Southampton F.C.

1936–37 season
Chairman	Sloane Stanley
Manager	George Goss (until March 1937) Tom Parker (from March 1937)
Stadium	The Dell
Second Division	19th
FA Cup	Third round
Top goalscorer	League:Jimmy Dunne (14) All: Jimmy Dunne (14)
Highest home attendance	League: 20,853 vAston Villa (2 January 1937) Overall: 30,380 vSunderland (16 January 1937)
Lowest home attendance	4,529 vNottingham Forest (1 May 1937)
Average home league attendance	12,984
Biggest win	4–0 vSheffield United (26 September 1936)
Biggest defeat	0–4 and 1–5 (multiple)
Home colours
← 1935–36 1937–38 →

The1936–37 season was the 42nd season of competitive football bySouthampton and the club's 15th in theSecond Division of theFootball League. Another disappointing campaign marred by financial problems and personnel changes saw the Saints finishing 19th in the Second Division league table, equalling their worst performance in the flight set just two seasons previously in1934–35. After picking up a few early wins and starting off around mid-table, the club's form worsened and they remained in the bottom half of the standings from late-November until the end of the season. Southampton finished the campaign with 11 wins, 12 draws and 19 losses in the league, which was exactly the same tally as 1934–35, but even closer to the relegation zone with just four points more thanBradford City in 21st place – the first demotion spot.

As in all but one of the preceding nine seasons, Southampton entered and exited the1936–37 FA Cup in the third round. The Saints faced particularly tough competition as they were drawn againstSunderland, who were the reigning champions of theFirst Division, in a home tie which attracted a new record attendance of 30,380. Sunderland went 2–0 up in the first half, and despite Southampton responding in the second with two goals of their own, were able to clinch a winner late on. The Black Cats went on to win the cup. As the Hampshire Combination Cup and Rowland Hospital Cup did not take place in 1936–37, Southampton played only two extra matches outside the league and FA Cup during the season, bothfriendlies againstThird Division South clubs – losing 0–2 toGillingham in February and drawing 1–1 withBrighton & Hove Albion in April.

Southampton used 28 different players during the 1935–36 season and had eight different goalscorers. Their top scorer was new centre-forwardJimmy Dunne, who scored 14 goals in the Second Division.Arthur Holt scored 11 goals in the league and one in the FA Cup, followed byFred Smallwood on ten league goals. 11 players were signed by the club during the season, with six released and sold to other clubs, one brought in on loan, and one more retired. The average attendance atThe Dell during 1935–36 was 12,984. The highest attendance was 30,380 against Sunderland in the FA Cup; the highest league attendance was 20,853 againstAston Villa on 2 January 1937 – almost 10,000 people lower than the FA Cup record. The lowest attendance of the season was 4,529 againstNottingham Forest on the last day of the season, 1 May 1937.

1936–37 was the only season to featureGeorge Goss as Southampton's secretary-manager, following the departure ofGeorge Kay at the end of the previous season. Goss left in February 1937 and was replaced byTom Parker, a former Saints player in the 1920s, who would manage the club until 1943 when he resigned.

Southampton underwent a long list of changes in personnel at the end of the1935–36 season owing to the club's "worsening financial situation", as nine members of the board left (two later returned) and managerGeorge Kay left to take over atFirst Division sideLiverpool, taking assistantBert Shelley with him – he was replaced byGeorge Goss as secretary manager, whileJohnny McIlwaine stepped in as assistant manager.^[1] The new management were quick to bring in new players to bolster the squad – early summer signings included amateur goalkeeperLen Stansbridge, who would become an important player for the Saints after the Second World War;^[2] Scottish inside forwardBilly Boyd fromLuton Town, who quickly became an important source of goals for the club;^[3]Aston Villa left-halfBilly Kingdon, who appeared in all but one games in his first season at The Dell;^[4] Welsh half-backBilly Moore fromCardiff City, who made just one appearance;^[5] and Welsh wingerFred Smallwood fromMacclesfield Town, another key attacker for the season.^[6]

The highlight of the summer signings, however, came in July when Irish centre-forwardJimmy Dunne moved to Southampton from top-flight sideArsenal, who had paid a near-record £8,000 for the high-scoring attacker a few seasons previously.^[7] Dunne was brought in as a replacement for the previous season's top scorerVic Watson, who retired that summer and became a coach atCambridge Town.^[8] He made 37 appearances in his only season with the Saints, finishing as the club's top scorer with 14 goals, all in the league.^[7] Also leaving that summer wereJack Gurry toChester City, who had joined alongside Watson the previous year, but not secured a place in the first team;^[9] inside-forwardWalter Pollard, who transferred toBrighton & Hove Albion but made no appearances and soon retired from the professional game;^[10] captainBill Adams toWest Ham United, wrapping up a ten-year stint at the club;^[11] and half-backArthur Bradford, who had spent his entire professional playing career with the South Coast club, earning him two official testimonial matches.^[12]

