1920–21 Southampton F.C. season

The 1920–21 season was the 26th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's first in the Football League. At the end of the previous season, Southampton were one of a host of Southern League clubs elected to make up the new Third Division, finishing second in the inaugural season behind champions Crystal Palace. The Saints began the season strongly, winning seven of their first ten games to begin a lengthy run at the top of the league table until the end of the year. The club began to lose against several teams lower in the table in December, dropping a position as Palace continued to win the majority of their games. Southampton finished the season in second place with 19 wins, 16 draws and seven losses, four points behind the champions and one point ahead of third-placed Queens Park Rangers.

Southampton F.C.
1920–21 season
ChairmanTankerville Chamberlayne
ManagerJimmy McIntyre
StadiumThe Dell
Third DivisionRunners-up
FA CupThird round
Top goalscorerLeague: Bill Rawlings (18)
All: Bill Rawlings (22)
Highest home attendance21,363 v Cardiff City
(19 February 1921)
Lowest home attendance7,000 (multiple games)
Average home league attendance12,599

In the 1920–21 FA Cup, Southampton beat fellow Third Division sides Northampton Town (after a replay) and Grimsby Town to reach the third round, before being knocked out by eventual semi-finalists Cardiff City. The club ended the season at Fratton Park with the annual Hampshire Benevolent Cup charity match against local rivals Portsmouth, which the hosts won 1–0 through a goal from Harold Buddery. The game was notable for featuring right-back Tom Parker in goal, who was forced to fill in for the injured Tommy Allen. Southampton also played three friendly matches during the campaign, beating newly formed Welsh club Bridgend Town 3–1 in October, losing 1–0 to former Southern League rivals Aberdare Athletic in March, and drawing 1–1 with Third Division opponents Reading in the Berkshire Charity Cup in May.

Southampton used 21 different players during the 1920–21 season and had ten different goalscorers. Their top scorer was centre-forward Bill Rawlings, who scored 18 goals in the Third Division and four in the FA Cup. Inside-forwards Arthur Dominy and James Moore each scored 12 goals in the league, with the former also netting three in the FA Cup. Seven new players were signed by the club during the campaign, with four released and sold to other clubs. The average attendance at The Dell during the 1920–21 season was 12,599. The highest attendance was 21,363 for the FA Cup third round match against Cardiff City; the lowest was around 7,000 for matches against Reading on 1 January, Northampton Town on 9 March and Newport County on 2 May 1921 (the latter of which was the final home fixture of the season).

Background and transfers

At the end of the 1919–20 season, manager Jimmy McIntyre made several changes to the Southampton squad in preparation for their first season in the Football League. Scottish goalkeeper George Wilcock, who had joined the club just a year earlier, was sold to struggling First Division side Preston North End in May 1920, where he made seven appearances in the top flight before dropping out of league football at the end of the season.[1] He was replaced by former Sunderland goalkeeper Tommy Allen, who was brought to The Dell for free after his former club "had forgotten to include [him] on their end-of-season retained list".[2] Centre-forward George Jones, another recent signing who had scored five goals in seven appearances in the club's last Southern League campaign, joined Yorkshire non-league side Goole Town.[3] Arthur Andrews, who had established his place at right-half the previous year, was forced to retire from professional football following a broken leg in January, with Southampton releasing him at the end of the season.[2]

Later in the summer, former Saints left-half Len Butt returned to the club from Thornycrofts,[4] while Northern Irish centre-half George Moorhead joined from Sunnyside as cover for Alec Campbell.[5] In September, centre-forward George Reader joined from Exeter City for a fee of £50.[6] However, due to the form of Bill Rawlings, Reader's opportunities in the side were limited – after only three league appearances, he left at the end of the season to focus on a teaching career, playing part-time for Harland and Wolff.[6] The following month, the club signed outside-right Frank Wright from Hamstead Colliery, who made just one appearance (described by club historians as "a poor showing") before being released at the end of the season.[7] In November, forward-turned-half-back Percy Prince was also released by Southampton, returning to his former club Boscombe.[8] Towards the end of the campaign, Southampton signed centre-forward John Cooper and inside-right Henry Johnson from Birmingham & District League side Darlaston.[9][10]

