During the 1995–96 English football season,

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play in ...

competed in the

FA Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

Season summary

Amidst rumours of lack of support from the board, Alan Ball was lured to

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the summer of 1995 and Southampton turned to long-serving coach

David Merrington David Robert Merrington (born 26 January 1945) is an English former professional footballer who later worked as a commentator for BBC Radio Solent. Playing career Merrington played for Burnley, appearing in 98 league games (1 goal), including ...

to take charge of the team in 1995–96. Southampton finished 17th with 38 league points, avoiding relegation on goal difference. Two important wins during the final weeks of the season did much to ensure that Saints achieved Premiership survival and relegating Manchester City. First came a 3–1 home win over eventual double winners

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, then came a 1–0 away win over relegated

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club () is a professional football club based in Horwich, Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in . The club played at Burnden Park for 102 years from 1895 after moving from their original home at Pike's ...

. Despite achieving survival, Merrington was then sacked as manager after just one season and replaced by

Graeme Souness Graeme James Souness (; born 6 May 1953) is a Scottish former professional football player and manager, and current TV pundit. A midfielder, Souness was the captain of the successful Liverpool team of the early 1980s, player-manager of Ranger ...

, who had won silverware earlier in his managerial career with Rangers and

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Final league table

Results

''Southampton's score comes first''

Legend

FA Premier League

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad

Left club during the season

Reserve squad

Transfers

In

Out

:Transfers in: £1,000,000 :Transfers out: £115,000 :Total spending: £885,000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1995-96 Southampton F.C. season Southampton F.C. seasons

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...