 The teams met regularly in the Southern League, and in the early years of the 20th century were rivals for the league title, with Southampton taking the title in 1901, 1903 and 1904 (having also been champions in three consecutive seasons from 1896–97 to 1898–99, before Portsmouth were formed) and Portsmouth taking the title in 1902 (and again in 1920).The first of four South Coast derbies in the FA Cup took place on 13 January 1906.Because of the large crowd expected for the first FA Cup meeting between the two rivals, the local registrars in both towns postponed voting in the 1906 general election until the following week.