Southampton became founder members of the Third Division for the start of the 1920–21 season and were promoted as champions to the Second Division in 1922. Southampton reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1925 but in the match at Stamford Bridge on 28 March 1925 they were eliminated by Sheffield United when Parker had a dreadful afternoon, first scoring an own-goal, then suffering a rare miss from the penalty spot (shooting straight at the 'keeper) before a mix-up between him and goalkeeper Tommy Allen gave Sheffield their second goal.