1928–29 Southampton F.C. season

Southampton F.C.

1928–29 season
Chairman	Wyndham Portal
Manager	Arthur Chadwick
Stadium	The Dell
Second Division	4th
FA Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League: Willie Haines (16) All: Willie Haines (16)
Highest home attendance	24,247 v Chelsea (9 March 1929)
Lowest home attendance	6,510 v Swansea Town (4 May 1929)
Average home league attendance	15,164
Biggest win	8–2 v Blackpool (3 November 1928)
Biggest defeat	0–3 and 1–4 (multiple)
Home colours
← 1927–28 1929–30 →

The 1928–29 season was the 34th season of competitive football by Southampton, and the club's seventh in the Second Division of the Football League. After finishing in the bottom half of the Second Division league table the last three seasons, the club returned to challenging for promotion to the First Division when they finished fourth, their highest position in the league to date. The team were strong throughout the campaign, picking up key wins over teams around them in the table to secure a strong position. They stayed in the top six of the league for most of the campaign from September, reaching third place on two occasions and dropping to seventh just twice. Southampton finished the season in fourth place with 17 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses, five points behind Grimsby Town in the first promotion place.

In the 1928–29 FA Cup, Southampton entered in the third round at home to divisional rivals Clapton Orient. After a goalless draw at The Dell, the sides played a replay at Clapton Stadium which the hosts won 2–1, eliminating the Saints at the first hurdle for the third time in four seasons. The club ended the 1928–29 season with two games against local rivals Portsmouth, for the Rowland Hospital Cup and the Hampshire Benevolent Cup. The Saints won both games, the former 2–1 at Fratton Park and the latter 3–2 at The Dell, marking the first time they had won both tournaments in a season. Southampton also played three friendly matches during the season, all in April 1929, beating Southern League side Guildford City, Wiltshire County League side Warminster Town and Dorset League side Wimborne Town.

Southampton used 25 different players during the 1928–29 season and had 14 different goalscorers. Their top scorer was centre-forward Willie Haines, who scored 16 goals in the Second Division. Outside-left Stan Cribb scored 13 times in the league, followed by inside-right Jerry Mackie with ten goals. Twelve players were signed by the club during the campaign, with seven released and sold to other clubs. The average attendance at The Dell during the 1928–29 season was 15,164. The highest attendance was 24,247 against Chelsea on 9 March 1929, which set a new league record for the stadium. The lowest attendance of the season was 6,510 against Swansea Town on 4 May 1929, in the last league game of the season. After the last game, the East Stand of The Dell burned down and had to be rebuilt.

Southampton conducted a large amount of transfer activity throughout the 1928–29 season. The club's first signing in the summer was Portsmouth centre-forward Willie Haines, who joined from the First Division side having scored 119 goals in 164 league appearances.^[1] In June, Southampton manager Arthur Chadwick brought in centre-half Bill Stoddart from Third Division South side Coventry City, trading mainstay goalkeeper Tommy Allen and outside-right Bill Henderson for his services.^[1] Two months later, Scottish goalkeeper Willie White was signed from Heart of Midlothian as Allen's replacement, costing the Saints £800.^[2] In June, outside-right Cuthbert Coundon was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for £150,^[3] and inside-left Sam Taylor joined Halifax Town in the Third Division North.^[4] Right-back James Ellison left the Saints for Rochdale in July.^[5] In August, the club signed outside-right Bert Jepson from Huddersfield Town,^[6] as well as trialist Tom Sloan from Craghead United (he left a month later).^[7]

Transfers continued throughout the season for Southampton. In September the club signed outside-left Johnny Arnold from Oxford City,^[8] and in October they brought in inside-left Herbert Coates from the Royal Navy.^[9] Before the end of the year the club also signed Newport County centre-forward Archie Waterston,^[10] and broke their transfer record with the £1,000 signing of outside-right Bobby Weale from Swindon Town.^[11] Due to ongoing injury problems for his side's regular centre-forward Haines, in February 1929 Chadwick brought in former Royal Air Force aircraftsman Douglas Vernon to help with the end of season run-in.^[12] The final signings of the season were goalkeeper Bert Scriven from Totton and inside-left Ernie Warren from Third Division North side Lincoln City in March 1929.^[13][10] During the season, "big offers" had also been made by various clubs to sign players including Ted Hough, Arthur Bradford, Stan Cribb and Dick Rowley, although the club's directors had "wisely resisted" them.^[14]

