Saints faced large overhaul before - for different reasons

The 1983/84 season was the most successful in the club’s long history. Then the inevitable happened - players and staff were targeted by other teams eager to capture some of the magic Saints had shown on the pitch.

But Lawrie McMenemy and the team were determined to stay competitive and made a few changes before the next campaign started.

They changed the main sponsors to Draper Tools while Martin Foyle went to Aldershot. Ken Armstrong joined Birmingham and Frank Burrows became Sunderland’s assistant manager.

Replacements came in the form of Phil Kite from Bristol Rovers as a backup for Peter Shilton in goal, and Joe Jordan joined from Verona after Frank Worthington made the move along the south coast to Brighton.

The signing of a powerhouse frontman such as Jordan signalled a shakeup in strategy for Saints to a more direct style of play, which didn’t bring instant success. It wasn’t until six league games in that they got their first win, a 2-1 home triumph against Norwich.

However, Jordan clearly made an immediate impact by scoring his first goal for the club in the 3-2 home defeat against West Ham and getting on the scoresheet twice more before the end of September.

Saints were bottom of the table by the end of September, but the 3-2 win marked a turning point for the team that was clearly beginning to gel. McMenemy’s team then went on a 14-match unbeaten run in the league.

Saints enjoyed success in the FA Cup that year until a surprising defeat in the fifth round.

An impressive 4-0 victory against Sunderland at home during the third round was followed by another decisive win; a 2-0 success at third-division Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road ground.

But the wheels came off when they crashed out of the competition after a shock defeat at home to second-division Barnsley.

Their journey in the Milk Cup came to an end in the fourth round, where they were toppled by QPR after a second replay on Ranger’s artificial turf.

The previous season had been successful for the Saints, having secured second place in the league and thus qualifying them to compete in Europe. Unfortunately, their involvement was short-lived as they were knocked out in the first round of the UEFA Cup after a 2-0 defeat by German giants SV Hamburg.

But, back in the league, the Saints were looking to challenge the top four once again - despite the slow start.

Failure to get out of the starting blocks with any real pace meant they were never in the running for the championship, but McMenemy had built a team that was incredibly hard to beat and, with Jordan netting 12 goals by the season’s end, Saints eventually finished in fifth place.