1901–02 Southampton F.C. season

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Albert Brown (29)
Highest home attendance20,000 vs Liverpool (8 February 1901) (FA Cup)

The 1901–02 season was the 17th since the foundation of Southampton F.C. and their eighth in league football, as members of the Southern League.

The club repeated their performance from

FA Cup Final, where they lost to the previous season's losing finalists, Sheffield United after a replay. In the League, they finished in third place behind local rivals Portsmouth and the FA Cup holders, Tottenham Hotspur
.

Personnel

A. Brown, F. Harrison
.)

In the summer of 1901, the

New Brompton[4] and Wilf Toman returning to Everton,[5] while Jimmy Yates dropped down into non-league football.[6]

Replacements included

Alex McDonald[9] and Joe Turner from Everton.[10] Despite scoring five goals in the first three matches, McDonald quickly dropped out of favour, and left to join West Ham United in December before finishing the season at Portsmouth.[9]

The club still had the services of top amateur players, with C. B. Fry continuing to play when he could, especially in FA Cup ties, and his friend, Geoffrey Plumpton Wilson making three appearances at centre-forward in October.[1]

The team was still under the control of secretary Ernest Arnfield, with Bill Dawson continuing as trainer.[1]

League season

Kent League and Chatham Town had resigned from the league after ten matches of the 1900–01 season. Their places in a 16-team Southern Football League First Division had been taken by Brentford (promoted from Division Two), Northampton Town and Wellingborough Town (both from the Midland League).[1]

The season opened with a 1–1 draw against

Bobby Marshall through to equalise Fred Harrison's opening goal.[11]

After two further home victories, Southampton again met Portsmouth, this time at The Dell on 2 November. By this time, Southampton were fifth in the table, two points and two places behind their neighbours, but with two games in hand.[13] A crowd of 12,000 (described as a "dense mass of humanity") descended on The Dell on a "brilliantly fine and crisp" afternoon. Portsmouth's long-term goalkeeper, the Ireland international, Matt Reilly was injured, with his place being taken by the inexperienced Darling. Portsmouth raced into a two-goal lead, with goals from Frank Bedingfield and Steve Smith before the Saints started to put Darling under pressure. Saints equalised through a penalty scored by Edgar Chadwick and a goal from Joe Turner, but Portsmouth's goalkeeper demonstrated "superb coolness" to prevent Saints going ahead before Bedingfield added a third goal. Saints again equalised through Chadwick, who "beat Darling all ends up", resulting in a "ding dong struggle" of end to end football, before Dan Cunliffe scored the final goal for the visitors, who held firm for "a meritorious win".[13]

After the defeat to Portsmouth, there followed a run of five victories without conceding a goal, before a draw and defeat (3–0 at

New Brompton) in mid-December. For the fourth consecutive season, the Boxing Day match was at home to Tottenham Hotspur (won 1–0).[1]

In the match at

Robert Colvin and Fry's actions were out of frustration. By the end of the match, "missiles were hurled at the famous athlete ...[and] for a few minutes matters had an ugly appearance". The Luton directors apologised to Fry after the match, who replied that this was unnecessary as the supporters' behaviour was outside the directors' control. "I am quite sure they [the directors] were even more upset than anyone else at the annoyance to which I was subjected".[14]

The final match of 1901 was the first visit of newly promoted

hat trick before Archie Turner added a fourth goal with an "excellently timed" shot from the right. The Northampton defenders were floundering in the mud, with one turning a long shot from Samuel Meston into his own net before Brown ran through the defence to add a sixth goal. The seventh goal came from Fred Harrison following up after his original shot had been only partially cleared. Before half-time, efforts from Harrison and Edgar Chadwick were disallowed for offside, leaving a half-time score of 7–0.[15]

In the second half, the Saints eased off slightly while Northampton's play improved. Despite this, Meston added his second goal soon after the restart when his shot went between the legs of the hapless goalkeeper. Brown's fifth goal was hit with such force that the ball became wedged between the railings behind the goal, causing a delay before the match could restart. Brown's sixth goal came soon afterwards with a "dinking oblique kick" to confuse Cook, bringing the total to nine. By this time, the Saints fans were not taking the game very seriously and there was a carnival atmosphere on the terraces, helped by a cornet player in the stands. Northampton fought back with a rare shot on goal when centre-half Murrell just missed with a low shot that had got past a cold and wet

