Southampton named Irish senior internationals Shane Long and Michael Obafemi, and under 19 midfielder Will Smallbone, in their starting XI against West Ham on Saturday, 29th February 2020. This might be the first time the Saints started with three Irish players in their history!
Wikipedia lists fifteen Irish players with less than 25 appearances - Matt Reilly, Matthew Nihan, Robert Bennett, George Moorhead, Laurie Cumming, Benny Gaughran, Paddy Kennedy, Mike Earls, Eamonn Collins, Leon Best, Darren Potter, Alan Bennett, Stephen O'Halloran, Alex Pearce, and Smallbone - six players with between 25 and 100 appearances for Southampton - Jimmy Dunne, Hugh Kelly, Austin Hayes, Alan McLoughlin, David Connolly, and Obafemi - and seven players with greater than 100 appearances - Dick Rowley, Fred Kiernan, Tommy Traynor, Tony Byrne, Jeff Kenna, Rory Delap, and Long.
The first Irish player to appear for Southampton was goalkeeper Matt Reilly, who started two games for the Saints during a loan spell from Portsmouth in December 1895.
Matthew Nihan two starts in 1912 was followed by Robert Bennett's single appearance in 1913.
Enniskillen born Dick Rowley signed for Southampton from Swindon in May 1926, staying at the Dell until February 1930 when he moved to Tottenham Hotspur.
There would be no further Irish representation for Southampton for six years, when the Saints signed Jimmy Dunne from Arsenal in July 1936. Dunne would only remain at the Dell for a single season, when he returned to his native Dublin to sign for Shamrock Rovers.
After signing from Celtic in July 1937, striker Benny Gaughran started seven games for Southampton, scoring four goals, before signing for Sunderland in November of the same year.
The next Irish player to represent Southampton was goalkeeper Fred Kiernan, who signed for the Saints in 1951. He would go on to make 136 appearances before moving to Yeovil in July 1956.
After two years with his native Dundalk, defender Tommy Traynor moved to Southampton in June 1952. Traynor spent 14 years at the Dell, making a then-record 487 appearances, which has only been bettered by four players since.
Traynor was joined by defender Paddy Kennedy in July 1959, but Traynor would take his position at left full after only two appearances, keeping Kennedy out of the team for the rest of the season and resulting in Kennedy's release at the end of the season.
In August 1964, Traynor was joined by Tony Byrne at Southampton. Although he spent almost ten years with the Saints, the defender struggled to establish himself in the first team, making only 114 appearances, and moved to Hereford in August 1974.
Winger Austin Hayes has a similar appearance record for Southampton to Byrne, in the almost five years between his debut in November 1976 (where he scored a brace) and his move to Millwall in February 1981, the once-capped player only made 41 appearances.
Eamonn Collins signed for Southampton from Blackpool in December 1981, two months after his sixteenth birthday, but had already made a senior club appearance for the Seasiders in an Anglo-Scottish cup tie against Kilmarnock in September 1980. Collins would only make five appearances for the Saints, including two starts, before moving to Portsmouth in May 1986.
Four years after Collins left the Dell, Southampton paid Swindon £1 million to sign Alan McLoughlin, at the time a record fee received by the Robins. McLoughlin made thirty appearance for the Saints before signing for Portsmouth in February 1992 following a loan spell at Aston Villa, where he would make more than 300 appearances.
Iin May 1991, six months after McLoughlin made his debut for Southampton, Jeff Kenna made his senior career debut in a 6-2 defeat to the defender's future club Derby County. Kenna was a regular player for the Saints for four years until moving to Blackburn Rovers, winning the Premier League with the Lancashire side in 1995.
Six years later, Southampton broke their transfer record to sign Rory Delap from Derby. Delap spent five seasons with the Saints, before leaving for Sunderland midway through the 2005/06 season.
Leon Best spent three years at Southampton from July 2004 until July 2007, but would only make 19 appearances for the Saints, 10 of them starts, and spent the majority of his time at St Mary's out on loan until moving to Coventry before the start of the 2007/08 season.
Midfielder Darren Potter left Liverpool on loan to Southampton in January 2006, making nine starts until his loan expired at the end of the season.
Defender Alan Bennett signed for Southampton on loan in July 2007, and went on to start eleven games for the Saints until returning to parent club Reading in January 2008.
Full back Stephen O'Halloran also signed a loan
deal with Southampton in the 2007/08 season, but only made one appearance - a
second half introduction in January 2008, and was eventually recalled by parent club Aston Villa.
Alex Pearce spent two months on loan at Southampton from Reading from the end of October 2008, the fourth loan during his time at the Royals, and marked his debut for the Saints with a goal.
As a free agent, following his release by Sunderland in the summer of 2009, David Connolly was able to sign for Southampton, then playing in League One, for free the following October. Connolly spent three seasons with the Saints, helping them earn consecutive promotions from the third tier to the Championship in 2010/11, and from there to the Premier League the following season.
After appearing for Hull City in the preliminary stages of the 2014/15 Europa League, Shane Long signed a four year contract with Southampton in August 2014, and is currently in his sixth season at St Mary's. In April 2019, Long's goal in the opening seconds of their game against Watford against broke the record for the fastest strike in Premier League history. Recently, Long's second PL goal of the season took him ahead of Damien Duff to third on the all time Irish Premier League goalscorers list with 55 strikes.
Michael Obafemi has been at the club since 2016, making his senior debut two years later. In only his seventh appearance for the Southampton senior side, his goal against Huddersfield set the record for the youngest goalscorer for the Saints in the Premier League, and the youngest Irish senior international to score in the Premier League - only U21 cap Andy Turner scored a goal in England's top division at a younger age.
Most recently, under 19 midfielder Will Smallbone marked his senior debut with a goal in Southampton's FA Cup third round tie against Huddersfiel, and has recently established himself in the senior squad at St Mary's.
With only three pairs of Irish players being contracted to Southampton at the same time - Traynor and Byrne, McLoughlin and Kenna, and Delap and Best - we believe that the West Ham game was the first time that three Irish players started for the Saints in the same game.
Further reading
Southampton players with 1-25 appearances
Southampton players with 25-100 appearances
Southampton players with 100, or greater, appearances
