1925–26 Southampton F.C. season

The 1925–26 season was the 31st season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's fourth in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the top half of the league table in their first three seasons in the division, Southampton had their worst year to date in the second flight when they finished in 14th place, ending just six points above the first relegation position. The club suffered a string of losses at the beginning of the campaign, leaving them with points to make up in later months. Former player Arthur Chadwick was brought in as Southampton's new manager in October, and the club subsequently secured their position in the Second Division with a run of wins over the Christmas period, despite continuing to lose points. The club finished in 14th place with 15 wins, eight draws and 19 losses.

Southampton F.C.
1925–26 season
ChairmanWyndham Portal
ManagerGeorge Goss
(until October 1925)
Arthur Chadwick
(from October 1925)
StadiumThe Dell
Second Division14th
FA CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Bill Rawlings (20)
All: Bill Rawlings (20)
Highest home attendanceLeague:
18,000 v Portsmouth
(5 September 1925)
Overall:
18,391 v Liverpool
(9 January 1926)
Lowest home attendance5,000 v Oldham Athletic
(27 March 1926)
Average home league attendance9,806
Biggest win5–0 v Bradford City
(6 February 1926)
Biggest defeat0–4 v Hull City
(7 September 1925)

In the 1925–26 FA Cup (the first in which all First and Second Division clubs entered at the third round), Southampton faced top-flight side Liverpool at The Dell for the third year running in the tournament. The game finished goalless, and the Saints were eliminated in the replay by a single goal. As usual, the club ended the season with two games against local rivals Portsmouth, for the Rowland Hospital Cup and the Hampshire Benevolent Cup, respectively. Pompey won both games, beating the Saints 4–2 at The Dell in the former and 5–1 at Fratton Park in the latter. The club also played five additional friendly games during the campaign, beating Portsmouth in September and Leicester City in March, drawing with Corinthian in January and Guildford United in April, and losing to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic in April.

Southampton used 29 different players during the 1925–26 season and had 14 different goalscorers. The club's top scorer was centre-forward Bill Rawlings, who scored 20 goals in the Second Division and one in the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. Six new players were signed by the club during the campaign, with eight released and sold to other clubs. The average attendance at The Dell during the 1925–26 season was 9,806. The highest attendance was 18,391 for the FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool on 9 January 1926; the lowest was around 5,000 against Oldham Athletic in the league on 27 March 1926. The season was the club's last to feature long-time forward Arthur Dominy, who left on a free transfer to join First Division side Everton in the summer of 1926, having made almost 400 appearances for the Saints.

Background and transfers

At the end of the 1924–25 season, several players left Southampton. Amongst the departures were a number of players who had spent only a season with the club: outside-left Fred Price joined Wolverhampton Wanderers,[1] Scottish centre-half John Callagher signed for Third Division North side Wigan Borough,[2] right-half Dennis Jones left for Midland League champions Mansfield Town,[3] and outside-right Tommy Broad was sold to Weymouth in the Southern League.[4] Albert Barrett, a wing-half who had only joined from West Ham United in February, left in June to join Fulham.[5] Scottish forward Willie McCall joined Queen of the South on a permanent basis in September, having spent the previous season on loan at the club.[6] The club also added several players in the summer, signing outside-right Cuthbert Coundon from North Eastern League club Jarrow,[7] inside-left Frank Matthews from Second Division rivals Barnsley,[8] and Welsh forward Ernest Turner from Third Division South side Merthyr Town.[9]

One of the later signings of the summer was goalkeeper Len Hill, who joined from Queens Park Rangers in June 1925.[10] Regular keeper Tommy Allen had turned down a new contract at the club, leading to the signing of Hill as his replacement. Allen later agreed to new terms in October and returned to his place as first-choice Southampton goalkeeper, with Hill making sporadic appearances later in the season.[10] Transfer activity continued throughout the season. In December 1925 the club signed inside-forward Jim Swinden from Salisbury City, following a trial in which he scored two goals on his debut for the reserve side against Folkestone.[11] In March 1926, right-half Bill Adams joined from Southern League side Guildford United.[12] Needing money to purchase the freehold of The Dell, Southampton sold mainstay full-backs Fred Titmuss and Tom Parker in early 1926 – the former in February to Plymouth Argyle for £1,750; the latter in March to Arsenal for £3,250 – which "caused uproar amongst supporters".[13]

