The first meeting between Saints and what was to become Man Utd

Newton Heath arrived in Southampton probably with fear and trepidation, they were in Division Two of the Football League, but back then the FL only had one club south of Birmingham and that was Woolwich Arsenal, Saints were part of the recently formed Southern League which was starting to get teams as strong as their league counterparts in the North

In 1896/97 Newton Heath would finish second in Div 2, but back then only two clubs got promoted, so they failed to gain promotion back to Div 1, Saints for their part would win the Southern League at a canter winning 15, drawing 5 and losing none of their 20 matches.

When the Manchester club arrived Saints had only dropped a solitary point in their 11 games, its fair to say that the home side were in confident mood and a big crowd of over 8,000 assembled at the County Ground in Northlands Road, Saints back then were playing at the home of Hampshire Cricket Club and would spend two seasons here between leaving the Antelope Groun and moving into the Dell.

But most of the crowd would go home unhappy with a 1-1 draw which saw Saints now travelling to the North for the first time in their Competitive history, however their chances were hampered by an injury to wnger "Chippy" Naughton meaning he was unable to play in the replay, he was the man who supplied the crosses to top scorers Farrell & Buchanan and Saints never quite got into their stride losing the game 3-1 in front of 7,000.

However it would be Saints who would enjoy the greater success of the two in the coming years, after Saints won the Southern League in this year they would also win it in two of the followoing four seasons whilst also reaching two FA Cup Finals in 1899/1900 & 1901/1902. However Newton Heath only be around to see the initial 1-1 draw with Sheffield United at the Crystal Palace, having been served with a winding up order in the February of that year, they had been saved by a group of local businessmen, and on 24th April 1902, four days before Saints lost the cup final replay 2-1, they changed the name of the club to Manchester United, probably dreaming of being able to emulate those two giants of the English game, Sunderland who won the League title and Sheffield United and Saints who contested the FA Cup Final, perhaps that is why they changed the club colours from Yellow & Green to Red & White.

Photo: Action Images

Leeds United Polls