Players transferred in

Name Nationality Pos. Club Date Ref.
Tommy Allen  England GK Sunderland May 1920 [2]
Len Butt  England HB Thornycrofts August 1920 [4]
George Moorhead  Northern Ireland HB Sunnyside August 1920 [5]
George Reader  England FW Exeter City September 1920 [6]
Frank Wright  England FW Hamstead Colliery October 1920 [7]
John Cooper  England FW Darlaston April 1921 [9]
Henry Johnson  England FW Darlaston April 1921 [10]

Players transferred out

Name Nationality Pos. Club Date Ref.
Arthur Andrews  England HB Harland and Wolff May 1920 [2]
George Jones  England FW Goole Town May 1920 [3]
George Wilcock  Scotland GK Preston North End May 1920 [1]
Percy Prince  England HB Boscombe November 1920 [8]

Third Division
See also: 1920–21 Football League

Southampton's first Football League campaign began on 28 August 1920 with an away fixture against Gillingham, who had finished bottom of the Southern League Premier Division the previous year.[11] The match ended in a 1–1 draw, with Arthur Dominy scoring the club's first goal of the season (and in the division) with a shot "from an oblique angle".[12] Dominy scored another two goals two days later in a 4–0 home win over Swindon Town, with the other two goals coming from Joe Barratt and Bill Rawlings.[13] In their first ten games of the campaign, Southampton dropped only three points from a possible 20 (one in the opening day draw, and two in a 3–2 return loss at Swindon Town), securing the top spot in the Third Division table in early October following consecutive pairs of victories over Portsmouth (last season's Southern League Premier Division champions) and Norwich City.[12] Rawlings took over from Dominy as the season's top scorer on 18 September, when he scored the only goal in the away fixture against Portsmouth, his fourth of the season.[13]

The club continued their unbeaten run until their 17th game of the season on 4 December, when they were beaten at home for the first time in almost a year at the hands of Grimsby Town, who picked up an unlikely 1–0 win after the Saints saw Tom Parker miss a penalty and James Moore sent off.[12] The Mariners also won the return fixture at Blundell Park a week later 3–0, as the only side to win both matches against Southampton during the season.[13] Despite holding on to the top spot in the league into the new year, a winless run of four games saw the club drop below Crystal Palace, who had continued to pick up wins over the Christmas period.[14] Losses at Northampton Town and Southend United helped Palace to extend their lead at the top of the table, with Southampton dropping down to third for a few weeks in February.[15]

On 19 March 1921, Southampton picked up their biggest win of the season when they beat Merthyr Town 5–0 at home, with Bill Rawlings becoming only the club's third player to score four goals in a league match (after John Fraser and Fred Harrison, the latter of whom scored five in two games, both in the 1902–03 season).[16] Two 1–1 draws in two days against the league leaders at the end of the month left Southampton with too much ground to make up in the final period of the season.[12] In the first game, at The Dell, the visitors equalised in "the very last seconds" which "caused such excitement that several barriers at the Milton Road end [of the ground] collapsed, injuring several spectators".[12] In their last nine games of the season the Saints picked up just ten points, from two wins and six draws, which left them trailing five points behind Crystal Palace, who secured the only Second Division promotion place in the division.[12] They finished just one point ahead of third-placed Queens Park Rangers and two ahead of Swindon Town in fourth place.[13]

