Play-off curse gives Southampton another shot at rewriting history | OneFootball

Southampton enter the play-offs in rampant form, unbeaten in 19 Championship matches and with 47 points from 57 since mid-January, plus an FA Cup semi-final. A sluggish start left them fourth, so promotion must come the hard way.

Sainstmarching.com points out a curious hoodoo for clubs in red and white stripes with black shorts. Across 39 EFL play-off campaigns since 1987 for six such teams, there were 18 final defeats and no promotions between 1987 and 2021.

That spell ended in 2021 when Brentford beat Swansea to reach the Premier League. Sunderland then won finals in 2022 and last season, beating Sheffield United 2-1 at Wembley, with the Blades in their traditional colours.

Southampton have also tasted play-off joy since, defeating Leeds United at Wembley two years ago, Adam Armstrong the match-winner. Like Sunderland 12 months later, the Saints wore an away kit for that showpiece.

They face Middlesbrough in the semi-finals, first leg at the Riverside on Sat 9 May and the return at St Mary's on Tue 12 May. A final would follow on Sat 23 May against Millwall or Hull.

Should they get there, Southampton would be the home team versus Hull or the away side against Millwall, whose dark blue means the Saints could wear their stripes either way. Their FA Cup run saw them in yellow and blue, bringing wins over Fulham and Arsenal and a narrow loss to Manchester City at the national stadium. Form makes them favourites, yet some still nod to curses.

Source: Sainstmarching.com