In a season at Burnden Park, centre-forward Arthur Hughes had failed to get a start as Bolton struggled in vain to avoid relegation to the Football League’s Second Division. In that same season of 1907-08, George Smith had played in several positions in the Southern League for Southampton and had scored a few goals, latterly as a centre-forward.

So that position was perhaps up for grabs when Hughes signed for Southampton in time to join Smith on the Saints’ European tour. Arthur staked a claim on a successful trip that began with a hat-trick in The Hague. Any remaining doubt as to who might lead the attack when the new season began was resolved in July when Smith collapsed and died.

Hughes certainly did the shirt proud: by mid-November he had scored 12 goals in 14 Southern League appearances.

The last of those goals came in a 1-0 win over Watford in which he incurred a serious knee injury. He would play only sporadically for the rest of the season. And then he was gone – to Manchester City, who had just been relegated to the Second Division. He would make no contribution to their bouncing straight back. Indeed, Arthur Hughes would never play in the Football League. His moment of glory had been those three months in the Southern League for Southampton. Returning to his native Wirral, he worked as a bricklayer for the Birkenhead County Borough Council.