–0 to Leicester City at home, this would later be replicated on 2 February 2021 against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the following campaign, albeit under different circumstances.

Despite a poor start that saw them in the relegation zone as late as November, Southampton improved greatly as the season went on, ending the year with a seven-game unbeaten streak to finish 11th in the league.

However, despite the outstanding start to the season, a mid-season loss of form and an accumulation of injuries which decimated the senior squad ranks, due in part to the unavailability of much of the club's training facilities resulting from the restrictions imposed during the second lockdown in England.

[63][64] After having served as caretaker manager in a 1–0 victory over Chelsea, Rubén Sellés, who had joined Southampton as first-team lead coach in June 2022, was announced as Jones's replacement on 24 February on a contract until the end of the 2022–23 season.

[77] On 13 May 2010, the official crest for the 125th anniversary was released: "The black outline and halo feature will now appear in gold, whilst the all important years 1885 and 2010 are scripted either side of the shield, with the figure 125 replacing the ball".

[82] Other sponsors have been Air Florida (1983),[83] Draper Tools (1984–93),[84] Dimplex (1993–95),[83] Sanderson (1995–99),[85] Friends Provident (1999–2006),[86] Flybe (2006–10),[87] aap3 (2011–14),[88] Veho (2014–16),[89] Virgin Media (2016–19),[90] LD Sports (2019–20),[91] and Sportsbet.io (2020–24).

[9] The purpose-built stadium was redeveloped a number of times through its 103-year history, with two of the stands being completely rebuilt after fires and in 1950 it became the first ground in England to have permanent floodlighting installed.

[9] Following the Taylor report, The Dell was converted to an all-seater stadium and, with a capacity of approximately 15,000, became the smallest ground in England's top-flight, precipitating a move to a new home.

Against Blackpool, 28 January 2023 Highest transfer fees Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply.

[140] The FA's Sheldon Review, published in March 2021,[141] identified failures to act adequately on complaints or rumours of sexual abuse at clubs including Southampton.

Southampton issued a deep apology, admitting it had "completely failed to protect so many young people from suffering abuse over a long period of time".