Southampton

Southampton Football Club was founded in 1885 as the St Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association football team. They are still known as 'The Saints' today. On joining the Southern League in 1894, the team became known as 'Southampton St Mary's' and then, after winning the league in 1897, they became a limited company known simply as Southampton FC.

Early matches were played on the common, or occasionally at the local Antelope and County Cricket Grounds that could accommodate larger crowds, but, in 1898, after securing their second Southern League title, the Saints finally moved to their own ground, the Dell. The Dell would remain the club's home until 2001 when they moved to their current ground, St Mary's Stadium.  

The move to the Dell came at a highly successful time for the club, who won the Southern League Championship six times between 1897 and 1904. Southampton joined Football League Division Three in 1920, winning promotion within two years and marking their intent to become a real force in the British game.

Southampton's history has involved real highs and lows, from their solitary FA Cup win in 1976 under Lawrie McMenemy, to entering administration in 2009 and receiving a ten-point deduction, resulting in relegation to the third tier of English football for the first time since 1960. 

Arguably, however, this relegation to League One brought about Southampton's greatest achievement, with the club securing back to back promotions in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 under Nigel Adkins to secure a famous return to the Premier League.

Throughout their history, Southampton have had a reputation for producing exceptional young players and they can count current international stars Gareth Bale and Theo Walcott amongst their academy products. One of the club's favourite sons is Matt Le Tissier who, unlike Bale and Walcott, opted to stay with the Saints for his whole career, scoring 209 goals in 540 appearances between 1986 and 2002. Le Tissier is the club's second top scorer behind Mick Channon, who scored 228 goals in his two spells at the Dell between the late 1960s and early 1980s. 

In terms of appearances, Terry Paine is head and shoulders above any other Southampton player, having made 815 appearances in his 18 seasons with the club between 1957 and 1974. Paine's standing at the club was confirmed when he was made Honorary President in 2013. 

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