2009–10 Southampton F.C. season explained

Club:	Southampton F.C.
Season:	2009–10
Manager:	Alan Pardew
Chairman:	Nicola Cortese
Stadium:	St Mary's Stadium
League:	League One
League Result:	7th
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fifth Round
Cup2:	League Cup
Cup2 Result:	Second Round
Cup3:	Football League Trophy
Cup3 Result:	Winners
League Topscorer:	Rickie Lambert (29)
Season Topscorer:	Rickie Lambert (35)
Highest Attendance:	31,385 vs Portsmouth (13 February 2010)
Lowest Attendance:	16,402 vs Wycombe Wanderers (1 December 2009)
Average Attendance:	20,108
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Pattern So1:	_southampton0809hl
Pattern La2:	_southampton0910a
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Prevseason:	2008–09
Nextseason:	2010–11

The 2009–10 season was Southampton's fifth consecutive season in The Football League and their first season in League One. Having been relegated the previous season, Southampton looked to reclaim their place in the Championship by being promoted in 2009–10. On 28 March 2010, The Saints won the League Trophy for the first time, defeating Carlisle United 4–1 at Wembley. On 25 April, however, Southampton's hopes of a playoff place were ended after Huddersfield Town beat bottom-place side Stockport County 6–0 to claim the final place. The Saints eventually finished in 7th position, just one place and seven points below the play-offs.

Administration and change of ownership

The club ended the previous season with its parent company, Southampton Leisure Holdings PLC in administration. As a result the club entered the 2009–10 season with a ten-point deduction imposed by The Football League.^[1]

On 8 July 2009 the administrators confirmed that the club had been sold to a buyer "owned and controlled by Markus Liebherr".^[2] On 9 July 2009 Mark Wotte was sacked as Head Coach with Stewart Henderson taking temporary charge. The club confirmed that the search for the new manager had already begun. They said in a statement that the decision is part of a wider strategic plan being implemented to improve all aspects of the club's operations, both on and off the field.

On 17 July 2009 the club confirmed the appointment of Alan Pardew as the new First Team Manager.^[3] On the opening day of the season Saints forced a 1–1 draw against Millwall, with Matthew Paterson netting the club's first goal in League One. Following this, the Saints made their first big signing under Markus Liebherr as they unveiled new striker Rickie Lambert who was purchased on 10 August 2009, for an initial £800,000, which could rise to £1m subject to appearances, from fellow League One side Bristol Rovers.^[4]

Liebherr also brought in Italian businessman Nicola Cortese to look after the club's business interests on his behalf.^[5]

As well as Rickie Lambert, Pardew was given the funds to complete a string of other signings to rebuild the squad including: Dean Hammond, Radhi Jaïdi, Graeme Murty, Dan Harding, David Connolly, Michail Antonio, Papa Waigo, Lee Barnard, José Fonte, Danny Seaborne, Jon Otsemobor and Jason Puncheon, meaning that by the end of the January transfer window, Southampton had spent over £3 million on players, a significantly larger amount than any other League one club.^[5]

