Having spent two seasons as temporary residents of Hampshire County Cricket Club, the "Saints" became resident at a new stadium about 200 yards down Northlands Road, nicknamed "The Dell", which had been built by George Thomas, a fish merchant who was a director of the football club.
Determined to build on their success of the previous season, the club signed several new players during the summer of 1898, including five present or former internationals - Scotsmen Geordie Dewar, Peter Meehan and John Robertson and Englishmen Jack Robinson and Harry Wood.