1896–97 Southern Football League

The 1896–97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship. Millwall Athletic applied for election to Football League. However, they were not elected.

Division One
Southern Football League Division One
Season1896–97
ChampionsSouthampton St.Mary's (1st title)
Promotednone
RelegatedRoyal Ordnance Factories
(resigned)
Matches played110
Goals scored429 (3.9 per match)

Division One featured seven teams from previous season and five new clubs: two promoted from Division Two and three newly elected members.

Teams promoted from Division Two:

  • Wolverston L&NWR - champions, winners of testing matches
  • Sheppey United - runners-up, winners of testing matches

Newly promoted teams:

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Relegation
1 Southampton St.Mary's[lower-alpha 1] 20 15 5 0 63 18 3.500 35
2 Millwall Athletic 20 13 5 2 63 24 2.625 31
3 Chatham Town 20 13 1 6 54 29 1.862 27
4 Tottenham Hotspur 20 9 4 7 43 29 1.483 22
5 Gravesend United 20 9 4 7 35 34 1.029 22
6 Swindon Town 20 8 3 9 33 37 0.892 19
7 Reading 20 8 3 9 31 49 0.633 19
8 New Brompton 20 7 2 11 32 42 0.762 16
9 Northfleet 20 5 4 11 24 46 0.522 14 Relegation test matches
10 Sheppey United 20 5 1 14 34 47 0.723 11
11 Wolverton L&NWR 20 2 0 18 17 74 0.230 4
12 Royal Ordnance Factories 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Resigned from league after seven matches, record expunged
Source:
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Notes:
  1. Changed name to Southampton at end of season

Division Two
Southern Football League Division Two
Season1896–97
ChampionsDartford
Promotednone
RelegatedFreemantle (resigned)
1st Scots Guards
(resigned)
1st Coldstream Guards
(resigned)
Matches played156
Goals scored618 (3.96 per match)

Division Two featured five teams from previous season and eight new clubs, all of which were newly elected.

Newly promoted teams:

  • Dartford - Kent League members
  • RETB Chatham - Kent League members
  • 1st Coldstream Guards
  • Freemantle
  • Southall
  • Warmley
  • West Herts
  • Wycombe Wanderers
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Dartford 24 16 4 4 83 19 4.368 36 Promotion test matches
2 RETB Chatham 24 11 9 4 49 37 1.324 31
3 Freemantle 24 12 4 8 58 40 1.450 28 Promotion test matches, left league at end of season[lower-alpha 1]
4 Uxbridge 24 11 5 8 62 37 1.676 27
5 Wycombe Wanderers 24 10 6 8 37 54 0.685 26
6 Chesham 24 11 3 10 41 55 0.745 25
7 Southall 24 9 6 9 55 52 1.058 24
8 1st Scots Guards 24 9 6 9 49 50 0.980 24 Left league at end of season
9 West Herts 24 11 1 12 41 49 0.837 23
10 Warmley 24 10 3 11 44 43 1.023 23
11 Old St.Stephen's 24 5 7 12 36 52 0.692 17
12 Maidenhead 24 4 8 12 33 64 0.516 16
13 1st Coldstream Guards 24 3 6 15 30 66 0.455 12 Left league at end of season
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Notes:
  1. Freemantle resigned at the end of the season from the Southern Football League, creating a vacancy filled by Royal Artillery Portsmouth in the next 1897-98 season[1]

Promotion-relegation test matches

At the end of the season, test matches were held between the bottom three clubs in Division One and the top three clubs in Division Two. Third-placed Freemantle were the only Division Two club to win, but withdrew from the league at the end of season, meaning their defeated opponents Northfleet remained in Division One.[2][3]

Division One clubsvDivision Two clubs
Wolverton LNWR2 – 0Dartford
Sheppey United2 – 1RETB Chatham
Northfleet0 – 3Freemantle

Football League elections

Only one Southern League club, Millwall Athletic, applied for election to Division Two of the Football League. However, they received only one vote and were not elected.[4]

ClubLeagueVotes
Lincoln CityFootball League21
Burton SwiftsFootball League15
Luton TownUnited League13
Burslem Port ValeMidland League11
Burton WanderersFootball League9
NelsonLancashire League7
Glossop North EndThe Combination5
FairfieldLancashire League3
Crewe AlexandraThe Combination2
Millwall AthleticSouthern League1

References
  1. "Glory Gunners – The History of Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) FC". Dian D Saul Books.co.uk.
  2. Northfleet at the Football Club History Database
  3. Freemantle at the Football Club History Database
  4. A history of admission to the Football League
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