Signings continued just before the start of the league campaign – in August, the club brought in two new Scottish players,Bill Kennedy andBobby Whitelaw, fromCrewe Alexandra andAlbion Rovers, respectively.^[13][14] Kennedy quickly established himself as the Saints' new first-choice centre-half,^[13] while Whitelaw made a string of appearance in the first half of the season at right-half.^[14] In September,Stan Woodhouse wrapped up his 12-year Saints career when he joinedBasingstoke Town for a final year as a player, before moving into coaching (which later brought him back to Southampton).^[15] The next month, the club completed its primary frontline with the signing ofJohn Summers fromDerby County, who took over fromDick Neal on the right wing for much of the rest of the season.^[16] Halfway through the season, the club signedAlf Charles as its first-ever black player – he made one appearance, playing at inside-left just a few days after his January arrival.^[17] Also in January, Boyd was released after sending himself a fake telegram to obtain leave from training.^[3]

In March 1937, Goss resigned as Southampton secretary-manager (McIlwaine had already stepped back from his assistant-manager role) and the club brought in former playerTom Parker as his replacement, having reportedly chosen him from 120 applicants.^[1] Parker had started his managerial career withNorwich City after retiring from playing in 1933, immediately helping them gain promotion to the Second Division asThird Division South champions.^[1] Shortly after arriving back in Hampshire, he signed inside-forwardWilf Mayer from First Division clubStoke City, who appeared in the rest of the season's fixtures.^[18] He also brought in another inside-forward,Sid Gueran, on a 15-month loan fromMargate, although he only appeared in the final game of the season taking over from Mayer at inside-right (who moved to outside-right).^[19]

Players transferred in

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	Date	Fee	Ref.
Len Stansbridge	England	GK	Bitterne Boys	May 1936	Free[a]	[2]
Billy Boyd	Scotland	FW	Luton Town	June 1936	£350[b]	[3]
Billy Kingdon	England	HB	Aston Villa	June 1936	Unknown	[4]
Billy Moore	Wales	HB	Cardiff City	June 1936	Unknown	[5]
Fred Smallwood	Wales	FW	Macclesfield Town	June 1936	Unknown	[6]
Jimmy Dunne	Ireland	FW	Arsenal	July 1936	£1,000	[7]
Bill Kennedy	Scotland	HB	Crewe Alexandra	August 1936	Unknown	[13]
Bobby Whitelaw	Scotland	HB	Albion Rovers	August 1936	Unknown	[14]
John Summers	England	FW	Derby County	October 1936	Unknown	[16]
Alf Charles	Trinidad and Tobago	FW	Stalybridge Celtic	January 1937	Unknown	[17]
Wilf Mayer	England	FW	Stoke City	March 1937	Unknown	[18]

Players transferred out

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	Date	Fee	Ref.
Jack Gurry	England	HB	Chester City	June 1936	Free	[9]
Walter Pollard	England	FW	Brighton & Hove Albion	June 1936	Unknown	[10]
Bill Adams	England	HB	West Ham United	August 1936	Unknown	[11]
Arthur Bradford	England	HB	Cowes	August 1936	Unknown	[12]
Stan Woodhouse	England	HB	Basingstoke Town	September 1936	Unknown	[15]

Players loaned in

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Club	From	To	Ref.
Sid Gueran	England	FW	Margate	March 1937	June 1938	[19]

Players released

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Date	Subsequent club	Ref.
Billy Boyd	Scotland	FW	January 1937	Weymouth	[3]

Players retired

Name	Nationality	Pos.	Date	Reason	Ref.
Vic Watson	England	FW	August 1936	Retired from playing; became a coach atCambridge Town	[8]

Despite the high number of personnel changes in the summer, Southampton started the 1936–37 season relatively strongly, winning three of their first five fixtures and entering the top five of the Second Division table.^[20] New signingsJimmy Dunne andFred Smallwood both scored on their debut, the opening game of the season, in which the Saints beat recently-promotedChesterfield 3–2 at home.^[21] Two away losses atDoncaster Rovers andAston Villa were then followed by two more home wins, 1–0 in the return game against Doncaster and 2–0 hostingBradford City.^[21] This positive start was short-lived, however, as they won just four more games throughout the rest of 1936, including picking up their biggest win of the season when they beatSheffield United 4–0 later in September, thanks to doubles from Dunne andBilly Boyd.^[21] Four goals was also the margin of their heaviest defeats of the season, however, which they suffered in the first half of the season at the hands of Aston Villa (0–4) andSwansea Town (1–5) in September, andTottenham Hotspur (0–4) in October.^[21] By Boxing Day 1936, following a run of six defeats from seven games, the Saints had dropped to 20th place in the division, just one point shy of Bradford City in the first relegation spot.^[22]

