1971–72 Southern Football League

The 1971–72 Southern Football League season was the 69th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

At the end of the previous season Division One was split into divisions One North and One South with 14 new clubs joining the league.

Chelmsford City won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst Burton Albion, Kettering Town, Ramsgate Athletic and Waterlooville were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eight Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, Hereford United was elected in favour of Barrow after a tie in the first vote.

Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:

League table
Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1971–72
ChampionsChelmsford City
RelegatedBath City
Gloucester City
Merthyr Tydfil
Matches played462
Goals scored1,378 (2.98 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Chelmsford City 42 28 6 8 109 46 2.370 62
2 Hereford United 42 24 12 6 68 30 2.267 60 Elected to the Football League
3 Dover 42 20 11 11 67 45 1.489 51
4 Barnet 42 21 7 14 80 57 1.404 49
5 Dartford 42 20 8 14 75 68 1.103 48
6 Weymouth 42 21 5 16 69 43 1.605 47
7 Yeovil Town 42 18 11 13 67 51 1.314 47
8 Hillingdon Borough 42 20 6 16 64 58 1.103 46
9 Margate 42 19 8 15 74 68 1.088 46
10 Wimbledon 42 19 7 16 75 64 1.172 45
11 Romford 42 16 13 13 54 49 1.102 45
12 Guildford City 42 20 5 17 71 65 1.092 45
13 Telford United 42 18 7 17 83 68 1.221 43
14 Nuneaton Borough 42 16 10 16 46 47 0.979 42
15 Bedford Town 42 16 9 17 59 66 0.894 41
16 Worcester City 42 17 7 18 46 57 0.807 41
17 Cambridge City 42 12 14 16 68 71 0.958 38
18 Folkestone 42 14 7 21 58 64 0.906 35
19 Poole Town 42 9 11 22 41 72 0.569 29
20 Bath City 42 11 4 27 45 86 0.523 26 Relegated to Division One South
21 Merthyr Tydfil 42 7 8 27 29 93 0.312 22 Relegated to Division One North
22 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 5 6 31 30 110 0.273 16 Relegated to Division One South
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One North

Division One North consisted of 18 clubs, including eight clubs from the previous season Division One and ten new clubs:

League table
Southern Football League
Division One North
Season1971–72
ChampionsKettering Town
PromotedBurton Albion
Kettering Town
Matches played306
Goals scored904 (2.95 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Kettering Town 34 23 6 5 70 27 2.593 52 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Burton Albion 34 18 13 3 58 27 2.148 49
3 Cheltenham Town 34 20 4 10 72 51 1.412 44
4 Rugby Town 34 18 7 9 52 36 1.444 43
5 Wellingborough Town 34 15 10 9 73 44 1.659 40
6 Stourbridge 34 13 14 7 59 42 1.405 40
7 King's Lynn 34 14 11 9 62 45 1.378 39
8 Corby Town 34 15 9 10 47 35 1.343 39
9 Ilkeston Town 34 14 11 9 44 38 1.158 39
10 Banbury United 34 14 5 15 54 46 1.174 33
11 Bury Town 34 14 5 15 47 44 1.068 33
12 Wealdstone 34 14 5 15 51 58 0.879 33 Transferred to Division One South
13 Lockheed Leamington 34 15 3 16 41 52 0.788 33
14 Gloucester City 34 8 8 18 46 61 0.754 24
15 Stevenage Athletic 34 8 8 18 41 69 0.594 24
16 Bletchley Town 34 7 7 20 36 70 0.514 21 Transferred to Division One South
17 Dunstable Town 34 5 7 22 29 75 0.387 17
18 Barry Town 34 1 7 26 22 84 0.262 9
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One South

Division One South consisted of 16 clubs, including eight clubs from the previous season Division One and eight new clubs:

At the end of the season Ramsgate Athletic was renamed Ramsgate.

League table
Southern Football League
Division One South
Season1971–72
ChampionsWaterlooville
PromotedRamsgate Athletic
Waterlooville
Matches played240
Goals scored661 (2.75 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Waterlooville 30 15 9 6 40 22 1.818 39 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Ramsgate Athletic 30 14 11 5 42 27 1.556 39
3 Maidstone United 30 14 10 6 48 28 1.714 38
4 Crawley Town 30 15 5 10 67 55 1.218 35
5 Metropolitan Police 30 15 3 12 48 41 1.171 33
6 Tonbridge 30 12 9 9 37 34 1.088 33
7 Bexley United 30 14 4 12 52 46 1.130 32
8 Basingstoke Town 30 14 4 12 37 36 1.028 32
9 Andover 30 11 9 10 32 34 0.941 31
10 Ashford Town (Kent) 30 12 4 14 43 48 0.896 28
11 Salisbury 30 10 7 13 45 44 1.023 27
12 Winchester City 30 10 7 13 40 47 0.851 27
13 Hastings United 30 10 7 13 28 42 0.667 27
14 Trowbridge Town 30 8 7 15 41 49 0.837 23
15 Canterbury City 30 7 8 15 39 56 0.696 22
16 Woodford Town 30 4 6 20 22 52 0.423 14 Resigned to the Essex Senior League
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 12 non-League clubs applied for election, eight of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, along with Hereford United who were elected in favour of Barrow after a tie in the first vote.[1]

Club League Votes
Northampton TownFootball League49
Crewe AlexandraFootball League46
Stockport CountyFootball League46
Hereford UnitedSouthern League26 (29)
BarrowFootball League26 (20)
Bradford Park AvenueNorthern Premier League1
Cambridge CitySouthern League1
WimbledonSouthern League1
Bangor CityNorthern Premier League0
Bedford TownSouthern League0
Boston UnitedNorthern Premier League0
Hillingdon BoroughSouthern League0
RomfordSouthern League0
Telford UnitedSouthern League0
Wigan AthleticNorthern Premier League0
Yeovil TownSouthern League0

References
  1. A history of admission to the Football League
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