The 1986–87 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 86th season of competitive football and their 17th in the First Division of the Football League. The second season with Chris Nicholl as manager, 1986–87 saw the Saints improve only marginally on their previous campaign, finishing 12th in the First Division table – two places higher than the year before. Outside the league, the South Coast club were knocked out of the FA Cup in the third round for the first time in four years, reached the League Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1978–79, and made it to the third round of the second annual Full Members' Cup tournament.
Southampton made two key signings in the summer of 1986, making goalkeeper Tim Flowers' loan move permanent and bringing in Scottish striker Colin Clarke. Nicholl also signed three trainees, including midfielder Neil Maddison and striker Alan Shearer, who would go on to be important members of the Saints squad a few years later. Leaving ahead of the 1986–87 season were fringe players Eamonn Collins, Alan Curtis, Stuart McManus, Mark Whitlock and David Puckett, while former top scorer Steve Moran left a few months later. Southampton's league performance was characterised by spells of mixed form, including a run which included just one win in eleven games over the new year period, and a nine-match unbeaten run at the end of the season. The club generally sat in the bottom half of the table throughout.
In the FA Cup, Southampton were eliminated in the third round for the first time since 1982–83, losing 1–2 to previous year's runners-up (and First Division runners-up) Everton. The club fared much better in the League Cup, reaching the semi-finals for the first time since finishing as runners-up in 1978–79. The club picked up wins over Fourth Division side Swindon Town, First Division rivals Manchester United and Aston Villa, and Second Division strugglers Shrewsbury Town en route to the semi-finals, where they lost to defending league champions Liverpool. In the Full Members' Cup – which was held in lieu of European competitions due to the banning of English sides following the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 – Southampton made it to the third round before being eliminated by Norwich City.
Southampton used 23 players during the 1986–87 season and had 15 different goalscorers. Their top scorer was new signing Clarke, who scored 20 times in the league and twice in the League Cup. George Lawrence was second highest with eleven goals in all competitions, followed closely by Matt Le Tissier in his debut year for the first team, who scored ten times. Glenn Cockerill was the only Saints player to feature in all 53 games during the 1986–87 season, followed by Jimmy Case and Gerry Forrest on 49 and 47 games, respectively. The average league attendance at The Dell during the campaign was 14,948 – the first time it had dipped below 15,000 since 1962. The highest attendance was 20,452 against Liverpool on 20 September 1986; the lowest was 11,508 against Coventry City on 3 February 1987.
Background and transfers
Southampton broke their transfer record with the £400,000 signing of striker Colin Clarke from Bournemouth in July 1986.Following a successful loan spell at the end of the last season, Tim Flowers was signed on a permanent basis from Wolverhampton Wanderers.Alan Shearer was one of three trainees signed in the summer of 1986. He would make his first team debut at the end of the next season and go on to score 43 goals in 158 games.
The only players added to the Southampton squad partway through the season were striker Gordon Hobson, who was brought in for £125,000 from Grimsby Town in November to bolster the club's frontline,[12] and goalkeeper Eric Nixon, who was loaned in for a month from Manchester City in December following injuries to Peter Shilton, Flowers and Phil Kite.[13] Kite and Flowers were both loaned out towards the end of the season, to Gillingham and Swindon Town, respectively.[14][2] Swindon also received midfielder Craig Maskell on loan at the same time, as he had failed to break into the first team.[15] After a disappointing debut season, Joe Jordan was sold to Bristol City in February 1987.[16] The following month, Mark Dennis was released from the club following disputes with Nicholl and the club's directors; he later joined Queens Park Rangers.[17]
Matt Le Tissier made his professional debut for Southampton in 1986–87.
