1895–96 Southampton St. Mary's F.C. season

The 1895–96 season was the eleventh since the foundation of Southampton St. Mary's F.C. and their second in league football, as members of the Southern League. They finished the league season in third place behind the previous season's champions, Millwall Athletic, and Luton Town. In the FA Cup they reached the first round proper for the second consecutive season, where they were defeated by The Wednesday, of the Football League.

Southampton St. Mary's F.C.
1895–96 season
PresidentDr Henry William Russell Bencraft
SecretaryCharles Robson
StadiumAntelope Ground
Southern League3rd
FA CupRound 1
Top goalscorerLeague: Jack Farrell (10)
All: Jack Farrell (14)
Highest home attendance12,000 vs The Wednesday (1 February 1896) (FA Cup)

Pre-season

In the spring of 1895, Charles Robson had been appointed secretary to Southampton St Mary's Football Club, then playing in the Southern League.[1] As secretary, he was responsible for signing new players and agreeing player contracts as well as being involved in team selection – the day to day coaching and training of the players was in the hands of the trainer.

One of Robson's first acts as secretary was to accompany Alfred McMinn, one of the club committee, on a trip to the Potteries to recruit players. McMinn was a native of Staffordshire and was "most persuasive on his home turf".[2] On this trip, Robson and McMinn signed six players: Jack Farrell, Samuel Meston and Willie Naughton from Stoke, Watty Keay from Derby County, Joe Turner from Dresden United and Alf Wood from Burslem Port Vale, as well as recruiting Stoke's long-serving trainer, Bill Dawson. The Saints committee were anxious to secure their services and signed then before the Football League season was over. Port Vale and Stoke lodged a complaint with the Football Association about "poaching", and an emergency FA meeting was held at Sheffield, resulting in the Saints being severely censured for negligence. St Mary's were ordered to pay their own costs, plus £4 6s 3d to Stoke and £1 13s to Port Vale. McMinn was suspended for a year and Dawson for a month. Wood's registration with St Mary's was cancelled (shortly afterwards he moved to Stoke).[1][3]

A proposal was put forward that the name of the club should be amended from Southampton St. Mary's to plain Southampton F.C. – this was rejected on the grounds that the club could no longer be called "The Saints" if the official name was changed.[1] One change that was approved was that the team jerseys should be red and white halves rather than red and white quarters.[1]

League season

The entrance to the Antelope Ground

The 1895–96 season was the Saints' second in the Southern League, having finished third in the inaugural season. The team started the season badly, losing four of the first five matches, all of which were away from home. The poor start to the season was blamed on the inability of the new players to settle in the area.[1] Eventually, under trainer Dawson's guidance, the team's form improved and there were only two further league defeats; after mid-December, the team suffered only one defeat and kept eight "clean sheets", despite first-choice goalkeeper Tom Cain missing several matches through injury. At the end of the season, they finished third behind Millwall Athletic and Luton Town, with the top three positions identical to the previous year.

Top scorer in the league was Jack Farrell with ten goals from his 17 appearances. The highlight of the league season was the visit of Millwall on 21 March 1896 when a crowd of 8,000 saw the Saints defeat the reigning champions 2–0, with goals from Charles Baker and Joe Turner.[1]

In addition to the Southern League and FA Cup matches, the club played nearly 30 friendly matches, including a 9–0 victory over the Dublin Fusiliers and a 13–0 victory over the City Ramblers, in both of which Jack Farrell scored five goals. There were also victories over Dundee and Tottenham Hotspur.[4]

At the end of the season, the Saints had to vacate the Antelope Ground, which had been sold for re-development, and moved to the County Ground, partly through the connections of the club's president, Robson's former Hampshire strike partner, Dr. H. W. R. Bencraft, who was also Hon. Secretary to the cricket club.[5]

League results

Date Opponents H / A Result
F – A
Scorers
14 September 1895 Millwall Athletic A 0 – 1
21 September 1895 Chatham A 1 – 3 Naughton
28 September 1895 Reading A 2 – 3 Naughton, Turner
5 October 1895 Royal Ordnance A 2 – 1 Farrell (2)
19 October 1895 Clapton A 3 – 7 Angus, Baker, Farrell
26 October 1895 Luton Town H 2 – 1 Naughton, Turner
16 November 1895 Ilford A 1 – 0 Rogers
30 November 1895 New Brompton A 0 – 1
7 December 1895 Swindon Town H 4 – 2 Littlehales, Naughton, Taylor, Turner
21 December 1895 Reading H 5 – 0 Keay (3), Farrell, Littlehales
18 January 1896 Chatham Town H 4 – 0 Farrell (2), Naughton (2)
25 January 1896 Royal Ordnance H 5 – 0 Baker, Keay, Littlehales, Naughton, Turner
15 February 1896 Swindon Town A 2 – 0 Baker, Littlehales
7 March 1896 Luton Town A 0 – 3
21 March 1896 Millwall Athletic H 2 – 0 Baker, Turner
28 March 1896 New Brompton H 5 – 0 Hodgkinson (2), Baker, Farrell, Naughton
3 April 1896 Clapton H 2 – 0 Farrell, Keay
4 April 1896 Ilford H 4 – 0 Farrell (2), Keay, Turner

