Richard Brookes was part of the 4th Battalion Kings Royal Rifles Corps side that won not only the Army Cup Final in 1908 but also the Essex County League – the first military team to do that in 20 years. He left the army in 1910. Employed briefly at Eastleigh’s Carriage Railway Works, he turned out for Eastleigh Athletic, the club formed by the local railway workers. He was soon spotted by Reading but couldn’t command a regular place in a side promoted, in 1911, to the Southern League’s First Division. Returning to Eastleigh, he opted to try his luck with Southampton, who were then struggling in that division.

A fit and reliable full-back,

he took a while to get into the Southern League side. He persisted, in short spells, through to the end of the 1913-14 season, while working part-time at the Docks. Come to the outbreak of war in August, he left the club and rejoined his regiment.