The 2008–09 season was

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

's fourth consecutive season in

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, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

and their fourth also in the Championship.

Season summary

Having narrowly avoided relegation the previous season, Southampton looked to improve their position in the league in 2008–09. The season was even more disappointing, however, as the Saints finished second from bottom to be relegated to League One, which they would start with a ten-point deduction as a result of its parent company,

Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC Southampton Leisure Holdings Public Limited Company, PLC was the parent company of Southampton F.C., Southampton Football Club Ltd and was listed on the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange. The company was placed into adminis ...

, entering

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

. The season was equally unsatisfactory in the cup tournaments, as the club were knocked out of both the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and the League Cup in the third round, losing 0–3 to

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

champions

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and 1–3 to League Two side

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. The season was worsened still by a change in management – head coach

Jan Poortvliet Jan Poortvliet (; born 21 September 1955) is a Dutch professional association football, football coach and a former player who played as a left-back. He works as the coach of the Under-18 squad of FC Eindhoven He represented the Netherlands nati ...

resigned from the club on 23 January 2009, and youth academy manager

Mark Wotte Mark Christian Wotte (born 16 December 1960) is a Dutch football manager and former player. Wotte has managed teams in the Netherlands, Egypt, Qatar, England and Romania, and has also worked for the Scottish Football Association. Playing career ...

took over for the remainder of the season.

Championship

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points

Season summary

Championship

FA Cup

League Cup

Squad statistics

Transfers

In

Out

Loan in

Loan out

References