Players transferred in

Name Nationality Pos. Club Date Fee Ref.
Cuthbert Coundon  England FW England Jarrow April 1925 Unknown [7]
Frank Matthews  England FW England Barnsley May 1925 Unknown [8]
Ernest Turner  Wales FW Wales Merthyr Town May 1925 Unknown [9]
Len Hill  England GK England Queens Park Rangers June 1925 Unknown [10]
Jim Swinden  England FW England Salisbury City December 1925 Unknown [11]
Bill Adams  England HB England Guildford United March 1926 Unknown [12]

Players transferred out

Name Nationality Pos. Club Date Fee Ref.
Fred Price  England FW England Wolverhampton Wanderers May 1925 Unknown [1]
Albert Barrett  England HB England Fulham June 1925 Unknown [5]
John Callagher  Scotland HB England Wigan Borough June 1925 £400 [2]
Dennis Jones  England HB England Mansfield Town June 1925 Unknown [3]
Tommy Broad  England FW England Weymouth September 1925 £100 [4]
Willie McCall  Scotland FW Scotland Queen of the South September 1925 £250 [6]
Fred Titmuss  England FB England Plymouth Argyle February 1926 £1,750 [14]
Tom Parker  England FB England Arsenal March 1926 £3,250 [15]

Second Division

The 1925–26 season started off poorly for Southampton, who lost their first four matches of the campaign and scored only two goals to find themselves at the bottom of the Second Division league table.[16] The run included a 3–1 home defeat to local rivals Portsmouth described by club historians as a "particularly bitter blow",[13] and a 4–0 loss at fellow mid-table side Hull City.[17] After picking up their first points with a win over Nottingham Forest and a draw at Derby County, Southampton appointed former half-back Arthur Chadwick as the club's new manager, after secretary George Goss and the board of directors had been temporarily managing the club following Jimmy McIntyre's departure the previous December.[13] The team's position in the league slowly began to improve as they picked up a few more points, including 4–1 wins over Darlington and Swansea Town, before another run of four losses leading up to Christmas left them 19th in the table, one point above the relegation zone with more games played than teams below.[17][18]

After being eliminated from the FA Cup at the first hurdle, Southampton's fortunes in the league began to change. The club won four out of four games between 16 January and 10 February 1926, including a 2–1 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park and a 5–0 thrashing of fellow strugglers Bradford City at Valley Parade – their biggest win in the Second Division.[13][17] The Saints continued to pick up important wins throughout the final months of the season, allowing them to secure a mid-table finish with games remaining. Highlights included a 4–2 victory over promotion hopefuls Wolverhampton Wanderers and a 3–1 defeat of Oldham Athletic, who would finish seventh in the league.[17] The side remained in 14th place for the last five games of the season, where they finished with 15 wins, eight draws and 19 losses.[17] Club historians described Southampton's 1925–26 campaign as "a disappointing season", noting that it ended with "rumblings off the field" following the controversial transfers of Tom Parker and Fred Titmuss.[13]

