Southampton F.C. in European football

The Anglo-Franco Friendship Cup was a short-lived Inter-League competition that lasted for two seasons. The format had four teams from England competing against four teams from France. Individual clubs could not win the competition outright, so whatever countries' teams claimed the most aggregate wins overall would be declared the best league and win the trophy. The draw for the 1961–62 competition was; Saints v Bordeaux, Blackburn v Nancy, Lens v Cardiff, and Derby v Béziers.[1]

Southampton v Bordeaux

13 November 1961	Southampton	2 – 1	Bordeaux	The Dell, Southampton, England
		Report

Bordeaux v Southampton

1 May 1962	Bordeaux	2 – 0	Southampton	Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux, France
	Davies Paine	Report

Southampton lost 2–3 on aggregate, but the English League won 2–1 in aggregate victories (with one tied).

The Saints' maiden European voyage was the 1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, which they took part in with fellow English clubs Newcastle United, Liverpool and eventual winners Arsenal. Southampton's first opponents were Norwegian side Rosenborg. Despite losing 1–0 away, a comfortable 2–0 win at home in the second leg put Southampton into a Second Round tie with Portuguese side Vitória de Guimarães. A closely fought 3–3 away draw was followed by a 5–1 home win which saw them through to the last 16 where Southampton were drawn against fellow English side Newcastle United. A 0–0 away and 1–1 result at home meant that Southampton failed to progress to the Quarter-Finals after losing out on away goals.

Rosenborg v Southampton

17 September 1969	Rosenborg	1 – 0	Southampton	Lerkendal Stadion, Trondheim, Norway
		Report		Attendance: 20,330

Southampton v Rosenborg

1 October 1969	Southampton	2 – 0	Rosenborg	The Dell, Southampton, England
	Davies Paine	Report		Attendance: 22,329

Southampton won 2–1 on aggregate.

Vitória de Guimarães v Southampton

4 November 1969	Vitória de Guimarães	3 – 3	Southampton	Estádio D. Afonso Henriques, Guimarães
	Mendes  12', 58' Pinto  88' (pen)	Report	Channon  13' Davies  63' Paine  83'	Attendance: 10,000 Referee: Pius Kamber (Switzerland)

Southampton v Vitória de Guimarães

12 November 1969	Southampton	5 – 1	Vitória de Guimarães	The Dell, Southampton, England
	Costeado  13' (o.g.) Davies  54' (pen) Gabriel  55' Channon  85'	Report	Ademir  68'	Attendance: 21,414 Referee: Robert Fraunciel (France)

Southampton won 8–4 on aggregate.

Newcastle United v Southampton

17 December 1969	Newcastle United	0 – 0	Southampton	St James' Park, Newcastle, England
		Report		Attendance: 37,580

Southampton v Newcastle United

14 January 1970	Southampton	1 – 1	Newcastle United	The Dell, Southampton, England
	Channon	Report	Robson	Attendance: 25,182

Southampton lost 1–1 on aggregate after the away goals rule.

After finishing seventh in the previous season, Southampton qualified for European competition for the second time in two years. Drawn in the First Round against Athletic Bilbao, the Saints came from behind to win the first leg 2–1. However a fortnight later, they lost 2–0 away after conceding a late goal which confirmed their exit from the competition.

Southampton v Athletic Bilbao

15 September 1971	Southampton	2 – 1	Athletic Bilbao	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Jenkins  64' Channon  69' (pen)	Report	Arieta  58'	Referee: Sergio Gonella (Italy)

Athletic Bilbao v Southampton

29 September 1971	Athletic Bilbao	2 – 0	Southampton	San Mamés, Bilbao, Spain
20:00	Ortuondo  69' Arieta  90'	Report		Referee: Paul Schiller (Austria)

Southampton lost 3–2 on aggregate.

After being relegated to the Second Division the previous season, Southampton qualified for the final instance of the short lived Texaco Cup. Alongside 15 other English teams split into four groups of Round Robin format, the top two from each group would progress to the Quarter-Finals where they would be drawn against Scottish opposition. Southampton's group consisted of West Ham, Luton Town and Leyton Orient which they topped after being undefeated. The knockout stages were a two-legged affair and Southampton were drawn a tough fixture against Rangers F.C. but managed to win convincingly 5–1 on aggregate despite playing away in front of 35,000. The semi final against Oldham Athletic proved just as routine with Southampton winning 5–2 over the two legs which progressed them through to the final against Newcastle United. Despite winning the first leg, the previous season's FA Cup winners proved the gap between divisions was too large for Southampton to overcome and won the tournament with two goals in extra time.

