Although war was declared on August 4th, 1914 the season went ahead as planned. Southport experienced a disastrous year finishing next to botrom with just 26 points. Stringfellow, with seventeen goals, was leading scorer for the third successive season while Billy Caulfield, although transferred to Blackburn Rovers in the February,

The 1913-14 season was notable for Central's record F.A. Cup win when Lancashire Combination side Portsmouth Rangers were defeated 9-0. At the end of the campaign Central found themselves in seventeenth position in the League having taken 30 points from their 38 games. Pos

After several abortive attempts, the club was floated in the summer of 1912 as a Limited Company called 'The Southport Central Football Club 1912 Limited -with a share capital of 2000 Ordinary ten shilling shares. The original directors were George R Cranshaw, George H. Collinge, James Hamer, Harry Rimmer, John

In 1911-12, for only the second time in the club’s history, Southport Central reached the first round proper of the F.A Cup. Home victories over Padiham, Rossendale United and Colne and a 1-0 win at Heywood(after a 1-1 draw at Ash Lane) had already brought Frome Town to Southport. The

At the end of 1910-11, when Central finished in eleventh place, there was a rift between some of the reserve sides of Football League clubs like Manchester City, Everton and Liverpool and the Lancashire Combination. Southport Central joined forces with these teams in a bid to form the Central League.

One of the few bright features of 1909-10 was the form of George Latham. He was a full-back and a popular favourite with the crowd. He became the first player to gain International honours while actually playing with Southport when he was capped by Wales against England. At the end

Southport Central finished the 1908-09 season in thirteenth place but tighter economic management and Billy Watson’s transfer fee considerably reduced the bank overdraft. A novel event at Ash Lane was the Northern Union (Rugby League) match on New Year’s Day, 1909. The game between the Australian Touring Team and Widnes

The 1907-08 season saw Southport Central finish in sixth place. Jack Sinclair who had already wrenched a cartilage in his knee, twisted his knee in the third game of the season. At the club’s expense he visited a bone specialist, who announced that the knee was not strong enough to

In November 1906 Southport Central recognised the services of two of their long-serving players, Fred Spink and Jack Sinclair. The latter was a product of the Southport Working Lads Club and the first of the famous footballing family to play for Southport. Both had been with the club for nine

It was not until 2 nd December that Central recorded their first victory of the 1905-06 season, defeating Oldham Athletic 3-0. Most pre-season signings played below their reputations and a series of injuries-most notably to Syd Smith and Jack Sinclair-resulted in constant team alterations. Meanwhile the wage bill had mounted