2022–23 Southampton F.C. season explained

Club:	Southampton
Season:	2022–23
Owner:	Sport Republic
Manager:	Ralph Hasenhüttl (until 7 November)^[1] Nathan Jones (from 10 November to 12 February)^[2] ^[3] Rubén Sellés (from 12 February)^[4]
Stadium:	St Mary's Stadium
League:	Premier League
League Result:	20th (relegated)
Cup1:	FA Cup
Cup1 Result:	Fifth round
Cup2:	EFL Cup
Cup2 Result:	Semi-finals
League Topscorer:	James Ward-Prowse (9)
Season Topscorer:	James Ward-Prowse (11)
Highest Attendance:	31,196 v Manchester United (27 August 2022)
Lowest Attendance:	17,385 v Lincoln City (20 December 2022)
Average Attendance:	28,283
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Prevseason:	2021–22
Nextseason:	2023–24

The 2022–23 season was the 106th season in the existence of Southampton Football Club and the club's eleventh consecutive season in the Premier League. In addition to the league, they also competed in the FA Cup and the EFL Cup.

Ralph Hasenhüttl was sacked on 7 November 2022 due to a poor start to the season, which saw Southampton dragged into the relegation zone.^[5] He was replaced with the former Luton Town and Stoke City manager Nathan Jones.^[6] However, after winning just once in his 14 games in charge, Jones was sacked as the team dropped to the bottom of the league.^[7] Rubén Sellés took charge until the end of the season, however, despite wins over Chelsea and fellow strugglers Leicester City, he was unable to keep Southampton in the Premier League. ^[8] On 13 May 2023, Southampton's eleven-year stay in the top flight came to an end after a 2–0 home loss to Fulham resulted in their relegation to the EFL Championship.^[9]

Squad

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Transfers

Players transferred in

Date		Player	Club	Fee	Ref.
17 June 2022				Undisclosed	^[10]
17 June 2022				Free transfer	^[11]
21 June 2022				Undisclosed	^[12]
6 July 2022				Undisclosed	^[13]
9 July 2022				Undisclosed	^[14]
25 July 2022				Undisclosed	^[15]
1 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[16]
1 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[17]
1 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[18]
27 September 2022		Jak Stewart		Free transfer	^[19]
6 January 2023				Undisclosed	^[20]
11 January 2023				Undisclosed	^[21]
26 January 2023				Undisclosed	^[22]
31 January 2023				Undisclosed	^[23]
31 January 2023				Undisclosed	^[24]

Players loaned in

Players transferred out

Date		Player	Club	Fee	Ref.
9 August 2022				Undisclosed	^[26]
13 August 2022				Undisclosed	^[27]
1 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[28]
1 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[29]
8 September 2022				Undisclosed	^[30]

Players loaned out

Date		Player	Club	Duration	Ref.
23 June 2022				End of season	^[31]
27 June 2022				31 January 2023	^[32] ^[33]
4 July 2022				8 January 2023	^[34]
23 July 2022				End of season	^[35]
26 July 2022				End of season	^[36]
26 July 2022				31 December 2022	^[37] ^[38]
4 August 2022		Jack Bycroft		End of season	^[39]
11 August 2022				End of season	^[40]
31 August 2022				January 2023	^[41]
1 September 2022				23 January 2023	^[42]
1 September 2022				End of season	^[43]
1 September 2022				5 January 2023	^[44] ^[45]
1 September 2022				End of season	^[46]
1 September 2022				12 January 2023	^[47] ^[48]
5 January 2023		Dynel Simeu		End of season
9 January 2023		Dan Nlundulu		End of season	^[49]
12 January 2023				End of Season	^[50]
12 January 2023		Will Tizzard		End of season	^[51]
18 January 2023				End of season	^[52]
30 January 2023		Luke Pearce		End of season	^[53]
31 January 2023		Kazeem Olaigbe		End of season
31 January 2023				3 March 2023	^[54] ^[55]
31 January 2023		Thierry Small		End of season	^[56]
31 January 2023				End of season	^[57]