Squad statistics

No.	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy		Total		Discipline
				Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals	Apps.	Goals
1	GK		Kelvin Davis	40	0	4	0	2	0	4	0	50	0	5	0
2	DF		Dan Harding	42	3	4	0	2	0	5	1	53	4	8	0
3	DF		Wayne Thomas	10(5)	0	4	1	2	0	4(1)	1	20(6)	2	6	0
4	MF		Jason Puncheon	19	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	0
5	DF		Chris Perry	11(1)	0	4	0	1	0	3(1)	0	19(2)	0	2	0
6	DF		Radhi Jaïdi	26(1)	1	4	0	0	0	3	0	33(1)	1	5	0
7	FW		Rickie Lambert	44(1)	29	5	2	2	1	6	3	57(1)	35	2	0
8	MF		Simon Gillett	0(2)	0	0(1)	0	0(1)	0	1(1)	0	1(5)	0	0	0
9	FW		Papa Waigo	11(24)	6	3	1	0	0	4(2)	4	18(26)	11	3	0
10	MF		Paul Wotton	12(14)	0	2(1)	0	2	0	3(2)	0	19(17)	0	0	0
11	MF		Lee Holmes	2(3)	0	1(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	3(5)	0	1	0
12	DF		José Fonte	21	0	0	0	0	0	3	0	24	0	5	0
13	GK		Tommy Forecast	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
14	MF		Dean Hammond	40	5	4	1	0	0	5	0	49	6	8	0
16	DF		Graeme Murty	5(1)	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	8(1)	0	0	0
17	FW		Lee Barnard	14(6)	9	1(1)	0	0	0	0	0	15(7)	9	3	0
18	DF		Joseph Mills	8(8)	0	1(2)	0	0	0	2(1)	0	11(11)	0	3	0
19	MF		Morgan Schneiderlin	35(2)	1	4	0	1(1)	0	4	0	44(3)	1	8	2
20	MF		Adam Lallana	44	15	5	1	2	2	5	2	56	20	4	0
21	MF		Anthony Pulis	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
23	MF		Lloyd James	28(2)	2	3	0	2	0	4(1)	0	37(3)	2	5	0
24	FW		Kayne McLaggon	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
26	FW		Jake Thomson	0(4)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(5)	0	0	0
27	FW		Jamie White	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
28	GK		Bartosz Białkowski	6(1)	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	9(1)	0	0	0
29	MF		Oscar Gobern	0(4)	0	0(2)	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(7)	0	1	0
30	MF		Jack Boyle	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
31	MF		Ryan Doble	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
32	GK		Andrej Pernecký	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
33	DF		Jack Saville	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
34	MF		Callum McNish	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
35	DF		Danny Seaborne	11(5)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11(5)	0	1	0
36	MF		Garyn Preen	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
37	MF		Michail Antonio	14(14)	3	3(2)	2	0	0	5(1)	2	22(17)	7	2	0
38	FW		David Connolly	9(11)	5	1	2	0	0	1(1)	0	11(12)	7	1	0
40	DF		Jon Otsemobor	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	19	0	0	0
41	MF		Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0
44	MF		Ben Reeves	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Players with appearances who finished their season out on loan
15	DF		Olly Lancashire	1(1)	0	0(2)	0	1	0	0	0	2(3)	0	0	0
22	DF		Lee Molyneux	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
25	GK		Michael Poke	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
39	DF		Aaron Martin	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	1	0
Players with appearances who left the club before the end of the season
4	FW		Marek Saganowski	3(3)	0	0	0	1	0	0(1)	0	4(4)	0	0	0
9	FW		Grzegorz Rasiak	1(2)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	1(3)	0	0	0
12	DF		Neal Trotman	17(1)	2	0	0	0	0	1(1)	0	18(2)	2	6	0
17	FW		Matt Paterson	4(3)	1	0(1)	0	1(1)	0	0	0	5(5)	1	2	0
35	MF		Jacob Mellis	7(5)	0	0	0	1	0	1(1)	0	9(6)	0	1	0

Most appearances

	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy		Total
1	FW		Rickie Lambert	44	1	5	0	2	0	6	0	57	1	58
2	MF		Adam Lallana	44	0	5	0	2	0	5	0	56	0	56
3	DF		Dan Harding	42	0	4	0	2	0	5	0	53	0	53
4	GK		Kelvin Davis	40	0	4	0	2	0	4	0	50	0	50
5	MF		Dean Hammond	40	0	4	0	0	0	5	0	49	0	49
6	MF		Morgan Schneiderlin	35	2	4	0	1	1	4	0	44	3	47
7	FW		Papa Waigo	11	24	3	0	0	0	4	2	18	26	44
8	MF		Lloyd James	28	2	3	0	2	0	4	1	37	3	40
9	MF		Michail Antonio	14	14	3	2	0	0	5	1	22	17	39
10	MF		Paul Wotton	12	14	2	1	2	0	3	2	19	17	36

Top goalscorers

	Pos.	Nat.	Name	League		FA Cup		League Cup		League Trophy		Total
1	FW		Rickie Lambert	29	45	2	5	1	2	3	6	35	58	0.60
2	MF		Adam Lallana	15	44	1	5	2	2	2	5	20	56	0.35
3	FW		Papa Waigo	6	35	1	3	0	0	4	6	11	44	0.25
4	FW		Lee Barnard	9	20	0	2	0	0	0	0	9	22	0.40
5	FW		David Connolly	5	20	2	1	0	0	0	2	7	23	0.30
	MF		Michail Antonio	3	28	2	5	0	0	2	6	7	39	0.17
7	MF		Dean Hammond	5	40	1	4	0	0	0	5	6	49	0.12
8	DF		Dan Harding	3	42	0	4	0	2	1	5	4	53	0.07
9	MF		Jason Puncheon	3	19	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	19	0.15
10	DF		Neal Trotman	2	18	0	0	0	0	0	2	2	20	0.10
	DF		Wayne Thomas	0	15	1	4	0	2	1	5	2	26	0.07
	MF		Lloyd James	2	30	0	3	0	2	0	5	2	40	0.05

