MarketRoad-Sea Southampton F.C.
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Road-Sea Southampton F.C.

R.S. Southampton were a semi-professional football club, based at Marchwood - a village near Totton in Hampshire.

History
The club was originally known as Echo Social and played in the City of Southampton Sunday League with great success. In 1973, they were re-named Road-Sea for sponsorship reasons - after the freight shipping company owned by player-manager Peter Price. In 1976–77 they reached the semi-final of the national FA Sunday Cup. With considerable financial backing, the club purchased some land at Marchwood, and soon developed the site into an impressive facility. This resulted in an ambitious application to join the semi-professional Southern League being surprisingly accepted in 1982, despite having no previous history of playing Saturday football. The club then became known as RS Southampton and soon silenced their critics as they pushed for promotion from the Southern Division. After finishing a creditable 3rd in their debut season behind Fisher Athletic and Folkestone, they were champions in 1983–84. They also enjoyed a fine run in the FA Vase, reaching Round 5 before being eliminated 1–2 away at Leyton Wingate. Road-Sea continued to thrive in the highly competitive Premier Division as they then finished 5th in 1984–85. The following season was much tougher and they finished mid-table. In 1986 Road-Sea became founder members of the newly created Wessex League. They just missed out on the inaugural title, finishing runners-up to Bashley, but it was a memorable campaign in the local cup competitions. They reached the final of the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time, which they lost 0-2 against Portsmouth Reserves at Fratton Park - but won both the League and Russell Cotes Cups. However, in June 1987 their short but successful history was suddenly ended when Price retired and disbanded the club. ==Honours==
Honours
Southern League • Southern Division Champions 1983–84Wessex League • Senior Cup Finalists 1986-87 • Russell Cotes Cup Winners 1983-84 and 1986-87 • Other • South West Counties Transformer Vase Winners 1983-84 ==Playing records==
Playing records
League FA Cup FA Trophy FA Vase ==Ground==
Ground
Road-Sea Southampton played at the self-titled Road-Sea Park, Long Lane in Marchwood, near Totton. Following their demise, the ground was renamed 'Staplewood' and later sold to Southampton F.C., who initially used it for reserves and youth team games. The venue has since been redeveloped in to a large training complex with world class facilities. ==Notable players==
Notable players
• See Road-Sea Southampton players. ==Local rivalries==
Local rivalries
Road-Sea had a number of local rivals during various stages of their unusual career, ranging from Sunday park sides to the likes of the regions semi-professional Southern League clubs. Their closet neighbours were AFC Totton who they met during their solitary season as members of the Wessex League. ==References==
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