Having graduated from local works-teams to Stoke City, Wilf Mayer had made only one First Division appearance for them in five seasons, when Tom Parker arrived as Southampton’s manager in March 1937 and immediately started buying. His first purchase to start a Second Division game, Mayer had an instant run of nine appearances, through to the end of the season, mostly at inside-right.

But he could manage only five games the following season, which he finished at outside-right. Duly transfer-listed at £500, he failed to attract any offers from a League club, even when the fee was halved. But he found a home at Wellington, with whom he won the war-time versions of both the Birmingham League and the Welsh Cup in 1940. When war broke out he was a metal worker and living in Wellington.