1888–89 St. Mary's F.C. season
Highest home attendance | Reported as 5,000 – 7,000 (Hampshire Junior Cup semi-final at the County Ground | |
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1888–89 was the fourth season for St. Mary's Football Club (St. Mary's F.C.) based in Southampton in southern England. The club retained the Hampshire Junior Cup for the second consecutive year.
Summary of the season
The highlight of the season was the Hampshire Junior Cup and, in particular, the semi-final match which required four matches to get past
By the end of the season, the Saints' main local rivals, Woolston Works had disbanded leaving St. Mary's as Southampton's most prominent and well-supported football club.[2]
Personnel
At the start of the season, the St. Mary's captain,
Ned Bromley's career came to an end shortly after the 1889 final of the Hampshire Junior Cup, when he was seriously injured in a six-a-side tournament.[5]
Home ground
At the start of the season, St. Mary's were still based on Southampton Common, although they hired the County Ground or the Antelope Ground for more popular friendly matches, as well as for Hampshire Junior Cup matches, for which the common was unsuitable as the pitch was not enclosed and thus no entrance fee could be charged.[6] The published match reports frequently omitted any mention of where the match was played or of the names of the players.[6]
Strip
The players continued to wear white shorts, black knee-length socks and "white tunics" with a red sash worn diagonally,[7] although, unlike in earlier years, the sash was worn consistently on the left shoulder.[8]
Hampshire Junior Cup
The defence of the Hampshire Junior Cup started with a home match against
St. Mary's received a bye in the next round seeing them through to a home tie against
The semi-final draw set up a match against
The replay was set for a fortnight later at the County Ground for which special boats were chartered to bring the Cowes supporters over to the mainland. this time it was St. Mary's who took the lead, through
With a crowd estimated at 2,000 having attended the first replay, the Hampshire County Cricket Club offered to host the second replay at the County Ground and pay the travelling expenses for the Cowes players.[6][10] Despite this proposal, and suggestions that the match should be played at a more neutral venue in Winchester or Portsmouth, the Hampshire F.A. decided that the venue should be determined by the toss of a coin. St. Mary's won the toss so the second replay was arranged for the County Ground on Wednesday 13 March. As the final was scheduled to be played the following Saturday, the Hampshire F.A. instructed that the match must produce a finalist.[10]
By now, the contest between the two clubs had produced great excitement amongst the public, and the crowd at the County Ground on the Wednesday afternoon was considerably larger than that on the previous Saturday.
St. Mary's again won the toss and the rematch was played at the County Ground on the following Saturday, 16 March, with the final being postponed. With excitement in both Southampton and Cowes mounting further, over 800 supporters crossed from the Isle of Wight with the total crowd being estimated variously at 5,000 and 7,000, including "over 1,000 ladies".
The final was held at
At the end of the season, the Bournemouth Guardian, edited by William Pickford, concluded that St. Mary's cup progress had "aroused the widest enthusiasm in the county and resulted in such large gates that the County Association certainly owes a debt of gratitude to either them or Cowes or both for raising them from a hand-to-mouth state of existence to that of having a satisfactory balance in the bank".[2]
Results
Date | Round | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A |
Scorers | Attendance (estimated) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
24 November 1888 | 1st | Havant
|
H | 5 – 0 | Delamotte, F. Bromley (4)
|
|
12 January 1889 | 3rd | Fordingbridge Turks
|
H | 4 – 2 | Warn
|
|
24 February 1889 | Semi-final | Cowes
|
A | 1 – 1 | Farwell | |
9 March 1889 | Semi-final replay | Cowes
|
H | 1 – 1 | Fry
|
2,000 |
13 March 1889 | Semi-final second replay | Cowes
|
N | 2 – 1 | Warn
|
|
16 March 1889 | Semi-final rematch | Cowes
|
N | 4 – 1 | Delamotte (2)
|
5,000 – 7,000 |
6 April 1889 | Final | Christchurch | N
|
3 – 0 | Warn
|
Legend
Win | Draw | Loss |
Friendly matches
St. Mary's continued to play friendly matches throughout the season, although reports are not available for many of these. Despite their domination in the Hampshire Junior Cup matches, the team lost four friendlies and only managed two victories.[11]
Results
The results of the friendly matches that are known were as follows:[11]
Date | Opponents | H / A | Result F – A |
Scorers |
---|---|---|---|---|
6 October 1888 | Woolston Works | H | 1 – 2 | Delamotte
|
3 November 1888 | Winchester Rovers | A | 1 – 2 | Varley
|
1 December 1888 | Christchurch | H | 2 – 2 | N. Bromley, Farwell |
29 December 1888 | Freemantle | A | 1 – 1 | Warn
|
2 February 1889 | Cowes
|
A | 0 – 1 | |
9 February 1889 | Bannister Court | A | 2 – 1 | Delamotte
|
16 February 1889 | Freemantle | H | 2 – 3 | Deacon, F. Bromley
|
19 February 1889 | Winchester | H | 1 – 0 | Fry
|
Player statistics
The players who appeared in the Hampshire Junior Cup were as follows.[4] This list does not include appearances or goals in friendly matches.
