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The four Saints fans who constitute the Hagiology Publishing collective, assisted from
book to book by appropriate fellow-supporters, even from other clubs, are:
When DAVID BULL left his native Salisbury in 1954, he was five-and-half years into
following the Saints. He reached 76 seasons in 2024, having since travelled from his
home in Camberley, Exeter, Manchester and, from 1970, Bristol. He edited two
collections of fans’ memories in 1992 and 1994, the latter with Alastair Campbell, as
fund-raisers for the Child Poverty Action Group. Following early retirement from
university teaching in 1996 and statutory retirement from a tribunal judgeship in
2009, he now sits at home all day – moving only between keyboard and kitchen –
writing on the Saints, whether for the match-day programme (from 1981) or for
Hagiology Publishing, which he serves as Editor-in-Chief. His editorial commitments
apart, he has sole-authored biographies of Ted Bates (1998) and Terry Paine (2008)
and compiled Saints in the Great War (2024) with Gary Chalk as lead-researcher.
Along the way, he has been appointed an Official Historian of Southampton FC.
GARY CHALK became a Saints fan in 1967. His passion for collecting memorabilia
and researching the club’s history was ignited by a family postcard showing his great
grandfather in a 1907 crowd scene. He has since discovered other ancestors who
participated in the First World War, including a great-uncle whose death on the
Somme is recorded in Saints in the Great War, the book on which he served for eight
years as its lead-researcher, drawing upon all manner of records, even while in full
employment. He had been a coppersmith at Eastleigh Railway Works for over 30
years, until being made redundant on the works’ closure in 2005. He then spent nine
years as a mechanical engineer with Solwat, a Lymington-based water firm, before
wrapping up his working life with Wiltshire Farm Foods until 2023.
When DUNCAN HOLLEY’s family moved to Archers Road in 1959 there was little
chance the football club that lived just 200 yards down the road wouldn’t soon get
under the four year-old’s skin, especially as on both sides of his family there had
been Saints fans going back to the club’s beginnings. As an adult, he has merged
three of his hobbies – history, photography and writing – into that passion,
becoming the club’s first Official Historian along the way, and has since published
books, contributed to the matchday programme, hosted a show on the club radio
station and featured in innumerable media interviews. His SaintsPlayers website has
won countless accolades from football historians up and down the country and it
continues to be a free, yet valued, conduit between relatives and descendants of ex-
players and those still dedicated to researching the club’s past. Information and
illustrations arriving from those sources contributed many a story to Saints in the
Great War, along with his customary supply of players’ photos.
BARRY WEBB was born in Salisbury and was educated at the local grammar school
and in Cambridge. He lives on the outskirts of Salisbury with his wife, and they are
fortunate to have their large family living nearby. He followed in his Sotonian
father's footsteps when he became a supporter of the Saints, these days attending
all their games home and away. His love of writing and his interest in the Saints
came together when he contributed over 50 player profiles to Hagiology Publishing’s
All the Saints in 2013. In 2016, he enjoyed co-editing Match of the New Millennium
and compiled Super Kelvin Davis – a celebration during the former club captain’s
testimonial year. His support and assistance for Hagiology has continued and for
several seasons Barry has written in matchday programmes with articles on a variety
of themes. He managed Saints in the Great War through its end-game: getting the
book from proof-reading to printing and then organising its launch and mail-out.
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