Rangers v Southampton

18 September 1974	Rangers	1 – 3	Southampton	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow, Scotland
19:30			Osgood O'Brien	Attendance: 35,000

Southampton v Rangers

1 October 1974	Southampton	2 – 0	Rangers	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Gilchrist Own Goal			Attendance: 19,481

Southampton won 5–1 on aggregate.

Oldham Athletic v Southampton

22 October 1974	Oldham Athletic	1 – 3	Southampton	Boundary Park, Oldham, England
19:20			Channon Blyth	Attendance: 13,082

Southampton v Oldham Athletic

5 November 1974	Southampton	2 – 1	Oldham Athletic	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Channon Stokes			Attendance: 14,431

Southampton won 5–2 on aggregate.

Southampton v Newcastle United

5 November 1974	Southampton	1 – 0	Newcastle United	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Channon			Attendance: 17,100

Newcastle United v Southampton

22 October 1974	Newcastle United	3 – 0 (a.e.t.)	Southampton	St James' Park, Newcastle, England
19:20	Tudor  73', 113' Cannell  118'			Attendance: 20,100

Southampton lost 3–1 on aggregate after extra time.

Despite being in the Second Division, Southampton caused a huge upset in the 1976 FA Cup Final by beating Manchester United 1-0. This qualified the Saints for the European Cup Winners' Cup competition where they were drawn in the first round against Olympique Marseille who had won the Coupe de France the previous season. Although suffering an away defeat, a 4–0 victory at home saw them through to the Second Round. Southampton travelled to Carrick Rangers of Northern Ireland who had won the Irish Cup to qualify for the tournament. A 9–3 aggregate win progressed high-scoring Southampton into the Third Round against Belgian Cup champions R.S.C. Anderlecht. Despite levelling the aggregate score to 2-2 in the second leg, Southampton conceded late on to be eliminated from the tournament. Anderlecht went on to reach the Final.

Southampton v Marseille

14 September 1976	Southampton	4 – 0	Marseille	The Dell, Southampton, England
22:00	Waldron  31' Channon  34', 69' (p.) Osgood  35'	Report		Attendance: 17,100 Referee: Pedro Maria Urrestarazu Elordi (Spain)

Marseille v Southampton

28 September 1976	Marseille	2 – 1	Southampton	Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France
22:00	Nogués  26' Emon  80'	Report	Peach  70'	Attendance: 20,100 Referee: Heinz Aldinger (Germany)

Southampton won 5–2 on aggregate.

Carrick Rangers v Southampton

19 October 1976	Carrick Rangers	2 – 5	Southampton	Taylors Avenue, County Antrim, Northern Ireland
22:00	Erwin  52' Prenter  83'	Report	Stokes  10' Channon  61', 85' McCalliog  67' Osgood  80'	Referee: Ole Amundsen (Denmark)

Southampton v Carrick Rangers

2 November 1976	Southampton	4 – 1	Carrick Rangers	The Dell, Southampton, England
22:00	Williams  16' Hayes  31', 74' Stokes  68'	Report	Reid  36'	Referee: Frans Derks (Netherlands)

Southampton won 9–3 on aggregate.

Anderlecht v Southampton

1 March 1977	Anderlecht	2 – 0	Southampton	Constant Vanden Stock Stadium, Belgium
22:00	Ressel  30' Rensenbrink  83'	Report		Referee: Walter Hungerbühler (Austria)

Southampton v Anderlecht

15 March 1977	Southampton	2 – 1	Anderlecht	The Dell, Southampton, England
22:00	Peach  61' (pen) MacDougall  77'	Report	van der Elst  83'	Referee: Rudi Glöckner (Germany)

Southampton lost 3–2 on aggregate.

Southampton qualified for the UEFA Cup for the third time after finishing sixth in the First Division the previous season. In the First Round, the Saints travelled to Ireland for the first time to play Limerick F.C., after a convincing 3–0 win and a 1–1 draw at home Southampton were through to the Second Round against Sporting Clube de Portugal. Despite a very respectable 0–0 away in Lisbon, the home defeat proved too much to overcome and Southampton were eliminated from the competition.

Limerick v Southampton

16 September 1981	Limerick	0 – 3	Southampton	Markets Field, Ireland
17:45		Report	Stephen Morgan  58', 59' Armstrong  78'	Referee: Henk van Ettekoven (Netherlands)

Southampton v Limerick

29 September 1981	Southampton	1 – 1	Limerick	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Keegan  63'	Report	Walsh  65'	Referee: Rolf Nyhus (Norway)

Southampton won 4–1 on aggregate.

Southampton v Sporting CP

21 October 1981	Southampton	2 – 4	Sporting CP	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Keegan  68' (pen) Channon  71'	Report	Jordão  2' Holmes  20' (og) Fernandes  45', 90+1'	Referee: Erik Fredriksson (Sweden)

Sporting CP v Southampton

4 November 1981	Sporting CP	0 – 0	Southampton	Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal
21:00		Report		Referee: Ruedi Renggli (Switzerland)

Southampton lost 4–2 on aggregate.