Players transferred in

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	Date	Fee	Ref.
Willie Haines	England	FW	Portsmouth	May 1928	Unknown	[1]
Bill Stoddart	England	HB	Coventry City	June 1928	Exchange	[1]
Willie White	Scotland	GK	Heart of Midlothian	July 1928	£800	[2]
Bert Jepson	England	FW	Huddersfield Town	August 1928	Unknown	[6]
Johnny Arnold	England	FW	Oxford City	September 1928	Unknown	[8]
Herbert Coates	England	FW	Royal Navy	October 1928	Free[a]	[9]
Archie Waterston	Scotland	FW	Newport County	December 1928	Unknown	[10]
Bobby Weale	Wales	FW	Swindon Town	December 1928	£1,000	[11]
Douglas Vernon	England	FW	Royal Air Force	February 1929	Unknown	[12]
Bert Scriven	England	GK	Totton	March 1929	Free[b]	[13]
Ernie Warren	England	FW	Lincoln City	March 1929	Free[c]	[10]

Players transferred out

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	Date	Fee	Ref.
Tommy Allen	England	GK	Coventry City	June 1928	Exchange	[15]
Cuthbert Coundon	England	FW	Wolverhampton Wanderers	June 1928	£150	[3]
Bill Henderson	England	FW	Coventry City	June 1928	Exchange	[16]
Sam Taylor	England	FW	Halifax Town	June 1928	£300	[4]
James Ellison	England	FB	Rochdale	July 1928	Unknown	[5]

Players released

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Date	Subsequent club	Ref.
Jack Mitton	England	FW	May 1928	Amateur clubs	[17]

Players given trials

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	Start date	End date	Ref.
Tom Sloan	England	FW	Craghead United	August 1928	September 1928	[7]

After a slow start to the 1928–29 season in which they picked up just two points in their opening three fixtures, Southampton won five games in a row to secure a top five place in the table by the end of September.^[18][19] The run included a 2–1 defeat of recently relegated side Middlesbrough, home and away wins over Port Vale, and a 4–0 besting of Preston North End, who had finished just four points shy of promotion to the First Division the previous season.^[18][20] A largely winless run followed starting on 6 October, during which time the Saints picked up ten draws in thirteen games.^[18] The club's only win during this period was an 8–2 thrashing of Blackpool at The Dell, who had avoided relegation by just one point the previous year.^[20] Half of Southampton's goals against the Seasiders were scored by recent signing Willie Haines, who in doing so became the first player for the club to score more than three in a Second Division match.^[14] After two more wins, Southampton found themselves in fourth place at the end of the year.^[21]

Despite winning just one of their three matches during the month, in January the Saints moved up to third in the table, keeping up with leaders Chelsea and Middlesbrough.^[22] 2–1 wins over struggling sides Bristol City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in February helped them to remain in the running,^[18] holding off fellow challengers Grimsby Town who were in the middle of a five-game winning run.^[23] However, the team began struggling for goals due to Haines being injured, with his replacement Douglas Vernon failing to score in his five league appearances.^[12] A string of three consecutive losses in March saw the team as low as seventh in the table, although wins over Nottingham Forest and Millwall at the tail end of the month brought them back into the top four.^[18][24] Southampton continued to pick up wins, but Grimsby's ongoing form saw them pull ahead of the Saints and third-placed Bradford Park Avenue; the club finished in fourth with 17 wins, 14 draws and 11 losses, five points behind the first promotion place.^[18]

Hull City v Southampton

25 August 1928 1	Hull City	2–2	Southampton	Kingston upon Hull
			Keeping Petrie	Stadium: Anlaby Road Attendance: 9,000

Southampton v Port Vale

27 August 1928 2	Southampton	1–2	Port Vale	Southampton
	Taylor			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 12,000