The new year saw Southampton's fortunes turn around somewhat – between 28 December and 24 February, the club went unbeaten for eight games, although only three of these were wins: 2–1 at home to Swansea, 3–1 away toBurnley (their only win on the road the whole season), and 1–0 at home to Tottenham.^[21] After the arrival of new managerTom Parker in early March, however, the team's form suffered again and they picked up only one more victory the entire season, beating fellow strugglersNorwich City 3–1 at The Dell on 3 April.^[21] The final few months of the campaign saw the Saints struggling against numerous sides occupying the higher spots in the division, as they suffered defeats against every side that finished the season in second to sixth positions –Blackpool,Bury,Plymouth Argyle andWest Ham United, respectively.^[21] The club finished the league campaign in 19th place with 11 wins, 12 draws and 19 losses – the same tally as their equal-worst performance in the Second Division, which occurred in the1934–35 season.^[21][23]

Southampton vChesterfield

29 August 19361	Southampton	3–2	Chesterfield	Southampton
	Holt Dunne Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 15,938

Southampton vDoncaster Rovers

7 September 19364	Southampton	1–0	Doncaster Rovers	Southampton
	Holt			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 9,306

Southampton vBradford City

12 September 19365	Southampton	2–0	Bradford City	Southampton
	Holt Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 9,652

Nottingham Forest v Southampton

16 September 19366	Nottingham Forest	1–1	Southampton	Nottingham
			Smallwood	Stadium:City Ground Attendance: 14,300

Swansea Town v Southampton

19 September 19367	Swansea Town	5–1	Southampton	Swansea
			Smallwood	Stadium:Vetch Field Attendance: 10,000

Southampton vSheffield United

26 September 19368	Southampton	4–0	Sheffield United	Southampton
	Dunne Boyd			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 15,104

Southampton vBurnley

3 October 19369	Southampton	1–1	Burnley	Southampton
	Boyd			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 16,066

Southampton vBlackpool

24 October 193612	Southampton	5–2	Blackpool	Southampton
	Summers Dunne Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 16,779

Southampton vBury

7 November 193614	Southampton	4–1	Bury	Southampton
	Boyd Summers Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 14,471

Leicester City v Southampton

14 November 193615	Leicester City	2–2	Southampton	Leicester
			Dunne	Stadium:Filbert Street Attendance: 10,000

Norwich City v Southampton

28 November 193617	Norwich City	4–2	Southampton	Norwich
			Dunne Holt	Stadium:The Nest Attendance: 11,250

Southampton vNewcastle United

5 December 193618	Southampton	2–0	Newcastle United	Southampton
	Whitelaw Boyd			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 16,038

Bradford v Southampton

12 December 193619	Bradford	3–1	Southampton	Bradford
			Boyd	Stadium:Park Avenue Attendance: 8,000

Southampton vBarnsley

19 December 193620	Southampton	1–3	Barnsley	Southampton
	Holt			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 10,674

Southampton vCoventry City

28 December 193623	Southampton	1–1	Coventry City	Southampton
	Summers			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 9,016

Southampton vAston Villa

2 January 193724	Southampton	2–2	Aston Villa	Southampton
	Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 20,853

Bradford City v Southampton

9 January 193725	Bradford City	2–2	Southampton	Bradford
			Summers Dunne	Stadium:Valley Parade Attendance: 7,000

Southampton vSwansea Town

23 January 193726	Southampton	2–1	Swansea Town	Southampton
	Holt Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 7,123

Burnley v Southampton

6 February 193727	Burnley	1–3	Southampton	Burnley
			Dunne Holt o.g.'	Stadium:Turf Moor Attendance: 11,000

Southampton vFulham

13 February 193729	Southampton	3–3	Fulham	Southampton
	Dunne Summers			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 14,317

Southampton vTottenham Hotspur

24 February 193730	Southampton	1–0	Tottenham Hotspur	Southampton
	Summers			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 5,226

Southampton vBlackburn Rovers

6 March 193732	Southampton	2–2	Blackburn Rovers	Southampton
	Kingdon Holt			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 14,402

Bury v Southampton

13 March 193733	Bury	2–1	Southampton	Bury
			Dunne	Stadium:Gigg Lane Attendance: 8,000

Southampton vLeicester City

20 March 193734	Southampton	1–1	Leicester City	Southampton
	Dunne			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 13,601

