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
Season	1896–97
Champions	Southampton St.Mary's (1st title)
Promoted	none
Relegated	Royal Ordnance Factories (resigned)
Matches played	110
Goals scored	429 (3.9 per match)
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

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:

Northfleet - Kent League champions
Gravesend United - Kent League members
Tottenham Hotspur

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Southampton St.Mary's	20	15	5	0	63	18	3.5	35	Changed name to Southampton at end of season
2	Millwall Athletic	20	13	5	2	63	24	2.63	31
3	Chatham Town	20	13	1	6	54	29	1.86	27
4	Tottenham Hotspur	20	9	4	7	43	29	1.48	22
5	Gravesend United	20	9	4	7	35	34	1.03	22
6	Swindon Town	20	8	3	9	33	37	0.89	19
7	Reading	20	8	3	9	31	49	0.63	19
8	New Brompton	20	7	2	11	32	42	0.76	16
9	Northfleet	20	5	4	11	24	46	0.52	14	Relegation test matches
10	Sheppey United	20	5	1	14	34	47	0.72	11
11	Wolverton L&NWR	20	2	0	18	17	74	0.23	4
12	Royal Ordnance Factories	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Resigned from league after seven matches, record expunged

^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season.}

^{2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

Division Two

Southern Football League Division Two
Season	1896–97
Champions	Dartford
Promoted	none
Relegated	Freemantle (resigned) 1st Scots Guards (resigned) 1st Coldstream Guards (resigned)
Matches played	156
Goals scored	618 (3.96 per match)
← 1895–96 1897–98 →

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	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Dartford	24	16	4	4	83	19	4.37	36	Promotion test matches
2	RETB Chatham	24	11	9	4	49	37	1.32	31	Promotion test matches
3	Freemantle	24	12	4	8	58	40	1.45	28	Promotion test matches, left league at end of season
4	Uxbridge	24	11	5	8	62	37	1.68	27
5	Wycombe Wanderers	24	10	6	8	37	54	0.69	26
6	Chesham	24	11	3	10	41	55	0.75	25
7	Southall	24	9	6	9	55	52	1.06	24
8	1st Scots Guards	24	9	6	9	49	50	0.98	24	Left league at end of season
9	West Herts	24	11	1	12	41	49	0.84	23
10	Warmley	24	10	3	11	44	43	1.02	23
11	Old St.Stephen's	24	5	7	12	36	52	0.69	17
12	Maidenhead	24	4	8	12	33	64	0.52	16
13	1st Coldstream Guards	24	3	6	15	30	66	0.45	12	Left league at end of season

^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season.}

^{2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

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.^[1]^[2]

Division One clubs v Division Two clubs

Division One clubs	v	Division Two clubs

Wolverton LNWR v Dartford

Wolverton LNWR	2 – 0	Dartford

Sheppey United v RETB Chatham

Sheppey United	2 – 1	RETB Chatham

Northfleet v Freemantle

Northfleet	0 – 3	Freemantle

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.^[3]

Club	League	Votes
Lincoln City	Football League	21
Burton Swifts	Football League	15
Luton Town	United League	13
Burslem Port Vale	Midland League	11
Burton Wanderers	Football League	9
Nelson	Lancashire League	7
Glossop North End	The Combination	5
Fairfield	Lancashire League	3
Crewe Alexandra	The Combination	2
Millwall Athletic	Southern League	1

References

↑ Northfleet at the Football Club History Database
↑ Freemantle at the Football Club History Database
↑ A history of admission to the Football League

External links

Southern League

Premier Division	Banbury United Basingstoke Town Biggleswade Town Cambridge City Chesham United Chippenham Town Cinderford Town Cirencester Town Dorchester Town Dunstable Town Frome Town Hayes and Yeading United Hitchin Town Kettering Town King's Langley King's Lynn Town Leamington Merthyr Town Redditch United Slough Town St Ives Town St Neots Town Stratford Town Weymouth

Division One Central	AFC Dunstable Arlesey Town Ashford Town Aylesbury Aylesbury United Barton Rovers Beaconsfield SYCOB Bedford Town Chalfont St Peter Egham Town Farnborough Fleet Town Hanwell Town Histon Kempston Rovers Kidlington Marlow Northwood Petersfield Town Potters Bar Town Royston Town Uxbridge

Division One South & West	AFC Totton Barnstaple Town Bideford Bishop's Cleeve Bridgwater Town Didcot Town Evesham United Hereford Larkhall Athletic Mangotsfield United North Leigh Paulton Rovers Salisbury Shortwood United Slimbridge Swindon Supermarine Taunton Town Tiverton Town Wantage Town Wimborne Town Winchester City Yate Town

Seasons	1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

1896–97 in English football

« 1895–96

1897–98 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying rounds
Final)

Football and Southern Leagues

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division	Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Burnley Bury Derby County Everton Liverpool Nottingham Forest Preston North End Sheffield United Stoke Sunderland The Wednesday West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Burton Swifts Burton Wanderers Darwen Gainsborough Trinity Grimsby Town Leicester Fosse Lincoln City Loughborough Manchester City Newcastle United Newton Heath Notts County Small Heath Walsall Woolwich Arsenal

Southern League	Chatham Town Gravesend United Millwall Athletic New Brompton Northfleet Reading Royal Ordnance Sheppey United Southampton St Mary's Swindon Town Tottenham Hotspur Wolverton L & NWR

Others	Thames Ironworks

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