Since the club's formation, a total of 359 players have made between 25 and 99 appearances for Southampton. Of these, 12 players have made exactly 25 appearances for the club, while only two (Bob Petrie and Cyril King) have made 99. Ted Drake, who played as a centre-forward for Southampton between 1931 and 1934, has scored the most goals of any player with between 25 and 99 appearances for the club, with 49 in all competitions; five more players have scored over 40 goals for the Saints. Eight of the 359 players listed – Kevin Keegan, Derek Statham, Dean Richards, Peter Crouch, Chris Baird, Andrew Davies, Roméo Lavia and Flynn Downes – have won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award as voted for by readers of the Southern Daily Echo, while former team captain Virgil van Dijk has won the clubs own Player of the Season award.[8]
Key
The list is ordered first by date of debut, and then if necessary in alphabetical order by surname.
Appearances as a substitute are included. This feature of the game was introduced in the Football League at the start of the 1965–66 season.
Statistics are correct up to and including the match played on 24 November 2024. Where a player left the club permanently after this date, his statistics are updated to his date of leaving.
Unless otherwise noted, the nationality of a player is determined by the country for which he has played or, if he has not played international football, his country of birth.
Position
Playing positions are listed according to the tactical formations that were employed at the time. The change in the names of defensive and midfield positions reflects the tactical evolution that occurred from the 1960s onwards.
Club career
Club career is defined as the first and last calendar years in which the player appeared for the club in any of the competitions listed below.
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (August 1987), Saints: A Complete Record of Southampton Football Club 1885–1987, Breedon Books, ISBN978-0907969228
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (2003), In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Hagiology Publishing, ISBN0-953447-43-X
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (November 2013), All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC, Hagiology Publishing, ISBN978-0992686406
Clubs are grouped by their division in the 2024–25 season. Includes the Welsh clubs where lists have been created. 'POTY' = 'Player of the Year / Season'.