Southampton qualified for a European Cup competition in successive seasons for the first time and played Swedish team IFK Norrköping in the First Round. A 2–2 draw at The Dell meant that they exited the tournament on the away goals rule after a 0–0 result in Sweden.

Southampton v IFK Norrköping

15 September 1982	Southampton	2 – 2	IFK Norrköping	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30	Armstrong  62' Wright  86'	Report	Pettersson  48', 82'	Referee: Miklos Nagy (Hungary)

IFK Norrköping v Southampton

29 September 1982	IFK Norrköping	0 – 0	Southampton	Nya Parken, Norrköping, Sweden
19:00		Report		Referee: Alexandr Mushkovets (Russia)

Southampton lost 2–2 on aggregate after the away goals rule.

In the 1983–84 Season, Southampton recorded their best ever finish in the First Division as runners up to Liverpool, just three points behind. In the First Round of the UEFA Cup, they drew German opponents Hamburger SV. Despite a 0–0 draw at home in the first leg, Southampton were unable to claim victory in Hamburg and eventually lost 2–0.

Southampton v Hamburger SV

19 September 1984	Southampton	0 – 0	Hamburger SV	The Dell, Southampton, England
19:30		Report		Referee: Roger Schoeters (Belgium)

Hamburger SV v Southampton

3 October 1984	Hamburger SV	2 – 0	Southampton	Imtech Arena, Hamburg, Germany
20:00	Kaltz  69' (pen) McGhee  90'	Report		Referee: Paolo Bergamo (Italy)

Southampton lost 2-–0 on aggregate.

After almost two decades absent from European competition, Southampton qualified for the UEFA Cup after finishing runners up in the 2003 FA Cup Final. It was the first time that St. Mary's Stadium hosted a competitive European match. Following on from a 1–1 draw at home, Southampton conceded late on in Romania and found themselves eliminated from the First Round for the third time in a row.

Southampton v Steaua București

24 September 2003	Southampton	1 – 1	Steaua București	St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England
19:30	Phillips  52'	Report	Răducanu  20'	Attendance: 30,557 Referee: Tommy Skjerven (Norway)

Steaua București v Southampton

15 October 2003	Steaua București	1 – 0	Southampton	Stadionul Steaua, Bucharest, Romania
20:00	Răducanu  82'	Report		Attendance: 25,000 Referee: Stefan Johannesson (Sweden)

Southampton lost 2–1 on aggregate.

Since the winners of the 2014–15 FA Cup, Arsenal, and winners of the 2014–15 Football League Cup, Chelsea, qualified for the Champions League based on league position, the spot awarded to the FA Cup winner (Europa League group stage) was passed to the sixth-placed team, Liverpool, and the spot awarded to the League Cup winner (Europa League third qualifying round) was passed to the seventh-placed team, Southampton. The draw for the Third Round was held on 17 July 2015, Southampton drew Dutch team Vitesse Arnhem who finished fifth in the previous season of the Eredivisie.

Vitesse (30 July and 6 August 2015)

Southampton entered the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League in the third qualifying round. Their first game took place against Dutch side Vitesse Arnhem on 30 July 2015, which the Saints won 3–0 at St Mary's Stadium.[2] Graziano Pellè found the net first in the 36th minute to put Southampton one up, before Dušan Tadić scored a penalty just before half time.[2] Substitute Shane Long finished the scoring late in the second half to win the game for the home side.[2] In the second leg Southampton won 2–0, therefore advancing to the play-off round 5–0 on aggregate.[3] Pellè scored again to put the Saints up in the fourth minute, with Sadio Mané doubling his side's lead just a minute before the end of the match.[3]

Midtjylland (20 and 27 August 2015)

In the qualifying play-off round, Southampton faced FC Midtjylland. In the first leg the Saints drew 1–1 with the Danish champions, with Jay Rodriguez equalising after Tim Sparv's opener on the stroke of half-time.[4] In the second leg, Midtjylland striker Morten Rasmussen scored the only goal of the game to ensure the Danish side won 2–1 on aggregate to eliminate Southampton from the competition.[5]

Southampton v Vitesse Arnhem

30 July 2015	Southampton	3 – 0	Vitesse Arnhem	St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England
20:05 BST	Pellè  36' Tadić  45' (pen.) Long  84'	Report		Attendance: 30,580 Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Spain)

Vitesse Arnhem v Southampton

6 August 2015	Vitesse Arnhem	0 – 2	Southampton	GelreDome, Arnhem, Netherlands
19:00 BST		Report	Pellè  4' Mané  88'	Referee: Ilías Spathas (Greece)

Southampton won 5–0 on aggregate.