List of match results

29 August 1925 1 Blackpool 2–1 Southampton Blackpool
Dominy Stadium: Bloomfield Road
Attendance: 18,000
31 August 1925 2 Southampton 0–2 Hull City Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 9,433
5 September 1925 3 Southampton 1–3 Portsmouth Southampton
Price Parker 27' (o.g.)
Beedie 30'
Meerie
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 18,000
Referee: W. Musther
7 September 1925 4 Hull City 4–0 Southampton Kingston upon Hull
Stadium: Anlaby Road
Attendance: 10,000
12 September 1925 5 Southampton 2–0 Nottingham Forest Southampton
Price Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 9,304
19 September 1925 6 Derby County 2–2 Southampton Derby
Rawlings Stadium: Baseball Ground
Attendance: 4,000
26 September 1925 7 Southampton 1–2 Bradford City Southampton
Price Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 9,000
30 September 1925 8 Darlington 3–1 Southampton Darlington
Rawlings Stadium: Feethams
Attendance: 4,838
3 October 1925 9 Port Vale 1–1 Southampton Hanley
Rawlings Stadium: Old Recreation Ground
Attendance: 10,000
5 October 1925 10 Southampton 4–1 Darlington Southampton
Campbell
Turner
Rawlings
Price
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,205
10 October 1925 11 Southampton 0–0 Barnsley Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 12,000
17 October 1925 12 Wolverhampton Wanderers 4–1 Southampton Wolverhampton
Own goal Stadium: Molineux Stadium
Attendance: 20,000
24 October 1925 13 Southampton 4–1 Swansea Town Southampton
Rawlings
Coundon
Price
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 13,000
31 October 1925 14 Preston North End 2–2 Southampton Preston
Turner
Price
Stadium: Deepdale
Attendance: 12,000
7 November 1925 15 Southampton 3–1 Middlesbrough Southampton
Coundon
Dominy
Carr
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 10,000
14 November 1925 16 Oldham Athletic 1–0 Southampton Oldham
Stadium: Boundary Park
Attendance: 12,000
21 November 1925 17 Southampton 3–0 Stockport County Southampton
Coundon
Dominy
Rawlings
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 9,000
28 November 1925 18 Fulham 1–1 Southampton London
Rawlings Stadium: Craven Cottage
Attendance: 25,000
5 December 1925 19 Southampton 0–1 South Shields Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 9,000
12 December 1925 20 The Wednesday 2–1 Southampton Sheffield
Rawlings Stadium: Hillsborough Stadium
Attendance: 20,000
19 December 1925 21 Southampton 1–2 Stoke City Southampton
Matthews Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
25 December 1925 22 Clapton Orient 2–1 Southampton London
Turner Stadium: Clapton Stadium
Attendance: 14,000
26 December 1925 23 Southampton 2–0 Clapton Orient Southampton
Dominy
Rawlings
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 16,000
2 January 1926 24 Southampton 2–2 Blackpool Southampton
Woodhouse
Rawlings
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 6,000
16 January 1926 25 Portsmouth 1–2 Southampton Portsmouth
Haines 20' Matthews 5'
Rawlings 60'
Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 12,000
Referee: W. Musther
23 January 1926 26 Nottingham Forest 1–2 Southampton West Bridgford
Dominy
Matthews
Stadium: City Ground
Attendance: 8,000
6 February 1926 27 Bradford City 0–5 Southampton Bradford
Rawlings
Henderson
Bullock
Carr
Stadium: Valley Parade
Attendance: 14,000
10 February 1926 28 Southampton 2–1 Derby County Southampton
Bullock Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 6,000
13 February 1926 29 Southampton 2–3 Port Vale Southampton
Rawlings Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 11,000
20 February 1926 30 Barnsley 2–0 Southampton Barnsley
Stadium: Oakwell
Attendance: 8,000
27 February 1926 31 Southampton 4–2 Wolverhampton Wanderers Southampton
Parker
Henderson
Rawlings
Matthews
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
6 March 1926 32 South Shields 2–0 Southampton South Shields
Stadium: Horsley Hill
Attendance: 4,000
13 March 1926 33 Southampton 2–0 Preston North End Southampton
Rawlings
Matthews
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 6,000
20 March 1926 34 Middlesbrough 3–0 Southampton Middlesbrough
Stadium: Ayresome Park
Attendance: 10,000
27 March 1926 35 Southampton 3–1 Oldham Athletic Southampton
Keeping
Dominy
Carr
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 5,000
29 March 1926 36 Swansea Town 3–1 Southampton Swansea
Bullock Stadium: Vetch Field
Attendance: 10,581
2 April 1926 37 Chelsea 0–0 Southampton London
Stadium: Stamford Bridge
Attendance: 40,000
3 April 1926 38 Stockport County 1–2 Southampton Stockport
Woodhouse
Henderson
Stadium: Edgeley Park
Attendance: 7,000
5 April 1926 39 Southampton 0–1 Chelsea Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 17,000
10 April 1926 40 Southampton 2–0 Fulham Southampton
Bradford
Rawlings
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
24 April 1926 41 Southampton 1–2 The Wednesday Southampton
Keeping Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
1 May 1926 42 Stoke City 1–1 Southampton Stoke-on-Trent
Carr Stadium: Victoria Ground
Attendance: 8,000

Final league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GAv Pts
12 Preston North End 42 18 7 17 71 84 0.845 43
13 Hull City 42 16 9 17 63 61 1.033 41
14 Southampton 42 15 8 19 63 63 1.000 38
15 Darlington 42 14 10 18 72 77 0.935 38
16 Bradford City 42 13 10 19 47 66 0.712 36
Source:

Results by matchday

Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAAHHAHAHAHAAAHHHA
ResultLLLLWDLLDWDLWDWLWDLLLLWDWWWWLLWLWLWLDWLWLD
Position162021222018191919171718171716171616171819191919181413121415141513151415151414141414
Source: 11v11.com[19]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

