1933/34 Season Summary

Southport’s decline continued, at least from a playing point of view. The club fell to eighteenth position and the chief reason was their inability to win at Haig Avenue; in all 17 games were drawn. 11 of them at home, and both these totals still constitute club records. They had fewer wins than any other team in Division Three North, yet, in a great goal-scoring season for the Division (1,800 goals were scored), the defence could take consolation from the fact that even conceding ninety, there were nine clubs with a worse goals against tally.

The ‘Port made an inglorious exit from the F.A. Cup—beaten 1-0 at non-League Workington. The following side took the field: Swift; Seagrave, Grainger; Greene, Watt, Holmes; Reid. Bennett, Griffith, Baldwin and Owercroft. This was the club’s first defeat at the hands of non-League opposition since joining the Football League. In addition, they were beaten in the first rounds of the Lancashire Senior and Northern Section Cups and the second round of the Welsh Cup.

Manager Jimmy Commins put his faith in former Southport stars and Irishmen! He re-signed wing-halves Bill Pickering from Clapton Orient and Tommy Holmes from Shelbourne. His “Irish contingent” included Bob Griffith, signed at the end of the previous season, and free-scoring Jack Diamond, both also from Shelbourne, and Patsy Gallagher, an inside-forward from Newry.

One newcomer to make his mark was Jack Grainger, a full-back from Barnsley. He was to render splendid service over the following fourteen seasons. Captain of the side was James Watt. a commanding centre-half who had had previous experience with Barrow and Charlton Athletic. It was widely reported at the time that he scored a goal from over forty yards against Chester on December 23rd, but Jimmy himself-he still runs his grocer’s shop in Duke Street—reckons he was only just outside the penalty area and cannot explain the apparent exaggeration.

The chief weakness of the defence was the lack of a good goalkeeper. With Middleton transferred to Sunderland, no fewer than five players were tried in the problem position over the season. Arnold Swift, introduced briefly the previous year. was the most consistent. One of the blackest moments was the 9-2 thrashing by Stockport County in November. The ‘Port were 6-1 down at half-time, and the result was their heaviest League defeat to date. Local amateur Terry Kearney was the unfortunate goalkeeper on this occasion.

A policy of economy and a smaller professional staff meant a welcome profit of £219-13-5, although once again this would have been impossible but for the transfer of a leading player—this time Matt Middleton. The economy campaign meant reduced salaries, wages, bonuses and transfer fees. Travelling expenses were out by £300 and advertising and printing expenses by £200. To achieve a profit at all was remarkable when one considers that Cup-tie revenue fell from £6,416 in 1931 to £437 in 1934.

After many years of excellent service, Walter Parkinson retired from the directorate. He had been responsible for several notable players joining Southport, amongst them Billy Semple. In May, 1934, Jimmy Green. a wholesale newsagent. was co-opted on to the board.

Season Summary reproduced with Permission from: The Sandgrounder (Southport FC Matchday Programme) Article Series. Southport through the seasons. The League History of Southport FC, Compiled by Michael P. Braham and Geoffrey S. Wilde

Source:
Wikipedia the free encyclopedia and reproduced under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License

FINAL TABLE LANCASHIRE COMBINATION '33-'34
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 1. Chorley                    38-61 (133-53)  29  3  6  Champions    
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 2. Fleetwood                  38-58 (109-60)  27  4  7          
 3. Lancaster Town             38-54 (130-71)  23  8  7          
 4. Clitheroe                  38-48 (129-86)  21  6 11          
 5. Darwen                     38-47 (122-72)  20  7 11          
 6. Barrow II                  38-47  (92-70)  22  3 13          
 7. Southport II               38-44  (73-70)  17 10 11          
 8. Nelson FC                  38-40  (97-86)  16  8 14          
 9. Accrington Stanley II      38-37  (85-102) 15  7 16          
10. Bacup Borough              38-36  (86-83)  15  6 17          
11. Dick Kerr's                38-35  (76-79)  14  7 17          
12. Rochdale II                38-34  (69-81)  14  6 18          
13. Lytham                     38-32  (83-94)  13  6 19          
14. Rossendale United          38-32  (70-98)  13  6 19          
15. Great Harwood              38-31  (72-103) 11  9 18          
16. Horwich RMI                38-30  (85-107) 13  4 21          
17. Leyland Motors             38-27  (94-129) 12  3 23          
18. Morecambe                  38-27  (65-101)  9  9 20          
19. Northern Nomads            38-23  (77-114) 10  3 25          
20. Barnoldswick Town          38-17  (54-142)  6  5 27  left  

Source:
The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation.Author Dinant Abbink