Southern Soccer
1966-1968

Season 1966/67
All editions of "Southern Soccer" were broadcast in 405-line black & white on VHF only until December 1969.
Maurice Edelston assumed to be the commentator unless stated.
05/Nov    probably Southampton 3 Stoke City 2
12/Nov    Gillingham 1 (Rackstraw(pen)) Swindon Town 0
19/Nov    Southampton 1 (Davies) Manchester United 2 (Charlton 2) *Listed in The News of the World
26/Nov    Portsmouth 0 Derby County 3 (Buxton, Hector, Durban) *NOTW
03/Dec    Southampton 2 (Melia, Davies) Newcastle United 0 *NOTW
10/Dec    Showed ATV's London's "Star Soccer" - Fulham 3 (Clarke 2, Conway) Southampton 1 (Paine)
17/Dec    Portsmouth 3 (Kellard, Hiron 2) Norwich City 3 (Sheffield 2, Curran) *NOTW
24/Dec    No programme this weekend
31/Dec
07/Jan     Portsmouth 1 (McCann) Bury 2 (Aimson, Jones)
14/Jan     Southend United 1 (Flatt) Halifax Town 0 *Listed in The Observer
21/Jan
28/Jan     Showed Anglia's "Match of the Week" - Hull City 1 Portsmouth 1 [FA Cup 3rd Round]
04/Feb    Southampton 6 (Hollywood, Davies, Paine 2(2pens), Chivers 2) West Ham United 2 (Hurst, Burkett)
11/Feb    Portsmouth 3 (Pointer, Edwards, Harris) Northampton Town 2 (Moore, Brown)
18/Feb    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Turner) Chelsea 1 (Tambling) [FA Cup 4th Round]
25/Feb    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 1 (Bumstead) Darlington 1 (Massie)
04/Mar    Brighton & Hove Albion 2 (Napier 2) Gillingham 2 (Yeo, Gibbs)
11/Mar    Showed ABC's "World of Soccer" [FA Cup 5th Round] *No Southern clubs left in competition
18/Mar
25/Mar   Southampton 4 (Paine, Brown(og), Davies, Chivers) Fulham 2 (Earle, Clarke)
01/Apr    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 2 (P.Norton, Oliver) Reading 2 (Harris, Smee)
08/Apr
15/Apr    Showed Home International
22/Apr    Southampton 0 Tottenham Hotspur 1 (Gilzean)
29/Apr    Showed ABC's "World of Soccer" - [FA Cup SF]
06/May
13/May

Southampton, managed by Ted Bates since 1955, had just won promotion to the top flight for the first time in their history, their debut campaign in the old First Division in 1966/67 saw them finish 19th (two places above the drop), Saints centre forward Ron Davies was the entire Football League's leading scorer with 37 helping the club notch up an impressive total of 74 goals for, but the 92 goals against accounted for their lowly position. 2nd tier Portsmouth, managed by George Smith since 1961, ended the season in 14th. The 3rd tier saw Roy Bentley's Reading enjoy their best season for many years, narrowly missing out on promotion in 4th. Gillingham finished 11th whilst Brighton and Bournemouth just avoided the drop in 19th and 20th. In the Fourth Division, fringe Southern club Southend were 6th, Aldershot 10th.

Season 1967/68
There were no football highlights scheduled for Southern viewers until the weekend of 30th September.
30/Sep    Southampton 2 (Paine, Davies) Nottingham Forest 1 (Lyons) *Listed in The News of the World
07/Oct    Portsmouth 2 (McClelland, Hiron) Carlisle United 1 (McIlmoyle)
14/Oct    Southampton 1 (Davies) Leicester City 5 (?????, Sinclair, Stringfellow 2, Shilton) *NOTW, Leicester's keeper scored the 5th with a clearance.
21/Oct    Home Internationals
28/Oct    Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (Flood) Watford 0
04/Nov   Portsmouth 3 (Jennings, McCann 2) Hull City 0
11/Nov   Southampton 1 (Chivers) Tottenham Hotspur 2 (Robertson, Gilzean)
18/Nov   Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 1 (Held) Walsall 1 (Murray)
25/Nov   Southampton 3 (Paine, Channon, Davies) Sunderland 2 (Brand, Martin)
02/Dec    Portsmouth 3 (Portwood, Travers, Pointer) Blackpool 1 (Skirton)
09/Dec    Showed ATV London's match *NOTW
16/Dec    Brighton & Hove Albion 0 Swindon Town 0 *NOTW
23/Dec    No programme this weekend
30/Dec    Gillingham 1 (Hunt) Brighton & Hove Albion 1 (K.Napier)
06/Jan     Southampton 3 (Channon, Davies 2) Chelsea 5 (Cooke, Baldwin, Tambling, Boyle, Osgood) *NOTW
13/Jan     Showed ATV London's "Star Soccer" - Leeds United 5 (Jones, Hibbett, Lorimer, Madeley 2) Southampton 0
20/Jan     Portsmouth 3 (McCann, Kellard, Pointer) Norwich City 0 *NOTW
27/Jan     Showed ABC's "World of Soccer" [FA Cup 3rd Round]
03/Feb    Southampton 1 (Davies) Stoke City 2 (Burrows, Palmer) *NOTW
10/Feb    Southend United 0 York City 1 (Spencer)
17/Feb    Showed ATV London's "Star Soccer" [FA Cup 4th Round]
24/Feb    Showed Home International
02/Mar   Networked coverage of the League Cup Final
09/Mar   Portsmouth 1 (Hiron) West Bromwich Albion 2 (Astle, Clark) [FA Cup 5th Round] *NOTW
16/Mar   Southampton 0 West Ham United 0 *NOTW
23/Mar    Portsmouth 2 (Ley(pen), Hiron) Middlesbrough 0
30/Mar    Showed ABC's "World of Soccer" [FA Cup QF's]
06/Apr    Bournemouth & Boscombe A. 4 (Hold 3, K.White) Gillingham 0
13/Apr    Southampton 2 (Paine, Davies) Manchester United 2 (Charlton, Best)
20/Apr    Portsmouth 2 (Newton(og), Jennings) Blackburn Rovers 1 (Gilliver)
27/Apr    Showed ABC's "World of Soccer" - [FA Cup SF]
04/May   Portsmouth 1 (McCann) Ipswich Town 2 (O'Rourke 2)
11/May   Southampton 0 Coventry City 0

Southampton improved to a 16th placed finish with Ron Davies again topping the scoring charts (this time jointly with Man Utd star George Best) on 28 but once again Saints defensive frailties let them down. In the 2nd tier, Portsmouth finished 5th - yet points wise they were well short of the required tally for promotion. Reading also finished 5th in the Third tier with Brighton, Gillingham and Bournemouth making up a mid-table trio of Southern teams in 10th, 11th and 12th.