Players released

Date		Player	Subsequent club	Join date	Ref.
30 June 2022				1 July 2022	^[58] ^[59]
				1 July 2022	^[60]
		Ramello Mitchell		1 July 2022	^[61]
		Jayden Smith		1 July 2022	^[62]
				13 July 2022	^[63] ^[64]
				2 August 2022	^[65]
				8 August 2022	^[66]
		Ethan Burnett		19 August 2022	^[67]
9 January 2023		Jeremi Rodriguez		24 March 2023	^[68] ^[69]

Pre-season and friendlies

Southampton revealed that a summer training camp would take place in Austria between 13 and 20 July, with a friendly match against Bundesliga side Austria Klagenfurt taking place on 18 July.^[70] On 9 June, a home pre-season friendly against Villarreal was confirmed.^[71] On 24 June, a further fixture against Watford was added to the team's pre-season schedule.^[72] A fourth friendly was announced on 7 July against Monaco at St Mary's Stadium,^[73] while a fifth against RB Leipzig was added to the side's Austrian pre-season tour on 8 July.^[74]

Competitions

Premier League

See main article: 2022–23 Premier League.

Matches

On 16 June, the Premier League fixtures were released.^[75]

FA Cup

See main article: 2022–23 FA Cup.

The Saints were drawn away to Crystal Palace in the third round^[76] and at home to Blackpool in the fourth round.^[77] The Saints were drawn at home again in the fifth round, against the winners of the tie between Luton Town and Grimsby Town.^[78]

EFL Cup

See main article: 2022–23 EFL Cup.

Southampton entered in the second round of the competition and were drawn away to Cambridge United.^[79] In the third round they were drawn at home to Sheffield Wednesday.^[80] A fourth round tie against EFL League One side Lincoln City was drawn next for the Saints.^[81] In the quarter-finals, Southampton were drawn as host to Manchester City.^[82] Over two legs in the semi-finals, Southampton were drawn against Newcastle United.^[83]

Squad statistics

			Name	League				FA Cup				EFL Cup				Total
1	GK		Alex McCarthy	6	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	9	0	0	0
2	DF		Kyle Walker-Peters	30(1)	1	4	0	1(2)	0	1	0	4	0	1	0	35(3)	1	6	0
3	MF		Ainsley Maitland-Niles	13(9)	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	1(1)	0	0	0	16(10)	0	3	0
4	DF		Lyanco	11(10)	1	4	0	3	0	0	0	6	0	2	0	20(10)	1	6	0
6	DF		Duje Ćaleta-Car	9(4)	1	2	0	2	1	2	0	3(1)	0	0	1	14(5)	2	4	1
7	MF		Joe Aribo	13(8)	2	2	0	2	0	0	0	1(3)	0	0	0	16(11)	2	2	0
8	MF		James Ward-Prowse	38	9	6	0	1(1)	1	1	0	5	1	0	0	44(1)	11	7	0
9	FW		Adam Armstrong	14(16)	2	2	0	2(1)	1	0	0	5(1)	0	0	0	21(18)	3	2	0
10	FW		Ché Adams	23(5)	5	1	0	1(1)	0	0	0	3(2)	5	0	0	27(8)	10	1	0
11	MF		Mislav Oršić	0(1)	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	1(1)	0	0	0	3(2)	0	0	0
12	FW		Paul Onuachu	4(7)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	4(7)	0	0	0
13	GK		Willy Caballero	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
14	DF		James Bree	4(1)	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5(1)	0	1	0
15	DF		Romain Perraud	22(7)	2	4	0	3	2	1	0	1(3)	0	1	0	26(9)	4	6	0
17	MF		Stuart Armstrong	14(18)	2	6	0	0	0	0	0	1(2)	0	0	0	15(20)	2	6	0
18	FW		Sékou Mara	3(19)	1	1	0	2(1)	0	1	0	3(2)	1	0	0	8(22)	2	2	0
19	MF		Moussa Djenepo	7(9)	0	1	0	1(1)	0	0	0	3(2)	1	1	0	11(12)	1	2	0
20	MF		Kamaldeen Sulemana	10(8)	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	10(8)	2	1	0
21	DF		Tino Livramento	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0
22	DF		Mohammed Salisu	21(1)	0	5	0	1	0	0	0	5	0	1	0	27(1)	0	6	0
23	MF		Samuel Edozie	5(12)	0	0	0	2(1)	0	0	0	1(3)	0	0	0	8(16)	0	0	0
24	MF			27(6)	1	4	0	1	0	0	0	2(2)	0	0	0	30(8)	1	4	0
26	MF		Carlos Alcaraz	13(5)	4	3	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	1	0	16(5)	4	4	0
27	MF		Ibrahima Diallo	11(7)	0	4	0	0(2)	0	1	0	5	0	1	0	16(9)	0	6	0
28	DF		Juan Larios	2(3)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2(3)	0	0	0
31	GK		Gavin Bazunu	32	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	37	0	0	0
32	MF		Theo Walcott	13(7)	2	1	0	0(2)	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0	13(11)	2	1	0
35	DF		Jan Bednarek	20	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	2(1)	0	0	0	22(1)	0	5	0
37	DF		Armel Bella-Kotchap	24	0	4	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	26	0	4	0
45	MF		Roméo Lavia	26(3)	1	9	0	2	0	0	0	1(2)	0	1	0	29(5)	1	10	0
53	FW		Dom Ballard	0(2)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	1	0	0	0(4)	1	0	0
61	DF		Lewis Payne	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0
65	MF		Kamari Doyle	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
66	MF		Diamond Edwards	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
75	MF		Sam Amo-Ameyaw	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
Players with appearances who ended the season on loan
5	DF		Jack Stephens	0(2)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(2)	0	0	0
Players with appearances who left during the season
6	MF		Oriol Romeu	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	2	0	1	0
11	MF		Nathan Redmond	0(1)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0(1)	0	0	0
43	DF		Yan Valery	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0	0	0

