Editing Southampton F.C. (section)

===Southampton in the Premier League (1992–2005)===
Southampton were founding members of the [[Premier League]] in 1992–93, but spent most of the next ten seasons struggling against relegation. In [[1995–96 Southampton F.C. season|1995–96]], Southampton finished 17th with 38 league points, avoiding relegation on goal difference. Two important wins during the final weeks of the season did much to ensure that Saints and not [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] would achieve Premiership survival. First came a 3–1 home win over eventual double winners [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]], then came a 1–0 away win over relegated Bolton Wanderers. Former Liverpool and [[Rangers F.C.|Rangers]] manager [[Graeme Souness]], was brought in, signing foreign players such as [[Egil Østenstad]] and [[Eyal Berkovic]]. The highlight of the season was a 6–3 win over Manchester United at The Dell in October, when both his signings scored twice. Souness resigned after just one season in charge, being replaced by [[Dave Jones (footballer, born 1956)|Dave Jones]] who had won promotion to Division One with [[Stockport County F.C.|Stockport County]] as well as reaching the League Cup semi-finals.

In [[1998–99 Southampton F.C. season|1998–99]], they were rooted to the bottom of the table for much of the first half of the season but again avoided relegation on the last day of the season after a late run of good results, helped by the intervention of Latvian [[Marians Pahars|Marian Pahars]] and old hero Le Tissier (The so-called "Great Escape"). In 1999, Southampton were given the go-ahead to build a new 32,000-seat stadium in the St Mary's area of the city, having been playing in the Dell since 1898. The stadium had been converted to an all-seater format earlier in the decade, but had a capacity of less than 16,000 and was unsuitable for further expansion.

During the [[1999–2000 Southampton F.C. season|1999–2000 season]], Dave Jones quit as Southampton manager to concentrate on a court case after he was accused of abusing children at the children's home where he had worked during the 1980s. The accusations were later proved to be groundless, but it was too late to save Jones' career as Southampton manager and he was succeeded by ex-England manager [[Glenn Hoddle]]. Hoddle helped keep Southampton well clear of the Premier League drop zone but having received an offer he moved to [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.|Tottenham Hotspur]] just before the end of the [[2000–01 Southampton F.C. season|2000–01 season]]. He was replaced by first-team coach [[Stuart Gray (footballer, born 1960)|Stuart Gray]], who oversaw the relocation to the St Mary's Stadium for the 2001–02 season. At the end of the 2000–01 season, in the last competitive match at The Dell, Matthew Le Tissier came on late to score the last ever league goal at the old stadium with a half volley on the turn in a 3–2 win against Arsenal. Gray was sacked after a poor start to the following season, and he was replaced by ex-[[Coventry City F.C.|Coventry City]] manager [[Gordon Strachan]], who steered Southampton to safety and a secure 11th-place finish.

In [[2002–03 Southampton F.C. season|2002–03]], Southampton finished eighth in the league and finished [[2003 FA Cup final|runners-up in the FA Cup]] to Arsenal (after losing 1–0 at the [[Millennium Stadium]]), thanks in no small part to the metamorphosis of [[James Beattie (footballer)|James Beattie]], who fired home 24 goals, 23 in the league. Strachan resigned in March 2004 and within eight months, two managers – [[Paul Sturrock]] and [[Steve Wigley]] – had come and gone. Chairman [[Rupert Lowe]] risked the ire of Saints fans when he appointed [[Harry Redknapp]] as manager on 8 December 2004, just after his resignation at [[South Coast of England|South Coast]] rivals Portsmouth.<ref>{{cite news|title=Saints name Redknapp as boss|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4077461.stm |work=BBC Sport|date=8 December 2004|access-date=30 October 2013}}</ref> He brought in a number of new signings, including his son [[Jamie Redknapp|Jamie]] in the attempt to survive relegation. Southampton were relegated from the Premier League on the last day of the season, ending 27 successive seasons of top flight football for the club. Their relegation was ironically confirmed by a 2–1 home defeat to Manchester United, who had been on the receiving end of many upsets by Southampton over the years, namely in the 1976 FA Cup final and since then on a number of occasions in the league, as well as inflicting a heavy defeat on them in a November 1986 League Cup tie which cost United manager [[Ron Atkinson]] his job.<ref name="BBC Sport">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/eng_prem/4525113.stm|title=Southampton 1 – 2 Man Utd|work=BBC Sport|access-date=19 August 2013|date=15 May 2005}}</ref>

Lowe and Southampton continued to make headlines after former [[England national rugby union team|England]] Rugby World Cup-winning coach [[Clive Woodward|Sir Clive Woodward]] joined the club—eventually being appointed technical director in June 2005.<ref>{{cite news|title=Southampton confirm Woodward move|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4121186.stm|date=22 June 2005|access-date=30 October 2013|work=BBC Sport|publisher=BBC}}</ref>