FA Cup

The 1925–26 FA Cup was the first edition of the competition in which all First Division and Second Division clubs entered at the third round.[13] Southampton entered the tournament at home to Liverpool, who they were facing for the third consecutive year – they had lost in 1923–24,[20] and had won in 1924–25.[21] The hosts entered the game with regular starters Bert Shelley and Cliff Price unavailable due to injury, and during the match goalkeeper Tommy Allen suffered bruised ribs in a collision with defender Michael Keeping, forcing him to leave the field.[13] Half-back Arthur Bradford took over in goal, and the Saints held on for a goalless draw.[13] In the replay at Anfield four days later, Southampton succumbed to a 1–0 defeat by the top-flight side, with Dick Forshaw scoring the only goal of the game after 65 minutes.[13]

9 January 1926 Round 3 Southampton 0–0 Liverpool Southampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 18,391
13 January 1926 Round 3 Replay Liverpool 1–0 Southampton Liverpool
Forshaw 65' Stadium: Anfield
Attendance: 41,902

Other matches

Outside of the league and the FA Cup, Southampton played seven additional first-team matches during the 1925–26 season. The first was a friendly against local rivals Portsmouth at Fratton Park on 23 September 1925, a testimonial for former Pompey (and briefly Saints) full-back Jack Warner.[22] The visitors won the game 3–0, with Jimmy Bullock at centre-forward scoring all three goals – the first a "glorious shot" in the 36th minute, and the other two in the Southampton-dominated second half.[22] On 28 January 1926 the club faced amateur side Corinthian at The Dell,[23] drawing 3–3 with goals from Bill Rawlings (two) and Bill Henderson.[24] On 15 March they hosted Leicester City in a benefit match for Tommy Allen and Bert Shelley, beating the recently promoted First Division club 2–0 thanks to a brace from Frank Matthews.[24] In April the club played two more friendly matches, drawing 1–1 with Guildford United at Joseph's Road and losing 1–0 to Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic at Dean Court.[24]

As in previous years, Southampton ended the 1925–26 season with two more matches against Portsmouth, competing for the Rowland Hospital Cup and the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. The first meeting, on 3 May 1926 for the former trophy, was a high-scoring affair ending in a 4–2 win for the visiting Pompey side. A George Harkus own goal opened the scoring, after he passed back to goalkeeper James Thitchener, who controlled the ball but was already over the goal line.[25] Michael Keeping equalised with a penalty after a handball by John McColgan, but by half-time it was 3–1 against the Saints following another own goal and a McColgan penalty.[25] In the second half, Jerry Mackie added a fourth for Pompey before Jimmy Bullock scored a second consolation goal for the hosts.[25] Two days later, the sides met again at Fratton Park for the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. The hosts were victorious again, in a similarly high-scoring game, as they thrashed Southampton 5–1.[26] The club were 3–0 up at half-time through goals from Goodwin and a Willie Haines brace, before Haines completed his hat-trick in the second half and Haywood scored a fifth.[26] Bill Rawlings scored the consolation goal for the travelling Southampton side.[26]

23 September 1925 Friendly Portsmouth 0–3 Southampton Portsmouth
Bullock Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 6,000–7,000
28 January 1926 Friendly Southampton 3–3 Corinthian Southampton
Rawlings
Henderson
Toppin
Ashton
Hartley
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 3,000
15 March 1926 Friendly Southampton 2–0 Leicester City Southampton
Frank Matthews Stadium: The Dell
14 April 1926 Friendly Guildford United 1–1 Southampton Guildford
Dominy Stadium: Joseph's Road
28 April 1926 Friendly Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic 1–0 Southampton Bournemouth
Stadium: Dean Court
3 May 1926 Rowland Hospital Cup Southampton 2–4 Portsmouth Southampton
Keeping (pen.)
Bullock
Harkus (o.g.)
Thitchener (o.g.)
McColgan (pen.)
Mackie
Stadium: The Dell
5 May 1926 Hampshire BC Portsmouth 5–1 Southampton Portsmouth
Goodwin 5'
Haines
Haywood
Rawlings Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 3,000

Player details

Southampton used 29 different players during the 1925–26 season, 14 of whom scored during the campaign. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation throughout the campaign, using two full-backs, three half-backs, two outside forwards, two inside forwards and a centre-forward.[17] Left-half Stan Woodhouse made the most appearances during the season, playing in 37 of 42 league matches, both FA Cup matches and the Rowland Hospital Cup. Centre-forward Bill Rawlings missed seven league games, while outside-right Bill Henderson appeared in all but eight league games and the Rowland Hospital Cup.[17] Rawlings finished the season as the club's top scorer, with 20 goals in the league and one in the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. Inside-left Cliff Price scored seven goals in his 16 league appearances. Woodhouse was the top-scoring half-back of the season with two league goals, and Michael Keeping was the top-scoring full-back with two goals in the Second Division and one in the Rowland Hospital Cup.[17]