Most appearances

			Name	League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		Total
1	MF		James Ward-Prowse	38	0	1	1	5	0	44	1	45
2	FW		Adam Armstrong	14	16	2	1	5	1	21	18	39
3	GK		Gavin Bazunu	32	0	1	0	4	0	37	0	37
	DF		Kyle Walker-Peters	30	1	2	1	4	0	36	2	38
	MF			27	6	1	0	2	2	30	8	38
6	DF		Romain Perraud	22	7	3	0	1	3	26	10	36
7	FW		Ché Adams	23	5	1	1	3	2	27	8	35
	MF		Stuart Armstrong	14	18	0	0	1	2	15	20	35
9	MF		Roméo Lavia	26	3	2	0	1	2	29	5	34
10	DF		Lyanco	11	10	3	0	6	0	20	10	30
	FW		Sékou Mara	3	19	2	1	3	2	8	22	30

Top goalscorers

			Name	League		FA Cup		EFL Cup		Total
1	MF		James Ward-Prowse	9	38	1	2	1	5	11	45	0.24
2	FW		Ché Adams	5	28	0	2	5	5	10	35	0.29
3	MF		Carlos Alcaraz	4	18	0	1	0	2	4	21	0.19
	DF		Romain Perraud	2	28	2	3	0	4	4	36	0.11
5	FW		Adam Armstrong	2	30	1	3	0	6	3	39	0.08
6	MF		Kamaldeen Sulemana	2	18	0	0	0	0	2	18	0.11
	DF		Duje Ćaleta-Car	1	13	1	2	0	4	2	19	0.11
	MF		Theo Walcott	2	20	0	2	0	2	2	24	0.08
	MF		Joe Aribo	2	21	0	3	0	3	2	27	0.07
	FW		Sékou Mara	1	22	0	3	1	5	2	30	0.07
	MF		Stuart Armstrong	2	32	0	0	0	3	2	35	0.06