Jack Robinson in the Saints' goal. Brown added two further goals in the dying minutes of the match, with his seventh and final goal one of the best after he took the ball off Murrell, before beating full-backs Edward "Old Hookie" Turner and Jack Bennett and blasting the ball past Cook.[15]

The final score was 11–0 to Southampton, which is the club's record result in a League match (although this was to be equalled a year later against Watford).[17] Brown's tally of seven goals in one match is the highest scored by a Southampton player in a competitive match,[17] although Alf Whittingham scored eight in a wartime match in 1945 against Luton Town.[18] Speaking about this match in 1924, trainer Bill Dawson claimed that his players had "a little secret" that enabled them to keep their feet on the heavy ground.[17]

Southampton began 1902 with two further victories before the start of their run in the FA Cup. Having only failed to win only five of the eighteen matches played by the end of January, the remaining twelve games produced just five more wins with four defeats and three draws,[1] leaving the Saints in third place, five points behind local rivals, Portsmouth, who won the Southern League title for the first time.[19]

Despite a slow start to the season and missing several matches through injury,

Albert Brown was easily the top scorer for the season with 25 goals from his 25 league appearances.[1][8]

League results

Date Opponents H / A Result
F – A 		Scorers
7 September 1901
New Brompton
 H 1–1 A. Turner
14 September 1901 Northampton Town A 2–1
McDonald
21 September 1901 Watford H 5–0
McDonald (4), J. Turner
12 October 1901 Portsmouth A 2–2
Brown, Harrison
19 October 1901 Swindon Town H 6–1 Wood (2), Chadwick, Harrison, Meston, A. Turner
26 October 1901 Brentford H 1–0 J. Turner
2 November 1901 Portsmouth H 3–4 Chadwick (2), J. Turner
9 November 1901 Luton Town A 2–0
Brown, Meston
16 November 1901
Millwall Athletic
 H 3–0
Brown (2), J. Turner
23 November 1901 Queens Park Rangers A 1–0
Brown
30 November 1901 Reading H 2–0 J. Turner, Wood
12 December 1901 West Ham United H 4–0
Brown, Wood
14 December 1901 Brentford A 1–1
Brown
21 December 1901
New Brompton
 A 0–3
26 December 1901 Tottenham Hotspur H 1–0 Wood
28 December 1901 Northampton Town H 11–0
Brown (7), Meston (2), Harrison, A. Turner
4 January 1902 Watford A 2–1
Brown, Wood
18 January 1902 Wellingborough Town H 3–0
Brown
1 February 1902 Swindon Town A 0–0
15 February 1902 Kettering Town H 3–1 A. Turner (2), Wood
1 March 1902
Millwall Athletic
 A 1–1
Brown
5 March 1902 Bristol Rovers A 0–1
8 March 1902 Queens Park Rangers H 4–2
Brown (2), Harrison, A. Turner
19 March 1902 Reading A 0–2
22 March 1902 West Ham United A 1–2
Brown
28 March 1902 Tottenham Hotspur A 2–2 A. Turner, J. Turner
29 March 1902 Bristol Rovers H 6–0
Brown (3), Cavendish, Harrison, J. Turner
2 April 1902 Kettering Town A 1–2 Wood
5 April 1902 Wellingborough Town A 2–1
Brown, Wood
9 April 1902 Luton Town H 1–0
Brown

