List of top 10 best Southampton managers

The English football club Southampton FC marked their return to the English top-flight football in the Premier League securing the promotion after winning the EFL Championship play-off final against Leeds United at Wembley. Under the management of their boss Russel Martin after only a single 2023-24 season in the second division.

Southampton’s History & Legacy

The club have been part of English football’s rich history and its legacy is traced back 140 years, making it one of the oldest football institutions in England. The club was founded in 1885, as St Mary’s Young Men’s Association and later adopted the name Southampton in the early 1900s. The club has been nicknamed The Saints due to the fact it was founded as a football team of church aligning with its previous name St Mary’s Young Men and has remained the same despite the name change.

They played their home games at the Dell Stadium from 1898 to 2001 until they shifted to their current home St Mary’s Stadium. The Saints gained their first-ever promotion to the first division in the 1960s and subsequently clinched the biggest silverware in the FA Cup triumph in 1976 defeating Manchester United in the epic final. Now that we have briefly discussed the history and legacy of the Southampton football club. Let us find out who are the top 10 best Southampton managers in the history of the club.

List of Top 10 Best Southampton Managers

Manager	Duration in charge
Lawrie McMenemy	1973-1985
Ted Bates	1955-1973
Gordon Strachan	2001-2004
Bill Dodgin	1946-1949
Nigel Adkins	2010-2013
Alfred McMinn	1896-1897
Ronald Koeman	2014-2016
Mauricio Pochettino	2013-2014
Ralph Hasenhüttl	2018-2022
Chris Nicholl	1985 – 1991

10. Chris Nicholl

At the 10th position, we have English gaffer Chris Nicholl, who was in charge of The Saints from 1985 to 1991 and managed 257 games for the club. Southampton under Nicholl’s management won 82 games and drew 74 games in total picking 320 points over the period. He led the club to an impressive seventh-place finish in the first division in the 1989-90 season and played an instrumental role in Alan Shearer’s early years at the club. He was renowned for nurturing young talents under his umbrella to achieve success.

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9. Ralph Hasenhüttl

Ralph Hasenhüttl served as the Southampton manager from 2018 to 2022, under his regime club adopted a strong and high-pressing style of play troubling all the rival teams in the Premier League. As a result of his mentality implemented into the tactics, the Saints managed to snatch wins against the likes of Liverpool and Manchester City and helping them finish in the 11th position on the points table during the 2019-2020. Additionally. he led the club to the FA Cup semi-final as well, during his spell the Austrian managed 173 games.

8. Mauricio Pochettino

The Argentine manager arrived in the summer of 2013 to take the head coach role at the St Mary’s stadium after proving his skills in Spain with Espanyol and remained at the helm for a year only joining Tottenham in the very next season on English soil. Under his guidance, Southampton finished 8th position one of the best finishes in recent history and notably Pochettino maintained a tremendous 1.45 points-per-game one of the best-ever figures amongst the Southampton managers in 60 matches.

7. Ronald Koeman

Ronald Koeman was bought as the successor of Mauricio Poechettino after he joined Tottenham Hotspurs in the summer of 2014. The Dutch tactician saw remarkable success in two successive campaigns, as the Saints achieved the club’s highest-ever Premier League finish of 6th place in the 2015-16 season. Consequently, Southampton secured UEFA Europa League group-stage qualification for the 2016-17 season. Koeman boasts an incredible win percentage of 48% one of the highest in the list in total of 91 matches in charge.

6. Alfred McMinn

Alfred McMinn was among the managers with the shortest spell from 1896 to 1897, regardless of the length of his duration he proved to be one of the most successful gaffers in Southampton’s history. He remains the only manager with an astonishing win percentage of 70% the highest ever by any manager and led the club to lift the Southern League title remaining unbeaten in the entire campaign. Additionally, they reached the FA Cup second round under the supervision of McMinn.

5. Nigel Adkins

Nigel Adkins arrived at St Mary’s Stadium to take charge of Southampton in 2010 and etched his name in the golden letter for his accomplishments of steering the club to back-to-back promotions. Adkin accumulated a win percentage of 54% in a total of 124 games in charge with 67 wins as their gaffer and registered 1.82 points per game. His most startling feat is leading the Saints to secure promotion from League One to the EFL Championship and then to the Premier League in the following season in 2012.

4. Bill Dodgin

Bill Dodgin took the helm of Southampton during the post-World war era and helped the club rebuild in that period. Due to the war, the league of football had been shut down. Dogin-led club mostly played unofficial matches and during his spell, the team competed in the second division, even though he did not win any titles. He has been widely respected for stabilizing the club laid the foundation of the club for future managers to work on. In a total of 137 games, the Saints won 65 of them with percentage of 47%.

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3. Gordon Strachan

The Scotsman Gordon Strachan joined Southampton from Coventry in 2001 to became the new manager at St Mary’s stadium and led them to one of the most successful seasons in its history. Under Strachan, they secured a mid-table finish and reached the 2003 FA Cup final narrowly losing to the star-studded Arsenal managed by legendary Arsene Wenger, despite the defeat they clinched the UEFA Cup spot. After being in charge for 110 games in 2004, he decided to take a break and resigned from the post of manager.

2. Ted Bates

Hailed with the title of ‘Mr Southampton’ clearly portrays how big his stature is in the history of the Saints, with the iconic statue of Ted Bates standing tall outside St Mary’s Park a testament to the unparallel work he has performed at the club. Moreover, he had played for the Saints making more than 200 appearances and post-retirement. He began his managerial career as an assistant manager in 1953. Two years later, he took charge of the club as manager and dedicated 18 years of his career from 1955 to 1973 as the head coach, managing over 300 games the most by any Southampton manager.

1. Lawrie McMenemy

Lawrie McMenemy is widely celebrated as the greatest Southampton manager having served the post-Ted Bates era from 1973 to 1985 and took the club to climb greater heights overseeing 363 matches as Saints boss. McMenemy’s greatest achievement was the 1976 FA Cup triumph, they defeated Manchester United in the final contest in front of jam-packed Wembley stadium with nearly 100k fans in the stands. This remains be club’s biggest feat and only major silverware in its history. The Englishman led them to a second-place finish in the first division which was their highest finish in the league in the 1983-84 season and left the club the following year to move to Sunderland.

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