Southampton first club relegated to Second Division

Beaten on Saturday at home by Fulham (2-0) during the 36th day of the English championship, Southampton is the first club mathematically relegated to the second division.

A Carlos Vinicius goal after the break put the visitors ahead (48th) before Aleksandar Mitrovic doubled the lead in the 72nd minute, sealing Southampton’s 24th Premier League defeat this season.

With 24 points and only two games to play, the Saints can no longer come back to Everton, 17th and first non-relegation with 32 points.

Their descent ends eleven seasons in the Premier League, which have notably seen Mauricio Pochettino and Claude Puel p on their bench, or Virgil van Dijk or Sadio Mané on the lawn.

Bought in January 2022 by the investment fund Sport Republic, whose main investor is the businessman of Serbian origin Dragan Solak, known for his activities in the media, Southampton has had a disastrous season.

The southern English club were hoping to establish themselves in the English top flight, particularly with the involvement of Dane Rasmus Ankersen, who was one of the players in Brentford’s rise to the Premier League as co-director of football .

But after a disappointing start to the season, the new leaders decided to sack Austrian coach Ralph Hasenhüttl, who had been in the job for four years, in early November. The club then had 12 points after 14 matches (half of its current nest egg).

Southampton then went to look for Nathan Johnson in Luton (D2) before dismissing him in turn three months later – including a month of truce linked to the World Cup – leaving a record of seven defeats in eight controlled meetings.

Ruben Selles then took over, but after two victories in their first three matches, Southampton only took three points in the next eleven days and could even be condemned to last place on this 36th day if Leicester (19th with 30 points) does not lose to Liverpool on Monday.