1966/67 Season Summary

Forty-six years after being elected to the Football League Southport at last won promotion and in doing so created numerous club records.

These included the 19 wins and 40 points gained at home, as well as the 11 away draws, whilst the totals of 23 wins and 59 points were new records at the time, The 8 games lost away from !home and the 10 defeats in total were also the lowest then recorded. The only sad notes were the deaths of two well-loved Southport stars of the ‘twenties — Tommy Sinclair and Tommy White.

The defence, with goal-keeper Brian Reeves outstanding, won many points away where Southport were content to defend with occasional quick breaks. Billy .Bingham instilled into his players a belief in their ability to win, which often carried them through against superior opposition.

The season was prefaced by a short Tour in Ireland where Southport lost 2-0 to Colchester United and Glentoran. It was there Bingham spotted Colchester trialist Eric Redrobet previously a reserve at Bolton Wanderers; on returning Bingham signed him and the big centre-forward played a notable part in the team’s success.
The campaign began inauspiciously with a 2-1 reverse at Port Vale followed by a first round League Cup defeat at home to Workington. However, the ‘Port soon settled down and a 4-0 ‘victory at Lincoln gave a better indication of what lay ahead. The only shaky spell came in late ‘September with three successive league defeats; but then, inside three days, followed two spectacular 4-1 wins against Luton Town and Barrow in which six players scored and the confidence returned.

The f.A. Cup defeat at Barnsley became an irrelevance as Southport amassed 29 points by Christmas. On Boxing Day their biggest league gate for ten years — 8,197 — saw the ‘Port beat fellow-challengers Wrexham by an Amby Clarke goal. Then, in the early morning of December 27th, came the fire which completely destroyed the grandstand, offices, club records. dressing-rooms and kit. The whole town rallied round the club in the difficult weeks that followed; a temporary stand was erected, a converted caravan became the Secretary’s office and for the remainder of the season the players changed at nearby Meols Cop School. A Fire Appeal Fund was launched and many Football League clubs contributed to it.

In February Southport enjoyed a resounding 4-0 success over Stockport County. the ultimate champions, Jim Fryatt and Alan Spence each scoring twice. Shortly afterwards Torquay United signed Fryatt for £5,000; initially slow to settle down, “Big Fry” had stayed at Southport less than twelve months. The club augmented their forward strength by securing striker George Andrews from Cardiff City for £6,000 and outside-right Stuart Shaw from Crystal Palace for £2,750.

The promotion drive gathered momentum with a dramatic 4-3 win over Chester — Ron Smith scoring the last minute winner direct from a corner-kick – and five points out of six from the two Bradford clubs over Easter; but injuries to midfield general Alex Russell and rock-like centre-half Fred Molyneux in quick succession led to team reorganisation. Arthur Peat filled ‘Russell’s position while the versatile Colin Alty moved to centre-half with Eric Curwen, a young full-back from Everton, coming into the back four.

Just when their target seemed assured, Southport surprisingly lost 2-1 at home to lowly Rochdale, leaving only two desperately tough matches to follow. Yet on a euphoric night at Prenton Park in late April, before a 15.555 crowd, Southport – under pressure almost throughout – beat fellow-challengers Tranmere Rovers 2-1. The game ended with Rovers going all out for an equaliser and the huge Southport contingent imploring the referee to whistle full-time.

The worst was over; with promotion virtually certain Southport beat Southend United at Haig Avenue by a George ‘Andrews goal in an emotion charged game witnessed by 8,999 spectators. Thousands of whom raced onto the field at the end to congratulate the team. Southport had done it at last!

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) '66-'67
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 1. Morecambe                  41-69  (90-24)  30  9  2  Champions    
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 2. Horwich RMI                42-63  (88-37)  27  9  6          
 3. Netherfield                42-62 (122-54)  27  8  7          
 4. Chorley                    42-55  (97-59)  23  9 10          
 5. Fleetwood                  42-54 (103-62)  22 10 10          
 6. South Liverpool            42-54  (94-61)  24  6 12          
 7. Marine Crosby              42-49  (84-69)  20  9 13          
 8. Wigan Rovers               42-47  (78-64)  16 15 11          
 9. Skelmersdale United        41-45  (99-77)  20  5 16          
10. Lancaster City             42-42  (66-72)  18  6 18          
11. Southport II               42-40  (72-77)  16  8 18          
12. Bacup Borough              42-39  (53-57)  15  9 18          
13. Droylsden                  42-37  (59-68)  14  9 19          
14. Burscough                  42-37  (55-85)  16  5 21          
15. St.Helens Town             42-35  (66-76)  13  9 20          
16. Guinness Exports           42-35  (62-87)  12 11 19          
17. Barrow II                  42-34  (80-84)  13  8 21          
18. Rossendale United          42-32  (64-90)  12  8 22          
19. Clitheroe                  42-30  (56-93)  10 10 22          
20. Great Harwood              42-27  (56-101) 11  5 26          
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21. Darwen                     42-24  (56-102)  6 12 24  Relegated    
22. Leyland Motors             42-12  (28-129)  4  4 34  Relegated    

(remaining match was not played).                       

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