Southampton v Tottenham Hotspur

1 September 1928 3	Southampton	1–1	Tottenham Hotspur	Southampton
	Taylor			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 22,961

Reading v Southampton

8 September 1928 4	Reading	0–1	Southampton	Reading
			Cribb	Stadium: Elm Park Attendance: 19,000

Southampton v Preston North End

15 September 1928 5	Southampton	4–0	Preston North End	Southampton
	Shelley Haines Petrie			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 17,011

Middlesbrough v Southampton

22 September 1928 6	Middlesbrough	1–2	Southampton	Middlesbrough
			Haines Cribb	Stadium: Ayresome Park Attendance: 12,000

Port Vale v Southampton

24 September 1928 7	Port Vale	1–2	Southampton	Hanley
			Mackie	Stadium: Old Recreation Ground Attendance: 7,344

Southampton v Oldham Athletic

29 September 1928 8	Southampton	2–1	Oldham Athletic	Southampton
	Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 16,945

Bristol City v Southampton

6 October 1928 9	Bristol City	1–1	Southampton	Bristol
			Haines	Stadium: Ashton Gate Stadium Attendance: 15,000

Wolverhampton Wanderers v Southampton

13 October 1928 10	Wolverhampton Wanderers	1–1	Southampton	Wolverhampton
			Haines	Stadium: Molineux Stadium Attendance: 15,000

Southampton v Barnsley

20 October 1928 11	Southampton	1–2	Barnsley	Southampton
	Haines			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 15,847

Chelsea v Southampton

27 October 1928 12	Chelsea	1–1	Southampton	London
			Cribb	Stadium: Stamford Bridge Attendance: 35,000

Southampton v Blackpool

3 November 1928 13	Southampton	8–2	Blackpool	Southampton
	Haines Mackie Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 15,146

Nottingham Forest v Southampton

10 November 1928 14	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Southampton	West Bridgford
			Rowley	Stadium: City Ground Attendance: 5,000

Southampton v Bradford Park Avenue

17 November 1928 15	Southampton	2–2	Bradford Park Avenue	Southampton
	Jepson Rowley			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 14,657

Grimsby Town v Southampton

24 November 1928 16	Grimsby Town	2–1	Southampton	Cleethorpes
			Rowley	Stadium: Blundell Park Attendance: 7,000

Clapton Orient v Southampton

8 December 1928 18	Clapton Orient	1–1	Southampton	London
			Murphy	Stadium: Clapton Stadium Attendance: 11,000

Southampton v West Bromwich Albion

15 December 1928 19	Southampton	1–1	West Bromwich Albion	Southampton
	Rowley			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 13,509

Swansea Town v Southampton

22 December 1928 20	Swansea Town	1–1	Southampton	Swansea
			Mackie	Stadium: Vetch Field Attendance: 5,000

Notts County v Southampton

25 December 1928 21	Notts County	1–1	Southampton	Nottingham
			Haines	Stadium: Meadow Lane Attendance: 21,865

Southampton v Notts County

26 December 1928 22	Southampton	4–0	Notts County	Southampton
	Weale Rowley			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 20,441

Southampton v Hull City

29 December 1928 23	Southampton	3–2	Hull City	Southampton
	Weale Waterston Rowley			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 18,765

Tottenham Hotspur v Southampton

5 January 1929 24	Tottenham Hotspur	3–2	Southampton	London
			Weale Bradford	Stadium: White Hart Lane Attendance: 25,000

Southampton v Reading

19 January 1929 25	Southampton	2–2	Reading	Southampton
	Coates Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 15,775

Preston North End v Southampton

26 January 1929 26	Preston North End	0–1	Southampton	Preston
			Cribb	Stadium: Deepdale Attendance: 11,000

Southampton v Middlesbrough

2 February 1929 27	Southampton	1–1	Middlesbrough	Southampton
	Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 13,608

