Sid Cavendish arrived at Southampton, together with Tiny Joyce, from Overseal in Staffordshire.

He brought with him a reputation as a goal-scorer.

But while he duly lived up to that billing in the Reserves, with 14 goals in 12 outings, and scored on his Southern League debut – an 8-0 romp against Gravesend – his first-team opportunities became increasingly limited, as Edgar Chadwick arrived at inside-left in 1900 and then Albert Brown came to be a goal-a-League-game centre-forward the following season. All of this meant that Cavendish remained the Reserves’ goal-scorer-in-chief until he joined the local Wanderers in 1902.

Then, after a spell with Freemantle, he re-entered the Southern League with Clapton Orient. Newly-admitted to its Second Division, in which Saints Reserves were then playing, Orient would the next season leap-frog into the Football League – but not before Sid had scored their first-ever professional hat-trick in a Reserves match, drawn 3-3, at The Dell and then added another 11 Southern League goals in 21 appearances. Leaving Orient after two seasons, Sid then settled in Salisbury, where he assisted the City side as a player, and then trainer, over the next 20 years. He also worked as a painter/decorator for the local council.