Southampton St. Mary's F.C.
1894–95 season
PresidentDr Henry William Russell Bencraft
SecretaryCecil Knight
StadiumAntelope Ground
Southern League3rd
FA CupRound 1
Top goalscorerLeague: Jack Angus, Charles Baker, Herbert Ward (6)
All: Charles Baker (12)
Highest home attendance7,000 vs Nottingham Forest (2 February 1895) (FA Cup)

The 1894–95 season was the tenth since the foundation of Southampton St. Mary's F.C. and their first in league football, being founder members of the Southern League.

They finished the league season in third place behind the champions, Millwall Athletic, and Luton Town. In the FA Cup they reached the first round proper for the first time, where they were defeated by Nottingham Forest, of the Football League.

Summary of the season

The players' dressing room at the Antelope Ground

In 1894, Southampton St Mary's were one of the nine founder members of the Southern League, which had been created to enable clubs in southern England who were not admitted to the Football League, to play competitive football on a regular basis.[1] St. Mary's were not originally invited to join the new league and their initial application to join had been rejected, even though seven of the original nine clubs were wholly or mainly amateur, whereas Southampton had employed their first professional footballer in 1892 and by now the team was composed mainly of professionals.[2] Because of the interest in the new league, a Second Division was to be created, which Southampton were considering applying to join when the 2nd Scots Guards withdrew and St. Mary's were invited to take their place.[3]

In his preview of the forthcoming season in the Southampton Times, "Ariel" predicted:

It is very wonderful to notice the pertinacity with which the prophets continue to prophecy. Southampton St. Mary's have not yet played in the competition, but their position at the end of the season has already been positively fixed by some people, and I have not heard anybody place them lower than third on the list, Millwall Athletic and Luton only taking precedence.[2]

For the start of their League career, Saints signed several new players on professional contracts, including Charles Baker and Alf Littlehales from Stoke and Fred Hollands from Millwall.[4]

Saints' first league match was played at the Antelope Ground on 6 October 1894 in front of a crowd estimated at between 4,000 and 5,000, who paid 6d each for admittance;[4] Harry Offer, Jack Angus and Fred Hollands scored in a 3–1 victory over Chatham.[2] During the match, Chatham's centre-forward, Gamble, was sent-off for making "uncomplimentary" comments to the referee following Southampton's second goal, for which he claimed the ball had been "carried right into goal on one of the player's arms".[2]

The Saints' first home defeat came against Luton on 22 December (2–1), having previously lost at Luton by a 4–1 scoreline; the worst defeat (4–0) came at Millwall on 23 March with their best result coming a week later, a 7–1 victory over Swindon Town on 30 March, with two goals each from Jack Angus and Herbert Ward. Saints finished their inaugural league season in third place, behind Millwall and Luton Town.[4]

Saints supplemented their fixture list with several friendly matches, including matches in November against Football League clubs, Stoke and Bolton Wanderers, the latter being won 5–2.[5] On 19 January, the Saints entertained a team from the Wiltshire Regiment, winning 13–0 on a "quagmire of a pitch" at the Antelope Ground, with Joe Rogers scoring ten goals.[4] in April, after the league season had ended, the Saints entertained teams from Tottenham Hotspur (drawn 0–0) and the famous Corinthian club, which was won 2–0.[5]

The Saints continued to take part in the local cup tournaments, winning the Hampshire Senior Cup for the third time with a 5–1 victory in the final over the Royal Artillery.[4][5]

League results

Date Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers
6 October 1894 Chatham Town H 3 – 1 Angus, Hollands, Offer
20 October 1894 Royal Ordnance H 3 – 1 H. Ward (2), Offer
27 October 1894 Luton Town A 1 – 4 Angus
17 November 1894 Millwall Athletic H 2 – 2 Baker, Thomson
8 December 1894 Reading A 1 – 0 H. Ward
22 December 1894 Luton Town H 1 – 2 Baker
29 December 1894 Ilford A 2 – 1 Hollands, Nineham
5 January 1895 Reading H 1 – 3 Offer
12 January 1895 Clapton A 3 – 1 Baker, Offer, Rogers
23 February 1895 Swindon Town A 3 – 2 Baker, Nineham, H. Ward
9 March 1895 Chatham Town A 1 – 1 Baker
14 March 1895 Royal Ordnance A 0 – 2
23 March 1895 Millwall Athletic A 0 – 4
30 March 1895 Swindon Town H 7 – 1 Angus (2), H. Ward (2), Baker, Dorkin, Hollands
12 April 1895 Clapton H 3 – 0 Nineham (2), Dorkin
13 April 1895 Ilford H 3 – 0 Angus (2), Dorkin

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Top of league table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Millwall Athletic 16 12 4 0 68 19 3.579 28
2 Luton Town 16 9 4 3 36 22 1.636 22
3 Southampton St. Mary's 16 9 2 5 34 25 1.360 20
4 Ilford 16 6 3 7 26 40 0.650 15
5 Reading 16 6 2 8 33 38 0.868 14
Source: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up 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, Southampton met Newbury on 13 October 1894 in the first qualifying round at the Antelope Ground. Saints were "in particularly rampant mood"[4] and won 14–0, with hat-tricks from Herbert Ward and Arthur Nineham; this is still Southampton's biggest victory in a competitive match.[4] They had easy victories in the next three rounds, defeating Reading 5–2, Marlow 7–3 and Warmley 5–1, with all four qualifying matches being played at the Antelope Ground. This meant that the Saints went into the draw for the First round proper for the first time, from which they received yet another home tie, against Nottingham Forest of the First Division.

