Having played in the club’s inaugural fixture in November 1885, goalkeeper Ralph Ruffell was a constant, as the Saints developed from playing friendlies to winning the Hampshire Junior – and then Senior – Cups and he also played in the first-ever FA Cup-tie in 1891.

Shortly after St Mary’s had been knocked out of the following season’s FA Cup, in October 1892, he retired, with winners’ medals from three Junior Cup Finals and two Senior Cup Finals – plus winners’ and runners-up medals from other local competitions. But no suitable long-term replacement could be found, so Ralph returned to collect a runners-up medal in the 1893 Senior Final, the Saints first-ever defeat in a Junior or Senior Cup-tie. In the course of losing again, in the 1894 Final, he dislocated a knee-cap and retired anew.

Only from first-team football, though: he still turned out for the Reserves, when needed. As the picture below shows he was still seen keeping goal albeit in a charity match at The Dell in 1913. He worked in the Southampton Docks, as an engineer with Union Castle Shipping Co, for many years. With his health deteriorating in his early sixties, he decided, in 1930, that he was no longer fit to stand on the Dell terraces. He requested a complimentary season ticket and the Board obliged.