1959–60 Southern Football League

The 1959–60 Southern Football League season was the 57th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

The league split into a Premier Division and Division One, the first time the league had had two hierarchical divisions since 1919–20. Bath City won the championship, whilst Clacton Town, Romford, Folkestone Town and Guildford City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eleven Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

Premier Division

Premier Division was formed at the end of the previous season, with eleven top clubs from both North-West and South-East divisions joined.

At the end of the season Headington United was renamed Oxford United.

League table
Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1959–60
ChampionsBath City
RelegatedBarry Town
Kettering Town
Nuneaton Borough
Poole Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,722 (3.73 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Bath City 42 32 3 7 116 50 2.320 67
2 Headington United 42 23 8 11 78 61 1.279 54
3 Weymouth 42 22 9 11 93 69 1.348 53
4 Cheltenham Town 42 21 6 15 82 68 1.206 48
5 Cambridge City 42 18 11 13 81 72 1.125 47
6 Chelmsford City 42 19 7 16 90 70 1.286 45
7 Bedford Town 42 21 3 18 97 85 1.141 45
8 King's Lynn 42 17 11 14 89 78 1.141 45
9 Boston United 42 17 10 15 83 80 1.038 44
10 Wisbech Town 42 17 10 15 81 84 0.964 44
11 Yeovil Town 42 17 8 17 81 73 1.110 42
12 Hereford United 42 15 12 15 70 74 0.946 42
13 Tonbridge 42 16 8 18 79 73 1.082 40
14 Hastings United 42 16 8 18 63 77 0.818 40
15 Wellington Town 42 13 11 18 63 78 0.808 37
16 Dartford 42 15 7 20 64 82 0.780 37
17 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 14 8 20 69 84 0.821 36
18 Worcester City 42 13 10 19 72 89 0.809 36
19 Nuneaton Borough 42 11 11 20 64 78 0.821 33 Relegated to Division One
20 Barry Town 42 14 5 23 78 103 0.757 33
21 Poole Town 42 10 8 24 69 96 0.719 28
22 Kettering Town 42 9 10 23 60 90 0.667 28
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

Division One was formed at the end of the previous season with clubs finished below eleventh place in North-West and South East divisions joined. Also, Division One featured ten new clubs:

League table
Southern Football League
Division One
Season1959–60
ChampionsClacton Town
PromotedClacton Town
Romford
Folkestone Town
Guildford City
Matches played462
Goals scored1,625 (3.52 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Clacton Town 42 27 5 10 106 69 1.536 59 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Romford 42 21 11 10 65 40 1.625 53
3 Folkestone Town 42 23 5 14 93 71 1.310 51
4 Exeter City II 42 23 3 16 85 62 1.371 49 Left the league
5 Guildford City 42 19 9 14 79 56 1.411 47 Promoted to the Premier Division
6 Sittingbourne 42 20 7 15 66 56 1.179 47
7 Margate 42 20 6 16 88 77 1.143 46
8 Trowbridge Town 42 18 9 15 89 78 1.141 45
9 Cambridge United 42 18 9 15 71 72 0.986 45
10 Yiewsley 42 16 11 15 83 71 1.169 43
11 Bexleyheath & Welling 42 16 11 15 85 77 1.104 43
12 Merthyr Tydfil 42 16 10 16 63 65 0.969 42
13 Ramsgate Athletic 42 16 8 18 84 85 0.988 40
14 Ashford Town (Kent) 42 14 12 16 61 70 0.871 40
15 Tunbridge Wells United 42 17 5 20 77 74 1.041 39
16 Hinckley Athletic 42 14 8 20 62 75 0.827 36
17 Gloucester City 42 13 9 20 56 84 0.667 35
18 Dover 42 14 6 22 59 85 0.694 34
19 Kidderminster Harriers 42 14 6 22 59 97 0.608 34 Switched to the Birmingham & District League
20 Corby Town 42 15 3 24 75 91 0.824 33
21 Burton Albion 42 11 10 21 52 79 0.658 32
22 Rugby Town 42 10 11 21 67 91 0.736 31
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

Eleven Southern League clubs (including Guildford City and Romford from Division One) applied for election to the Football League. Although none were successful, Peterborough United were elected at the expense of Gateshead.[1]

Club League Votes
Oldham AthleticFootball League39
Peterborough UnitedMidland League35
Hartlepools UnitedFootball League34
SouthportFootball League29
GatesheadFootball League18
Headington UnitedSouthern League10
Chelmsford CitySouthern League3
Bedford TownSouthern League2
Cambridge CitySouthern League2
Guildford CitySouthern League2
New BrightonLancashire Combination2
RomfordSouthern League2
ScarboroughMidland League2
Worcester CitySouthern League2
Ellesmere Port TownCheshire League1
Kettering TownSouthern League1
MorecambeLancashire Combination1
South ShieldsMidland League1
Hereford UnitedSouthern League0
King's LynnSouthern League0
Yeovil TownSouthern League0

References
  1. A history of admission to the Football League
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