Legend

Win Draw Loss

Top of league table

Pos Team
 Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Portsmouth 30 20 7 3 67 24 2.792 47
2 Tottenham Hotspur 30 18 6 6 61 22 2.773 42
3 Southampton 30 18 6 6 71 28 2.536 42
4 West Ham United 30 17 6 7 45 28 1.607 40
5 Reading 30 16 7 7 57 24 2.375 39
Source: rsssf.com
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 first round of the FA Cup, Southampton were drawn against the cup-holders, Tottenham Hotspur. The first match was played at White Hart Lane on 25 January 1902 in front of a crowd of 20,000;[20] by half-time the teams were level through goals from David Copeland for Spurs[21] and Tommy Bowman for the Saints. In the second half, Southampton looked more likely to score but they were unable to breach "the home citadel". Spurs mounted a late rally that resulted in end to end football, but the score remained 1–1 after 90 minutes.[20]

The replay took place the following Wednesday at

centre-half. The worst injury was to Bert Lee, who was kicked on the head and was forced to miss the replay.[20]

The second replay took place at

Sandy Brown but, with the assistance of George Molyneux, survived a goalless first-half.[20] After the interval, C. B. Fry was beaten by Patrick Gilhooley who crossed the ball to Jack Kirwan for a simple tap-in. Saints responded quickly, equalising when Archie Turner "screwed in a tricky shot". For the remainder of the match, Southampton were stronger, spending most of the time in the Spurs half of the pitch. The Spurs goalkeeper, Fred Griffiths, made a "wonderful" save from Chadwick before Sandy Tait turned the ball against his own post. In the final few minutes of the match, Saints managed to take the lead when Tait made a poor backpass, which was seized on by Albert Brown who beat Griffiths, leading to scenes of "indescribable enthusiasm" amongst the Southampton fans.[20]

Waiting for Southampton in the second round was a home tie against Liverpool, who had won the Football League First Division title the previous year. To prepare for the match against the champions, trainer Bill Dawson took the players to the Clump Inn at Chilworth where the players had the use of a field behind the inn.[22] The match was played at The Dell only five days after the second replay against Spurs. Writing in 1924, Dawson said that the players ran out onto the pitch "like a lot of kittens, full of life" and that the match was "the finest exhibition of football put up by the Saints".[23] Goals from Archie Turner (2), Joe Turner and the fit again Bert Lee saw off the League champions, who could only manage one goal in response, from George Fleming.[24][25]

The third-round match was away to

Albert Brown broke up the pitch with most of the Bury players in the Saint's half. After sprinting the full length of the pitch, Brown unleashed a shot that hit the crossbar and rebounded over his head. Edgar Chadwick was following up and trapped the ball, feinted to go past the goalkeeper and "coolly slotted the ball in the other corner" to secure victory.[27]

The semi-final gave the Saints the chance to gain revenge over Nottingham Forest who had defeated Southampton in the 1898 semi-final in controversial circumstances.[28] After 90 minutes of the match, played at White Hart Lane, the sides were level through goals from Edgar Chadwick for Saints and John Calvey for Forest.[29] In extra time, Albert Brown put the Saints ahead from the penalty spot and completed the victory in the final minute scoring "a wonderful goal with a screw shot from an oblique angle".[27]

Southampton were now in the FA Cup Final for the second time in three years and for the third year in a row, a Southern League side had reached the final. Derby County and Sheffield United needed two replays to settle their semi-final and the Saints took advantage of this to send Harry Wood to the City Ground in Nottingham to "spy" on the two sides in the second replay,[27] with Sheffield United winning through to their second consecutive final.[30]

FA Cup Final

Main article:
1902 FA Cup Final
1905 FA Cup Final
.

For the final, the players again went to the Clump Inn for extra training but goalkeeper

Bill Henderson travelled to Crystal Palace as reserves.[31] Fry's inclusion in the final line up made him the first amateur player to appear in an FA Cup Final since 1893.[31]

Sheffield United had taken seven matches to reach the final, with a replay required to get past

1901 Final, declaring that his team "had let the north down".[32]

First match

The first match was played at Crystal Palace on 19 April 1902 in front of a crowd of 76,914, with many fans trying to get a better view of the match by use of the surrounding trees, which "shook as though whipped by a gale, denoting the enthusiasm of adventurous individuals who were in their branches".[31] As both teams normally played in red and white stripes, Saints won the right to wear their normal kit, while Sheffield United wore dark shorts and white shirts.[33]

