Closure
Although the Saints had previously set up a sub-committee to discuss purchasing the Antelope Ground outright, no agreement could be reached with the freeholders. Following the failure of these negotiations, the church agreed the sale of the site to property developers. On 18 January 1896, the local press reported that contracts had already been drawn up for the sale and that "eligible villa residences" would be built on the ground where "many historic battles" had been fought.
The club, through the connections of their president Dr. H. W. R. Bencraft, who was also Hon. Secretary to Hampshire County Cricket Club, secured the use of the County Ground, at an annual rental of £200.
The last football match played at the Antelope Ground was on the evening of Wednesday 29 April 1896, when a crowd estimated at 3,000 saw the Saints defeat their local rivals Freemantle in a friendly, with the last goal being scored by Southampton-born Fred Hayter.
Southampton Football Club spent the next two seasons as tenants at the County Ground, during both of which they won the Southern League title, before eventually obtaining a permanent home, when they moved to The Dell in 1898.
The Antelope Ground was demolished, with Graham Road being built across the site. Subsequently, a furniture store was built on the corner of Brinton's Terrace and St Mary's Road; Brinton's Terrace is now one of the entrances to the Royal South Hampshire Hospital, while the Antelope Hotel has long since disappeared and an office block, which was for many years occupied by British Gas, now stands on the site.
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