Southampton kicked off the 1986–87 season in convincing fashion, thrashing Queens Park Rangers 5–1 at The Dell and immediately going to the top of the table.[22] Three of the hosts' goals were scored by debutant Colin Clarke, who had signed from Bournemouth just a month previously – this was the first time a Southampton player had scored a hat-trick on their debut.[1] A disappointing spell followed as the club lost four out of their next five games, with their only victory a 2–0 home win over Tottenham Hotspur which featured Matt Le Tissier's first starting appearance for the team.[23] The spell ended with a 1–5 thrashing at the hands of Manchester United, with goalkeeper Tim Flowers making his debut for the first team.[24] The Saints subsequently made their way back to the top half of the league table again after winning two of three games, including a 2–1 defeat of defending champions Liverpool and a 4–1 win over Newcastle United which saw Clarke score his second hat-trick in only his ninth appearance for the club.[24]
The run-up to the new year brought mixed fortunes for the Saints, who picked up just three wins from twelve games between mid-October and late-December: a hard-fought 3–2 away victory against strugglers Leicester City on 25 October, a 3–1 win on the road against recently promoted Charlton Athletic on 22 November, and a 3–1 victory at home to Watford on 29 November, which saw Gordon Hobson score on his Southampton debut.[25] At the end of 1986, Southampton were just three points above the first automatic relegation spot.[26]
1987 started much the same for the South Coast side, who dropped another two places in the league standings after failing to win a game in January – losing 1–3 to fellow strugglers Oxford United, drawing 1–1 at home to Manchester United, and losing 1–2 at Queens Park Rangers.[27] In March, however, the club won three out of their five fixtures, each while keeping a clean sheet, to fight against the threat of relegation. The first of the wins was a 4–0 home victory over Leicester City, featuring Le Tissier's first hat-trick for the club, despite being played in what he would later describe as "probably the worst conditions I have ever played in".[27] The second was a season-record 5–0 thrashing of Aston Villa, who would finish the season at the bottom of the table.[27] The third win saw the Saints host high-flying Luton Town and win 3–0, moving back up to 16th in the table.[28] In April, Hobson joined Clarke and Le Tissier as a hat-trick scorer, delivering Southampton's first away hat-trick since 1969 in a 4–2 win over Manchester City at Maine Road.[29]
April saw Southampton embarking on an unbeaten run stretching for the last nine games of the league campaign, during which time they climbed from 17th to 12th in the table.[30][31] The run consisted of six draws and three wins – the Manchester City game, a 3–0 home win over Oxford United, and a 1–0 edging of West Ham United on the penultimate day.[29] The club finished 12th in the First Division table – an improvement of two places on the previous campaign – equal on points with Sheffield Wednesday in 13th, Chelsea in 14th and West Ham in 15th, but with the only positive goal difference of the four sides.[32]
Southampton entered the 1986–87 FA Cup in the third round drawn away to Everton, who had finished the previous season as runners-up in both the First Division and the FA Cup. Despite facing such high-calibre opponents away from home, the Saints held their own for much of the first half, before Graeme Sharp opened the scoring for the hosts in the 37th minute, converting a "stupendous pass" from Adrian Heath past returning goalkeeper Peter Shilton.[34] The Toffees came close to doubling their lead on multiple occasions shortly after half-time, but it was the visitors who scored next when Gordon Hobson netted from a Danny Wallace setup.[34] The deadlock lasted only five minutes, however, as Sharp scored his and his team's second with "a header hailed by the press as one of the best seen at Goodison in years".[34]Colin Clarke came close to equalising again for the Saints with two late chances, but Everton ultimately went through to the fourth round, knocking Southampton out at the first hurdle for the first time since 1983.[34]
Southampton entered the 1986–87 League Cup in the second round against Third Division promotion hopefuls Swindon Town. In the first leg at home, the First Division side won 3–0 thanks to a first-half brace from George Lawrence and a last-minute tap-in from Joe Jordan.[35] In the return leg at the County Ground two weeks later, Southampton held Swindon to a goalless draw to secure their status in the next round, with goalkeeper Peter Shilton keeping the score down.[35] In the third round, the Saints held out for another goalless draw away, this time at Manchester United, before beating them 4–1 in the replay thanks to goals from Lawrence, Danny Wallace and Matt Le Tissier (two) – this was the last game in charge of United for Ron Atkinson, who was sacked just two days later.[36]
In the fourth round, the Saints again faced First Division rivals, this time hosting relegation-threatened Aston Villa. The hosts won the game 2–1, which was marked by three players (two for Villa) being sent off late on.[36] The fifth round saw Southampton hosting again, this time second-tier side Shrewsbury Town, who they edged out 1–0 thanks to a second-half penalty from Colin Clarke.[36] In the two-legged semi-finals, Southampton faced defending First Division champions Liverpool. The first leg, at home, finished goalless, despite the visitors going one man down early in the second half.[36] The second leg, at Anfield, saw Liverpool break the Saints down in the second half, winning 3–0 thanks to goals in the 66th, 74th and 84th minutes.[36] Liverpool went on to lose the final 1–2 to Arsenal.[37]
In 1986–87, Southampton entered the Full Members' Cup for the first time, facing Second Division club Hull City in the second round at The Dell. The Saints beat the Tigers 2–1 thanks to two goals in quick succession from Matt Le Tissier.[38] In the third round, Southampton hosted First Division rivals Norwich City, losing 1–2 after extra time courtesy of a 91st-minute goal from Robert Rosario.[38]
Southampton played four additional matches during 1986–87. The first two were testimonials in October – a 3–1 win over local non-league side Road-Sea Southampton and a 7–1 thrashing of Salisbury the week after.[21] In November, the Saints beat Western League side Melksham Town 3–0; and in April, they drew 2–2 with Taunton Town, also of the Western League, in a testimonial for Jimmy Greene.[21]
Southampton used 23 different players during the 1986–87 season, 15 of whom scored during the campaign. Midfielder Glenn Cockerill was the only player to feature in all 53 of the club's games, winning the Southampton F.C. Player of the Season award at the end of the season.[32]Colin Clarke finished as the season's top goalscorer in his first season at the club, scoring 20 times in the league and twice in the League Cup run. He was followed by George Lawrence and Matt Le Tissier on eleven and ten goals, respectively, in all competitions.[32]
Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003), Bull, David (ed.), In That Number: A Post-War Chronicle of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN0-9534474-3-X
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