List of match results
28 August 1920 1Gillingham1–1SouthamptonGillingham
Dominy Stadium: Priestfield Stadium
Attendance: 11,500
30 August 1920 2Southampton4–0Swindon TownSouthampton
Dominy
Barratt
Rawlings 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 11,500
4 September 1920 3Southampton3–0GillinghamSouthampton
Brown
Rawlings
Foxall 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 14,000
6 September 1920 4Swindon Town3–2SouthamptonSwindon
Williams
Rawlings 		Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 9,000
11 September 1920 5Southampton2–0PortsmouthSouthampton
Parker
Moore 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 18,300
18 September 1920 6Portsmouth0–1SouthamptonPortsmouth
Rawlings Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 20,585
25 September 1920 7Norwich City0–1SouthamptonNorwich
Rawlings Stadium: The Nest
Attendance: 9,000
2 October 1920 8Southampton1–0Norwich CitySouthampton
Dominy Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 15,000
9 October 1920 9Southampton3–0Swansea TownSouthampton
Parker
Shelley
Moore 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 15,000
16 October 1920 10Swansea Town1–1SouthamptonSwansea
Barratt Stadium: Vetch Field
Attendance: 12,000
23 October 1920 11Southampton3–0BrentfordSouthampton
Shelley
Rawlings
Foxall 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 13,000
30 October 1920 12Brentford1–1SouthamptonBrentford
Moore Stadium: Griffin Park
Attendance: 12,000
6 November 1920 13Southampton2–2Queens Park RangersSouthampton
Campbell
Moore 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 15,000
13 November 1920 14Queens Park Rangers0–0SouthamptonLondon
Stadium: Loftus Road
Attendance: 15,000
20 November 1920 15Southampton4–0Bristol RoversSouthampton
Barratt
Brown
Rawlings
Foxall 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 17,000
27 November 1920 16Bristol Rovers1–2SouthamptonBristol
Rawlings
Moore 		Stadium: Eastville Stadium
Attendance: 17,000
4 December 1920 17Southampton0–1Grimsby TownSouthampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 11,000
11 December 1920 18Grimsby Town3–0SouthamptonCleethorpes
Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 9,000
18 December 1920 19Reading0–4SouthamptonReading
Dominy
Rawlings
Moore 		Stadium: Elm Park
Attendance: 9,000
25 December 1920 20Luton Town1–1SouthamptonLuton
Moore Stadium: Kenilworth Road
Attendance: 14,000
27 December 1920 21Southampton1–1Luton TownSouthampton
Moore Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 19,793
1 January 1921 22Southampton1–2ReadingSouthampton
Moore Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 7,000
15 January 1921 23Watford0–0SouthamptonWatford
Stadium: Cassio Road
Attendance: 9,000
22 January 1921 24Southampton4–1WatfordSouthampton
Dominy
Rawlings 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 14,000
5 February 1921 25Brighton and Hove Albion1–1SouthamptonHove
Rawlings Stadium: Goldstone Ground
Attendance: 8,000
12 February 1921 26Northampton Town2–0SouthamptonNorthampton
Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 6,000
23 February 1921 27Southampton1–0Brighton and Hove AlbionSouthampton
Rawlings Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
26 February 1921 28Southend United1–0SouthamptonSouthend-on-Sea
Stadium: Kursaal
Attendance: 7,000
5 March 1921 29Southampton3–0Southend UnitedSouthampton
Moore
Rawlings 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 10,000
9 March 1921 30Southampton3–1Northampton TownSouthampton
Foxall
Campbell 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 7,000
12 March 1921 31Merthyr Town1–1SouthamptonMerthyr Tydfil
Dominy Stadium: Penydarren Park
Attendance: 12,000
19 March 1921 32Southampton5–0Merthyr TownSouthampton
Rawlings
Brown 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 8,000
26 March 1921 33Southampton1–0Plymouth ArgyleSouthampton
Campbell Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 14,000
28 March 1921 34Southampton1–1Crystal PalaceSouthampton
Moore Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 20,000
29 March 1921 35Crystal Palace1–1SouthamptonLondon
Own goal Stadium: The Nest
Attendance: 15,000
2 April 1921 36Plymouth Argyle0–0SouthamptonPlymouth
Stadium: Home Park
Attendance: 10,000
9 April 1921 37Southampton3–0Exeter CitySouthampton
Shelley
Dominy
Rawlings 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 10,000
16 April 1921 38Exeter City1–0SouthamptonExeter
Stadium: St James Park
Attendance: 7,000
23 April 1921 39Southampton1–1MillwallSouthampton
Brown Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 10,000
30 April 1921 40Millwall0–1SouthamptonLondon
Dominy Stadium: The Den
Attendance: 18,000
2 May 1921 41Southampton0–0Newport CountySouthampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 7,000
7 May 1921 42Newport County0–0SouthamptonNewport
Stadium: Somerton Park
Attendance: 8,000

Final league table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion
1 Crystal Palace 42 24 11 7 70 34 2.059 59 Division Champions, promoted
2 Southampton 42 19 16 7 64 28 2.286 54
3 Queens Park Rangers 42 22 9 11 61 32 1.906 53
4 Swindon Town 42 21 10 11 73 49 1.490 52
5 Swansea Town 42 18 15 9 56 45 1.244 51
Source:

