1889–90 St. Mary's F.C. season
| 1889–90 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Honorary President | Canon Basil Wilberforce | ||
| Secretary | F. A. Delamotte | ||
| Ground | Antelope Ground | ||
| Hampshire Junior Cup | Winners | ||
| Top goalscorer |
League: N/A All: Arthur Farwell (3) |
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| Highest home attendance | 2,800 (Hampshire Junior Cup final at the County Ground) |
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1889–90 was the fifth season for St. Mary's Football Club (St. Mary's F.C.) based in Southampton in southern England. The club retained the Hampshire Junior Cup for the third consecutive year.
The season saw the club move into the Antelope Ground which would be their permanent home for the next seven years. They also changed their strip, playing in cherry red squares rather than a white shirt with a red sash.
Although they were qualified to enter the Hampshire Senior Cup, the club committee decided to re-enter the Junior Cup, with a view to winning it for the third consecutive season, thereby enabling them to claim it outright. The passage through the cup was quite straightforward resulting in a 2–0 victory in the final against Lymington.
At the end of the season, the club had a balance of £50 thus making it the "richest club in Hampshire". Writing in the Bournemouth Guardian, "Offside" prophesied the advent of professionalism:
We shall be having some Scotchmen in the town soon. Perhaps "Captain" Carter will be taking a holiday among the Grampians this summer and coming back with a burly Highlander or two to help them to win the senior cup next year.
Such was the club's dominance in the county that for the match against Dorset, the Hampshire F.A. selected ten players from St. Mary's. After protests from Lymington, Cowes and other clubs, St. Mary's withdrew all their players from the team. This led to a change of policy by the Hampshire F.A. although St. Mary's players continued to dominate the county sides for many years.
Following the retirement of his brother Charles following injury, Frank Bromley took over permanently as centre-forward with former Southampton Harriers player Bob Kiddle alongside him. Arthur Fry retired during the season, leaving goalkeeper Ralph Ruffell as the only remaining player from the side who played in the inaugural match on 21 November 1885.
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