Southport
Formed 1881
Founder member of Division Three (North). Failed re-election 1978.
Kit History
1881-1885 a
1885 b
1904-1905 a
circa 1907 a
circa 1915 a
1918-1921 a
1921-1922 a
1924-1925 a
1924-1925 alt g
1925-1927 a
1927-1931 a f
1937-1938 e
1938-1939 a
1944-1948 b h
1948-1954 a h
1954-circa 1959 a
circa 1959-1964 a
1964-1965 a
1965-1970 c h
1970-1971
1971-1975 h i
1975-1976 j
1976-1977 d
1977-1978 g j
Background
The elegant West Lancashire seaside resort was booming in the late Victorian period and the club's founders may have felt that a professional football team was a necessary addition to the town's attractions. In fact, Southport FC waged a constant battle for survival in the face of competition from powerful neighbours in Lancashire and Liverpool. In 1892 the club entered the FA Cup for the first time and in 1894, changed their name to Southport Wanderers before becoming Southport Central in 1895. After playing in the Lancashire League (1889-1903) and Lancashire Combination (1904-1911) they became founder members of the Central League.
Faced with mounting debts, the club almost went out of existence during the First World War but were saved when they were taken over by the Vulcan Motor Company in 1918. In what is probably the first sponsorship arrangement of its kind, the club's debts were paid off and the team played as Southport Vulcan for one season. The arrangement was cut short, however, when the managing director of the parent company was arrested and charged with fraud and the link with the football club was severed.
In 1919 the club reverted to the title Southport FC and two years later they were elected to the new Third Division (North). Little impact was made although the Sandgrounders (traditional nickname for natives of the town) managed fourth place in 1925 and 1939. They were more frequently in or near the re-election zone. In 1927, in an attempt to improve the club's fortunes, the traditional plain red shirts were replaced by black and white stripes. The shirts featured V necks, very unusual for the time.
During the Second World War, the club lacked the clothing coupons to replace its playing strip and for several years turned out in a green and white hooped kit donated by one of the directors. In 1954 old gold and black was adopted, previously their change strip. These changes did little to revive the club's fortunes: re-election three times in succession between 1958 and 1960 marked the low point in a depressing decade.
Things did improve in the middle of the 1960s when the ex-Northern Ireland international Billy Bingham took over as manager and led the team, now in plain old gold, to promotion for the first time ever in 1967 after a dramatic FA Cup run that took Southport to the Fifth Round the previous season. In 1970 the Sandgrounders were relegated back to Division Four but three years later, with ex-player Jimmy Meadows as manager, the club won the Fourth Division title, their only honour.
The following season brought the beginning of a decline that took the club out of the League. Their best players spent the summer in the North American Soccer League (NASL) to supplement their wages and returned jaded while Meadows was sacked in December 1973 after his attempts to strengthen the squad on a shoestring failed. Relegation became inevitable. The experienced Alan Ball Snr was drafted in as manager but his main interests lay with Swedish club IF Saab and he neglected Southport disgracefully. In 1978 the 'Port faced re-election for the third season in succession and the eleventh time in their history. After the chairman failed to canvas, Southport tied with Wigan Athletic on the first ballot and were decisively defeated on the second.
Because of the cost involved in travelling, Southport declined an invitation to join the new Football Alliance (forerunner of the Conference) and joined the Northern Premier League instead. Gradually the club overcame crippling debt and achieved a degree of stability on and off the field. In 1994 they were promoted to the Conference and a return to league football remains the goal.
Sources
- (a) Official History of Southport FC
- (b) Hull City FC - Images of Sport
- (c) Port Pie
- (d) Exeter City FC - Images of Sport (Dave Fisher & Gerald Gosling)
- (e) Scarborough FC - Images of Sport (Paul Eade 2002)
- (f) One Hundred Years of Goodison Glory (Ken Rogers 1992)
- (g) Ralph Pomeroy
- (h) Pete's Picture Palace
- (i) Football League Review provided by Simon Monks
- (j) Alick Milne