Results by matchday
Round123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142
GroundAHHAHAAHHAHAHAHAHAAAHHAHAAHAHHAHHHAAHAHAHA
ResultDWWLWWWWWDWDDDWWLLWDDLDWDLWLWWDWWDDDWLDWDD
Position1021122211111111111111122133332222222222222
Source: Statto[15]
A = Away; H = Home; W = Win; D = Draw; L = Loss

FA Cup
See also: 1920–21 FA Cup

Southampton entered the 1920–21 FA Cup in the first round against fellow Third Division side Northampton Town. The Cobblers held the Saints to a goalless draw in a "gruelling first round match" at the County Ground on 7 January 1921, although by the end of the game Southampton were "well on top".[12] This form carried over into the replay four days later at The Dell, which the hosts won comfortably 4–1 thanks to two goals each from on-form forwards Arthur Dominy and Bill Rawlings.[12] Receipts for the fixtures were £1,017 and £1,118, respectively, which set a new record for each ground.[12] Grimsby Town, another Third Division club, were Southampton's opponents in the second round on 28 January, having beaten Norwich City in the previous round. Despite losing both fixtures against the side the previous month, Jimmy McIntyre's side picked up a 3–1 away win over the Mariners thanks to two goals from Rawlings and another from Dominy, who described his team as "faster [and] more together as a side" following the result.[12]

In the third round of the tournament, Southampton faced their first higher-league opponents of the season in Cardiff City, who were then placed third in the Second Division.[17] The fixture was described by club historians as "a game of missed chances", which the Welsh side won with the only goal of the game after approximately 20 minutes following a "rare defensive mistake" by the Saints.[12] The match against Cardiff City marked the highest attendance at The Dell during the season, exceeding 21,000 for the only time that year, as well as the second time the ground's receipts record had been broken as the club brought in £1,708 from attendees.[12] The club played the same lineup in all four matches in the tournament.[12] Cardiff City ultimately made it to the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in their history later that year, beating First Division side Chelsea 1–0 in the fourth round after eliminating Southampton, before being knocked out by fellow second-tier club Wolverhampton Wanderers 3–1 in a replay on 23 March.[18]

7 January 1921 Round 1Northampton Town0–0SouthamptonNorthampton
Stadium: County Ground
Attendance: 15,542
11 January 1921 Round 1 ReplaySouthampton4–1Northampton TownSouthampton
Dominy
Rawlings 		Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 16,000
28 January 1921 Round 2Grimsby Town1–3SouthamptonCleethorpes
Dominy
Rawlings 		Stadium: Blundell Park
Attendance: 14,000
19 February 1921 Round 3Southampton0–1Cardiff CitySouthampton
Stadium: The Dell
Attendance: 21,363

Other matches

Outside of the league and the FA Cup, Southampton played four additional first-team matches. The first was a friendly match against newly-formed Welsh side Bridgend Town on 18 October 1920, which the Saints won 3–1 thanks to goals from Arthur Dominy, Fred Foxall and James Moore.[19] The next took place the following March and saw the club facing another Welsh side, Aberdare Athletic, which they lost by a single goal.[19] On 11 May 1921, they travelled to face local rivals Portsmouth at Fratton Park for the annual Hampshire Benevolent Cup charity match.[20] The game – which drew a record crowd for the competition of 6,740 – saw the visitors forced to play right-back Tom Parker in goal in place of Tommy Allen, who had been injured, in the absence of a suitable replacement.[21] Portsmouth won the game 1–0 thanks to a headed goal from Harold Buddery around 15 minutes into the second half, marking their eighth win of the competition (to date, the Saints had only won three times, with one match ending in a draw).[20] On 14 May, a week after the last game of the league campaign, Southampton ended their season at fellow Third Division side Reading in the Berkshire Charity Cup, drawing 1–1 with a goal from Dominy.[19]

18 October 1920 FriendlyBridgend Town1–3SouthamptonBridgend
Dominy
Foxall
Moore
14 March 1921 FriendlyAberdare Athletic1–0SouthamptonAberdare
Stadium: Athletic Ground
11 May 1921 Hampshire BCPortsmouth1–0SouthamptonPortsmouth
Buddery  60' Stadium: Fratton Park
Attendance: 6,740
Referee: E. A. Head
14 May 1921 Berkshire CCReading1–1SouthamptonReading
Dominy Stadium: Elm Park