Position | Name | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
FB | J. T. Arter
|
5 | 1 |
FW | Ned Bromley | 6 | 3 |
FW | Frank Bromley | 1 | 4 |
FB | George Carter
|
7 | 0 |
HB | F. J. Crossley | 1 | 0 |
HB | Charles Deacon
|
7 | 1 |
FW | F. A. Delamotte
|
7 | 4 |
FW | Arthur Farwell | 7 | 1 |
FW | A. A. Fry
|
7 | 2 |
FW | Ernest Mate | 1 | 0 |
FB | George Muir
|
1 | 0 |
GK | Ralph Ruffell | 7 | 0 |
HB | William Stride | 6 | 0 |
HB | George Verney | 6 | 1 |
FW | M. Warn
|
7 | 3 |
HB | G. Williams | 1 | 0 |
Key
- GK — Goalkeeper
- FB — Full back
- HB — Half-back
- FW — Forward
Players
The players who made their first appearance for the club in 1888–89 include the following:
- George Carter; thus St. Mary's had Arter and Carter at full-back.[12]
- George Muir as secretary. As a forward, he had a reputation for charging the opposition goalkeeper and the supporters would cry out: "Go for him, Delly". He remained with the club until 1893.[13]
- Arthur George Farwell (1872–1940) was another forward, described as "full of tricks". He was employed in the drapery department of the Edwin Jones store, thus making him unavailable for Saturday afternoon matches. He remained with the club until 1893.[14]
- William John Stride (1865–1942) (known as "Banquo") had played against St. Mary's for Southampton Harriers in the final of the Hampshire Junior Cup in the previous season. He played as a half-back. described as “a hard as nails robust, tall half- back”, he remained with St. Mary's until 1894. He was subsequently employed by the Southampton Borough Engineers department.[15]
- William George Verney (1871–1950) played as a half-back. Described as "a tenacious half-back" who persisted "in his efforts to challenge for every loose ball", he linked up well with William Stride. He remained with St. Mary's until 1896.[16]
References
- ^ a b c d Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 6.
- ^ a b c Juson & Bull 2001, p. 26.
- ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 10.
- ^ a b c d e f Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 11.
- ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 12.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Juson & Bull 2001, p. 25.
- ^ "Southampton Kit History". www.historicalkits.co.uk. Retrieved 5 January 2013.
- ^ Holley 2012, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 6–7.
- ^ a b c d e f g Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 7.
- ^ a b Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 210.
- ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 100.
- ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 120.
- ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 325.
- ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 343.
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.
- Holley, Duncan (2012). Suited and Booted. Bristol: Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-9-9.
- Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (1992). The Alphabet of the Saints. ACL & Polar Publishing. ISBN 0-9514862-3-3.
- Juson, Dave; Bull, David (2001). Full-Time at The Dell. Hagiology Publishing. ISBN 0-9534474-2-1.