Southampton FC to host descendants at St Mary's Armistice tribute to 42 fallen players

Club commemorates local sacrifice ahead of QPR fixture

Southampton Football Club will welcome four descendants of one of the 42 club players who died in the two World Wars at an Armistice commemoration ahead of this weekend's match with QPR. The guests are relatives of Albert Passmore, a Northam-born player whose wartime story forms the focal point of this year's ceremony at St Mary's Stadium.

The family delegation comprises Passmore’s great niece Jean Sherry, great nephew Brian Godwin and a son of each. They will visit the club’s recently unveiled plaque, created to remember the Saints who served and fell during the conflicts. The event marks 108 years since the armistice that ended the First World War.

• A focus on one of the 42 fallen Southampton players, Albert Passmore
• Family members to attend and lay tribute at St Mary's prior to the QPR game
• The plaque on the stadium precinct commemorates both regular and 'guest' players who served

Historians involved in the project say the plaque – unveiled last year near the club retail store – is notable for its scope. A short quotation used by organisers describes it as

"the largest among football clubs"

Albert Passmore’s story is rooted in Southampton's shipbuilding communities. Born in Northam, he signed for Southampton in August 1910 at the age of 19. According to club and local historians, his early appearances were limited: a practice match nine days after signing and then a return to first-team football in 1915, when he made 16 first-team appearances across four months while still employed as a coppersmith at Thornycroft's shipyard.

While at Southampton he scored his only recorded goal in a 6-2 victory over the Royal Army Medical Corps side, a small but lasting on-field contribution to a life that would soon be consumed by war. After enlisting in February 1916, he served as an air mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps, was promoted to 1st Class in August 1917 and was later attached to the Royal Air Force’s 218 Squadron.

Passmore died in December 1918 at Mile End Military Hospital of pneumonia, an illness widely associated with the influenza pandemic that followed the First World War. He is buried in Hollybrook Cemetery in Southampton and, as a serving member of the RAF at his death, was eligible for a Commonwealth War Graves Commission headstone on his grave.

The club’s annual ceremony, which takes place on the stadium precinct, has become a distinctive local act of remembrance. It is the third time descendants of a First World War-era Saint have attended: relatives of Cecil Christmas were guests in 2018 and those of Harold Bamford in 2023. Organisers say the commemorations aim to keep the memory of local men who combined civilian trades with footballing careers before military service in the public eye.

For Southampton residents the ceremony reconnects present-day supporters with the city’s industrial and social history — shipyard workplaces such as Harland & Wolff and Thornycroft, where sportsmen were also manual workers — and reminds a new generation of fans of the sacrifices made by players and the wider community in wartime.

Supporters attending the match against QPR will have an opportunity to witness the club-led tribute and to see the plaque that historians say unusually records both contracted and guest players who later served. The presence of Passmore’s descendants at St Mary’s is expected to deepen local interest in the memorial and the personal histories behind the names it bears.

What happens next:

• The ceremony will be held at St Mary's Stadium ahead of the QPR fixture this weekend.
• Visitors can view the plaque near the club shop on matchdays.
• Further commemorations and details about the 42 names are available through club and local history groups.