Road-Sea Southampton F.C.

Road-Sea Southampton
Full nameRoad-Sea Southampton Football Club
Founded1973
Dissolved1987
GroundRoad-Sea Park, Long Lane, Marchwood, Nr Southampton

R.S. Southampton were a semi-professional football club, based at Marchwood near Southampton in Hampshire.

Commonly referred to locally as Road-Sea, they enjoyed a short and successful history which saw them move directly from Sunday parks football into the semi-professional Southern League.

History

The club was founded in 1973 by player-manager Peter Price, and was named Road-Sea after his locally based freight shipping company.[1] They originally played in the City of Southampton Sunday League, winning every possible honour as they rose up through the divisions. In 1976–77 they reached the semi-final of the FA Sunday Cup.[2]

With the aid of the company's financial backing, the club purchased some land at Staplewood, Marchwood, near Southampton and soon developed the site into an impressive facility. This resulted in an ambitious application to join the semi-professional Southern League being surprisingly accepted in 1982, despite the club having no previous history of playing Saturday football.[3]

Whilst in the Southern League Southern Division, the club became known as R.S. Southampton and soon silenced their critics as they pushed for promotion to the Premier Division and after finishing a creditable 3rd in their debut season behind champions Fisher Athletic and Folkestone, they won promotion as champions in 1983–84.[4] That season, they also enjoyed a fine run in the FA Vase where they reached Round 5 before being eliminated 1–2 away at Leyton Wingate.

Road-Sea continued to thrive in the highly competitive Premier Division as they then finished 5th in 1984–85. The following season was much tougher and the club finished mid-table.[5]

In 1986 Road-Sea became founder members of the newly created Wessex League.[6] They then finished runners-up, reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup but won both the League and Russell Cotes Cups. However, their short but successful history was ended suddenly in June 1987 when Price retired and withdrew his financial backing.[7]

Honours

  • Southern League
  • Wessex League [3]
  • Wessex League Cup [3]
  • Hampshire FA [8]
    • Senior Cup Finalists 1986-87
    • Russell Cotes Cup Winners 1983-84 and 1986-87
    • Sunday Senior Cup Winners 1977-78, Finalists 1976-77 and 1980/81
    • Sunday Intermediate Cup Winners 1974-75
  • City of Southampton Sunday League [9]
    • Premier Division Champions 1975-76, 1977-78 and 1980/81. Runners-up 1976-77 and 1978-79
    • Senior Division 1 Champions 1974-75
    • Senior Division 2 Champions 1973-74
    • AJ Miller Trophy Winners 1977-78 and 1979-80
  • Other
    • South West Counties Transformer Vase Winners 1983/84
    • South West Pratten Cup Winners 1979/80

Playing records

League

FA Cup

FA Trophy

FA Vase

Ground

Road-Sea Southampton played at the self-titled Road-Sea Park, Long Lane in Marchwood, near Southampton.[10]

Following their demise, the ground was sold to Southampton F.C., renamed as 'Staplewood' and used for reserves and youth team games.[11] The venue has since been redeveloped in to a large training complex with world class facilities. [12]

Notable players

With a large budget, Road-Sea were able to attract a number of former Southampton professionals.[13] These include Pat Earles[14], FA Cup winning goalkeeper Ian Turner,[15] Paul Bennett[16] and Malcolm Waldron,[17] along with former AFC Bournemouth strikers Kevin Dawtry[18] and Dean Mooney

Local rivalries

Road-Sea had a number of local rivals during various stages of their unusual career, ranging from Sunday park sides to the likes of the regions semi-professional Southern League clubs. Their closet neighbours were AFC Totton who they both met during their solitary season as members of the Wessex League.[19]

References

  1. ^ A Century of Southampton Local Soccer 1908-2008 by John Moody
  2. ^ Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway
  3. ^ a b c "Football Club History Database - R S Southampton". www.fchd.info. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  4. ^ "Road Sea Southampton Fixtures - Margate Football Club History". www.margatefootballclubhistory.com. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  5. ^ The official centenary history of the Southern League. Paper Plane Publishing Ltd
  6. ^ "History". www.wessexleague.co.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  7. ^ "Back in the old routine". Daily Echo. 7 February 2006. Retrieved 15 July 2025.
  8. ^ Hampshire Football Association Handbook 2004/05
  9. ^ City of Southampton Sunday Football League Official Rule Book 2011/12
  10. ^ The Cemetery End by Vince Taylor (Groundtastic Productions)
  11. ^ https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24055456.southampton-use-staplewood-remind-playing-stars-club-history/
  12. ^ https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/our-locations
  13. ^ The Alphabet of the Saints: A Complete Who's Who of Southampton FC by Duncan Holley & Gary Chalk
  14. ^ stats tab https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/pat-earles/
  15. ^ stats tab https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/ian-turner/
  16. ^ stats tab https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/paul-bennett/
  17. ^ stats tab https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/malcolm-waldron/
  18. ^ stats tab https://www.saintsplayers.co.uk/player/kevin-dawtry/
  19. ^ https://www.fchd.info/lghist/wessex1987.htm
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