After a scoreless first half, Sheffield United opened the scoring early in the second half with a goal from Alf Common.[31] United appeared to be on the way to victory when, with two minutes to play, Saints' captain Harry Wood equalised. Wood was in an offside position tying up his bootlaces when the ball reached him. After consultation between the referee and his linesman, the officials decided that the ball had struck a United defender thus playing Wood onside.[33]

At the end of the game United's goalkeeper, William "Fatty" Foulke, protested to the officials that the equalising goal should not have been allowed. Foulke, who was reputed to weigh more than 20 stone, left his dressing room unclothed and angrily pursued the referee, Mr. T. Kirkham, who took refuge in a broom cupboard. Foulke had to be stopped by a group of F.A. officials from wrenching the cupboard door from its hinges to reach the hapless referee.[33]

Replay

The replay took place a week later on 26 April 1902, again at Crystal Palace, in front of a crowd of 33,068, less than half the number who had watched the first match.[34] As Southampton had worn red and white stripes in the first match, this time they swapped to white shirts with United in their normal stripes.[33]

The weather for the replay was bitterly cold, and two minutes into the game, Saints' goalkeeper

Albert Brown equalised on the 70th minute with a "magic" shot from distance following a pass from Joe Turner.[33][27]

After drawing level Saints continued on the attack and Foulke was required to make saves from Chadwick, Wood and Lee. It looked as though the match was going into extra-time, when, with ten minutes remaining, Robinson failed to cut out a cross and Billy Barnes only had to "walk" the ball in to the unguarded net to score the winner for United, although Fry blasted a chance high over the crossbar in the final minute.[33]

FA Cup results

Date Round Opponents H / A Result
F – A 		Scorers Attendance
25 January 1902 Round 1 Tottenham Hotspur A 1–1 Bowman 20,000
29 January 1902 Round 1 replay Tottenham Hotspur H 2–2 Chadwick, J. Turner 10,000
3 February 1902 Round 1 second replay Tottenham Hotspur N 2–1
Brown
 6,000
8 February 1902 Round 2 Liverpool H 4–1 A. Turner (2), J. Turner, Lee 20,000
22 February 1902 Round 3 Bury A 3–2 Wood, Chadwick, J. Turner 25,000
15 March 1902 Semi-final Nottingham Forest N 3–1
Brown (2), Chadwick
 30,000
19 April 1902
Final
 Sheffield United N 1–1 Wood 74,479
26 April 1902
Final replay
 Sheffield United N 1–2
Brown
 33,068

Friendly matches

Only three friendly matches are recorded for the 1901–02 season, with two matches against opposition from

Woolwich Arsenal on 19 November and a 4–1 home defeat to Aston Villa.[35]

On 5 October 1901, Southampton visited

Albert Brown to score the only goal.[35]

Player statistics

Position Nationality Name League
apps 		League
goals 		FA Cup
apps 		FA Cup
goals 		Total
apps 		Total
goals
HB  Scotland Tommy Bowman 27 0 8 1 35 1
FW  England
Albert Brown
 		25 25 8 4 33 29
FW  England Sid Cavendish 5 1 0 0 5 1
FW  England Edgar Chadwick 25 4 8 3 33 7
FB  England C. B. Fry 9 0 8 0 17 0
FW  England
W. Georgea
 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  England Fred Harrison 15 5 0 0 15 5
FB  Scotland
Bill Henderson
 		21 0 0 0 21 0
FB  England
Claude Howlandb
 1 0 0 0 1 0
HB  England Bert Lee 27 0 7 1 34 1
FW  Scotland
Alex McDonald
 		5 5 0 0 5 5
HB  Scotland Samuel Meston 26 4 8 0 34 4
GK  England Harry Moger 3 0 0 0 3 0
FB  England George Molyneux 27 0 8 0 35 0
FW  England
George Northeyc
 1 0 0 0 1 0
HB  England Bert Paddington 7 0 1 0 8 0
GK  England
Jack Robinson
 		26 0 8 0 34 0
FW  England Henry Small 4 0 0 0 4 0
HB  England
Victor Smith
 		2 0 0 0 2 0
FW  England Henry Smoker 0 0 0 0 0 0
FB  England Walter Triggs 2 0 0 0 2 0
FW  England Archie Turner 25 9 8 3 33 12
FW  England Joe Turner 20 9 8 3 28 12
HB  England William Whiting 1 0 0 0 1 0
FW  England
G. P. Wilson
 		3 0 0 0 3 0
FW  England Harry Wood 22 9 8 2 30 11

