Editing Southampton F.C. (section)

===Reaching the First Division and cup win (1966–1977)===
In [[1965–66 in English football|1966]], [[Ted Bates (footballer)|Ted Bates]]' team were promoted to the First Division as runners-up, with [[Martin Chivers]] scoring 30 of Saints' 85 league goals.

For the following campaign [[Ron Davies (footballer, born 1942)|Ron Davies]] arrived to score 43 goals in his first season. Saints stayed among the elite for eight years, with the highest finishing position being seventh place in 1968–69 and again in 1970–71. These finishes were high enough for them to qualify for the [[Inter-Cities Fairs Cup]] in [[1969–70 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup|1969–70]] (going out in Round 3 to [[Newcastle United F.C.|Newcastle United]]) and its successor, the [[UEFA Cup]] in [[1971–72 UEFA Cup|1971–72]], when they went out in the first round to Athletic Bilbao.

In December 1973, Bates stood down to be replaced by his assistant [[Lawrie McMenemy]]. The Saints were one of the first victims of the new three-down relegation system in [[1973–74 in English football|1974]].

Under McMenemy's management, Saints started to rebuild in the Second Division, capturing players such as [[Peter Osgood]], [[Jim McCalliog]], [[Jim Steele (footballer)|Jim Steele]] and [[Peter Rodrigues]] (captain) and in 1976, Southampton reached the [[1976 FA Cup final|FA Cup final]], playing Manchester United at [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley]], and beat much-fancied United 1–0 with a goal from [[Bobby Stokes]]. The following season, they played in Europe again in the [[1976–77 European Cup Winners' Cup|Cup Winners' Cup]], reaching Round 3 where they lost 2–3 on aggregate to [[R.S.C. Anderlecht|Anderlecht]].