William John Stride (1865 – 21 February 1942) was an English footballer who made four appearances as a half-back in the FA Cup for Southampton St. Mary's between 1888 and 1894. Throughout his career, he was known as "Banquo" Stride.

Football career

In his youth, Stride was an all-round sportsman, who was described as an athlete "par excellence", winning many prizes as a runner with the Southampton Athletic Association. He started his football career with

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. These were formerly t ...

before joining the short-lived Southampton Harriers club. The Harriers had started life as the ''Temperance Amateur Athletic Association'' but changed their name in 1885. In 1887, they decided to enter the inaugural Hampshire Junior Cup unlike Freemantle who declined the invitation; as a consequence, many Freemantle players, including Stride, signed on for the Harriers instead. On 10 March 1888, Harriers met St. Mary's in the first final of the Hampshire Junior Cup. The first match, played at the County Cricket Ground ended in a 2–2 draw, with St. Mary's taking the replay on 24 March by a 2–1 margin, thus winning the trophy for the first time. In the summer of 1888, the Freemantle club acquired their own ground in Southampton following which, most of the Harriers' players returned, with the exception of Stride, who joined St. Mary's. In the third round of the Hampshire Junior Cup, St. Mary's were drawn to play Fordingbridge Turks on 12 January 1889. Stride and three other St. Mary's players had been selected to play for the Hampshire F.A. against Berks & Bucks on the same day. St. Mary's tried to get the match against the Turks re-arranged but the New Forest club refused. Consequently, St. Mary's withdrew their four players from the county match to play in the cup. The "Saints" won the match (played at the Antelope Ground) 3–2, earning them a semi-final appearance against

Cowes Cowes () is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina, facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east bank. The two towns are linked by the Cowes Floa ...

. St. Mary's eventually defeated Cowes after three replays, going on to retain the trophy, defeating Christchurch in the final. In 1891, St. Mary's had a relatively straightforward passage to the final of the Hampshire Junior Cup, where they defeated Lymington 2–0. Having won the cup for three consecutive years, the Saints retained the trophy permanently. In the following season, St. Mary's entered the Hampshire Senior Cup for the first time and reached the final against the winners of the two previous years, the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

based at Aldershot. In the final, played at the County Ground on 14 March 1891, the Saints took an early lead through Ernie Nicholls before the engineers equalised. Two second-half goals, from Frank Bromley and

Bob Kiddle Robert Sherran Kiddle (10 May 1869 – 11 May 1918) was an English amateur footballer who played as an inside-forward for Southampton St. Mary's in the 1890s. Football career Kiddle was born in Southampton and had achieved distinction as a tr ...

, saw St. Mary's claim the senior cup for the first time. The success in local cup competitions prompted the club committee to enter a national tournament for the first time – in the first qualifying round of the FA Cup on 3 October 1891, they played at Warmley near Bristol, winning comfortably 4–1, with Stride playing at right-half. In the next round, St. Mary's defeated Reading 7–0 but the match was awarded to Reading following an FA enquiry into the eligibility of two St. Mary's players,

Jock Fleming James John "Jock" Fleming (September 1864 – August 1934) was a Scottish footballer who played at centre-forward for Southampton St. Mary's, Aston Villa and Lincoln City in the 1890s. Football career Fleming was born in Leith, near Edinbu ...

and Alexander McMillan. In March 1892, St. Mary's retained the Hampshire Senior Cup, with an easy 5–0 victory over a Medical Staff team. In 1892–93, Stride played in both FA Cup matches, with the Saints going out 4–0 to

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

, and in all three Hampshire Senior Cup matches, losing 1–2 to

in the final, in which Stride gave away a penalty for tripping Freemantle's forward, Horton. Stride did not play in the FA Cup matches in 1893–94, but did play in the later rounds of the Hampshire Senior Cup, when St. Mary's reached the final in March 1894, when they were defeated 1–0 by the

. In

1894 Events January–March * January 4 – A military alliance is established between the French Third Republic and the Russian Empire. * January 7 – William Kennedy Dickson receives a patent for motion picture film in the United S ...

, St. Mary's were founder members of the Southern League. Not wanting to commit to regular league football, Stride decided to retire from the club. Following his retirement from football, Stride continued to work in Southampton and was employed in the Borough Engineers department.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stride, William 1865 births 1942 deaths Footballers from Southampton English men's footballers Freemantle F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Men's association football midfielders