Today’s On This Day feature looks at the Southampton programme for their fixture against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the 1970/71 season. Read our review below and see the other 1970/71 Division One issues here.
With only ten pages of content, the Southampton programme was one of the smaller Division One issues from 1970/71, with quite limited content compared with the season’s best programmes.
‘From the Boardroom’ was a column written by Southampton Chairman George Reader, in which he commented on the side’s recent results, including a win at home to Liverpool and a defeat at Crystal Palace. There was also a column from Saints Manager Ted Bates, who reflected on those recent results, as well as discussing the form of the club’s reserve and youth teams.
The programme included a page of Southampton’s results and fixtures for the season, alongside the Division One and Football Combination league tables. The issue also featured pictures from the Liverpool fixture, as well as the club’s recent trip to Leeds. ‘Saints Record 1920-1971’ meanwhile provided an ongoing statistical history of Southampton, which in this issue recorded the club’s results, appearance and scorer records, and a league table from the 1925/26 season.
‘Welcome to our Visitors’ contained brief biographies of the visiting Wolverhampton Wanderers players, noting the presence in the team of three internationals – England’s Michael Bailey; Scotland’s James McCalliog; and Ireland’s Derek Dougan. Also included in the programme was a page of notes on Wolves from Tony Pullein, which remarked on the average return of four goals a match for the club’s results thus far in 1970/71, as well as containing stats for Southampton’s previous meetings with Wolves. A full-page team group picture was also provided, complementing some well put together opposition coverage.
Southampton’s programme was typical of many issues from the time, being bulked out with the inclusion of the ‘Football League Review’ magazine. Perhaps the most interesting element of the programme was the opposition section, which included some noteworthy content.