Notes and References

1. News: Club statement: Ralph Hasenhüttl . 7 November 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 7 November 2022.
2. Web site: Nathan Jones: Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager. . 10 November 2022 . 10 November 2022.
3. News: Club statement: Nathan Jones. Southampton F.C.. 12 February 2023. 12 February 2023.
4. Web site: Sellés appointed to end of season . Southampton F.C. . 24 February 2023 . 24 February 2023.
5. News: Club statement: Ralph Hasenhüttl . 5 July 2024 . Southampton F.C. . 7 November 2022.
6. Web site: Nathan Jones: Southampton appoint Luton boss as new manager. . 10 November 2022 . 5 July 2024.
7. News: Club statement: Nathan Jones. Southampton F.C.. 12 February 2023. 5 July 2024.
8. Web site: Sellés appointed to end of season . Southampton F.C. . 5 July 2024 . 24 February 2023.
9. News: Southampton 0 Fulham 2. BBC Sport . 13 May 2023 . 17 February 2024 .
10. Saints complete Bazunu signing . Southampton F.C. . 17 June 2022 . 17 June 2022.
11. Lis added to the ranks . Southampton F.C. . 17 June 2022 . 17 June 2022.
12. Bella-Kotchap becomes a Saint . Southampton F.C. . 21 June 2022 . 21 June 2022.
13. Saints swoop for Lavia . Southampton F.C. . 6 July 2022 . 6 July 2022.
14. Aribo seals Saints switch . Southampton F.C. . 9 July 2022 . 10 July 2022.
15. Saints complete Mara signing . Southampton F.C. . 25 July 2022 . 25 July 2022.
16. Saints make deadline swoop for Ćaleta-Car . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
17. Saints sign exciting young winger Edozie . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
18. Saints complete deal for Larios . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
19. Young keeper Stewart joins Saints Academy . Southampton F.C. . 27 September 2022 . 27 September 2022.
20. Saints complete Oršić signing . Southampton F.C. . 6 January 2023 . 6 January 2023.
21. Saints seal Alcaraz transfer . Southampton F.C. . 11 January 2023 . 11 January 2023.
22. Saints complete Bree signing . Southampton F.C. . 26 January 2023 . 26 January 2023.
23. Saints seal Onuachu deal . Southampton FC . 1 February 2023 . 1 February 2023.
24. Sulemana is a Saint . Southampton FC . 1 February 2023 . 1 February 2023.
25. Maitland-Niles joins Saints on loan . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
26. Ferry completes Cheltenham Town move . Southampton F.C. . 9 August 2022 . 9 August 2022.
27. Ramsay joins Harrogate . Southampton F.C. . 13 August 2022 . 13 August 2022.
28. Romeu’s seven-year Saints spell ends . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
29. Valery departs for Angers . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
30. Six-year Saints stay ends for Redmond . Southampton F.C. . 8 September 2022 . 8 September 2022.
31. Watts joins Morecambe on loan . Southampton F.C. . 23 June 2022 . 23 June 2022.
32. Olaigbe joins Ross County on loan . Southampton F.C. . 27 June 2022 . 27 June 2022.
33. Kazeem Olaigbe joins Harrogate Town on loan . Southampton F.C. . 31 January 2023 . 31 January 2023.
34. Nlundulu returns to Cheltenham on loan . Southampton F.C. . 4 July 2022 . 4 July 2022.
35. Smallbone joins Stoke on loan . Southampton F.C. . 23 July 2022 . 23 July 2022.
36. Chauke heads to Exeter on loan . Southampton F.C. . 26 July 2022 . 26 July 2022.
37. Small to spend 2022/23 at Port Vale . Southampton F.C. . 26 July 2022 . 26 July 2022.
38. Small to return from Port Vale loan . Southampton F.C. . 11 November 2022 . 11 November 2022.
39. Bycroft joins Taunton on loan . Southampton F.C. . 4 August 2022 . 4 August 2022.
40. Burnley sign Tella on loan . Southampton F.C. . 11 August 2022 . 11 August 2022.
41. Tizzard joins Chippenham until January . Southampton F.C. . 31 August 2022 . 31 August 2022.
42. Bednarek moves to Villa on loan . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
43. Lis makes loan switch to Troyes . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
