The 1989–90 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 89th season of competitive football and their 20th in the First Division of the Football League. The season was Chris Nicholl's most successful as manager in the league, as the club finished in 7th place after four consecutive seasons finishing in the bottom half of the league table under Nicholl. Outside the First Division, the Saints reached the fifth round of both the FA Cup and the League Cup.
Southampton had a quiet summer transfer window in 1989, with the departure of Derek Statham the only business prior to the start of the league. Danny Wallace and John Burridge left during the campaign, while Ian Andrews, Sammy Lee and Oleksiy Cherednyk were brought in during the second half of the season. Following several disappointing years, the Saints enjoyed good spells of form throughout 1989–90, including several high-scoring wins and victories over title contenders such as Liverpool, Aston Villa and Arsenal. The team's best spell came during a seven-game unbeaten run between August and October, during which time they reached a season-high position of third in the table; poor spells later in the season saw them drop as low as 12th position.
In the FA Cup, Southampton beat title contenders Tottenham Hotspur in the third round, followed by a narrow victory over Second Division side Oxford United. They were knocked out in the fifth round by defending champions Liverpool, who picked up a convincing 3–0 home win. In the League Cup, the Saints made it past Fourth Division club York City, top-flight strugglers Charlton Athletic and Second Division promotion hopefuls Swindon Town, before facing elimination in a fifth round replay at the hands of another second-flight side, Oldham Athletic. The club opted out of competing in the 1989–90 Full Members' Cup.
Southampton used 23 players during the 1989–90 season and had 11 different goalscorers. Their top scorer was Matt Le Tissier, who scored 24 times in all competitions, including 20 in the league – making him the joint third-highest scorer in the division. The previous season's top scorer Rod Wallace scored 21 times and also made the most appearances for the club, playing 47 games. Le Tissier won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award – his first win of a record three during his career – and was also named PFA Young Player of the Year. The average league attendance at The Dell during 1989–90 was 16,494. The highest attendance was 20,510 against Manchester United on 24 March 1990 and the lowest was 8,906 against York City on 3 October 1989.
Background and transfers
Sammy Lee signed on a free transfer in January 1990, but would make only three substitute appearances for the club before leaving in October.
Oleksiy Cherednyk became the first Soviet player in the First Division when he signed for Southampton in March 1990.
After Burridge's departure in October, Southampton brought in Celtic goalkeeper Ian Andrews on loan in December as backup for Tim Flowers, before signing him permanently for a fee of £200,000 in January 1990.[7] The same month, midfielder Sammy Lee was signed on a free transfer from Spanish club Osasuna.[8] Southampton's final signing of the season came towards the end of the campaign, in March 1990, when they signed Soviet Union right-back Oleksiy Cherednyk from Dnipro for a fee of £300,000.[9] When he made his first team debut a few weeks later, he became the first Soviet player to appear in an English First Division match.[9] In April, Blake – having returned from Colchester the previous month – was loaned out again, this time to Shrewsbury Town in the Third Division; come the end of the season, he would join the club permanently.[4]
Ahead of the 1989–90 league campaign, Southampton played seven pre-season friendlies. The first two, on the same day at the end of July, saw the Saints beating non-league opponents Bath City and Farnborough 3–1 and 6–0, respecitvely, with Matt Le Tissier scoring a hat-trick in the latter.[11] The club continued their winning form with 3–0 wins over Aldershot and Bashley, followed by a 6–0 victory against Swansea City, featuring another Le Tissier hat-trick.[11] The final two pre-season games ended in draws: 2–2 away to Basingstoke Town and 3–3 at home to Soviet side Dnipro.[11]