Player details

Southampton manager Jimmy McIntyre used 21 different players during the 1920–21 season, ten of whom scored during the campaign. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation throughout the campaign, with two full-backs, three half-backs, two outside forwards, two inside forwards and a centre-forward.[13] Three players appeared in all 46 league and FA Cup matches: outside-left Fred Foxall, inside-left James Moore and left-half Bill Turner. Left-back Fred Titmuss played all but one league match during the season, and goalkeeper Tommy Allen appeared in all except two.[13] Bill Rawlings finished as the club's top scorer for the season, with 18 goals in the league and four in the cup. Arthur Dominy scored 15 times across both competitions, while James Moore matched his league tally of 12 goals. Centre-half Alec Campbell and right-half Bert Shelley were the club's highest-scoring half-backs of the season with three league goals a piece, and right-back Tom Parker was the highest-scoring defender with two goals.[13]

Squad statistics
Name Pos. Nat. League FA Cup Hampshire BC Total
Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls. Apps. Gls.
Tommy Allen GK 400 40 00 440
Joe Barratt FW 303 40 10 353
Ken Boyes FW 00 00 10 10
George Bradburn HB 50 00 00 50
Charlie Brown FW 164 00 00 164
Len Butt HB 130 00 10 140
Alec Campbell HB 313 00 10 323
Arthur Dominy FW 3512 43 10 4015
Fred Foxall FW 425 40 00 465
Henry Johnson FW 00 00 10 10
James Moore FW 4212 40 00 4612
George Moorhead HB 90 40 00 130
Tom Parker FB 302 40 10 352
Bill Rawlings FW 3918 44 10 4422
George Reader FW 30 00 00 30
Bert Shelley HB 393 40 10 443
Fred Titmuss FB 410 40 10 460
Bill Turner HB 420 40 10 470
George Williams FW 21 00 00 21
Arthur Wood GK 20 00 00 20
Frank Wright FW 10 00 00 10

Most appearances
Rank Name Pos. League FA Cup Hampshire BC Total
Apps. % Apps. % Apps. % Apps. %
1 Bill Turner HB 42100.00 4100.00 1100.00 47100.00
2 Fred Foxall FW 42100.00 4100.00 00.00 4697.87
James Moore FW 42100.00 4100.00 00.00 4697.87
Fred Titmuss FB 4197.62 4100.00 1100.00 4697.87
5 Tommy Allen GK 4095.24 4100.00 00.00 4493.62
Bill Rawlings FW 3992.86 4100.00 1100.00 4493.62
Bert Shelley HB 3992.86 4100.00 1100.00 4493.62
8 Arthur Dominy FW 3583.33 4100.00 1100.00 4085.11
9 Joe Barratt FW 3071.43 4100.00 1100.00 3574.47
Tom Parker FB 3071.43 4100.00 1100.00 3574.47

Top goalscorers
Rank Name Pos. League FA Cup Hampshire BC Total
Gls. GPG Gls. GPG Gls. GPG Gls. GPG
1 Bill Rawlings FW 180.46 41.00 00.00 220.50
2 Arthur Dominy FW 120.34 30.75 00.00 150.37
3 James Moore FW 120.28 00.00 00.00 120.26
4 Fred Foxall FW 50.11 00.00 00.00 50.10
5 Charlie Brown FW 40.25 00.00 00.00 40.25
6 Alec Campbell HB 30.09 00.00 00.00 30.09
Joe Barratt FW 30.10 00.00 00.00 30.08
Bert Shelley HB 30.07 00.00 00.00 30.06
9 Tom Parker FB 20.06 00.00 00.00 20.05
10 George Williams FW 10.50 00.00 00.00 10.50

References
  1. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 203
  2. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 3
  3. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 105
  4. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 33
  5. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 138
  6. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 156
  7. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 210
  8. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 154
  9. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 46
  10. Chalk, Holley & Bull 2013, p. 104
  11. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 63
  12. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 64
  13. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 65
  14. "Crystal Palace results for the 1920-1921 season". Statto. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  15. "Southampton results for the 1920-1921 season". Statto. Archived from the original on 2016-03-13. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  16. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 33
  17. "Cardiff City results for the 1920-1921 season". Statto. Archived from the original on 8 March 2016. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  18. "England FA Challenge Cup 1920-1921". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
  19. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 212
  20. Chalk & Holley 1987, p. 206
  21. Juson et al. 2004, p. 101

Bibliography
  • 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
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