Arthur Baron Sole
| 1885–86 season | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| President | Rev. Arthur Sole | ||
| Secretary | C. Abbott | ||
| Ground | Southampton Common | ||
| Top goalscorer |
League: N/A All: Ned Bromley (5) |
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The first match played by what is now Southampton Football Club, from Southampton in southern England, was by a team from St. Mary's Young Men's Association (YMA) on 21 November 1885. Since then, the club established themselves as a major force in local and regional football before moving up to national level, winning the FA Cup in 1976 and being founder members of the Premier League in 1992.
The game of association football ("football") had been popular in England for many years, having its origins in the Middle Ages. The game was played under various rules, all of which were considerably different from the modern game. By the mid-19th century, attempts were being made to unify the rules, with these culminating in the foundation of the Football Association in October 1863.
The FA organised the first national tournament when they founded the Football Association Challenge Cup in 1871. At first, the cup was dominated by southern amateur sides, with the cup finals for the first ten years up to 1881 all being contested by teams from various public schools and similar institutions. Within the next two years, however, there had been a complete shift with Blackburn Rovers being the first northern club side to reach the final in 1882.The following year, the cup was won by a predominately working class side, when Blackburn Olympic defeated the Old Etonians. This was the last occasion that a public school side reached the final, and it was not until 1900 that a team from the south of England again reached the Cup Final, when Southampton were defeated by Bury, with Tottenham Hotspur going on to be the first southern professional club to win the cup in the following year.
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