Dixie Dean destroyed
Continuing our series in which Geoff Wright takes a look at the history of Southport and nearby areas
FOLLOWING on from last’s week announcement that a Southport Football Club exhibition is to be staged at The Atkinson by the Trust In Yellow supporters’ club, this week’s Nostalgia scores a mixed bag of footballrelated hits, answering queries with photographic proof.
The footy-related topics drew a result from my chanting, scarf-waving requests for article suggestions – and any local history questions Nostalgia fans may have – so please keep your thoughts rolling in.
Others that hit the back of the net will feature very shortly. Billy One question posed was – ‘What can you tell me about ‘Salty’ Halsall, and do you have a picture of him’?
Birkdale-born William Halsall (b. May 2, 1897) was a legendary Southport Football Club goalkeeper in the 1920s.
The regular, consistently safe and reliable keeper played in (a pre-war record) 334 league matches (nearly 500 in all competitions) for the ‘Port.
This included a spell of 103 consecutive league appearances, making his debut at home against Hartlepool in September 1921, keeping a clean sheet in a 3-0 win, and his last in October 1930 at home to Barrow.
His first season also included an FA Cup victory (sixth round qualifier) over Coventry City, followed by a first round 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers in front of 24,000 fans – but they
‘Salty’ Halsall
lost the home replay watched by 12,448.
Surprisingly, the fearless ‘sticks man’ had played outside right or centre forward for his regiment during WW1, and he played for Lyndhurst and Birkdale Working Lads (Birkdale Institute) before joining the Haig Avenue outfit.
One-club man
0-2,
After replacing the excellent and experienced Frank Drabble, the 11 stone, 5’10” ‘Salty’ was a one-club man, and declined several offers to join First Division (now Premier League) sides.
His greatest performance was probably his 350th game, in the FA Cup tie at Bradford, when his skill and daring captivated the Park Avenue crowd.
Halsall was eventually forced to give up football due to a back injury.
He had worked at Vulcan Motors in his younger days, but later worked on the railways and was, in fact, the guard when the last passenger train left the old Lord Street Station in January 1952.
After retiring he settled in Spring Valley, New York (not too far away from another Southport), where he lived with his daughter until his death on January 23, 1968, aged 70.
Dixie’ Dean
‘ The second question posed to me leads straight into – ‘Did Everton’s legendary hitman, ‘Dixie’ Dean, ever play against Southport?’
I’ll begin by saying that ‘Salty’ Halsall’s last game for Southport had been a 3-2 victory at home to Barrow on October 11 – only the club’s third win from 10 games (including five defeats) – but the club then went on an excellent FA Cup run with wins against Darlington (H) 4-2; Gainsborough Trinity (A) 4-0; Millwall (H) 3-1; Blackpool (H) 2-1; and Bradford (H) 1-0.
Nearly half of these 14 cup goals came from centre forward ‘Archie’ Waterston.
Humbling defeat
In the FA Cup sixth round (February 6, 1931), SFC were away to high-flying Everton (who in years to come would have the former Southport and Northern Ireland manager Billy Bingham as their boss, 1973-1977), and in front of a 45,647 crowd.
The ‘Port were having one of their best ever FA Cup runs but then, up popped one William Dean who played ‘Dixie’ with their defence.
The Everton legend chewed up, spat out and stamped on Southport’s cup exploits. Our photograph clearly illustrates hitman Dean showing the awesome power of his heading ability, netting one of his four goals.
SFC found themselves 7-0 down at half-time, with the final score being 9-1 – at least SFC’s aforementioned and much-travelled Scotsman, Archibald Rutherford Waterston (Southport’s answer to ‘Dixie’ Dean) managed to score on the hallowed turf of Goodison Park.
It was a cold, snowy, foggy day – a match that perhaps should have been called off!
However, the Southport team benefitted from this humbling experience, as they went on to lose just two more games, winning seven of their remaining 13 league matches.
What happened To Southport Vulcan FC?
It is not widely known that, for a short period, Southport