Plymouth Argyle v Southampton

26 March 193735	Plymouth Argyle	3–1	Southampton	Plymouth
			Holt	Stadium:Home Park Attendance: 24,000

Southampton vNorwich City

3 April 193738	Southampton	3–1	Norwich City	Southampton
	King Holt Smallwood			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 12,597

Barnsley v Southampton

24 April 193741	Barnsley	2–1	Southampton	Barnsley
			Holt	Stadium:Oakwell Attendance: 7,000

Southampton entered the1936–37 FA Cup in the third round against reigningFirst Division championsSunderland, hosting the top-flight side in front of a new club record attendance of 30,380.^[1] As expected, the Black Cats dominated much of the game and went 2–0 up at half-time, adding another goal just after the break.^[1] Despite this, the Saints responded with two goals of their own throughArthur Holt andJohn Summers, which set up what club historians described as "a nail-biting finalé" in which the home side looked for an equaliser.^[1] Sunderland were able to hold onto their lead, however, and saw off their Second Division opponents to advance to the fourth round.^[1] Sunderland would ultimately win the 1936–37 FA Cup, beatingThird Division South sideLuton Town,Swansea Town of the Second Division, fellow First Division clubWolverhampton Wanderers andMillwall of the Third Division South on the way to the final, in which they overcame fellow top-flight sidePreston North End 3–1.^[25]

Southampton vSunderland

16 January 1937Round 3	Southampton	2–3	Sunderland	Southampton
	Holt Summers 79'			Stadium:The Dell Attendance: 30,380

Aside from the league and the FA Cup, Southampton only played two additional first-team matches in the 1936–37 season. Both werefriendly matches againstThird Division South clubs – the Saints lost 0–2 toGillingham in February, followed by a 1–1 draw withBrighton & Hove Albion in April (Arthur Holt scoring the goal for the travelling Saints).^[26]

Brighton & Hove Albion v Southampton

28 April 1937Friendly	Brighton & Hove Albion	1–1	Southampton	Hove
			Holt	Stadium:Goldstone Ground

Southampton used 28 different players during the 1936–37 season, eight of whom scored during the campaign. The team played in a2–3–5 formation throughout, using twofull-backs, threehalf-backs, twooutside forwards, twoinside forwards and acentre-forward.^[21] Left-halfBilly Kingdon and right-backCharlie Sillett featured in more games than any other Southampton player, appearing in all but one league game, plus the FA Cup fixture;Arthur Holt,Bert Scriven andFred Smallwood each played in 40 league games and the FA Cup match.^[21] Newly-signed centre-forwardJimmy Dunne finished as the season's top scorer with 14 goals in the Second Division, followed by Holt on 11 league goals and one FA Cup goal.^[21]

Name	Pos.	Nat.	League		FA Cup		Total
			Apps.	Gls.	Apps.	Gls.	Apps.	Gls.
Eugene Bernard	GK		2	0	0	0	2	0
Lionel Bowen	FB		2	0	0	0	2	0
Billy Boyd	FW		19	7	0	0	19	7
Tom Brewis	FW		3	0	0	0	3	0
Donovan Browning	FB		12	0	0	0	12	0
Norman Catlin	FW		1	0	0	0	1	0
Alf Charles	FW		1	0	0	0	1	0
Jimmy Dunne	FW		36	14	1	0	37	14
Sid Gueran	FW		1	0	0	0	1	0
Doug Henderson	FB		1	0	1	0	2	0
Arthur Holt	FW		40	11	1	1	41	12
Bill Kennedy	HB		33	0	0	0	33	0
Cyril King	HB		28	1	1	0	29	1
Billy Kingdon	HB		41	1	1	0	42	1
Henry Long	HB		2	0	0	0	2	0
Bill Luckett	HB		1	0	0	0	1	0
Wilf Mayer	FW		9	0	0	0	9	0
Johnny McIlwaine	HB		3	0	0	0	3	0
Billy Moore	HB		1	0	0	0	1	0
Dick Neal	FW		20	0	1	0	21	0
Arthur Roberts	FB		29	0	1	0	30	0
Bert Scriven	GK		40	0	1	0	41	0
Charlie Sillett	FB		41	0	1	0	42	0
Fred Smallwood	FW		40	10	1	0	41	10
John Summers	FW		28	7	1	1	29	8
Fred Tully	FW		3	0	0	0	3	0
Bobby Whitelaw	HB		19	1	0	0	19	1
Ted Withers	FW		6	0	0	0	6	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

• Southampton F.C. seasons
• English football clubs 1936–37 season

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