| Full name | Woolston Works Football Club | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 1878 (as "Southampton Rangers") | |
| Dissolved | 1889 | |
| Ground | Antelope Ground, Southampton | |
Woolston Works Football Club is a defunct football club formerly based at Woolston, Hampshire which was active from the late-1870s until 1889. The club pre-dates Southampton Football Club in whose early years the two clubs vied for dominance in Southampton.
The team was founded as "Southampton Rangers" in 1878 and comprised employees of the Oswald, Mordaunt & Co. shipyard in Woolston, which later became part of Vosper Thornycroft. [1] Many of the workers had been recruited from the north of England and Scotland who had previously played football in their home towns. [2] In their early days, the team played their home matches on Southampton Common [1] before moving to Woolston Park. [3]
Writing in 1936, William Pickford, who had helped found the Hampshire F.A. in 1887 before going on to become president of The Football Association, said:
The effect of this galaxy of Scotsmen on the game in Hampshire was electifying. Up to then, few local people knew anything about the fine points of the game, and the public troubled little about it as a spectacle. The opening of the Woolston Shipyard turned Southampton into an association (football) hot-bed, and it woke up with a start. [3]
In 1886, Woolston Works entered the South Hants & Dorset Senior Cup, defeating the Portsmouth Sunflowers 6–1 in the First Round on 9 October 1886. The Sunflowers were run by Canon Norman Pares, who had played for the Old Etonians when they won the 1879 FA Cup Final. The Works team progressed to the final where they defeated Wimborne Town with a single goal. The umpire for the final was M. P. Betts who won the very first FA Cup Final with the Wanderers in 1872. [2]
Woolston Works also reached the final of the Portsmouth & District Cup in 1887, where they lost 2–0 to Portsmouth A.F.C. (not connected with the present-day Portsmouth Football Club). Playing in goal for the Portsmouth side was "A. C. Smith", a pseudonym for Dr. Arthur Conan Doyle. [2]
In 1887, the club became joint tenants with the Pirates Rugby Club of the Antelope Ground. The Antelope Ground, which stood on the east side of St Mary's Road between Brinton's Terrace and Clovelly Road, had previously been used by Hampshire County Cricket Club until they moved to the County Ground in Northlands Road in 1885. [4]
In the same year, the club entered the inaugural Hampshire Senior Cup (whereas St. Mary's Y.M.A. entered the Junior Cup); in the final, they defeated Winchester by two goals to nil to claim the trophy. With St. Mary's winning the Junior Cup, the two clubs decided that they should compete to decide which was Southampton's top club. The match was played at the Antelope Ground on 14 April 1888 and the home side were victorious by three goals to nil; the Bournemouth Guardian report on the match summed up the clubs' season:
Both teams have had a wonderfully good time of it on the whole and the people of Southampton ought to feel proud of their football population. [5]
In 1888–89, Woolston Works continued to occupy the Antelope Ground, sharing this with the Trojans Rugby Club. reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup, where they lost to a team from the Royal Engineers based at Aldershot, By now, Oswald, Mordaunt & Co. were in financial trouble as a result of which many of their better footballers had returned to their native north-east and Scotland, causing the works to put out a weakened team for the final. [6]
The Woolston shipyard was closed in April 1889 and Oswald, Mordaunt & Co. was wound up, resulting in the disbanding of the football team. [7]
During the First World War, a team from the works, now owned by John I. Thornycroft & Company was formed, known as Thornycrofts (Woolston) F.C. . [8] They survived until 1926 and reached the First Round Proper of the F.A. Cup in 1919–20 where they took Burnley of the Football League First Division to a replay. [9]
In 1960, Vosper Thornycroft F.C. was founded. They subsequently changed their name to VT F.C. and then to Sholing F.C. who now play in the Southern League Division One South & West. [10]
The club's dominant jersey was black and white hoops. [11]
Sholing Football Club is an English football club based in Sholing, Southampton, Hampshire. Formerly known as Vosper Thorneycroft FC and later VTFC the club changed its name in 2010 to Sholing FC. In 2013–14 they won both the FA Vase and the Wessex League Premier Division and have three times been runners up in the Wessex Premier, in 2007, 2009 and 2016. They are currently members of the Southern League Premier Division South. The club has twice won the Hampshire League, in 2001 and 2004. Sholing are also 8 times Southampton Senior Cup Winners.
The Antelope Ground, Southampton was a sports ground that was the first home of both Hampshire County Cricket Club, who played there prior to 1884, and of Southampton Football Club, who played there from 1887 to 1896 as "Southampton St. Mary's F.C."
