The 1994–95 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 94th season of competitive football, their 25th in the top flight of English football, and their third in the FA Premier League. After two seasons finishing just two positions and one point above the relegation zone, Southampton's first and only full season with Alan Ball as manager saw them achieve 10th place in the league – their highest position since the 1989–90 season. The club also improved their form in both the FA Cup and the League Cup, reaching the fifth round in the former (for the first time since 1991–92) and the third round in the latter.
Having brought in several new players in the wake of his arrival halfway through the previous season, Ball made only two signings ahead of the 1994–95 season, adding defender Peter Whiston and goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar. Several players were released, including Kevin Moore, Ian Andrews, Steve Wood and Colin Cramb. During the campaign, the club bolstered its attacking force by spending just over £2.5 million on strikers Neil Shipperley and Gordon Watson, while players such as Nicky Banger, Iain Dowie and Jeff Kenna were also sold. The result was a marked improvement on the previous season, as the Saints enjoyed spells of good form both early and later on in the campaign, remaining clear of the relegation zone for the majority of the time.
In the FA Cup, Southampton faced First Division opposition in the third and fourth rounds, beating Southend United 2–0 before facing Luton Town. After a 1–1 draw away, the Saints hosted the replay and thrashed Luton 6–0, their biggest win of the season. In their first fifth round tie in three years, the club hosted FA Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur. After holding them to a 2–2 draw for 90 minutes, they conceded four goals from Spurs in extra time to lose 2–6, marking their heaviest defeat in the tournament since 1910. In the League Cup, Southampton beat Huddersfield Town of the Second Division 5–0 in the second round on aggregate, before facing elimination at the hands of fellow top-flight side Sheffield Wednesday, to whom they lost 0–1.
Southampton used 27 players during the 1994–95 season and had 14 different goalscorers. Matt Le Tissier finished as the season's top scorer for the third year in a row with 29 goals, including 19 in the FA Premier League and five in each cup. Jim Magilton made the most appearances for the club during the campaign, playing in every game across all three competitions. At the end of the year, Le Tissier became the first (and to date only) player to win the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award a third time, as well as the third to win it in consecutive seasons. The average league attendance at The Dell in 1994–95 was 14,685. The highest attendance was 15,210 against Queens Park Rangers in April; the lowest was 12,032 against Huddersfield in October.
Background and transfers
Southampton signed Bruce Grobbelaar from Liverpool on a free transfer in the summer of 1994. He spent 1994–95 as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.Another summer signing was trainee striker Steve Basham, who would later make the step up to the first team and play 20 times for the Saints.
Having signed a number of players the previous season after taking over as manager in January 1994, Alan Ball made only two first-team signings in the summer ahead of the 1994–95 season: centre-back Peter Whiston arrived from Ball's previous club Exeter City for £30,000,[1] while Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar arrived on a free transfer.[2] Leaving on free transfers in the summer were centre-backs Kevin Moore, who reunited with former Saints manager Ian Branfoot at recently relegated Third Division side Fulham,[3] and Steve Wood, who moved to Oxford United, who had recently been relegated to the Second Division.[4] During the early stages of the campaign, Colin Cramb – who had made just one substitute appearance since being signed ahead of the previous season – was sold to Falkirk,[5] while out-of-favour goalkeeper Ian Andrews moved to Bournemouth for £20,000.[6] September also saw the arrival of Danish winger Ronnie Ekelund, who joined from Spanish champions Barcelona on loan, with the option for a permanent move for a fee of £500,000.[7]
^Steve Basham initially joined as a trainee in July 1994, before turning professional in May 1996.[17]
^Duncan Spedding initially joined as a trainee in July 1994, before turning professional in May 1996.[18]
Pre-season friendlies
Ahead of the 1994–95 campaign, Southampton played ten pre-season friendlies. They started their pre-season preparations with a short tour of Northern Ireland, during which they beat Ards 3–1 and Cliftonville 2–1, before losing 1–2 at reigning Irish League champions Linfield.[19] Back in England in early August, the Saints beat Second Division side Leyton Orient and First Division side Luton Town 2–1.[19] The FA Premier League side concluded the pre-season period with a tour of the Netherlands and Belgium featuring five friendlies against local opponents – after victories over ARC (4–1) and Nuenen (6–1, including four goals for Craig Maskell), the Saints lost 2–3 at Belgian side Royal Antwerp, followed by marginal defeats at Cambuur (1–2) and Telstar (0–1) back in Holland.[19]
In his first and only full season in charge, Alan Ball led Southampton to a 10th-place finish in the FA Premier League – their best in the top flight since 1990, and the best they would achieve until 2000–01.
