February 2024 Research Update

I have been rebuilding the database that sits behind this website over the past few months and I have finally made the big switch over to use it. This now allows me to present the results and players of all of the clubs researched for the book (not just the current club) in a much better way. To that end I will be adding them into the website over the course of the next few weeks so that they too are fully searchable.

The main reason for rebuilding the database was to allow me to continue to research and document results and players, no matter the standard or competition, and no matter whether the clubs researched are part of the direct lineage of the current club.

You perhaps won’t notice a huge amount of difference with the way records are presented on the website, and that’s obviously intentional but what you do now have however is the ability to build your own search queries covering any period of time in the clubs history.  If you wanted to find out which games we’ve played on a Friday in the Football League where we scored more than 2 goals and kept a clean sheet, for example, then you could. The database also now allows me to record some additional details such as who played for the opponents, who refereed the game and which stadium it took place in. This may have limited appeal but it all adds to the historical picture. Data is obviously not complete in some of these areas but each game will become more complete over time.

As we enter the 145th year of association football in the town, whilst I am planning to release an updated second edition of the book towards the end of the summer, now that the database rebuild has been done, I am returning to my primary research interest. My main focus will be “what happened next” in the Southport Central story and I look forward to sharing the results over the coming months and years.

DH