It is thought that the club were founded in 1901 as Sholing Athletic and spent their early days playing in the Southampton League. In 1919–20 Sholing won the Senior League title and the first of three successive Southampton Senior Cups. This saw them step up into the Hampshire League where they promptly won the East Division title. Playing in the County Division (later to become Division 1) Sholing soon settled and after finishing 6th and 5th they proudly won the Hampshire Senior Cup but after two tough seasons the club finished bottom and returned to the less demanding Southampton League.