R.S. Southampton were a semi-professional football club, based at Marchwood - a village near Totton in Hampshire.
Commonly referred to locally as Road-Sea, they were best known for directly moving from Sunday parks football into the semi-professional Southern League.
History
The club was originally known as Echo Social and played in the City of Southampton Sunday League with great success. In 1973, they were re-named Road-Sea for sponsorship reasons - after the freight shipping company owned by player-manager Peter Price.A Century of Southampton Local Soccer 1908-2008 by John Moody In 1976–77 they reached the semi-final of the national FA Sunday Cup.Hampshire Football Association Centenary History 1887-1987 by Norman Gannaway
With considerable financial backing, the club purchased some land at Marchwood, 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 having no previous history of playing Saturday football.
The club then became known as RS Southampton and soon silenced their critics as they pushed for promotion from the Southern Division. After finishing a creditable 3rd in their debut season behind Fisher Athletic and Folkestone, they were champions in 1983–84. They also enjoyed a fine run in the FA Vase, reaching 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 they finished mid-table. The official centenary history of the Southern League. Paper Plane Publishing Ltd
In 1986 Road-Sea became founder members of the newly created Wessex League, and just missed out on the inaugural title after finishing runners-up to Bashley. This was mainly due to a huge fixture backlog caused by their cup exploits, which saw them reach four finals. In the Hampshire Senior Cup they lost 0-2 against Portsmouth Reserves at Fratton Park - but won both the League and Russell Cotes Cups, defeating Sholing Sports in both finals. There was further success on 19th May when they won the South-West Counties Transformer Vase, defeating Clump Inn 4-1 in the second-leg of the final at Marchwood. The Romsey Advertiser, page 16, 22nd May 1987
However, this would soon prove be their last ever game as Price suddenly disbanded the club and retired.
Honours Southern League Southern Division Champions 1983–84 Wessex League Runners-up 1986–87 League Cup Winners 1986–87 Hampshire Football Association Hampshire Football Association Handbook 2004/05 Senior Cup Finalists 1986-87 Russell Cotes Cup Winners 1983-84 and 1986-87 Other South West Counties Transformer Vase Winners 1979-80, 1983-84 and 1986-87
Playing records
League SeasonDivisionPositionSignificant events1982/83Southern League Southern Division3/181983/84Southern League Southern Division1/20Champions, Promoted1984/85Southern League Premier Division5/201985/86Southern League Premier Division16/20Left competition1986/87Wessex League 2/17Runners-up - left competition
FA Cup SeasonRoundOpponentsResult1982/83Did not enter 1983/84Preliminary RoundH v Oxford CityW 4–1 1st Qualifying RoundH v WaterloovilleD 0-0 ReplayA v WaterloovilleL 1–21984/851st Qualifying RoundA v Melksham TownW 3–0 2nd Qualifying RoundA v Chippenham TownD 2-2 ReplayH v Chippenham TownL 1–21985/861st Qualifying RoundA v Redditch UnitedD 1-1 ReplayH v Redditch UnitedW 3–2 2nd Qualifying RoundH v ClandownW 2–1 3rd Qualifying RoundA v Ton PentreD 1-1 ReplayH v Ton PentreL 1–21986/871st Qualifying RoundA v Littlehampton TownW 7–1 2nd Qualifying RoundA v Devizes TownW 2–0 3rd Qualifying RoundH v Fareham TownL 0–3
FA Trophy SeasonRoundOpponentsResult1984/851st Qualifying RoundA v Taunton TownL 0–21985/861st Qualifying RoundA v AndoverW 3–0 2nd Qualifying RoundH v Bridgend TownD 1-1 ReplayA v Bridgend TownL 0–3
FA Vase SeasonRoundOpponentsResult1982/83Did not enter 1983/84Preliminary RoundA v PaghamW 3–1 Round 1A v ChobhamW 5–0 Round 2H v Maidenhead UnitedW 4–2 Round 3H v Exmouth TownW 3–0 Round 4H v Exmouth TownW 3–0 Round 5A v Leyton WingateL 1–21986/87Preliminary RoundA v Warminster TownW 5–0 Round 1A v Lymington TownD 1-1 ReplayH v Lymington TownD 1-1 ReplayH v Lymington TownL 0–2
Ground
Road-Sea Southampton played at the self-titled Road-Sea Park, Long Lane in Marchwood, near Totton.The Cemetery End by Vince Taylor (Groundtastic Productions)
Following their demise, the ground was renamed 'Staplewood' and later sold to Southampton F.C., who initially used it for reserves and youth team games.https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/24055456.southampton-use-staplewood-remind-playing-stars-club-history/ The venue has since been redeveloped in to a large training complex with world class facilities. https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/our-locations
Notable players
See Road-Sea Southampton players.
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 met during their solitary season as members of the Wessex League.https://www.fchd.info/lghist/wessex1987.htm
References
External links RS Southampton at the Football Cub History Database Southern League Final Tables Wessex League Final Tables Hampshire Soccer Archive