Squad statistics

Name Pos. Nat. League FA Cup Other[lower-alpha 1] Total
Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls.
Bill Adams HB England 00 00 10 10
Tommy Allen GK England 240 10 10 260
Arthur Bradford HB England 221 20 00 241
Les Bruton FW England 20 00 00 20
Jimmy Bullock FW England 104 00 21 125
Alec Campbell HB England 191 20 00 211
Jimmy Carr FW Scotland 344 20 00 364
Cuthbert Coundon FW England 83 00 00 83
Stan Cribb FW England 90 00 20 110
Arthur Dominy FW England 276 20 00 296
George Harkus HB England 280 20 20 320
Harris[lower-alpha 2] FW England 00 00 20 20
Bill Henderson FW England 343 20 10 373
Len Hill GK England 100 10 00 110
Ted Hough FB England 130 00 20 150
Michael Keeping FB England 312 20 21 353
Ernie King HB England 10 00 00 10
Frank Matthews FW England 165 00 00 165
Sammy Meston FW England 10 00 00 10
Cliff Price FW England 167 00 00 167
Bill Rawlings FW England 3520 20 21 3921
Bert Shelley HB England 210 00 20 230
Smith[lower-alpha 2] FW England 00 00 10 10
James Thitchener GK England 00 00 10 10
Ernest Turner FW Wales 163 00 00 163
Stan Woodhouse HB England 372 20 10 402
Harry Yeomans GK England 80 00 00 80
Players with appearances who left before the end of the season
Tom Parker FB England 291 20 00 311
Fred Titmuss FB England 110 00 00 110

Notes

  1. Includes the Rowland Hospital Cup and Hampshire Benevolent Cup matches.
  2. Players named "Harris" and "Smith" are listed in the lineup for the Rowland Hospital Cup match, however no first names are given.[25]

Most appearances

Rank Name Pos. League FA Cup Other Total
Apps. % Apps. % Apps. % Apps. %
1 Stan Woodhouse HB 3788.10 2100.00 150.00 4086.96
2 Bill Rawlings FW 3583.33 2100.00 2100.00 3984.78
3 Bill Henderson FW 3480.95 2100.00 150.00 3780.43
4 Jimmy Carr FW 3480.95 2100.00 00 3678.26
5 Michael Keeping FB 3173.81 2100.00 2100.00 3576.09
6 George Harkus HB 2866.67 2100.00 2100.00 3269.57
7 Tom Parker FB 2969.05 2100.00 00.00 3167.39
8 Arthur Dominy FW 2764.29 2100.00 00.00 2963.04
9 Tommy Allen GK 2457.14 150.00 150.00 2656.52
10 Arthur Bradford HB 2252.38 2100.00 00.00 2452.17

Top goalscorers

Rank Name Pos. League FA Cup Other Total
Gls. GPG Gls. GPG Gls. GPG Gls. GPG
1 Bill Rawlings FW 200.57 00.00 10.50 210.53
2 Cliff Price FW 70.43 00.00 00.00 70.43
3 Arthur Dominy FW 60.22 00.00 00.00 60.20
4 Jimmy Bullock FW 40.40 00.00 10.50 50.41
Frank Matthews FW 50.31 00.00 00.00 50.31
6 Jimmy Carr FW 40.11 00.00 00.00 40.11
7 Cuthbert Coundon FW 30.37 00.00 00.00 30.37
Ernest Turner FW 30.18 00.00 00.00 30.18
Michael Keeping FB 20.06 00.00 10.50 30.08
Bill Henderson FW 30.08 00.00 00.00 30.08

References

Bibliography

  • Cavallini, Rob (2007), Play Up Corinth: A History of the Corinthian Football Club, Stroud: Stadia, ISBN 978-0752444796
  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (10 August 1987), A Complete Record of Southampton Football Club: 1885–1987, Derby, England: Breedon Books, ISBN 978-0907969228
  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (28 November 2013), All the Saints: A Complete Who's Who of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN 978-0992686406
  • Juson, Dave; Aldworth, Clay; Bendel, Barry; Bull, David; Chalk, Gary (10 November 2004), Saints v Pompey: A History of Unrelenting Rivalry, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN 978-0953447459{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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