pluto Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 One of the cities legendary shops situated in london road, Arthur Toomer passed away aged 86 on christmas eve. They supplied Saints with equipment and sponsored the club for decades. Arthurs dad briefly played for Saints before the first world war and was a club director during the 1950s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derry Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 I remember it well, one of the first suppliers of continental boots. Old Mr Toomer sold me a pair of the Hungarian boots, little more than slippers. A little later he sold me a pair of Czech boots. He told me "There are only two pairs in the country, these and Derek Reeves is using the other pair" They never caught on as Adidas brought in their boot in large quantities. Derek scored his record 45 goals with those boots. I remember Arthur who was probably in his twenties. RIP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turkish Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 :-( that's really sad, that was a great shop back in the day. I bought my first pair of football boots from there, some Patrick ones, got several other pairs, some Asics, Arrow and Quaser which were decent brands back in the 80's and early 90s, plus of course some Puma Kings which were the brand to have in about 91-95. Also got a fair bit of sports gear from there. Legendary Southampton shop and part of our heritage as a city. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldNick Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 Subutteo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raging Bull Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 :-( that's really sad, that was a great shop back in the day. I bought my first pair of football boots from there, some Patrick ones, got several other pairs, some Asics, Arrow and Quaser which were decent brands back in the 80's and early 90s, plus of course some Puma Kings which were the brand to have in about 91-95. Also got a fair bit of sports gear from there. Legendary Southampton shop and part of our heritage as a city. Yep, had a fair few pairs of boots from there, too, throughout the 80’s & 90’s. Although never Puma Kings as they fell apart on everyone I knew that had them within a few months, plus my mum was a price pikey and wouldn’t pay for them. It was Patrick and Diadora all the way. Walking into Toomers as a kid was like utter heaven. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ericb Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 Remember i found a Tommers brown leather hold all in a charity shop about 10+ years ago. One of the "sports bags" for those that remember them, with Tommers in black print on the side. Always been gutted i never picked it up but i didn't have cash and figured i'd come back for it later, by which point it'd gone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenilworthy Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 Got my first Saints replica shirt in there in 1969. It was a marvelous, proper Sports shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toomer Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 My dad bought my first decent pair of boots from Toomers, Adidas Mexico. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winnersaint Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 Pretty much all my boots from 5 to 13 came from Toomers along with Subbuteo teams. Sad. RIP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilf Posted 31 December, 2018 Share Posted 31 December, 2018 Got my first Saints replica shirt in there in 1969. It was a marvelous, proper Sports shop. Me too (also 1969) best Christmas present ever for 9 year old me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwsaint Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Me too (also 1969) best Christmas present ever for 9 year old me! Make that three. Summer 1969 as well. I was 7. Wanted a man c shirt as they had just won the cup. Dad bought me a saints shirt instead. After my first visit to the dell 18 months later i was glad he did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Billy Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 I never went in Toomers as it was always Holt & Haskells for me as I worked there, but always remember Toomers being a prominent landmark in London Rd and Southampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Loved that shop. Bought a few pairs of Patrick boots there in the golden era of Keegan, Shilton, Ball and the rest. Was a bit of a rag taggle shop but can smell the boot and ball leather now. Was always a visit on the way to Tyrell’s sports bit Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DT Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 I never went in Toomers as it was always Holt & Haskells for me as I worked there, but always remember Toomers being a prominent landmark in London Rd and Southampton. Holt and Haskell’s was always the go to shop for cricket for me. Amazing bats upstairs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggie May Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Remember i found a Tommers brown leather hold all in a charity shop about 10+ years ago. One of the "sports bags" for those that remember them, with Tommers in black print on the side. Always been gutted i never picked it up but i didn't have cash and figured i'd come back for it later, by which point it'd gone. Tommers? Do you say Tescos and Asdas too? Nigel Atkins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dellboypete Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Loved Toomers! What a shop - and they had their huge(ish) advert at The Dell on the Chocolate boxes at the Milton Rd. If you are lucky I've attached a foto of the side of my old Toomers Holdall - I got this in 1969/70 - I was lucky enough to play for Hampshire Boys and we got