The 1924–25 season was the 30th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's third in the Second Division of the Football League. Following the 1923–24 season, in which the club finished just three points shy of the First Division promotion places in fifth place, the Saints dropped two positions to finish seventh in the league. As with the last season, Southampton began their Second Division campaign poorly and found themselves at the bottom of the table after two losses in their first three games. The side continued to struggle to pick up wins, but steadily began making their way up the table over the next few months. A number of wins over the Christmas period and an eight-game unbeaten run at the end of the season helped Southampton finish in seventh place with 13 wins, 18 draws and 11 losses.
In the 1924–25 FA Cup, Southampton beat Third Division South sides Exeter City and Brighton & Hove Albion in the first and second rounds, respectively, followed by Second Division rivals Bradford City in the third. They then edged past four-time First Division champions Liverpool with a 1–0 win in the fourth round, before being eliminated by Sheffield United, another top-flight side, in the semi-final. United went on to win the tournament, beating Cardiff City in the final at Wembley Stadium. The club ended the season with two games against local rivals Portsmouth, for the Rowland Hospital Cup and the Hampshire Benevolent Cup, respectively. The former ended in a draw and the latter was won by Pompey. In their two friendly games of the season, the Saints drew 1–1 with Plymouth Argyle in November and March.
Southampton used 22 different players during the 1924–25 season and had eight different goalscorers. The club's top scorers were centre-forward Bill Rawlings and inside-right Arthur Dominy, both of whom scored 16 goals in all competitions (Rawlings was the top scorer in the league with 14 goals). Nine new players were signed by the club during the campaign, while six were sold to other clubs and one was loaned out for the season. The average attendance at The Dell during the 1924–25 season was 8,939. The highest attendance was 21,501 against Liverpool in the fourth round of the FA Cup; the lowest was around 4,000 against Blackpool on 1 November 1924. The season was the club's last to feature manager Jimmy McIntyre, who left in December 1924; the Southampton board subsequently took over the role.
Background and transfers
At the end of the 1923–24 season, Southampton brought in centre-half John Callagher and inside-forward Stan Woodhouse from Bury, who had just been promoted to the First Division as runners-up of the second flight. As part of the deal, left-half Bill Turner moved to the Manchester-based club, where he would remain for a total of three seasons. In a similar deal, the Saints sold full-back Harry Hooper to divisional rivals Leicester City, in exchange for right-half Dennis Jones and outside-left Fred Price. None of the four new players would become regulars in the side, however, and all but Woodhouse had left by the end of the 1924–25 season. In June, outside-left Elias MacDonald – who had joined from Burton All Saints just a year earlier – left for Third Division South side Southend United. The following month, inside-left Jock Salter also left Southampton after just one season at the club (during which he made a single appearance), joining Thornycrofts. Also in July, outside-right Tommy Broad joined from Stoke.
In August, outside-right Charlie Brown left Southampton to join Third Division South club Queens Park Rangers. Harold Pearson left around the same to join Coventry City. Manager Jimmy McIntyre brought two more players to the club before the start of the league campaign – centre-forward Jimmy Bullock signed from Crewe Alexandra in the Third Division North, while goalkeeper James Thitchener joined on amateur terms from local club Totton. The club signed another amateur in October, Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic half-back Ernie King, who had signed professional terms by January 1925. In November, Scottish forward Willie McCall returned to his home country on loan with former club Queen of the South, who he would later join in a permanent deal. The last transfer activity of the 1924–25 season came in February 1925, when wing-half Albert Barrett joined Southampton from West Ham United, making one appearance in the Second Division before leaving for Fulham the following summer.