Who is Southampton's greatest ever player?

Mail Sport with the help of our readers is on a mission to find the greatest player of all-time at each of the 20 Premier League clubs.

Today it's the turn to look at the legends of Southampton, from record-appearance holder Terry Paine to Matt Le Tissier.

And once you've made up your mind who is all the best-ever, it's time to vote...

Southampton's only major trophy came in 1976 when as a Second Division side they upset Manchester United in the FA Cup final. But perhaps because of the pleasant south coast location, they've always been a magnet for great players, and many homegrown stars like to stay.

Terry Paine remains the club's record appearance holder, turning out a remarkable 816 times for the Saints between 1957 and 1974.

England manager Sir Alf Ramsey was among those who recognised the wide player's talents. Paine won 19 England caps and was a member of the 1966 World Cup squad, playing their first victory of the tournament against Mexico before Ramsey drafted in Alan Ball and famously changed formation to become 'wingless wonders'.

He was also recognised on the list of 100 English footballing legends selected to mark the Football League's centenary in 1998.

The main beneficiary of Paine's accurate crosses was centre-forward Ron Davies, considered the best header of the ball in his era.

Davies scored 153 times for The Saints between 1966 and 1973 crediting his aerial prowess on an earlier manager at Chester who had him jumping over hurdles in army boots.

The 37 First Division goals he scored in 1966/67 hasn't been bettered since in the top flight – not even by Erling Haaland. And the following season, he shared the Golden Boot with George Best.

The greatest day in Saints history was undoubtedly 1976 when they pulled off one of the biggest shocks in FA Cup final history. It was also the last final attended by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.

Though Bobby Stokes scored the winner, the star of Lawrie McMenemy's team was Mick Channon, who'd come through the ranks at The Dell and made his debut as a 17-year-old in 1966.

Channon, who later became a hugely successful horse racing trainer, brought energy and quality to the Saints side and became famed for his trademark windmill goal celebration.

He is still Saints all-time leading scorer with 222 and links different eras from the Paine team of the 1960s to the Wembley triumph and McMenemy's team of stars in the early 1980s when he recruited renowned England internationals Kevin Keegan and Alan Ball.

The transfer of Keegan from Hamburg is possibly the most startling ever seen in English football while Ball showed the quality in two spells that had won him the World Cup as a 20-year-old.

McMenemy could also think outside the box. Yugoslav defender Ivan Golac arrived in 1978 from Partizan Belgrade as the club's first overseas signing and stayed eight years interrupted only by a brief spell at Manchester City.

'Beatiful football, beautiful supporters, beautiful days,' is how he described his time on the south coast and being technically gifted for a defender of that era, he was able to form partnerships with Ball and Channon that made Southampton one of the most attractive teams of their era.

Winger Danny Wallace was the homegrown talent who provided a nice contrast to the big-name imports in the 1980s, making his debut at 16 and playing more than 200 times before getting a move to Manchester United where unfortunately the onset of multiple sclerosis prevented him from fulfilling his potential.

For Southampton to have stayed in the top flight for 27 years between 1978 and 2005 was some achievement given the size of clubs they were competing against, particularly when the Premier League was founded and budgets went through the roof.

Matt le Tissier was a major reason behind their success. An outrageously gifted player, Le Tissier could hold a Goal of the Season competition on his own by scoring an array of chips, volleys and dribbles.

When Saints left The Dell for a new ground at St Mary's in 2001, Le Tissier felt the sense of occasion and scored the winning goal in the final match there against Arsenal. 'A very special moment in my life, not just my career.'

Many of the biggest clubs in the country tried to sign Le Tissier but his decision to stay on the south coast cemented his place in the club's history.

Even Le Tissier would acknowledge he wasn't always the greatest grafter, but team-mates like Jason Dodd meant he could save himself for the special moments.

Dodd played under 13 different managers during his 16-year spell until 2005 and the full-back didn't let any of them down. His consistency was invaluable to Saints punching above their weight and the £15,000 the club paid non-league Bath City for his services has to go down.

Southampton dipped as far down as League One in 2009 but their comeback to the Premier League with successive promotions under Nigel Adkins was largely due to Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert.

Lallana, an industrious and skilful midfield player, went on to play for Liverpool and England but has returned to his first club this summer with Saints again winning promotion to the top flight.

Lambert was top scorer at St Mary's in four consecutive seasons, including their two promotion campaigns and first season back in the Premier League.

A strong centre-forward who was lethal inside the box and from the penalty spot, he was named the Championship's player of the season in 2012 – pipping Lallana, Peter Whittingham and Wilfried Zaha – and was also later snapped up by Liverpool.

To select your greatest Southampton player, click on the voting button or email greatest@dailymail.co.uk if you want to choose someone not on the shortlist.

We will reveal the results of the greatest all-time player for all 20 Premier League clubs before the start of the 2024/25 season.