Scattered amongst a sea of empty seats, some Southampton supporters lingered to clap their sides as they began a slow, painful round of St Mary’s.
Many had left at the final whistle. Many had left long ago. Many hadn’t even bothered to all show up.
Among those hanging around was Rishi Sunak. As James Ward-Prowse led his players through the tunnel, the Prime Minister posed for a few smiling selfies before finally saying goodbye.
Sunak was born a few miles away and he returned to see Southampton’s relegation confirmed with this 2-0 defeat to Fulham.
But make no mistake: their fate has been sealed slowly, piece by piece, bad decision after bad decision. More than a year. They are reaping what they have sown since the end of last season when they pinned down Ralph Hasenhuttl to fire him in November.
Southampton were relegated to the Championship following their 2–0 defeat to Fulham at St Mary’s
The result was their third consecutive loss and confirmed their fate at the bottom of the table
Carlos Vinicius (left) scored the first goal for Fulham after a goalless and restrained first half
When they appointed Nathan Jones, a polarizing figure with no Premier League credentials.
When they jettisoned him in February and handed this poisoned chalice to Selles, who never had a top job in senior football.
The Spaniard elicited a strange flash of life from a crooked plow, but never seemed to steer them away from the inevitable.
St Mary’s was already full of empty seats by the time Carlos Alcaraz saw a goal disallowed for offside and Fulham went straight to the other side to score through Carlos Vinicius.
After Aleksandar Mitrovic – back from his eight-match suspension for shoving a referee – headed into Fulham’s second-place finish, an exodus began.
On his way out, a disgruntled Southampton supporter threw his season ticket in the direction of the dugout. It didn’t even make it to the billboards. And that felt quite appropriate.
The formula for Saints was simple: just three wins from their last three games would have given them some hope of extending an 11-year stay in the top flight.
They had done it twice before. In 2015/16 on the way to European football. And, remarkably, in 1998-99 to avoid relegation.
Such an escapology never felt likely this time. Even with a dark shade of red and white.
After all, together Hasenhuttl, Jones and Selles have managed just six league wins all season.
Southampton had failed to win in any of their previous 10 matches. Or in any of their 17 previous games against teams in the top half.
No wonder, then, that the stench of resignation hung around St Mary’s even before kick-off.
Mutiny had given way to apathy.
For Sunak, meanwhile, this ground painted an unwelcome reminder of recent achievements.
Just last week, he saw his party lose more than 1,000 seats on councils across the country.
On Saturday, this stadium was also full of new bags of red – places left empty by those Saints fans who had lost all hope. They didn’t miss much. Especially in the first half.
Saints were heartbroken after Carlos Alcaraz had a goal disallowed for offside just before
He was fractionally ahead of the last defender and begged the referees after scoring
Aleksandar Mitrovic (centre) returned from an eight-match suspension to score Fulham’s second
If this was the club’s last move, their last hope of turning the tide, it was all rather meek. At one point, shortly before half-time, a Southampton supporter shouted above the murmur. His message? “Movement!”
That certainly helped. Neither team got out of second gear as Fulham controlled the ball and slowly twisted the blade.
Willian saw Lyanco’s shot headed off the line; the defender also escaped a handball shout in the penalty area.
On the other hand, Selles had thrown one last throw by giving Paul Onuachu only a fourth league start. £18 million he cost in January. The striker is still waiting for his first goal.
At least he managed a shot – he managed to gain possession before tamely firing towards Bernd Leno’s goal.
It was a short interlude of boredom. But nothing on the half-time relay, which saw eight kids race across the field like nothing for the past 45 minutes, whipping up the crowd like nothing.
Fortunately, some goalmouth actions followed. Alcaraz thought he had put Saints ahead through James Ward-Prowse’s through ball, only for the linesman to mark and for Fulham to race at the other end.
Harry Wilson pushed in Harrison Reed, Lyanco intervened but the ball ran to Vinicius to tap in.
Mitrovic, who came back from the opponent in a heroic way, doubled the visitors’ lead 18 minutes before the end.
Some fans at St Mary’s left early after their side went down 2-0 in the second half
The home side remained dejected on the field after the loss confirmed their fate
The result pushes Fulham to ninth in the Premier League standings with two games left to play
The result means Ruben Selles (pictured)’s 11-year stay in the Premier League is over
His goal only hastened the inevitable. And caused him and Fulham to break new ground.
Never before has the striker reached 12 Premier League goals in a season.
Meanwhile, Marco Silva’s side, who climb to ninth place with these three points, have now won 15 Premier League games in 2022/23. Seven of them on the road. Both are club records.
Southampton will have to earn another chance to reach such heights. Sadly, the last time they fell out of the top flight, in 2004/05, it took them seven years to bounce back.