The match against Nottingham Forest was played at the Antelope Ground on 2 February 1895. On the day of the match, the pitch was covered with three inches (76 mm) of snow. After a long delay, while the referee assessed whether or not the frozen ground was fit to play on, the crowd (estimated at 7,000) were admitted.[6] Despite scoring 31 goals in the qualifying stages, the Saints were no match for the "skill, subtlety and cohesion"[4] of their opponents who ran out 4–1 victors, with two goals from Thomas Rose[7] The local press blamed the defeat on the failure of the Southampton players to train adequately and also suggested that the "more northerly visitors were more accustomed to the Arctic conditions".[6]

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A		 Scorers Attendance
13 October 1894 1st qualifying round Newbury H 14 – 0 H. Ward (3), Nineham (3), Angus (2), Hollands (2), Offer (2), Taylor, Thomson 4,000
3 November 1894 2nd qualifying round Reading H 5 – 2 Baker (3), Angus, H. Ward 5,000
24 November 1894 3rd qualifying round Marlow H 7 – 3 Offer (3), Charles Baker (2), Dorkin, Angus 5,000
15 December 1894 4th qualifying round Warmley H 5 – 1 Nineham (2), Offer, Baker, Littlehales 3,000
2 February 1895 Round 1 Proper Nottingham Forest H 1 – 4 H. Ward 7,000

Player statistics

The players who appeared in the Southern League or FA Cup matches were as follows. This list does not include players who only played in friendly or reserve team matches.[4]

Position Nationality Name League
apps		 League
goals		 FA Cup
apps		 FA Cup
goals		 Total
apps		 Total
goals
FW  Scotland Jack Angus 136 44 1710
FB  England Charles Baker 156 46 1912
GK  England Jack Barrett 40 10 50
GK  England Walter Cox 00 20 20
FW  England Jack Dorkin 33 11 44
HB  England Bill Furby 50 20 70
FB  Wales David Hamer 30 30 60
FW  England Fred Hollands 153 52 205
FB  England William Jeffrey 130 20 150
HB  England Alf Littlehales 160 51 211
FB  England George Marshall 140 50 190
FW  England Arthur Nineham 74 25 99
FW  England Harry Offer 134 56 1810
FW  England Joe Rogers 71 00 71
HB  England Ernie Taylor 110 31 141
HB  England Lachie Thomson 151 51 202
FW  England A. Ward a 10 00 10
FW  England Herbert Ward 96 45 1311
GK  England Herbert Williamson 120 20 140

Key

Notes

  • ^a A. Ward played at Millwall on 23 March 1895, on trial from the Lancaster Regiment, for whom he impressed when he played against St. Mary's in a friendly in February. He was unable to reproduce his form in the league match and played no other senior football for the club.[8]

Transfers

In

Date Position Name From
Summer 1894 FW Charles Baker Stoke
Summer 1894 FB David Hamer Cowes
Summer 1894 FW Fred Hollands Millwall Athletic
November 1894 FB William Jeffrey Woolwich Arsenal
Summer 1894 HB Alf Littlehales Stoke
December 1894 FW Joe Rogers Macclesfield
November 1894 GK Herbert Williamson Local football

Departures

Date Position Name To
Summer 1894 FB George Carter Retired
Autumn 1894 FW Charles Miller Returned to Brazil
Summer 1894 FW Ernie Nicholls Retired
Summer 1894 HB William Stride Retired

References

  1. ↑ Juson & Bull 2001, p. 35.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 14–15.
  3. ↑ "The Formation of the Southern League". The History of the Southern Football League. The Zamaretto League. Archived from the original on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Chalk & Holley 1987, pp. 16–17.
  5. 1 2 3 Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 211.
  6. 1 2 Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 16–17.
  7. ↑ Collett 2003, p. 453.
  8. ↑ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 350.

Bibliography

  • Bull, David; Brunskell, Bob (2000). Match of the Millennium. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9534474-1-1.
  • Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (1987). Saints – A complete record. Breedon Books. ISBN 978-0-907969-22-8.
  • Collett, Mike (2003). The Complete Record of the FA Cup. Sports Books. ISBN 978-1-899807-19-2.
  • Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9514862-3-8.
  • Juson, Dave; Bull, David (2001). Full-Time at The Dell. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9534474-2-8.
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