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 ...

is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based in

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 ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. Founded in 1885 as St Mary's YMA, they became a professional club in 1891, and co-founded the Southern League in 1894. Southampton won the Southern League championship six times between 1896 and 1904, and were later elected to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in 1920 as co-founders of the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

. The Saints finished as runners-up in their first season, and the following year received promotion to the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

champions. The club first entered the First Division in 1966, and currently play in its modern-day counterpart, the

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 ...

. Southampton won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

in 1976, reached the final of the League Cup in 1979 and 2017, and won the League Trophy in 2010. The Southampton Player of the Season award is voted for annually by the club's supporters, who send their choice of player to the ''

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, o ...

'', a local newspaper. Since its inception in 1973, 41 different players have won the award. Six of these players have received the accolade for a second time, and to date only

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional footballer. Born in Guernsey, he won eight caps for the England national team. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton before turning to non ...

has won the award for a third time. Three players have won in consecutive seasons, 29 winners have represented their country at international level, and one winner ( Alan Ball) has gone on to become the club's manager. The most recent winner of the award, for the 2020–21 season, is midfielder

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

. In recent years, the club has also presented its own Player of the Season award, alongside other end-of-season accolades. The most recent winner of the club-run Fans' Player of the Season award is Ward-Prowse, who was also named Players' Player of the Season.

Danny Ings Daniel William John Ings (born 23 July 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Aston Villa. Ings started his career in the youth team of Southampton but was released as a schoolboy. He subsequently joined ...

won Goal of the Season, Nathan Tella won Young Player of the Season, and

Stuart Armstrong Stuart Armstrong (born 30 March 1992) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Southampton and the Scotland national team. Armstrong began his professional career with Dundee United, making his debut in 2010 and ...

received the President's Choice Award. In the

Southampton Academy Southampton Academy is a small, private school located in Courtland, Virginia. Southampton Academy, also known locally as "SA" provides education for students from pre-kindergarten through the 12th grade. Southampton Academy was founded in 1969 ...

, Will Tizzard won Scholar of the Year. For Southampton Women, Ella Pusey was named Fans' Player of the Season, Kayla Rendell won Players' Player of the Season, Rachel Panting won Goal of the Season, and Sara Luce received the Southampton Way Award. For the Girls' Regional Talent Club, Ellie Head won Player of the Season.

Table key

Winners

''Southern Daily Echo'' award

Southampton F.C. award

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Southampton F.C. official website
{{Lists of football players in England Player of the Season Association football player of the year awards by club in England Association football player non-biographical articles