Transfers

Players transferred in
Date	Pos.	Name	Club	Fee	Ref.
10 August 2009	FW	Rickie Lambert	Bristol Rovers	£1 million	^[6]
19 August 2009	MF	Dean Hammond	Colchester United	Undisclosed	^[7]
4 November 2009	DF	Aaron Martin	Eastleigh	Undisclosed	^[8]
9 January 2010	DF	José Fonte	Crystal Palace	Undisclosed	^[9]
13 January 2010	DF	Danny Seaborne	Exeter City	Undisclosed	^[10]
14 January 2010	DF	Jon Otsemobor	Norwich City	Free	^[11]
22 January 2010	FW	Lee Barnard	Southend United	Undisclosed	^[12]
30 January 2010	MF	Jason Puncheon	Plymouth Argyle	Undisclosed	^[13]
Players transferred out
Date	Pos.	Name	Club	Fee	Ref.
2 June 2009	MF	Nathan Dyer	Swansea City	£400,000	^[14]
29 June 2009	FW	David McGoldrick	Nottingham Forest	£1 million	^[15]
1 July 2009	MF	Andrew Surman	Wolverhampton Wanderers	£1.2 million	^[16]
21 July 2009	FW	Jason Euell	Blackpool	Free	^[17]
27 August 2009	FW	Grzegorz Rasiak	Reading	Undisclosed	^[18]
22 January 2010	FW	Matt Paterson	Southend United	Exchange	^[19]
27 January 2010	FW	Marek Saganowski	Atromitos	Free	^[20]
Free agents signed
Date	Pos.	Name	Former club	Date released	Ref.
21 July 2009	DF	Dan Harding	Ipswich Town	21 May 2009	^[21]
5 August 2009	DF	Graeme Murty	Reading	15 May 2009	^[22]
2 September 2009	DF	Radhi Jaïdi	Birmingham City	15 May 2009	^[23]
8 October 2009	FW	David Connolly	Sunderland	1 June 2009	^[24]
Players loaned in
Start date	Pos.	Name	Club	End date	Ref.
14 August 2009	MF	Jacob Mellis	Chelsea	2 January 2010	^[25]
20 August 2009	DF	Neal Trotman	Preston North End	2 January 2010	^[26] ^[27]
8 September 2009	FW	Papa Waigo	Fiorentina	End of season	^[28]
5 October 2009	MF	Michail Antonio	Reading	End of season	^[29] ^[30]
Players loaned out
Start date	Pos.	Name	Club	End date	Ref.
14 August 2009	GK	Tommy Forecast	Grimsby Town	14 September 2009
1 September 2009	GK	Michael Poke	Torquay United	End of season	^[31] ^[32]
17 September 2009	MF	Oscar Gobern	Milton Keynes Dons	17 October 2009	^[33]
28 September 2009	GK	Bartosz Białkowski	Barnsley	5 October 2009	^[34]
2 October 2009	DF	Ryan Tafazolli	Salisbury City	2 November 2009	^[35]
7 October 2009	MF	Anthony Pulis	Lincoln City	7 January 2010	^[36] ^[37]
9 October 2009	FW	Jamie White	Eastleigh	9 December 2009	^[38] ^[39]
12 October 2009	MF	Simon Gillett	Doncaster Rovers	12 December 2009	^[40]
24 October 2009	DF	Olly Lancashire	Grimsby Town	24 December 2009	^[41]
27 October 2009	MF	Jake Thomson	Torquay United	27 January 2010	^[42] ^[43]
1 February 2010	DF	Olly Lancashire	Grimsby Town	End of season	^[44]
3 March 2010	DF	Aaron Martin	Salisbury City	End of season	^[45] ^[46]
25 March 2010	DF	Lee Molyneux	Port Vale	End of season	^[47]
Players released
Date	Pos.	Name	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
25 June 2009	DF	Michael Svensson	Halmstad	1 August 2011	^[48]
30 June 2009	FW	Bradley Wright-Phillips	Plymouth Argyle	15 July 2009	^[49]
30 June 2009	FW	Stern John	Crystal Palace	30 July 2009	^[50]

