Post-war Years
Promotion was narrowly missed in 1947-48 when they finished in third place, a feat repeated the following season (despite having an 8 point lead with 8 games to play) whilst in 1949-50 they were to be denied promotion by 0.06 of a goal, missing out on second place to Sheffield United. In the 1948–49 and 1949–50 seasons, Charlie Wayman rattled in a total of 56 goals. Then relegation in 1953 sent Saints sliding back into Division 3 (South).
It took until 1960 for Saints to regain Division 2 status with Derek Reeves plundering 39 of the champions' 106 league goals. On 27 April 1963 a crowd of 68000 at Villa Park saw them lose 1–0 to Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final.
Read more about this topic: History Of Southampton F.C.
Famous quotes containing the words post-war and/or years:
“Much of what Mr. Wallace calls his global thinking is, no matter how you slice it, still “globaloney.” Mr. Wallace’s warp of sense and his woof of nonsense is very tricky cloth out of which to cut the pattern of a post-war world.”
—Clare Boothe Luce (1903–1987)
“Could it be that those who were reared in the postwar years really were spoiled, as we used to hear? Did a child-centered generation, raised in depression and war, produce a self-centered generation that resents children and parenthood?”
—C. John Sommerville (20th century)