Where things went wrong for Southampton as they set relegation record

Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League was confirmed following a 3-1 defeat at Tottenham.

The Saints are the first team ever to be relegated from the Premier League with seven games of a season remaining and are still a point short of equalling Derby’s record low 11-point haul from 2007-08.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at where things went wrong in a season to forget.

Former director of football Jason Wilcox left for Manchester United in April 2024 but had helped build a platform for promotion, which was secured with victory against Leeds in the Championship play-off final at Wembley.

Southampton did not appoint Johannes Spors into a ‘group technical director’ role until mid-February.

There were plenty of transfers done in between, including permanent moves for defender Taylor Harwood-Bellis and midfielder Flynn Downes following loan spells along with goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale from Arsenal.

However, the squad ended up becoming rather bloated, with not enough quality in the right areas – and shortcomings at both ends were exposed as the campaign laboured on.

Cameron Archer's first @premierleague goal for #SaintsFC