44. Simeu loaned to Tranmere . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
45. Simeu moves to Morecambe on loan . Southampton F.C. . 5 January 2023 . 5 January 2023.
46. Stephens makes Bournemouth loan move . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
47. Vokins heads to Woking on loan . Southampton F.C. . 1 September 2022 . 1 September 2022.
48. Jake Vokins recalled from loan . Southampton F.C. . 12 January 2023 . 12 January 2023.
49. Nlundulu joins Bolton on loan . Southampton F.C. . 9 January 2023 . 9 January 2023.
50. Nico Lawrence signs new deal and departs on loan . Southampton F.C. . 12 January 2023 . 12 January 2023.
51. Will Tizzard rejoins Chippenham on loan . Southampton F.C. . 12 January 2023 . 12 January 2023.
52. Ryan Finnigan seals Crewe Alexandra loan . Southampton F.C. . 18 January 2023 . 18 January 2023.
53. Luke Pearce joins Eastbourne Borough on loan . Southampton F.C. . 30 January 2023 . 30 January 2023.
54. Lewis Payne joins Eastleigh on loan . Southampton F.C. . 31 January 2023 . 31 January 2023.
55. Payne to return from Eastleigh loan . Southampton FC . 3 March 2023 . 3 March 2023.
56. Thierry Small makes St Mirren loan move . Southampton F.C. . 31 January 2023 . 31 January 2023.
57. Jack Turner joins Braintree Town on loan . Southampton F.C. . 31 January 2023 . 31 January 2023.
58. Web site: Premier League clubs publish 2021/22 released lists . Premier League . 10 June 2022 . 10 June 2022.
59. Forster deal complete . Tottenham Hotspur F.C. . 8 June 2022 . 8 June 2022.
60. Lewis to join Bradford . Southampton F.C. . 16 May 2022 . 22 May 2022.
61. Albion youngsters extend Hawthorns stay . West Bromwich Albion F.C. . 1 July 2022 . 2 July 2022.
62. Web site: Aldershot Town U21 . The FA . 25 October 2022.
63. Long ends eight-year Saints stay . Southampton F.C. . 1 July 2022 . 1 July 2022.
64. It's been far too Long... but he's coming home! . Reading F.C. . 13 July 2022 . 13 July 2022.
65. Barrow Land Benni Smales-Braithwaite . Barrow AFC . 2 August 2022 . 3 August 2022.
66. Web site: Oludare Olufunwa . Liverpool F.C. . 8 August 2022.
67. Four young prospects signed up to U21 squad . Reading FC . 19 August 2022 . 19 August 2022.
68. Youngster Rodriguez departs Saints . Southampton F.C. . 9 January 2023 . 9 January 2023.
69. Web site: Jeremi Rodriguez . Los Angeles FC . 2 April 2023.
70. Saints head to Austria for pre-season . Southampton F.C. . 24 May 2022 . 24 May 2022.
71. News: Saints to host Villarreal in pre-season . 9 June 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 9 June 2022.
72. News: Saints line up Watford friendly. Southampton F.C.. 24 June 2022. 25 June 2022.
73. News: Monaco to visit St Mary's in pre-season . 7 July 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 7 July 2022.
74. News: RB Leipzig friendly confirmed. Southampton F.C.. 8 July 2022. 8 July 2022.
75. News: 2022/23 Premier League fixtures revealed . 16 June 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 16 June 2022.
76. News: Saints draw Crystal Palace in the FA Cup third round . 28 November 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 28 November 2022.
77. News: Saints to host Blackpool in FA Cup . 9 January 2023 . Southampton FC . 8 January 2023.
78. News: Saints to face either Luton or Grimsby. Southampton FC. 30 January 2023. 30 January 2023.
79. News: Carabao Cup Round Two draw confirmed . 11 August 2022 . English Football League . 10 August 2022.
80. News: Saints to host Sheffield Wednesday in Carabao Cup . Southampton F.C. . 24 August 2022 . 27 August 2022.
81. News: Saints to host Lincoln City in fourth round . 11 November 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 10 November 2022.
82. News: Saints draw Man City in the Carabao Cup . 23 December 2022 . Southampton F.C. . 22 December 2022.
83. News: Saints draw Newcastle United in the Carabao Cup . 12 January 2023 . Southampton F.C. . 11 January 2023.