Southampton Football Club will this weekend host descendants of one of the 42 players who died in the two world wars as part of its annual Armistice commemoration at St Mary’s Stadium. The family of Albert Passmore — whose name appears on a large club plaque — will be among the special guests before the first-team match against QPR.
The visitors comprise two of Passmore’s great-nieces and nephews, along with their sons, who will be shown the plaque close to the club shop and take part in the stadium tribute marking 108 years since the First World War ended. The presence of family members continues a recent pattern: descendants of Cecil Christmas and Harold Bamford previously attended the ceremony in 2018 and 2023 respectively.
Local story behind a city memorial
Albert Passmore was born in Northam and is buried in Hollybrook Cemetery. Before the war he worked at shipyards in Woolston. He signed for Southampton in August 1910 at the age of 19 and, after wartime interruption, returned in 1915 to make 16 first-team appearances while employed as a coppersmith at Thornycrofts.
Passmore’s only recorded goal came in a 6-2 win over the Royal Army Medical Corps. In February 1916 he enlisted as an Air Mechanic in the Royal Flying Corps, being promoted to 1st Class in August 1917. With the formation of the Royal Air Force in April 1918 he was attached to 218 Squadron, a light-bomber unit. The source records he later died at Mile End Military Hospital in December 2018 of pneumonia, an event linked in contemporary accounts to the pandemic later called the Spanish Flu.
"The plaque is thought to be the largest among football clubs,"
The club plaque itself, unveiled last year, is described as unusually large compared with similar memorials at other clubs because it also includes names of "guest" players who played for the side before embarking for service. Historians and those connected to the club say no other football club is believed to hold an annual ceremony of this type, making Southampton’s commemoration a notable local ritual of remembrance.
- Who: Descendants of Albert Passmore (great niece Jean Sherry, great nephew Brian Godwin and their sons).
- What: Annual Armistice commemoration at St Mary’s Stadium ahead of the QPR match.
- Why it matters: The ceremony honours 42 club players lost across the two world wars and reinforces Southampton’s civic and footballing links to wartime history.
How the ceremony sits in the city’s memory
For local residents the event is both a sporting prelude and a civic act of remembrance. St Mary’s has become a focal point where football, local industry and military history intersect: many of the players listed had ties to Southampton’s shipbuilding and other heavy industries, and their names on the plaque link modern supporters to the city’s wartime past.
The club will use the match-day platform to draw attention to those stories, and the attendance of Passmore’s family gives a personal dimension that organisers hope will help younger fans grasp the human cost behind the names. The ceremony also continues Southampton FC’s emerging tradition of holding an annual memorial that combines match-day atmosphere with formal remembrance.
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Signed for Southampton | August 1910 (age 19) |
| First-team appearances | 16 (in 1915) |
| Military service | Air Mechanic, Royal Flying Corps; attached to 218 Squadron (RAF) |
| Burial place | Hollybrook Cemetery, Southampton |
The match-day commemoration provides a moment for the city to remember a generation who combined local trades — shipyard work is repeatedly referenced in the historical record — with service to the country. For supporters and residents, the plaque is a daily reminder of those links and of the way football clubs can act as custodians of civic memory.
With the family visit and the stadium ceremony scheduled for this weekend, Southampton will once again bring its community together around remembrance, reflection and the stories embedded in the club’s past.
