Saintsfc.co.uk will be revealing the real history of Southampton Football Club in a new series of articles compiled by Saints Historian's Dave Juson and Gary Chalk.
Their research and devotion to uncovering every facet of our club's fascinating origins and history will gradually build into an indispensible guided tour of the past that we hope fans, both old and young, will enjoy discovering afresh.
Each article will gradually be archived in the new 'History' section, which can be found by clicking on the 'Club' tab at the top of the page.
Parts 1 & 2 told the story of Southampton FC's very beginnings...now we actually start winning something!
Chapter 3: The Glory Years
The Saints kicked off the 1898-99 season with a 4-1 Southern League win over Brighton United at their new ground The Dell; as it became known.
Impressive as the new venue was, it was Saints' summer signings that gripped journalists: Scotland international half-back John Tait Robertson and a brace of England internationals, half-back Harry Wood and goalkeeper Jack Robinson.
Saints already had established First Division footballers in their ranks, but this trio were the envy of every club in the country.
The Saints' reputation was by now nationwide. Northern eyebrows had been raised during the 1897-98 FA Cup, when Saints eliminated Leicester Fosse and Newcastle United, both Division Two sides, in the first two rounds.
Yet, when they drew one-all with First Division Bolton Wanderers at Burnden Park, the Daily Telegraph conceded that the result was "the biggest surprise of the day".
The Victorian press, which rarely stooped to hyperbole, was left bemused by Bolton's 4-0 defeat at the County Ground.
Southampton (St. Mary's had been dropped during the summer) drew Nottingham Forest at Sheffield's Bramall Lane in the semi-finals.
A one-all draw saw the tie move on to Cup Final venue Crystal Palace. Saints lost 2-0. Both goals were scored in the last minute as Saints played into the teeth of a blizzard.
The Saints board protested, arguing that the game should have been abandoned. The press, the majority of it outside Nottingham at least, supported the protest. The FA, imperious as ever, dismissed the protest.
Forest went on to beat Derby County in the Final, but Saints had given a firm indication of their ambitions, and the sporting public's perception of professional football had been radically altered: by association, the Southern League was now reckoned as an organisation to be reckoned with.
Succeeding seasons saw the Southern League's status grow. That the national press was London based helped, but it was evident that Millwall, West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur were regularly pulling in larger crowds than the capital's only Football League club, Plumstead based Woolwich Arsenal - and none of them were as successful as the Saints, in league or Cup.
Between the 1897-98 and 1903-04 seasons they lifted the Southern League shield six times and reached two FA Cup Finals; eliminating 13 Football League clubs from the competition in the process. Spurs, however, stole some of the Saints' thunder by actually winning the Cup in 1901.
Alas, heady period though this was, Saints never did lift the Cup. Bury's crushing 4-0 win in the 1900 Cup Final came as a horrible shock to a confident Southampton public as Saints were clear favourites.
The 1902 Final was an underwhelming event for players and spectators alike, as neither Saints nor their adversaries Sheffield United found their best form in the 1-1 draw.
The replay, which United won 2-1, was praised as a splendid spectacle. Saints were considered a little unlucky, but there was always next season.
At that time, if anyone had predicted that it would be another 76 years before Saints contended another Cup Final they'd have attracted considerable derision!
To be continued…
PART ONE - Champions of Hampshire >>>
PART TWO - Southern League Champions >>>