Southampton started the 1994–95 season with four fixtures against top opposition: opening week 1–1 draws with the previous season's league runners-up Blackburn Rovers and League Cup winners Aston Villa were followed by a 1–5 loss at third-place finishers Newcastle United (their heaviest league defeat of the whole campaign) and a 0–2 home defeat to Liverpool.[20] The Saints picked up their first victory a couple of weeks later with a late 2–1 win over Tottenham Hotspur, which was followed after another 1–1 draw (with Nottingham Forest) by three consecutive wins over teams slated for potential relegation: 3–1 against Coventry City, 3–1 over Ipswich Town, and 2–0 against Everton.[20][21] Danish centre-back Ronnie Ekelund, who arrived on loan from Barcelona before the Nottingham game, made his full debut against Coventry and scored in each of the three wins.[20][21]
After three straight wins which put them 7th in the league table,[22] the Saints suffered three consecutive defeats as they lost 3–4 at Leicester City (who had been recently promoted from the First Division), 0–2 at West Ham United, and 1–3 at home to title challengers Leeds United (in which two goals were scored by former Saint Rod Wallace).[21] The team rescued a point in their next game against Norwich City when a penultimate-minute penalty by Matt Le Tissier secured a 1–1 draw, with a visit to Manchester City the next week ending in a 3–3 draw in which Ekelund scored his last two goals during his loan spell.[21] Southampton faced Arsenal at home in their next game, which was their first match since allegations emerged that goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar had been involved in match fixing; Grobbelaar played the match and kept a clean sheet, as the Saints won 1–0.[21]
It would take another month for Southampton to win again after Arsenal, when a last-minute Le Tissier free kick gave the South Coast side all three points against Aston Villa the week before Christmas.[23] After a 2–3 loss at home to Wimbledon on Boxing Day, the Saints dropped slowly down the table with a run of seven straight draws, ending up 15th by the middle of February.[24] Results in this spell included a 2–2 draw with reigning league champions Manchester United, a goalless draw with Leeds United featuring the debut of new striker Neil Shipperley, and a 2–2 draw at Norwich City which set the new club record for consecutive draws.[23][25] After a loss at Ipswich Town and two more draws (against Coventry City and West Ham United), the Saints dropped into the relegation zone for the first time all season with a 0–3 loss at title challengers Nottingham Forest.[23]
After three months without a win, the Saints finally picked up their seventh victory of the season when they beat Newcastle United 3–1 at The Dell, scoring all three goals in the last seven minutes of the game (two of which were in injury time) to reverse an early deficit.[25] The team followed this with their first back-to-back win since the previous October, when they edged out 7th-placed Tottenham Hotspur 4–3 to climb out of the drop zone again.[25] After a 1–3 defeat at Liverpool, the Saints won another three games in a row, beating mid-table side Chelsea 2–0 at Stamford Bridge, Queens Park Rangers 2–1 at The Dell, and Wimbledon 2–0 at Selhurst Park.[26] The club extended their unbeaten run to five games with a goalless draw against Sheffield Wednesday, a 3–1 win over Crystal Palace and a goalless draw at Everton, which resulted in them climbing to 10th place in the FA Premier League table.[27] This position was confirmed after a 1–2 defeat at Old Trafford by Manchester United, who were chasing a third consecutive league title, and a 2–2 final day draw with Leicester City, who had already been relegated back to the First Division.[26]
Southampton started their 1994–95 FA Cup run in the third round against First Division mid-table side Southend United. The Saints went ahead in the first minute of the game, when Neil Heaney headed in his first goal for the club.[28]Matt Le Tissier put the FA Premier League side two up just before half time, with Southend unable to respond in the second half and the top-flight side progressing.[28] In the fourth round, the Saints faced another First Division club, Luton Town, who had reached the semi-finals of the tournament the season before.[29] Despite dominating the first half, the second-flight hosts conceded first on 53 minutes when Neil Shipperley scored his first goal for the club he had joined just a few weeks earlier, converting a cross from Heaney.[29] Southampton came close to doubling their lead and saw an equaliser prevented by goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, who saved a "dubious" penalty with around 20 minutes left to play.[29] Luton did eventually equalise, nine minutes before the end, through Wayne Biggins.[29] Despite a tough initial tie, Southampton eased past Luton in the replay at The Dell – they went into half-time 4–0 up against the First Division visitors, as Le Tissier opened the scoring in the sixth minute and scored a penalty in the 36th, while Jim Magilton and Heaney also got goals before the break.[29] Second-half strikes from Ken Monkou and David Hughes secured Southampton's biggest win of the season.[30]
