Southampton Football Club is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club based in

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

. Founded in 1885 as St Mary's YMA, they became a professional club in 1891, and co-founded the Southern League in 1894. Southampton won the Southern League championship six times between 1896 and 1904, and were later elected to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

in 1920 as co-founders of the Third Division. The Saints finished as runners-up in their first season, and the following year received promotion to the Second Division as Third Division South champions. The club first entered the First Division in 1966, and currently play in its modern-day counterpart, the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

. Southampton won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

in 1976, reached the final of the League Cup in 1979 and 2017, and won the League Trophy in 2010. The Southampton Player of the Season award is voted for annually by the club's supporters, who send their choice of player to the ''

Southern Daily Echo The ''Southern Daily Echo'', more commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' or simply ''The Echo'', is a regional tabloid newspaper based in Southampton, covering the county of Hampshire in the United Kingdom. The newspaper is owned by Newsquest, on ...

'', a local newspaper. Since its inception in 1973, 44 different players have won the award. Six of these players have received the accolade for a second time, and to date only

Matt Le Tissier Matthew Paul Le Tissier (; born 14 October 1968) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Le Tissier spent his entire professional club career with Southampton F.C., Southampton, before turning to non- ...

has won the award for a third time. Four players have won in consecutive seasons, 32 winners have represented their country at international level, and one winner ( Alan Ball) has gone on to become the club's manager. The most recent winner of the award, for the 2024–25 season, is midfielder Mateus Fernandes. In recent years, the club has also presented its own Player of the Season award, alongside other end-of-season accolades. The most recent winner of the club-run Fans' Player of the Season award is Mateus Fernandes.

Table key

Winners

''Southern Daily Echo'' award

Southampton F.C. award

Footnotes

References

Bibliography

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External links

Southampton F.C. official website
{{Lists of football players in England Player of the Season Football player of the year awards in England by club Association football player non-biographical articles