Southampton Football Club to honour fallen Saints
At our upcoming match against Sheffield Wednesday, the fixture closest to Armistice Day, Southampton Football Club will pause to remember our fallen Saints and all those who gave their lives in service to their country.
A short remembrance ceremony will take place at 12.30pm to unveil the club’s new memorial plaque, which honours former Saints who lost their lives in the two World Wars. The plaque is located on the Itchen side of St Mary’s Stadium, near the Saints Store, and all fans are welcome to join.
Thanks to the dedicated research of club historian Gary Chalk, the new plaque bears the names of 42 players who made the ultimate sacrifice, as well as four ex-Saints who lost their lives as civilians.
The club aims to host, each year, the descendants of a fallen Saint. This year’s guests at the plaque ceremony will be the family of Denis Angell. Denis represented Hampshire Schools in 1936/37 and appeared for the Saints during the 1940/41 season. He came from a proud Woolston footballing family, the son of Walter Angell and nephew of Jim Angell, himself an ex-Saint, whose name famously adorned the façade of The Dell’s West Stand for many years after the war.
As a member of the RAF Volunteer Reserve, Denis served as a rear gunner with Bomber Command’s Pathfinders, the aircrews who located and marked targets for Allied bombers. During a mission over Berlin on 20th October 1943, Denis’s Avro Lancaster was shot down, and he was laid to rest at the Berlin 1939–45 War Cemetery.
Greg Baker, Chief Revenue Officer for Southampton Football Club, who will host the ceremony said: “It’s a privilege to continue honouring those who wore our colours and then served with such courage. Their stories remind us that football is part of something much bigger, a community, a history, and a shared respect for those who gave everything.”
The family of First World War airman Albert Passmore, buried at Southampton’s Hollybrook Cemetery, will attend the 2026 ceremony, leaving 36 other fallen Saints whose descendants the club and its historians are still hoping to trace. If you believe your family has a connection to a former Southampton player who died in either World War, we would love to hear from you. Please contact David Bull at [email protected].
In addition to the ceremony at the memorial plaque, wreaths will be laid, and members of the Armed Forces will join us in remembrance. The Last Post will be played prior to kick-off, as players, staff, and supporters come together to honour those who gave their lives for our freedom.
