Editing Southampton F.C. (section)

===Return to First Division (1977–1992)===
In [[1977–78 in English football|1977–78]], captained by [[Alan Ball Jr.|Alan Ball]], Saints finished runners-up in the Second Division (behind [[Bolton Wanderers F.C.|Bolton Wanderers]]) and returned to the First Division. They finished comfortably in 14th place in their first season back in the top flight. The following season they returned to Wembley in the final of the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] where they acquitted themselves well, losing 3–2 to [[Nottingham Forest F.C.|Nottingham Forest]].

In 1980, McMenemy made his biggest signing, capturing the [[European Footballer of the Year]] [[Kevin Keegan]]. Although Keegan's Southampton career only lasted two years, Saints fielded an attractive side also containing Alan Ball, prolific goal-scorer Ted MacDougall, (who still holds the record for the largest number of goals in an FA Cup game&nbsp;– nine&nbsp;– for Bournemouth against Margate in an 11–0 win), MacDougall's strike partner at Bournemouth and [[Norwich City F.C.|Norwich City]], [[Phil Boyer]], club stalwart [[Mick Channon]] and [[Charlie George]] and in [[1980–81 in English football|1980–81]] they scored 76 goals, finishing in sixth place, then their highest league finish. The following season, Kevin Keegan helped lift the club to the top of the First Division. Southampton led the league for over two months, taking top spot on 30 January 1982 and staying there (apart from one week) until 3 April 1982. But in a disappointing end to the season, in which Keegan was hampered by a back injury, Southampton won only two of their last nine games and finished seventh. The winners of a wide-open title race were Keegan's old club [[Liverpool F.C.|Liverpool]], who were crowned champions on the final day of the season. Keegan scored 26 of Southampton's 72 goals that season, but was then sold to Newcastle.

Southampton continued to progress under McMenemy's stewardship, and with a team containing [[Peter Shilton]] (the [[England national football team|England]] goalkeeper), [[Nick Holmes (footballer)|Nick Holmes]], [[David Armstrong (English footballer)|David Armstrong]], striker [[Steve Moran]] and quick winger [[Danny Wallace (footballer)|Danny Wallace]] reached their highest ever league finish as runners-up in [[1983–84 in English football|1983–84]]<ref name="Second">{{cite news |last=Struthers |first=Greg |title=Caught in Time: Southampton finish runners-up in the First Division, 1984 |work=The Times |location=London |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article732419.ece |access-date=4 January 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604115652/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/article732419.ece |archive-date=4 June 2011}}</ref> (three points behind the champions Liverpool) as well as reaching the semi-final of the FA Cup losing 1–0 to [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] at [[Highbury Stadium|Highbury]]. McMenemy then added experienced midfielder [[Jimmy Case]] to his ranks.

They finished fifth the following year, but as a result of the [[Heysel Stadium disaster|Heysel Disaster]] all English clubs were banned from European competition: had it not been for this, then Southampton would have again qualified for the [[UEFA Europa League|UEFA Cup]].

McMenemy left at the end of the 1984–85 season to be succeeded by [[Chris Nicholl]], who was sacked after six years in charge despite preserving the club's top flight status. He was replaced by [[Ian Branfoot]], who until the end of the 1990–91 season had been assistant manager to [[Steve Coppell]] at [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]. By this stage, a key player in the Southampton line-up was [[Guernsey]]-born attacking midfielder/striker [[Matt Le Tissier|Matthew Le Tissier]], who broke into the first team in the [[1986–87 in English football|1986–87 season]]. He was voted [[PFA Young Player of the Year]] in 1990 and later made eight appearances for the England team&nbsp;– he finally retired in 2002 at the age of 33. Another exciting young player to break into the Southampton team just after Le Tissier was [[Alan Shearer]], who at the age of 17 scored a hat-trick against Arsenal in a league match in April 1988. Shearer was a first team regular by 1990, and stayed with Southampton until July 1992, when he was sold to [[Blackburn Rovers F.C.|Blackburn Rovers]] for a national record of more than £3&nbsp;million. He then became the most expensive footballer in the world when Blackburn sold him to Newcastle for £15&nbsp;million in 1996. He also scored 30 times for England internationally.