Key

Transfers

In

Date Position Name From
May 1901 HB Tommy Bowman Aston Villa[7]
May 1901 FW
Albert Brown
 Aston Villa[8]
Summer 1901 FB
Bill Henderson
 Reading[37]
May 1901 FW
Alex McDonald
 Everton[9]
Summer 1901 FW Joe Turner Everton[10]
1901 HB William Whiting Local football[38]
October 1901 FW
G. P. Wilson
 Corinthiand[39]

Departures

Date Position Name To
Summer 1901 FB Arthur Blackburn Blackburn Rovers[40]
May 1901 HB Arthur Chadwick Portsmouth[3]
Summer 1901 HB Joe French
New Brompton[41]
Summer 1901 HB Ted Killean
New Brompton[42]
December 1901 FW
Alex McDonald
 West Ham United[9]
Summer 1901 FW Alf Milward
New Brompton[4]
May 1901 FB Bertram Sharp Everton[43]
Summer 1901 FW Wilf Toman Everton[5]
May 1900 FW Jimmy Yates Hastings & St Leonards[6]

Notes

  • W. George joined Southampton from Bitterne Guild. Described as a "sturdily-built right-winger", he only made one Southern League appearance, at Reading on 19 March 1902 and one Western League appearance for the club.[44]
  • Claude Howland (1880–1965) was born in Fulham and had an unsuccessful trial appearance at Bristol Rovers on 5 March 1902.[45]
  • George Northey (b. Launceston, Cornwall, 1883) was given a trial on the right-wing in the final match of the season at home to Luton Town on 9 April 1902. Although he showed some "neat touches", he was not offered a contract for the following season.[46]
  • G. P. Wilson was an amateur and continued to play for Corinthian as well as for Southampton.[39]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 31.
  2. ^ a b c Juson 2004, p. 21.
  3. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 66.
  4. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 241.
  5. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, pp. 334–335.
  6. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 379.
  7. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 40.
  8. ^ a b c Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 48.
  9. ^ a b c d Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 217.
  10. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, pp. 341–342.
  11. ^ a b Juson 2004, p. 23.
  12. ^ a b Wilton 2000, p. 148.
  13. ^ a b Juson 2004, pp. 23–24.
  14. ^ Wilton 2000, pp. 149–150.
  15. ^ a b c Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 26–27.
  16. ^ Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 26.
  17. ^ a b c Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 27.
  18. ^ Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 64–65.
  19. ^ Juson 2004, p. 24.
  20. ^ a b c d e f g Bull & Brunskell 2000, pp. 28–29.
  21. ^ Collett 2003, p. 609.
  22. ^ Holley 2012, pp. 28–29.
  23. ^ Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 30.
  24. ^ Collett 2003, p. 379.
  25. ^ "Southampton 4 – 1 Liverpool". lfchistory.net. 8 February 1902. Retrieved 17 February 2013.
  26. ^ Collett 2003, p. 199.
  27. ^ a b c d e Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 30.
  28. ^ Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 22.
  29. ^ Collett 2003, p. 454.
  30. ^ a b Collett 2003, p. 539.
  31. ^ a b c d e Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 31.
  32. ^ Lloyd & Holt 2005, p. 66.
  33. ^ a b c d e f Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 32.
  34. ^ Bull & Brunskell 2000, p. 33.
  35. ^ a b Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 212.
  36. ^ Cavallini 2003, pp. 65 & 240.
  37. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 165.
  38. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 362.
  39. ^ a b Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 371.
  40. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 34.
  41. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 131.
  42. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 197.
  43. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 300.
  44. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 139.
  45. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 179.
  46. ^ Holley & Chalk 1992, p. 256.

Bibliography

External links
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