Southampton FC, is an English football club from the city of Southampton, Hampshire, founded in 1885. Originally  known as St. Mary's Young Men's Association F.C. (usually abbreviated to "St. Mary's Y.M.A.") before becoming simply St. Mary's F.C. in 1887–88, the club adopted the name Southampton St. Mary's after joining  the Southern League in 1894. Having won the Southern League title in 1896–97, the club became a limited company and changed their name to Southampton F.C. They won the Southern League championship for three years running between 1897 and 1899 and again in 1901, 1903 and 1904. That success spanned some major changes for the club as they moved to a newly-built £10,000 stadium called The Dell, to the North West of the city centre in 1898 which would be their home for the next 103 years. Southampton reached the first of their four FA Cup Finals in 1900 lossing 4–0 to Bury.  Two years later they would lose 2-1  in a replay to Sheffield United.. Southampton joined the newly-formed Third Division in 1920 which split into South and North sections a year later. The 1921–22 season ended in triumph with promotion and marked the beginning of a 31-year stay in the Second Division.  The club finally reached the top tier of English football for the first time in 1966 when Ted Bates’ team were promoted as runners-up, with Martin Chivers scoring 30 of the club’s  85 league goals. Southampton stayed among the elite for eight years (finishing as high as seventh in 1968–69 and again in 1970–71). In December 1973, long term manager Ted Bates stood down to be replaced by Lawrie McMenemy who was unable to prevent Southampton becoming the first victims of the new 3-down relegation system in 1974. 

Under Lawrie McMenemy's management, Sothampton  started to rebuild, securing the services of such as Peter Osgood, Jim McCalliog, Jim Steele and Peter Rodrigues (captain) and their greatest moment came in 1976, when they defeated favourites Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup final. Southampton were founding members of the Premiership in 1992–93, having played in the top flight of English football since their return in 1978.  They managed to reach another cup final in 2002-03 under Gordon Strachan losing 0-1 to Arsenal.  

After twenty-seven years in the top flight, Southampton were relegated at the end of the 2003-04 season.  On 23 April 2009, Southampton were handed a 10 point deduction, following their parent company going into administration. This deduction ensured that Southampton were relegated from the Football League Championship and began the 2009-10 season in League One (the third tier) with a 10-point deduction.  An amazing turn around in the club’s fortunes saw them return to the top tier of English football at the end of the 2011-12 season where they have remained for a decade despite continually losing star players to other clubs.  This run came to an end with a succession of managers unable to prevent relegation after a home loss to Fulham in May 2023.