Southampton’s trophy history has remained modest since the Saints lifted their first piece of silverware in 1897 and have seldom touched a major honour to date.
Indeed, much of the St Mary’s Stadium side’s successes so far even came during the club’s infancy when Southampton dominated the Southern League.
Southampton first raised the Southern League title in 1896/97 and won it again in five of the following seven seasons. Yet silverware has seldom reached Southampton’s trophy cabinet in the years since.
No top-flight or second-tier titles have also headed Southampton’s way to date, with their only trophies so far coming in the third-tier of English football or domestic cup competitions.
Southampton have won the FA Cup once
After years of frustrations, an FA Cup winners’ medal and the famous old trophy finally went to Southampton in 1976 after beating Manchester United in the final.
The Saints also beat Aston Villa, Blackpool, West Bromwich Albion, Bradford City and Crystal Palace on their way to Wembley where a highly-favoured Red Devils side awaited them.
Manchester United were also a top-flight team, compared to Southampton putting a second-tier side in the FA Cup final. But the Saints produced one of the biggest FA Cup upsets ever with a slender 1-0 victory thanks to a Bobby Stokes strike in the 83rd minute.
It was the first – and so far only – time that the Saints have won the FA Cup or a major trophy in general in one of the best days of Southampton’s history as a club.
List of Southampton’s FA Cup trophies:
1975/76 (beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final)
Southampton’s all-time FA Cup final record:
1899/00 (lost 4-0 to Bury in the final)
1901/02 (lost 2-1 to Sheffield United in a replayed final)
1975/76 (beat Manchester United 1-0 in the final)
2002/03 (lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the final)
Southampton have won eight league titles
While the St Mary’s outfit have never yet been crowned as English top-flight champions in their history, Southampton have won several lower division championships. The Saints have also secured promotion multiple times as runners-up or through the play-offs to date.
The closest that Southampton came to winning the top-flight title was in 1983/84 when they finished as the runners-up to Liverpool. It is still the Saints’ highest-ever league finish and saw them miss out on glory by three points through draws after both sides won 22 of their 42 games.
Southampton also boast a number of minor league titles, including six Southern League trophies and two old Division Three honours.
List of Southampton’s league trophies:
1896/97 (Southern League champions)
1897/98
1898/99
1900/01
1902/03
1903/04
1921/22 (Division Three, South champions)
1959/60 (Division Three champions)
List of Southampton’s non-champion promotions:
1965/66 (Division Two, runners-up)
1977/78 (Division Two, runners-up)
2010/11 (EFL League One, runners-up)
2011/12 (EFL Championship, runners-up)
2023/24 (EFL Championship, play-offs – beat Leeds United 1-0 in the final)
Southampton have never won the English Football League Cup
Southampton are one of the many clubs to have reached at least one EFL Cup final but fail to win the trophy to date.
The Saints’ first appearance in the EFL Cup final came in 1979 against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest side. But while Southampton went 1-0 up at Wembley, they found themselves 3-1 behind with just seven minutes to go. Nick Holmes gave Southampton hope of earning a replay with a goal in the 88th minute but it wasn’t to be for Lawrie McMenemy’s men.
Southampton then waited 38 years to play in the League Cup final again, only to lose by another 3-2 scoreline. The Saints came from 2-0 down to level things up against Manchester United thanks to a Manolo Gabbiadini brace. But Zlatan Ibrahimovic broke Southampton’s hearts when he clinched a late winner for the Red Devils.
Southampton EFL Cup trophy record:
1978/79 (lost to Nottingham Forest 3-2 in the final)
2016/17 (lost to Manchester United 3-2 in the final)
The Saints have won the Football League Trophy once
With few titles in Southampton’s trophy history, their success in the 2010 Football League Trophy – or the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy as it was called back then – features prominently.
The Saints beat Carlisle United at Wembley with future Premier League stars Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana and Michail Antonio all getting on the scoresheet – Papa Waigo was the other scorer that day.
The win even marked Southampton’s first title from any cup competition since lifting the 1976 FA Cup.
List of Southampton’s Football League Trophy titles:
2009/10 (beat Carlisle United 4-1 in the final)
Southampton have never won a European trophy
It may not come as a shock to read that Southampton are yet to win any sort of trophy in European football.
But the highlights of the Saints’ continental efforts include reaching the 1976/77 European Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final and qualifying for the group stage of the 2016/17 Europa League, where they finished above Inter Milan in Group K.
Overall, Southampton have competed in the UEFA Cup or Europa League seven times to date and also played in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup and the Texaco Cup, along with the aforementioned European Cup Winners’ Cup.
Southampton’s European highlights:
1974/75 Texaco Cup – lost 3-1 to Newcastle United on aggregate in the final
1976/77 European Cup Winners’ Cup – lost 3-2 to RSC Anderlecht on aggregate in the quarter-finals
2016/17 UEFA Europa League – finished third in Group K with eight points