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.
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.
Ernest John Hinton was an English professional footballer who played at inside left for Southampton in the Southern League in 1915 and for Exeter City in the Football League Third Division in 1921.
Thornycrofts (Woolston) F.C. were an English amateur football club, based in Woolston, Southampton. The club was formed by employees of John I. Thornycroft & Company, the Woolston-based shipbuilders and was active from 1917 to 1926, during which time it was a member of the Hampshire League, other than in 1920–21 when the club joined the Southern League. The club played regularly in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup and in 1920 took Burnley to a replay.
The 1891–92 season was the seventh since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. For the first six years, the club had been restricted at first to friendly matches and then in cup tournaments organised by the Hampshire Football Association. In 1891, the team entered a national competition for the first time, when it competed in the qualifying rounds of the F.A. Cup.
The 1892–93 season was the eighth since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. It was the second year that the club competed in the qualifying rounds of the FA Cup and the first season that the club embraced professionalism with several players being signed on professional terms. This policy was not to prove a great success initially as the club were not only defeated in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup but also suffered their first-ever defeat in a final of a Hampshire F.A. cup competition.
The 1893–94 season was the ninth since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. For the third consecutive year, the club were eliminated in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup; they were also defeated in the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup.
The first match played by what is now Southampton Football Club, from Southampton in southern England, was by a team from St. Mary's Young Men's Association (YMA) on 21 November 1885. Since then, the club established themselves as a major force in local and regional football before moving up to national level, winning the FA Cup in 1976 and being founder members of the Premier League in 1992.
1886–87 was the second year since St. Mary's Y.M.A., based in Southampton in Southern England, started playing association football. This was a year of consolidation before the club entered its first local cup tournament in the following season. All the matches played during the season were friendly matches.
1887–88 was the third season for St. Mary's Young Men's Association Football Club based in Southampton in southern England. The club entered, and won, the Hampshire Junior Cup in its inaugural year, thus laying the foundation for success over the next two decades.
1888–89 was the fourth season for St. Mary's Football Club based in Southampton in southern England. The club retained the Hampshire Junior Cup for the second consecutive year.
1889–90 was the fifth season for St. Mary's Football Club based in Southampton in southern England. The club retained the Hampshire Junior Cup for the third consecutive year.
1890–91 was the sixth season for St. Mary's Football Club based in Southampton in southern England. Having won the Hampshire Junior Cup outright in the previous season, the club entered the Hampshire Senior Cup, winning it at the first attempt.
The 1899–1900 season was the 15th since the foundation of Southampton F.C. and their sixth in league football, as members of the Southern League.
The 1900–01 season was the 16th since the foundation of Southampton F.C. and their seventh in league football, as members of the Southern League.
The 1921–22 season was the 27th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's second in the Football League. After finishing second in the league the previous season, Southampton achieved promotion to the Second Division as champions of the newly regionalised Third Division South. Following a false start to the campaign, the Saints quickly asserted their dominance in the league when they went on a club record 19-game unbeaten run until the end of 1921. The club also remained unbeaten at The Dell for the entirety of the league season, as well as conceding a Football League record low 21 goals in 42 games, which remained in place until the 1978–79 season. Southampton finished atop the league table with 23 wins, 15 draws and four losses, ahead of runners-up Plymouth Argyle only on goal average.
The 1924–25 season was the 30th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's third in the Second Division of the Football League. Following the 1923–24 season, in which the club finished just three points shy of the First Division promotion places in fifth place, the Saints dropped two positions to finish seventh in the league. As with the last season, Southampton began their Second Division campaign poorly and found themselves at the bottom of the table after two losses in their first three games. The side continued to struggle to pick up wins, but steadily began making their way up the table over the next few months. A number of wins over the Christmas period and an eight-game unbeaten run at the end of the season helped Southampton finish in seventh place with 13 wins, 18 draws and 11 losses.
The 1926–27 season was the 32nd season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's fifth in the Second Division of the Football League. After having their worst year in the division the previous season, Southampton began the 1926–27 league campaign in strong fashion and found themselves in amongst the promotion hopefuls by the end of the year, just two points off front-runners Middlesbrough. However, following a lengthy run in the FA Cup the club's form began to deteriorate, ending with a series of 13 games which included just one win. The Saints dropped from as high as the top six of the Second Division table to a mid-table position, ending the season in 13th place with 15 wins, 12 draws and 15 losses – just one position and four points higher than their 14th-place finish the previous season.
