In their first season of Southern League football, St Mary’s still played plenty of friendlies. They ran up some big scores against army teams – although 13-0 against the Wiltshire Regiment was excessive – but lost 3-0 to the Lancaster Regiment, whose centre-forward, George Ward, impressed. So much so that he had been signed up and was making his Saints debut, five weeks later. He struggled against the quicker Millwall defenders, however, and duly returned to his regiment. He was soon serving far away from Southampton, not least in the Boer War of 1899-1902.