Ranking the 7 best players to ever play for both Southampton and Portsmouth | OneFootball

Some legends of the sport have represented these two south coast sides.

The revival of the South Coast derby is soon to be upon us, with Portsmouth and Southampton set to face one another for the first time in nearly six years.

14th September is the date. St Mary's Stadium is the venue. It's been a while since we've seen these rivals come head-to-head in any competition, but the 2025/26 campaign is going to provide us with two doses of this long-held rivalry.

For this iteration of the South Coast derby, we have, in the red corner, a side that is coming off the back of one of the worst seasons in Premier League history, but one that is also hoping to win promotion back to the top flight ASAP.

In the blue corner is a team that was very happy to beat the drop to League One last time out, and are now looking to further establish themselves in the Championship.

It's a divide that, like with most rivalries, has rarely been crossed, but there have been a good bunch that have played on both sides of it. Football League World has asked ChatGPT to rank the seven best players to ever do so.

"He's not finished, he's only 28." If you don't get that reference, please go and listen to this hilarious clip of the goalkeeper being discussed on talkSPORT.

Aside from being known by many for that radio clip alone, the Scottish, sorry, Finnish shot-stopper that used to play for Hearts was also on the books of both south coast sides in different periods of his career.

The now 53-year-old Niemi joined Southampton off the back of his infamous spell in Edinburgh. He played more games for the Saints than any other club that he represented.

A former Finland international, he never actually played a game for Portsmouth during his time there, but he was under contract with them for eight months - a spell which reportedly earned him £450,000.

From one goalkeeper to another, Beasant was with Saints in the earlier years of the club's Premier League run of the 1990s and 2000s. From 1993-1996, the London-born goalkeeper made 88 appearances for Southampton. He wasn't always the first choice between the sticks though. Injuries and the preferences of different managers limited the number of games he played for the club.

In contrast to the matches that he represented Pompey in - 11 times fewer than the amount he featured in for their bitter rivals - Beasant's run at The Dell was fairly lengthy.

While a limited number of players represent both sides of a rivalry in their careers, very few go directly from one to the other. Connolly was one of the few that made that brave decision, leaving the Saints in 2012 after more than three years with the club.

Despite it being towards the back end of his career - Connolly would retire not long after his Pompey tenure was ended - he was a fairly decent signing by the Fratton Park residents, scoring 11 times for the club in 35 appearances in all competitions.

Bazunu is quite comfortably the most recent player to have featured for both clubs. His season-long loan spell in the 2020/21 campaign from Manchester City to Portsmouth handed the Irishman his second taste of life away from the former Premier League champions, following another temporary spell with Rochdale in the prior term.

He started 44 League One matches for Pompey in their fourth season back in the division. They narrowly missed out on a play-off spot, but Bazunu was a revelation, keeping 16 clean sheets in those games.

He would later go on to be bought from Man City by the Saints in the summer of 2022. He played a key role for the club following their relegation to the Championship in 2023, but didn't get a true second shot at the top flight in the aftermath as Aaron Ramsdale came in from Arsenal.

3 Mick Channon

From Pompey's all-time top scorer to Southampton's. Mick Channon, in roughly the same number of years as Harris who played for their rivals, scored 20 more goals than the right-sided player from the 40s and 50s, totaling 228 for the club.

Known for his famous windmill celebration, Channon was in his pomp in the mid 60s and 70s. He actually played for Saints over two stints, from 1966-77, debuting as a 17-year-old, and then again from 1979-82. He was part of the FA Cup-winning side of 1976 towards the end of his first tenure with the club.

Channon's time with Portsmouth was much less successful, playing only 34 games for them. He's definitely best known for his days in red and white.

2 Nigel Quashie

To have made a combined 185 appearances for both Pompey and the Saints is some achievement by the midfielder. Like Connolly, he, too, made the direct leap from one club to the other. For Quashie, it was the contentious switching of Fratton Park for St Mary's that he made.

In terms of pure goal contributions, the midfielder performed best for Southampton, on a game-by-game basis. He either scored or assisted on nine occasions in his 37 matches for the red and white striped side, at an average of one every three games. But he is most remembered for his days with Portsmouth and helping them to win promotion to the Premier League.

A beloved player across all groups of supporters, Crouch sits atop of this list of players who spent time at both clubs. In fact, some of his best playing years came during his spells with both sides of the South Coast derby.

In a Southampton side that finished bottom of the table, he netted a dozen Premier League goals in the 2004/05 campaign. His next double-digit scoring season came with Pompey, after the end of his spell with Liverpool. He joined the Reds from the Saints for £7 million. Under Harry Redknapp, Crouch notched 10 goals in the 2008/09 campaign.