a huge discount on stuff in the shop. I used this bag through school, university and it lasted until the mid/late 70's. When it finally gave up the ghost I had to keep the side for old times sake (it was only printed on one side if I remember correctly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wadesmith Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 I remember in the early 90's they sold these amazing 70's style European football Shirts . I bought the Roma one made of cotton. It was during the Brit-pop era when people were wearing sportswear to clubs. Everyone used to F*cking love this shirt & ask if they could borrow it, even bloody girls used to ask me where I got it. Great memories of that shop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saint Billy Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Holt and Haskell’s was always the go to shop for cricket for me. Amazing bats upstairs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Yes cricket gear was more their thing but they did do a good selection of football boots, Mike Channon use to come in regularly along with Brian O'Neil along with most of the Hants cricket team but yes, Toomers was the go to place for footy gear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Micky Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Toomers on the chocolate boxes, iconic for Saints fans of a certain age. https://readtheleague.com/the-big-feature/gone-grounds-the-dell Sent from my SM-T580 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dellman Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Yes cricket gear was more their thing but they did do a good selection of football boots, Mike Channon use to come in regularly along with Brian O'Neil along with most of the Hants cricket team but yes, Toomers was the go to place for footy gear. There was an old guy at Holt and Haskell who worked upstairs, out of sight, stitching cricket balls by hand, I think he used to umpire local matches. He told me he had seen WGGrace and Don Bradman bat and both had got ducks. H&H and Toomers were great shops where everyone was in it for the love of the sport Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwsaint Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Make that three. Summer 1969 as well. I was 7. Wanted a man c shirt as they had just won the cup. Dad bought me a saints shirt instead. After my first visit to the dell 18 months later i was glad he did. kwsaint jr. responding to kwsaint sr.: does this explain why from when I was 4 all other football clubs were banned in the house bar a moderate interest in Winchester City? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Like others my first Saints shirt was from Toomers, and the name has been closely linked with the club and Southampton ever since. I grew up away from Southampton but as soon as I was interested in football and Saints, no trip to visit family down there was complete without a visit to Toomers. Despite the distance several shirts were ordered from there and collected. A couple of Subutteo teams also. They were known as the Saints suppliers and were always associated with the club for me, advertising at The Dell and in the programme (no match was complete without a programme in those days at the princely sum of 5/). One of my elder relatives knew one of the Toomers, (may have been Arthur given the closeness of their ages), and told me of their conversation in 1976 after the Cup Final. My relative commented to Toomer that things must have been taken off for them after the cup success, and was told 'no, not at all, the club are now given everything from the manufacturer and it's more difficult for us dealing with them..' I assume "them" was both the club and Admiral at the time. Perhaps common knowledge now but a shift in the business model then. Sad that from Saints success it also saw a decline for the local supplier who had been involved with Saints for decades. One other recollection is a conversation with a Saints fan a few years ago discussing our Saints shirts from the 60's etc, and we drew up battle lines over whether you were a Toomers or a Patstone & Cox shirt person. Not sure of the demographics involved having not lived locally, but my only visit to P&Cox was when a relative wanted to go to that end of town (the swimmer, Ray Tyrell was working in P&Cox at the time .. early 70's perhaps). So it was Toomers for me. RIP Arthur, thanks to your part in my childhood and early years following Saints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badger Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Might find this interesting: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Toomer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluto Posted 1 January, 2019 Author Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Whilst football and cricket took prime sales, it was the place where you could get equipment for all sports, hockey, bowls, tenpin bowling, darts, ice skating, snooker etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kwsaint Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 kwsaint jr. responding to kwsaint sr.: does this explain why from when I was 4 all other football clubs were banned in the house bar a moderate interest in Winchester City? Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilf Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Yes Family communicating via SaintsWeb! Love it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toomer Posted 1 January, 2019 Share Posted 1 January, 2019 Holt and Haskell’s was always the go to shop for cricket for me. Amazing bats upstairs Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Remember Ron May who worked for Hilt and Haskell's till he opened his own shop close to where Sainsburys are in Shirley. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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