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.
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]
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]
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]
Stadium: The Dell Attendance: 2,154 Referee: W. B. Stone
Player details
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]
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan (10 August 1987), A Complete Record of Southampton Football Club: 1885–1987, Derby, England: Breedon Books, ISBN978-0907969228
Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (28 November 2013), All the Saints: A Complete Who's Who of Southampton FC, Bristol, England: Hagiology Publishing, ISBN978-0992686406
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, ISBN978-0953447459