Southampton had a mixed start to their 1989–90 league campaign, picking up two wins, two draws and two defeats in their opening six games. The season started with a 1–2 home defeat to Millwall, who scored the winning goal in the penultimate minute; this was followed by a 2–1 away win over recently promoted Manchester City in which Danny Wallace scored both goals.[1] A 0–3 thrashing at the hands of Everton was followed by a narrow 2–1 win over Aston Villa, after which the Saints shared eight goals with Norwich City at Carrow Road, in a match described by club historians as "remarkable".[1] The 4–4 draw was Danny Wallace's last game for Southampton before his record transfer to Manchester United; he assisted one of brother Rod Wallace's two goals in the game.[1] After two more draws and a 1–0 win over Derby County, Southampton sat eighth in the First Division table.[12]
Mid-October saw the Saints pick up two 4–1 wins in a row and move all the way up to third in the league.[13] The first was an away victory over Queens Park Rangers, which saw the Hampshire side pick up two goals in the last three minutes after the London-based hosts threatened a late comeback.[14] The second was a home win over Liverpool, who sat atop the table before the game, unbeaten to that point in the league; Paul Rideout and a brace from Rod Wallace put the Saints 3–0 up within an hour, before a Peter Beardsley penalty was followed by a late Matt Le Tissier header to give Southampton their first league win over the Reds in three years.[14] Despite these strong displays, it would be another month before the club won again, as they picked up two draws (against Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea) and two marginal defeats (at Manchester United and Coventry City).[14]
Southampton's last game in November saw them score six goals in a league fixture for the first time since April 1984, as they beat Luton Town (who had thrashed the Saints 6–1 the previous season and 7–0 in 1985–86)[15] 6–3 at The Dell.[14] Rideout opened the scoring in the second minute and Le Tissier scored the hosts' second just before half-time, although the visitors responded to both goals in kind. After the break, however, Rod Wallace added two, Alan Shearer added another, and Rideout doubled his tally, to send the Saints back up to fifth in the table.[14][16] December saw the club pick up narrow wins over strugglers Manchester City and defending champions Arsenal, while dropping points against Nottingham Forest and eventual relegatees Millwall and Sheffield Wednesday.[17] Come the end of 1989, the Saints sat fourth in the First Division table.[18]
1990 started with similarly mixed fortunes for Southampton. After a 4–2 away win over Charlton Athletic on New Year's Day, the club held title challengers Everton to a 2–2 draw, before dropping all three points in a 1–2 defeat at Aston Villa, who picked up their tenth home win in a row with the result.[17][19] In February, a defeat at Crystal Palace and a draw at Luton Town were followed by a third 4–1 win of the season, this time over mid-table side Norwich City, in which Le Tissier scored his first hat-trick of the season.[19] He would score his second hat-trick just three weeks later in a 3–3 draw with Wimbledon, overcoming a 1–3 deficit and the dismissal of Francis Benali to salvage a point.[20] The club's worst spell of the season followed, as the Saints lost three in a row including two at home – the first defeat saw the struggling Manchester United win 2–0 at The Dell; the second saw Southampton sacrifice a 2–1 lead at Anfield to lose 2–3 to eventual title winners Liverpool; and the third saw the club drop all three points to Queens Park Rangers.[20]
Now sitting 12th in the league table[21] – their worst position since the third game of the season – Southampton went on a four-game winning streak, their best of the campaign. First was a first away win since 1 January, a 1–0 victory over strugglers Sheffield Wednesday; second was a 3–2 home win over Charlton Athletic, in which all three of the hosts' goals (including two for Neil Ruddock) were scored in the first half; third was a 2–0 victory at home over Nottingham Forest, in which Rod Wallace scored his final two goals of the season (for a total of 18 in the league); and the fourth was a 3–0 win, again at home, over Coventry City.[20][22] The winning run put Southampton back up to 7th in the table, where they would finish the season.[23] The final two games of the campaign ended in defeat, as the Hampshire side lost 1–2 to two top-four sides: Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur.[22] The 7th-place finish was the best the club achieved under Chris Nicholl, and saw them score 19 more goals than the previous season.[22]