In the fifth round, Southampton travelled to face Tottenham Hotspur, who were sixth in the FA Premier League table.[30] The lower-ranked Saints "took control right from the start" and almost went ahead when Le Tissier hit the crossbar in the 10th minute, but it was Spurs who opened the scoring ten minutes later through German striker Jürgen Klinsmann.[30] Within a minute, however, the visitors were level when Le Tissier scored a penalty awarded for a foul of Jeff Kenna.[30] The club's leading scorer came close to picking up a winner later in the first period, before the Saints defended in the second half and settled for a draw.[30] In the home replay, Southampton went 2–0 up in the first half through a 5th-minute Shipperley strike and another Le Tissier penalty – his third of the season against Spurs goalkeeper Ian Walker.[30] Despite the hosts' domination of the first half, Ronny Rosenthal scored two goals in quick succession soon after the break to bring Tottenham even.[31] The tie subsequently went to extra time, when the visitors asserted their dominance and quickly racked up four extra goals within the space of just 18 minutes – after Rosenthal completed his hat-trick, Teddy Sheringham, Nick Barmby and Darren Anderton all took advantage of Southampton's attempts to counter-attack, becoming the first team to score six past the Saints in the FA Cup since Manchester City beat them 5–0 in 1910.[31]
Southampton entered the 1994–95 League Cup in the second round, drawn against Second Division side Huddersfield Town. After a first leg won by a single Matt Le Tissier header in the last minute of the game, the Saints won the home leg 4–0 to advance to the third round, with Le Tissier scoring all four goals (one a penalty, four from open play) to take his tally to five in just two games.[32] They played FA Premier League rivals Sheffield Wednesday in the third round, losing to a single goal from Chris Bart-Williams early into a second half described by club historians as "one sided".[32]
Outside the league, FA Cup and League Cup, the Southampton first team played four additional matches during the latter stages of the 1994–95 season. In April, the club played a friendly against local side New Milton Town which they won 8–0, with Matt Le Tissier scoring five and Jim Magilton adding two.[19] This was followed by a game on the Isle of Wight which the Saints won 3–0.[19] In May, two days after the final day of the league season, Southampton beat Guernsey 3–2, and three days later they concluded their season with a 5–3 win over Yeovil Town in a testimonial for players Mickey Spencer and Paul Wilson.[19]
Southampton used 27 players during the 1994–95 season, 14 of whom scored during the campaign.[33] Eight players made their debut appearances for the club, including five of their six first team signings (loanee Ronnie Ekelund,[7]Bruce Grobbelaar,[2]Neil Shipperley,[12]Gordon Watson,[15] and Peter Whiston[1]) and three players making the step up from youth to the first team (Matt Oakley,[34]Matthew Robinson,[35] and Paul Tisdale[36]). Two of these – Ekelund[7] and Whiston[1] – also made their last appearances for the Saints during the campaign, as did mid-season departees Nicky Banger,[9]Iain Dowie,[13] and Jeff Kenna,[14] plus one player sold the next season (Paul Allen[11]). Midfielder Jim Magilton, in his first full season at the club, made the most appearances for Southampton during the season, as their only player to feature in all 50 games in all competitions.[33] He was followed on 49 appearances by Matt Le Tissier, who finished as the club's top goalscorer with 29 goals in all competitions.[33] Le Tissier also won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award for 1994–95, in the process becoming the third player (and first outfield player) to win the award in consecutive seasons, as well as the first (and to date only) player to win the award on a third occasion.[26]
^"Paul Tisdale". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
Bibliography
Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003), Bull, David (ed.), In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN0-9534474-3-X
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