Notes and References

1. News: Penalised Saints face relegation . 3 May 2010 . BBC Sport. 23 April 2009.
2. News: Administrator Confirms SFC Sold!. 8 Jul 2009. Southampton F.C.. 3 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20120308220127/http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10280~1716797%2C00.html. 8 March 2012. dead.
3. Web site: Southampton | News | Latest News | Latest News | New Manager Appointed . 3 May 2010 . 20 July 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090720060948/http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10280~1725046,00.html . dead .
4. News: Bristol Rovers striker Rickie Lambert seals £1m move to Southampton. thisisbristol.co.uk. 10 August 2009. 3 May 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20100126230852/http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/bristolrovers/news/Bristol-Rovers-striker-Rickie-Lambert-seals-1m-Southampton/article-1237768-detail/article.html. 26 January 2010. dead. dmy-all.
5. Web site: An interview with former Southampton Football Club Executive Chairman Nicola Cortese . barclays.com . December 20, 2019 . February 11, 2021.
6. News: Southampton sign striker Lambert . . 10 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
7. News: Saints sign Colchester's Hammond . . 19 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
8. News: Saints complete Martin transfer . . 4 November 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
9. News: Southampton sign Jose Fonte from Crystal Palace . . 9 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
10. News: Seaborne becomes a Saint . https://archive.today/20130904020601/http://www.thisisexeter.co.uk/Seaborne-Saint/story-11822965-detail/story.html%23axzz2dm2nh1GJ . dead . 4 September 2013 . This is Exeter . 13 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
11. News: Southampton sign Jon Otsemobor from Norwich City . . 14 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
12. News: Southampton sign Southend striker Lee Barnard . . 22 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
13. News: Southampton sign Plymouth midfielder Jason Puncheon . . 30 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
14. News: Dyer completes switch to Swansea . . 2 June 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
15. News: Forest capture striker McGoldrick . . 29 June 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
16. News: Midfielder Surman moves to Wolves . . 1 July 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
17. News: Blackpool complete Euell transfer . . 21 July 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
18. News: Reading sign McAnuff and Rasiak . . 27 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
19. News: Southampton to sign Lee Barnard while Matt Paterson moves to Southend . . 22 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
20. News: Southampton striker Marek Saganowski joins Atromios . . 27 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
21. News: Southampton complete Harding deal . . 21 July 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
22. News: Murty completes Southampton move . . 5 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
23. News: Jaidi waits on Southampton switch . . 2 September 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
24. News: Southampton sign striker Connolly . . 8 October 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
25. News: Saints snap up Chelsea midfielder . . 14 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
26. News: Saints snap up Preston's Trotman . . 20 August 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
27. News: Alan Pardew confirms Southampton double bid . . 4 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
28. News: Southampton get N'Diaye clearance . . 8 September 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
29. News: Southampton sign Reading winger . . 5 October 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
30. News: Reading's Michail Antonio extends loan at Southampton . . 6 January 2010 . 2 September 2013 .
31. News: Torquay swoop for goalkeeper Poke . . 1 September 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
32. News: Michael Poke and Jake Thomson extend loans at Torquay . . 23 December 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
33. News: Gobern to join MK Dons . . 17 September 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
34. News: Barnsley sign keeper Bialkowski . . 28 September 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
35. News: Loan Move for Ryan . . https://web.archive.org/web/20091003213216/http://www.saintsfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0%2C%2C10280~1815958%2C00.html . 3 October 2009 . dead . 3 September 2013 .
36. News: Imps sign Pulis on month's loan . . 7 October 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
37. News: Lincoln extend Pulis loan spell . . 9 November 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
38. News: Eastleigh secure loan deal for Saints striker . . 9 October 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
39. News: Eastleigh extend White loan spell . . 12 November 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
40. News: Doncaster seal Gillett loan deal . . 12 October 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
41. News: Grimsby bring in Saints defender . . 24 October 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
42. News: Torquay scoop Saints midfielder . . 27 October 2009 . 3 September 2013 .
43. News: Torquay United re-sign Jake Thomson from Southampton . . 1 February 2010 . 3 September 2013 .
44. News: Grimsby sign Oliver Lancashire and release four players . . 1 February 2010 . 3 September 2013 .
45. News: Salisbury City loan Southampton defender Aaron Martin . . 3 March 2010 . 3 September 2013 .
46. News: Salisbury extend Arron Martin loan from Southampton . . 29 March 2010 . 3 September 2013 .
47. News: Southampton loan defender Lee Molyneux to Port Vale . . 25 March 2010 . 3 September 2013 .
48. Web site: Michael Svensson Football Stats . . 2 September 2013 .
49. News: Wright-Phillips signs for Argyle . . 15 July 2009 . 2 September 2013 .
50. News: Palace sign Saints striker John . . 30 July 2009 . 2 September 2013 .