Although he was handily stationed at Tidworth, it was Bill Bradley’s performance in the Cavalry Cup Final at Fulham in April 1913 that persuaded the contingent of directors from Southampton to sign him – with his senior officer’s permission and on amateur forms – straight after the game. Making his Southern League debut five days later,

he showed plenty of dashes and a fair degree of promise.

His army commitments restricted his availability, however, and he spent most of the next season in the Reserves (see below). Although he left the club in 1914, he remained nearby, at his squadron’s North Stoneham Park depot, and became responsible for training horses and dispatching them across the Channel to the theatres of war. So he was able to rejoin the club and to play a few times, in 1917-18, in the South Hants War League.