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The 1893–94 season was the ninth since the foundation of St. Mary's F.C. based in Southampton in southern England. For the third consecutive year, the club were eliminated in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup; they were also defeated in the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup. ==Summary of the season== Having embraced professionalism in the previous season, the club recruited two players from The Football League in the summer of 1893: Jack Angus from Ardwick and Harry Offer, who had previously been with Royal Arsenal.The season started well, with four consecutive victories in friendly matches, including a 9–2 victory over Christchurch (in which Angus scored four) on 22 September and a 7–0 victory over the Royal Engineers two weeks later. In the FA Cup an easy victory over Uxbridge was followed by defeat at Reading. Two days after the cup defeat, St. Mary's entertained Bolton Wanderers with the Football League side demonstrating their superiority with an emphatic 5–0 victory. This was the only defeat before Christmas. In the New Year, a series of injuries, including to full-back Ginger Price and captain George Carter, led to a fall off in form. In the Hampshire Senior Cup, the holders Freemantle were defeated at the second attempt in the semi-final (in which Angus was sent off) leading to the final, where St. Mary's lost to a team from the Royal Engineers. In the final, Price's replacement, Rowthorn, suffered serious internal injuries, thus ending his football career. Shortly afterwards, St. Mary's recruited a replacement full-back, when they signed Lachie Thomson from Stoke. Thomson was the first of several players to be recruited from Stoke; he would be joined by six of his former Stoke colleagues by October 1895. Also injured in the final was long-term goalkeeper Ralph Ruffell whose playing career was ended by a dislocated knee-cap. Ruffell was the sole remaining player from the eleven who had played the club's inaugural match in November 1885. St. Mary's gained some compensation for their failure in the Hampshire Senior Cup, when they won the Hampshire County Cricket Club Charity Cup. Charles Miller, who was still studying in the town, played in all three matches in this cup; these were his final competitive appearances before returning to his native Brazil, where he introduced football and became known as the "father" of Brazilian football. During the 1893–94 season, the Saints arranged a match under "''Well's Patent''" lights, but it was called off due to bad weather; it would be another 60 years before Southampton played their first match under floodlights. At the end of the season, the Saints were able to report a "''profit''" of over £85 — gate receipts and subscriptions had produced income of £768, with expenses of £683 including wages of £221 and rent for the Antelope Ground of £42. In June 1894, St. Mary's Church, who owned the freehold of the Antelope Ground, were short of funds and decided that the ground should be sold. They offered it to the Town Council for £5,000 but this was declined. There was a brief half-hearted campaign to persuade the Saints to purchase the freehold, but the club could not afford it but instead considered a permanent move to the County Ground. Ultimately, this all came to nothing and the Saints remained at the Antelope Ground for the start of the next, historic season, when they would play league football for the first time. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1893–94 St. Mary's F.C. season」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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