Southampton v Midtjylland

20 August 2015	Southampton	1 – 1	Midtjylland	St. Mary's Stadium, Southampton, England
20:00 BST	Rodriguez  56' (pen.)	Report	Sparv  45'	Referee: Clément Turpin (France)

Midtjylland v Southampton

27 August 2015	Midtjylland	1 – 0	Southampton	MCH Arena, Herning, Denmark
20:45 CEST	Rasmussen  28'	Report		Referee: Liran Liany (Israel)

Southampton lost 2–1 on aggregate.

Since the winners of the 2015–16 Football League Cup, Manchester City qualified for the 2016–17 UEFA Champions League through their league position, the spot normally awarded to the League Cup winner was passed down to the team who finished in sixth place in the 2015–16 Premier League, Southampton. This was the first time that Southampton had participated in the Europa League Group Stage and on 26 August 2016, were drawn into Group K alongside Internazionale, Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Sparta Prague (15 September 2016)

Charlie Austin scored twice in the opening game of the Europa League to help Southampton to a 3–0 win.

Southampton entered the 2016–17 UEFA Europa League at the group stage, when they were drawn in Group K with Internazionale, Sparta Prague and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[6] In the opening match against Sparta Prague on 15 September 2016, the Saints picked up their first win of the season when they beat the Czech side 3–0.[7] Charlie Austin opened the scoring with a fifth-minute penalty, before doubling his side's lead 20 minutes later with a header.[7] Jay Rodriguez scored a third in added time at the end of the match to send Southampton to the top of the group.[7]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva (29 September 2016)

In their second match of the tournament, the Saints were held to a goalless draw at Israeli champions Hapoel Be'er Sheva.[8] The game did not feature many goalscoring opportunities for either side in the first half, which Hapoel largely dominated, although James Ward-Prowse had a number of chances on goal after the break.[8] The home side came closest to winning the game in the second half through Maor Melikson and Ben Sahar chances, however the deadlock stayed unbroken and both sides remained on level points at the top of the group table.[8]

Internazionale (20 October 2016)

On 20 October 2016 the Saints travelled to the San Siro to face Internazionale, losing 1–0 to the Italian side.[9] The visitors almost scored on a number of occasions in the first half, notably when Ward-Prowse's shot went over the crossbar and Cuco Martina's went wide of the post.[9] Antonio Candreva scored the only goal of the game in the 67th minute, before Marcelo Brozović received a second booking and was sent off ten minutes later.[9] However, Southampton could not take advantage of the extra player and succumbed to their first defeat in the tournament.[9]

Internazionale (3 November 2016)

Southampton hosted Internazionale on 3 November 2016, winning 2–1 to secure second in the group K table.[10] After Inter captain Mauro Icardi opened the scoring in the 33rd minute, the Saints were awarded a controversial penalty for a handball by Ivan Perišić just before half time, while Antonio Candreva was booked for an off-the-ball incident involving Sam McQueen.[10] Dušan Tadić's penalty was saved by Samir Handanović, before the half ended with more drama between the players of both sides.[10] The hosts increased the pressure in the second half, leading to defender Virgil van Dijk equalising in the 64th minute with a shot in the box following a corner.[10] Less than five minutes later, Southampton went ahead as Yuto Nagatomo turned Tadić's cross into the Internazionale goal.[10] Southampton held on and almost scored a third for an historic win.[10]

Sparta Prague (24 November 2016)

On 24 November, Southampton lost at Sparta Prague by a single goal to remain second in the group.[11] Despite dominating possession for most of the match, the Saints enjoyed few clear chances and went behind early on when defender Costa Nhamoinesu scored a volley from close range following a free kick, which was poorly defended by the Premier League club.[11] Goalkeeper Fraser Forster made a number of saves to deny further goals, which Prague threatened to score later on in the game.[11] The result left Southampton needing a goalless draw or win over Hapoel Be'er Sheva in the final group stage game in order to proceed to the knockout stages.[11]

Hapoel Be'er Sheva (8 December 2016)

Southampton were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League on 8 December 2016 when they drew 1–1 with Hapoel Be'er Sheva at St Mary's Stadium.[12] Despite the home side dominating much of the possession and having many more chances on goal, it was the visitors who took the advantage in the 78th minute when Maor Buzaglo scored the Israeli side's only shot on target after poor defending from the Saints, who were left needing two goals in just over ten minutes in order to advance to the knockout stages.[12] Defender Virgil van Dijk pulled one back in stoppage time, and Maya Yoshida came close to winning the game with a last-minute header, but the game ended level and Hapoel finished the group in second place.[12]