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Top of league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Millwall Athletic 18 16 1 1 75 16 4.688 33
2 Luton Town 18 13 1 4 68 14 4.857 27 Left to join the United League at end of season
3 Southampton St. Mary's 18 12 0 6 44 23 1.913 24
4 Reading 18 11 1 6 45 38 1.184 23
5 Chatham Town 18 9 2 7 43 45 0.956 20
Source:
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976–77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

FA Cup

In the FA Cup, an away victory over local rivals Freemantle in the first qualifying round was followed by comfortable home victories over Marlow (5–0), Reading (3–0) and Uxbridge (3–0).[1] In the First Round proper, the Saints received a home draw against opposition from the Football League First Division for the second consecutive year, this time against The Wednesday. Saints' trainer, Bill Dawson, spent the week leading up to Wednesday's visit with extra training for the players, taking them through their paces on Shawford Down.[6]

For the match, played at the Antelope Ground on 1 February 1896, the crowd was estimated at 12,000, by far the largest yet recorded for a football match in Southampton.[6] The Saints had to play their third-choice goalkeeper, Walter Cox as Tom Cain was injured, and the Royal Artillery refused to allow on-loan 'keeper "Gunner" Reilly to play.[6] The Saints took an early lead, through Watty Keay, before two goals from Alec Brady[7] gave Wednesday the half-time lead. Wednesday increased their lead shortly after the break, and although Joe Turner got one back, the Saints were unable to score an equalizer.[6] Wednesday ran out 3–2 winners and went on to win the Cup the following April.[7]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A
Scorers Attendance
12 October 1895 1st Qualifying Round Freemantle A 5 – 1 Farrell (2), Littlehales, Naughton, Turner 5,354
2 November 1895 2nd Qualifying Round Marlow H 5 – 0 Turner (2), Farrell (2), Meston 4,000
23 November 1895 3rd Qualifying Round Reading H 3 – 0 Taylor, Naughton, Keay 5,000
14 December 1895 4th Qualifying Round Uxbridge H 3 – 0 Naughton, Keay, Turner 4,000
1 February 1896 Round 1 Proper The Wednesday H 2 – 3 Keay, Turner 12,000

Player statistics

Position Nationality Name League
apps
League
goals
FA Cup
apps
FA Cup
goals
Total
apps
Total
goals
FW  Scotland Jack Angus 31 10 41
FB  England Charles Baker 185 50 2312
GK  England Jack Barrett 30 00 30
GK  England Tom Cain 100 00 100
GK  England Walter Cox 30 50 80
HB  England Jimmy Dale 30 20 50
FW  England Jack Farrell 1710 54 2214
FB  Wales David Hamer 40 10 50
HB  England John Hodgkinson 72 10 82
HB  Scotland Sergt. Inglis a 10 00 10
FW  Scotland Watty Keay 156 53 209
FW  England Bob Kiddle 10 00 10
HB  England Alf Littlehales 174 51 225
HB  Scotland William McMillan 40 00 40
FB  England George Marshall 80 30 110
FB  Scotland Samuel Meston 180 51 231
FW  Scotland Willie Naughton 178 43 2111
FB  England Gunner Phillips b 10 00 10
GK  Ireland Matt Reilly 20 00 20
FB  England Joe Rogers 81 10 91
HB  England Victor Smith 10 00 10
HB  England Ernie Taylor 81 21 102
HB  England Lachie Thomson 120 50 170
FW  England Joe Turner 176 55 2211

Key

Notes

  • ^a Sergt. Inglis was loaned to the Saints by the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders for the final match of the season
  • ^b Gunner Phillips was a member of the Royal Artillery team and played the penultimate match of the season on loan to the "Saints"

Transfers

In

Date Position Name From
October 1895 GK Tom Cain Everton
October 1895 HB Jimmy Dale Stoke
April 1895 FW Jack Farrell Stoke
December 1895 HB John Hodgkinson Tunstall
April 1895 FW Watty Keay Derby County
March 1896 HB William McMillan Heart of Midlothian
April 1895 FB Samuel Meston Stoke
April 1895 FW Willie Naughton Stoke
April 1895 FW Joe Turner Dresden United

Departures

Date Position Name To
November 1895 FW Jack Angus Retired
October 1895 GK Jack Barrett Retired
Summer 1895 FW Jack Dorkin Retired
Summer 1895 HB Bill Furby Freemantle
July 1895 FW Fred Hollands Millwall Athletic
Summer 1895 FB William Jeffrey Retired
December 1895 FW Bob Kiddle Retired
Summer 1895 FW Arthur Nineham Freemantle
Summer 1895 FW Harry Offer Retired
Summer 1895 FW Herbert Ward Retired
Summer 1895 GK Herbert Williamson Royal Ordnance Factories

References

  1. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 18.
  2. Juson & Bull 2001, p. 36.
  3. Juson & Bull 2001, pp. 36–37.
  4. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 211.
  5. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 216.
  6. Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 16–17.
  7. Collett 2003, p. 545.

Bibliography

  • Bull, David; Brunskell, Bob (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-1-3.
  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-22-4.
  • Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of the FA Cup. Sports Books. ISBN 1-899807-19-5.
  • Juson, Dave; Bull, David (2001). Full-Time at The Dell. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-2-1.
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