1952/53 Season Summary

Southport at last gave their long-suffering supporters something to cheer about when they experienced their best season since 1938-39 and finished sixth.

After a defeat at Darlington on the opening day of the season, Southport lost only one of their next nine games, taking 15 points. A disastrous spell between late September and mid-December brought only one win from the eleven league engagements, but after their F.A. Cup dismissal the team recaptured their earlier form to finish with 51 points – a total which had previously been achieved in 1924-25 and exceeded only in 1930-31.

The side was founded on a solid defence comprising ‘Minshull, Taylor, Reilly, Barratt and Hacking -all consistent performers. Kevin Walsh from Oldham Athletic vied for the other wing-half berth with Trevor Hitchen and latterly Don Hunter.

Up front the veteran Jack Billingham scored 16 goals — including 15 from the wing, creating a club record which remains unequalled. ‘However, there was a lack of scoring power at centre-forward, with just twelve goals coming from that position. Alec Gaskell, who had been introduced briefly the previous season, confirmed his promise but because of R.A.F. service could not appear regularly. Southport’s ineffective finishing cost them dearly and it was apparent that they had erred in releasing Jack Lindsay, particularly as an off-form Jimmy Nuttall could not recapture his old, scoring ability after injury at Reading in December, 1951. Southport must have regretted refusing Leeds United’s £4,500 offer for him in October, 1951. In later years Nuttall scored prolifically for South Liverpool in the Lancashire Combination.

Billy Dale, a lively raider on either wing, and little Colin McLean, a Scot from Forfar, both contributed to Southport’s success, whilst the versatile ‘Trevor Hitchen had his best season as a marksman, scoring 11 goals from his 26 appearances at inside-right. Other notable signings were Don Hunter from Halifax Town and Bill Forsyth from Blackburn Rovers. Both rendered splendid service — the former eventually succeeding Bob Hacking, who was granted a benefit on completing five years at Haig Avenue.

At Halifax in October Wally Taylor, the stylish full-back, became the first Southport player ever to be sent off the field in a league match. Lincoln City thus became the last club with a 100% record in this respect.

In the F.A. Cup Southport – remembering their tussles with Bangor City the previous year -won 3—.1 after Glaisher had equalised Jimmy Pennington’s goal. Actually Bangor were unlucky not to lead at half-time, but two second-half goals from Nuttall settled the issue only for Halifax Town to outclass Southport at the Shay.

The highlight of the season was the narrow 1-0 league victory over Northern Section champions Oldham Athletic before an 11,376 crowd which included over fifty coach-loads of Oldham supporters. A first-minute goal from Billy Dale proved sufficient. This win contributed towards a late spell of nine games without defeat.

Team spirit and the side’s fighting qualities were much in evidence during the season, but the vital factor in Southport’s overall success was their ability to field a settled team. Only nineteen players were called on for league duty compared with a previous post-war low of twenty-six. Jimmy Nuttall was one of only three players released at the end of the season, the others being reserves Fred Walker and Jimmy Hilton. Although retained, Bobby Jones junior left for Chester where he commanded a regular place before joining Blackburn Rovers, for whom he was chiefly a reserve.

‘Restricted by lack of capital, the club doubled the authorised share capital by issuing another 8,000 ten shilling Ordinary Shares at an Extraordinary General Meeting in March. In a year wfthout transfer revenue Southport did well to contain the loss at £1,462.

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 (DIVISION 1) '52-'53
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 1. Wigan Athletic             42-67 (124-45)  27 13  2  Champions    
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 2. Prescot Cables             42-55  (83-46)  25  5 12          
 3. Darwen                     42-49  (88-65)  19 11 12          
 4. Marine Crosby              42-49  (91-72)  19 11 12          
 5. Nelson                     42-48  (86-72)  20  8 14          
 6. Lancaster City             42-48  (81-72)  21  6 15          
 7. Horwich RMI                42-47 (109-105) 17 13 12          
 8. Ashton United              42-45 (105-85)  18  9 15          
 9. Netherfield                42-44  (82-81)  20  4 18          
10. Southport II               42-42  (78-80)  17  8 17          
11. Morecambe                  42-41  (60-61)  16  9 17          
12. Bootle Athletic            42-40  (64-64)  16  8 18          
13. Oldham Athletic II         42-39  (84-89)  16  7 19          
14. Rossendale United          42-39  (84-92)  16  7 19          
15. Fleetwood                  42-39  (76-105) 16  7 19          
16. Chorley                    42-37  (81-87)  16  5 21          
17. New Brighton               42-37  (61-70)  14  9 19          
18. Accrington Stanley II      42-37  (64-78)  13 11 18          
19. Rochdale II                42-31  (61-76)  11  9 22          
20. Barrow II                  42-31  (57-80)  10 11 21          
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21. Clitheroe                  42-31  (69-115) 11  9 22  Relegated    
22. Blackpool 'B'              42-28  (49-97)  11  6 25  Relegated    

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