Oldham Athletic v Southampton

9 February 1929 28	Oldham Athletic	3–1	Southampton	Oldham
			Weale	Stadium: Boundary Park Attendance: 14,000

Southampton v Bristol City

16 February 1929 29	Southampton	2–1	Bristol City	Southampton
	Mackie Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 10,095

Southampton v Wolverhampton Wanderers

23 February 1929 30	Southampton	2–1	Wolverhampton Wanderers	Southampton
	Mackie Coates			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 12,478

Barnsley v Southampton

2 March 1929 31	Barnsley	4–1	Southampton	Barnsley
			Rowley	Stadium: Oakwell Attendance: 4,000

Southampton v Chelsea

9 March 1929 32	Southampton	1–2	Chelsea	Southampton
	Mackie			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 24,247

Southampton v Nottingham Forest

23 March 1929 34	Southampton	2–1	Nottingham Forest	Southampton
	Mackie Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 10,292

Millwall v Southampton

29 March 1929 35	Millwall	2–4	Southampton	London
			Rowley Jepson Mackie	Stadium: The Den Attendance: 21,817

Bradford Park Avenue v Southampton

30 March 1929 36	Bradford Park Avenue	4–1	Southampton	Bradford
			Haines	Stadium: Park Avenue Attendance: 11,000

Southampton v Millwall

1 April 1929 37	Southampton	3–0	Millwall	Southampton
	Jepson Haines Coates			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 17,368

Southampton v Grimsby Town

6 April 1929 38	Southampton	3–1	Grimsby Town	Southampton
	Haines Coates Cribb			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 17,700

Southampton v Clapton Orient

20 April 1929 40	Southampton	2–0	Clapton Orient	Southampton
	Haines Coates			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 8,890

West Bromwich Albion v Southampton

27 April 1929 41	West Bromwich Albion	3–1	Southampton	West Bromwich
			Coates	Stadium: The Hawthorns Attendance: 10,024

Southampton v Swansea Town

4 May 1929 42	Southampton	3–0	Swansea Town	Southampton
	Jepson Haines Coates			Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 6,510

Southampton entered the 1928–29 FA Cup in the third round against fellow Second Division side Clapton Orient. Drawn at The Dell, the game ended goalless as Dick Rowley hit the post and top scorer Willie Haines had "a poor game at centre-forward".^[14] The replay at Clapton Stadium started well for the Saints, who went ahead through Arthur Bradford and almost doubled their lead courtesy of Stan Cribb. However, the hosts equalised before the end of the first half and continued to pressurise the visitors throughout the second, eventually scoring a second past deputising goalkeeper George Thompson.^[14]

Clapton Orient v Southampton

17 January 1929 Round 3 Replay	Clapton Orient	2–1	Southampton	London
			Bradford	Stadium: Clapton Stadium Attendance: 10,000

Outside of the league and the FA Cup, Southampton played five additional first-team matches during the 1928–29 season. The first was a friendly match against Southern League side Guildford City on 17 April, which ended in a 2–1 win to the visiting Saints thanks to goals from Willie Haines and Johnny Arnold.^[26] Five days later the club played another away friendly, this time against Warminster Town of the Wiltshire County League. The Saints won comfortably 6–1, with Haines (three), Arthur Bradford, Stan Cribb and Stan Woodhouse all getting on the scoresheet.^[26] A third friendly followed a week later against Dorset League club Wimborne Town. Southampton picked up another convincing win when they beat the Magpies 6–2, Haines and Dick Rowley scoring two each, and Arnold and Bobby Weale scoring the other two.^[26]

As usual, the club ended the season with two matches against local rivals Portsmouth. The first, for the Rowland Hospital Cup, saw the Saints edge Pompey 2–1 at Fratton Park, with goals from Rowley and Bert Jepson enough to hold off the hosts despite a controversial headed goal from Jack Smith, which had reportedly failed to cross the line.^[27] Southampton also won the Hampshire Benevolent Cup two days later, beating Pompey at The Dell 3–2. Jimmy Easson opened the scoring for the visitors within five minutes, before an Arthur Bradford penalty made it 1–1 going into half-time.^[28] After the break, Rowley scored Southampton's second and set up the third for Herbert Coates, giving the hosts enough despite a second late goal from Easson (another controversial goal, as he was claimed to have been offside).^[28]

