1971–72 Southern Football League

March 2026 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: Folkestone Gravesend & Northfleet Guildford City Merthyr Tydfil League table Southern Football LeaguePremier Division 1971–72 Chelmsford City Bath CityGloucester CityMerthyr Tydfil 462 1378 1970–71 1972–73 main WDL PR y 2 Premier Division CHC Chelmsford City HER Hereford United DOV Dover BRN Barnet DAR Dartford WEY Weymouth YEO Yeovil Town HIL Hillingdon Borough MAR Margate WIM Wimbledon ROM Romford GUI Guildford City TEL Telford United NUN Nuneaton Borough BED Bedford Town WOR Worcester City CMC Cambridge City FOL Folkestone POO Poole Town BAT Bath City MER Merthyr Tydfil GRA Gravesend & Northfleet 28 6 8 109 46 24 12 6 68 30 20 11 11 67 45 21 7 14 80 57 20 8 14 75 68 21 5 16 69 43 18 11 13 67 51 20 6 16 64 58 19 8 15 74 68 19 7 16 75 64 16 13 13 54 49 20 5 17 71 65 18 7 17 83 68 16 10 16 46 47 16 9 17 59 66 17 7 18 46 57 12 14 16 68 71 14 7 21 58 64 9 11 22 41 72 11 4 27 45 86 7 8 27 29 93 5 6 31 30 110 #ACE1AF Elected to the Football League Fourth Division P #FFCCCC Relegated to Division One South R1S R1S #FFCCCC Relegated to Division One North R1N complete fchd.com rsssf.com 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: Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division: Gloucester City Kettering Town King's Lynn Two clubs joined from the Metropolitan League: Bletchley Town Bury Town Two clubs joined from the Midland League: Ilkeston Town Lockheed Leamington Two clubs joined from the West Midlands (Regional) League: Stourbridge Wellingborough Town Plus: Wealdstone, joined from the Isthmian League League table Southern Football LeagueDivision One North 1971–72 Kettering Town Burton AlbionKettering Town 306 904 1970–71 1972–73 main WDL PR y 2 Division One North KET Kettering Town BTA Burton Albion CHT Cheltenham Town RUG Rugby Town WEL Wellingborough Town STB Stourbridge KIN King's Lynn COR Corby Town ILK Ilkeston Town BAN Banbury United BRY Bury Town WEA Wealdstone LEA Lockheed Leamington GLO Gloucester City STE Stevenage Athletic BLE Bletchley Town DUN Dunstable Town BAR Barry Town 23 6 5 70 27 18 13 3 58 27 20 4 10 72 51 18 7 9 52 36 15 10 9 73 44 13 14 7 59 42 14 11 9 62 45 15 9 10 47 35 14 11 9 44 38 14 5 15 54 46 14 5 15 47 44 14 5 15 51 58 15 3 16 41 52 8 8 18 46 61 8 8 18 41 69 7 7 20 36 70 5 7 22 29 75 1 7 26 22 84 #ACE1AF Promoted to the Premier Division P P #CCCCFF Transferred to Division One South T1S T1S T1S complete fchd.com rsssf.com 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: Three clubs joined from the Hampshire League: Basingstoke Town Waterlooville Winchester City Two clubs joined from the Metropolitan League: Metropolitan Police Woodford Town Plus: Andover, joined from the Western League Ashford Town (Kent), relegated from the Premier Division Maidstone United, joined from the Isthmian League At the end of the season Ramsgate Athletic was renamed Ramsgate. League table Southern Football LeagueDivision One South 1971–72 Waterlooville Ramsgate AthleticWaterlooville 240 661 1970–71 1972–73 main WDL PR y 2 Division One South WAT Waterlooville RAM Ramsgate Athletic MAI Maidstone United RAW Crawley Town MET Metropolitan Police TON Tonbridge BEX Bexley United BAS Basingstoke Town AND Andover ASH Ashford Town (Kent) SAL Salisbury WCC Winchester City HAS Hastings United TRO Trowbridge Town CAN Canterbury City WOO Woodford Town 15 9 6 40 22 14 11 5 42 27 14 10 6 48 28 15 5 10 67 55 15 3 12 48 41 12 9 9 37 34 14 4 12 52 46 14 4 12 37 36 11 9 10 32 34 12 4 14 43 48 10 7 13 45 44 10 7 13 40 47 10 7 13 28 42 8 7 15 41 49 7 8 15 39 56 4 6 20 22 52 #ACE1AF Promoted to the Premier Division P P #FFCCCC Resigned to the Essex Senior League R complete fchd.com rsssf.com 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.http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=3506; A history of admission to the Football League 2012-08-10 2018-09-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20180926224326/http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=3506; dead ClubLeagueVotesNorthampton TownFootball League49Crewe AlexandraFootball League46Stockport CountyFootball League46Hereford UnitedSouthern League26 (29)BarrowFootball League26 (20)Bradford Park AvenueNorthern Premier League1Cambridge CitySouthern League1WimbledonSouthern League1Bangor CityNorthern Premier League0Bedford TownSouthern League0Boston UnitedNorthern Premier League0Hillingdon BoroughSouthern League0RomfordSouthern League0Telford UnitedSouthern League0Wigan AthleticNorthern Premier League0Yeovil TownSouthern League0 See also Southern Football League 1971–72 Northern Premier League References RSSF – Southern Football League archive Category:Southern Football League seasons S