Southampton entered the 1989–90 FA Cup in the third round against First Division rivals Tottenham Hotspur, with both clubs in the top five of the league table.[24] Despite the tie taking place at White Hart Lane, the visiting Saints dominated most of the first half, breaking the deadlock just before the half-hour mark through Matt Le Tissier, who converted a setup from Jimmy Case.[24] Just before the break, Barry Horne doubled Southampton's lead when he "effortlessly" scored a setup from Le Tissier.[24] Tottenham increased the pressure after the break and finally scored in the 78th minute, thanks to a "thunderous" shot from outside the box by David Howells.[24] However, despite pushing for an equaliser, it was the Saints who would score the final goal of the match, when Rod Wallace scored in injury time.[24]
In the fourth round, Southampton hosted Second Division side Oxford United. Despite the difference in divisions, the visitors almost went ahead on multiple occasions in the first half, with the "below par" Saints saved only by goalkeeper Tim Flowers and his defenders.[25] After the break, Le Tissier set up Neil Ruddock from a corner for a headed goal to put the top-flight side ahead; this proved to be the only goal of the game, as the Saints were unable to assert their dominance.[25] The fifth round of the tournament saw Southampton drawn away to Liverpool, the defending FA Cup champions and current First Division leaders, whose only loss of the season had come at the hands of the Saints.[25] Playing without top scorer Le Tissier, the visitors struggled throughout the opening half of the game, eventually conceding five minutes before the break to Ian Rush.[25] The second half saw the hosts continue to take advantage of their chances on goal, with a Peter Beardsley chip just after the hour mark doubling their lead, before Steve Nicol would complete the 3–0 win later on.[25]
Southampton entered the 1989–90 League Cup in the second round against Fourth Division side York City. The Saints won the first leg by a single Rod Wallace goal just two minutes before full-time, before securing a 3–0 aggregate win in the return leg at The Dell thanks to a brace from Alan Shearer (his first goals for the club since his April 1988 full league debut).[26] In the third round, Southampton edged out First Division strugglers Charlton Athletic by a single goal, scored by Glenn Cockerill just after the half-time break.[26] In the fourth round, a goalless draw at Second Division side Swindon Town made way for a replay at The Dell which the Saints won 4–2 after extra time, thanks to winning goals from Matt Le Tissier and Rod Wallace.[26] The fifth round saw Southampton host another Second Division side, Oldham Athletic, who held the top-flight home side to a 2–2 draw thanks to a goal in injury time which forced a replay.[26] Oldham won the replay 2–0, with club historians reflecting that the "Saints created virtually nothing against a well-organised Oldham side".[26]
Southampton played three additional matches during the latter stages of the 1989–90 season. In April, they beat Southern League side Salisbury 9–0 in a testimonial for Barry Cramner, with eight different players on the scoresheet.[11] This was followed in May by an 8–1 thrashing of Sussex County League side Pagham (in which Alan Shearer scored five) and a 10–0 victory over Isthmian League side Hungerford Town in which Shearer and Matt Le Tissier each scored hat-tricks.[11]
Southampton used 23 players during the 1989–90 season, 11 of whom scored during the campaign.[27] Five players made their debut appearances for the club, including three of their four new signings (Ian Andrews,[7]Oleksiy Cherednyk,[9] and Sammy Lee[8]) and two players making the step up from youth to the first team (Steve Davis[28] and Jason Dodd[29]). Five players made their final appearances for the Saints during the campaign: Lee,[8]Graham Baker,[30]Gerry Forrest,[31]Ray Wallace,[32]Danny Wallace.[3] Striker Rod Wallace made the most appearances for Southampton during 1989–90, missing only one game in the League Cup; while Matt Le Tissier scored the most goals during the campaign, with 20 in the league, one in the FA Cup, and three in the League Cup.[27] Midfielder Glenn Cockerill had the second most appearances of the season with 45, while Rod Wallace was the second-highest scorer with 21 goals across all competitions.[27] Le Tissier won the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award for the 1989–90 season.[22]
^"Steve Davis". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^"Jason Dodd". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^"Graham Baker". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^"Gerry Forrest". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
^"Ray Wallace". SaintsPlayers.co.uk. Retrieved 1 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