Guildford City v Southampton

17 April 1929 Friendly	Guildford City	1–3	Southampton	Guildford
			Haines Arnold	Stadium: Joseph's Road

Warminster Town v Southampton

22 April 1929 Friendly	Warminster Town	1–6	Southampton	Warminster
			Haines Bradford Cribb Woodhouse	Stadium: Weymouth Street

Wimborne Town v Southampton

29 April 1929 Friendly	Wimborne Town	2–6	Southampton	Wimborne Minster
			Haines Rowley Arnold Weale	Stadium: The Cuthbury

Portsmouth v Southampton

6 May 1929 Rowland Hospital Cup	Portsmouth	1–2	Southampton	Portsmouth
	J. Smith		Rowley Jepson	Stadium: Fratton Park Referee: W. B. Stone

Southampton v Portsmouth

8 May 1929 Hampshire BC	Southampton	3–2	Portsmouth	Southampton
	Bradford (pen.) Rowley Coates		Easson 5', 90'	Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 2,154 Referee: W. B. Stone

Southampton used 25 different players during the 1928–29 season, 14 of whom scored during the campaign. The team played in a 2–3–5 formation throughout, using two full-backs, three half-backs, two outside forwards, two inside forwards and a centre-forward.^[18] Right-half Bert Shelley and goalkeeper Willie White made the most appearances for the club during the campaign, the former appearing in all but one league game and the end-of-season cups, and the latter playing in all but two league games and the FA Cup third round replay. Jerry Mackie and Stan Woodhouse both made 40 appearances in total during the season.^[18] Centre-forward Willie Haines finished as the season's top scorer with 16 goals, all in the Second Division. Outside-left Stan Cribb scored 13 league goals, followed by Dick Rowley who scored nine in the league and one each in the Rowland Hospital Cup and Hampshire Benevolent Cup.^[18][27][28] Arthur Bradford was the season's highest-scoring half-back, with three goals in all competitions.^[18][28]

Name	Pos.	Nat.	League		FA Cup		Other[d]		Total
			Apps.	Gls.	Apps.	Gls.	Apps.	Gls.	Apps.	Gls.
Bill Adams	HB		0	0	0	0	2	0	2	0
Johnny Arnold	FW		5	0	0	0	1	0	6	0
Arthur Bradford	HB		29	1	1	1	2	1	32	3
Herbert Coates	FW		14	7	0	0	2	1	16	8
Stan Cribb	FW		31	13	2	0	1	0	34	13
Willie Haines	FW		27	16	1	0	0	0	28	16
George Harkus	HB		25	0	1	0	2	0	28	0
Ted Hough	FB		33	0	2	0	2	0	37	0
Bert Jepson	FW		18	4	0	0	2	1	20	5
Michael Keeping	FB		37	1	2	0	0	0	39	1
Bill Luckett	HB		5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Jerry Mackie	FW		40	10	2	0	0	0	42	10
Billy Murphy	FW		6	1	0	0	0	0	6	1
Charlie Petrie	FW		9	2	0	0	0	0	9	2
Dick Rowley	FW		24	9	2	0	2	2	28	11
Bert Shelley	HB		41	1	2	0	0	0	43	1
Bill Stoddart	HB		4	0	0	0	2	0	6	0
Tommy Taylor	FW		4	2	0	0	0	0	4	2
George Thompson	GK		2	0	1	0	0	0	3	0
Douglas Vernon	FW		5	0	0	0	0	0	5	0
Archie Waterston	FW		6	1	1	0	0	0	7	1
Bobby Weale	FW		18	6	2	0	0	0	20	6
Willie White	GK		40	0	1	0	2	0	43	0
Stan Woodhouse	HB		38	0	2	0	2	0	42	0
Players with appearances who left before the end of the season
Tom Sloan	FW		1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0

• 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

• Southampton F.C. official website