1981–82 Southern Football League

The 1981–82 Southern Football League season was the 79th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

The league was split into Midland and Southern Divisions for a third and final season, at the end of it league restructuring for the forthcoming season meant that the top ten in each division (minus promoted clubs) would remain at the sixth level in a new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing lower would be relegated to the seventh level.

Nuneaton Borough won the Midland Division, whilst Wealdstone won the Southern Division, both earning promotion to the Alliance Premier League, having both also been relegated from the APL the previous season. Wealdstone were declared Southern League champions after defeating Nuneaton on penalties, after the two championship play-offs had finished 2–2 on aggregate (Wealdstone won 2–1 at home and Nuneaton won 1–0).[1] They completed the double by also winning the Southern League Cup.

At the end of the season Bedford Town folded, whilst Barry Town left to join the Welsh Football League.

Midland Division

The Midland Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 21 clubs from the previous season and one new club:

League table
Southern Football League
Midland Division
Season1981–82
ChampionsNuneaton Borough
PromotedNuneaton Borough
Relegated11 clubs
Matches played462
Goals scored1,295 (2.8 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Nuneaton Borough 42 27 11 4 88 32 +56 65 Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
2 Alvechurch 42 26 10 6 79 34 +45 62
3 Kidderminster Harriers 42 22 12 8 71 40 +31 56
4 Stourbridge 42 21 10 11 69 47 +22 52
5 Gloucester City 42 21 9 12 64 48 +16 51
6 Bedworth United 42 20 10 12 59 40 +19 50
7 Enderby Town 42 20 10 12 79 66 +13 50
8 Witney Town 42 19 8 15 71 49 +22 46
9 Barry Town 42 16 14 12 59 46 +13 46 Left to join Welsh Football League
10 Corby Town 42 19 8 15 70 59 +11 46
11 Merthyr Tydfil 42 16 12 14 63 54 +9 44 Relegated to the Midland Division
12 Wellingborough Town 42 15 12 15 50 45 +5 42
13 Bridgend Town 42 13 13 16 50 62 −12 39
14 Bromsgrove Rovers 42 15 8 19 57 63 −6 38
15 Bedford Town 42 12 13 17 45 54 −9 37 Folded at end of season
16 Cheltenham Town 42 11 14 17 65 68 −3 36 Relegated to the Midland Division
17 Taunton Town 42 12 8 22 46 76 −30 32
18 Banbury United 42 11 8 23 63 91 −28 30
19 Minehead 42 12 6 24 38 69 −31 30
20 Cambridge City 42 10 8 24 38 80 −42 28
21 Milton Keynes City 42 6 11 25 34 70 −36 23
22 Redditch United 42 8 5 29 37 102 −65 21
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Southern Division

The Southern Division consisted of 24 clubs, including 22 clubs from the previous season and two new clubs:

At the end of the previous season, Margate had been renamed Thanet United.

League table
Southern Football League
Southern Division
Season1981–82
ChampionsWealdstone
PromotedWealdstone
Relegated14 clubs
Matches played552
Goals scored1,541 (2.79 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Wealdstone 46 32 8 6 100 32 +68 72 Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
2 Hastings United 46 31 9 6 79 34 +45 71
3 Dorchester Town 46 21 18 7 76 41 +35 60
4 Gosport Borough 46 26 8 12 76 45 +31 60
5 Fareham Town 46 20 14 12 58 48 +10 54
6 Poole Town 46 19 15 12 92 63 +29 53
7 Waterlooville 46 22 9 15 75 53 +22 53
8 Welling United 46 19 13 14 70 48 +22 51
9 Addlestone & Weybridge 46 17 17 12 71 53 +18 51
10 Chelmsford City 46 20 11 15 64 53 +11 51
11 Aylesbury United 46 19 12 15 79 61 +18 50 Relegated to the Southern Division
12 Basingstoke Town 46 18 12 16 74 61 +13 48
13 Dover 46 19 8 19 61 63 −2 46
14 Ashford Town (Kent) 46 16 14 16 52 56 −4 46
15 Tonbridge 46 19 7 20 62 70 −8 45
16 Dunstable 46 18 8 20 63 68 −5 44
17 Salisbury 46 16 10 20 64 81 −17 42
18 Hounslow 46 15 11 20 59 83 −24 41
19 Hillingdon Borough 46 14 10 22 46 58 −12 38
20 Canterbury City 46 10 16 20 49 78 −29 36
21 Crawley Town 46 9 12 25 46 81 −35 30
22 Folkestone 46 10 6 30 49 101 −52 26
23 Andover 46 4 11 31 39 100 −61 19
24 Thanet United 46 5 7 34 37 110 −73 17
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

References
  1. Wealdstone at the Football Club History Database
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