1959–60 Southern Football League
The 1959–60 Southern Football League season saw 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.[1] Eleven Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
Final tables
Premier Division
Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Bath City | 42 | 32 | 3 | 7 | 116 | 50 | 2.32 | 67 | |
2 | Headington United | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 78 | 61 | 1.28 | 54 | Changed name to Oxford United at end of season |
3 | Weymouth | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 93 | 69 | 1.35 | 53 | |
4 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 82 | 68 | 1.21 | 48 | |
5 | Cambridge City | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 81 | 72 | 1.13 | 47 | |
6 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 90 | 70 | 1.29 | 45 | |
7 | Bedford Town | 42 | 21 | 3 | 18 | 97 | 85 | 1.14 | 45 | |
8 | King's Lynn | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 89 | 78 | 1.14 | 45 | |
9 | Boston United | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 83 | 80 | 1.04 | 44 | |
10 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 81 | 84 | 0.96 | 44 | |
11 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 81 | 73 | 1.11 | 42 | |
12 | Hereford United | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 70 | 74 | 0.95 | 42 | |
13 | Tonbridge | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 79 | 73 | 1.08 | 40 | |
14 | Hastings United | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 63 | 77 | 0.82 | 40 | |
15 | Wellington Town | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 63 | 78 | 0.81 | 37 | |
16 | Dartford | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 64 | 82 | 0.78 | 37 | |
17 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 69 | 84 | 0.82 | 36 | |
18 | Worcester City | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 72 | 89 | 0.80 | 36 | |
19 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 11 | 11 | 20 | 64 | 78 | 0.82 | 33 | Relegated to Division One |
20 | Barry Town | 42 | 14 | 5 | 23 | 78 | 103 | 0.75 | 33 | |
21 | Poole Town | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 69 | 96 | 0.71 | 28 | |
22 | Kettering Town | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 60 | 90 | 0.66 | 28 |
1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976-77 season.
2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
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.[2]
Division One
Division One featured ten new clubs:
- Ashford Town (from the Kent League)
- Bexleyheath & Welling (from the Kent League)
- Dover (from the Kent League)
- Folkestone Town (from the Kent League)
- Hinckley Athletic (from the Birmingham & District League)
- Margate (from the Kent League)
- Ramsgate Athletic (from the Kent League)
- Romford (from the Isthmian League)
- Sittingbourne (from the Kent League)
- Tunbridge Wells United (from the Kent League)
Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Clacton Town | 42 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 106 | 69 | 1.54 | 59 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
2 | Romford | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 65 | 40 | 1.62 | 53 | |
3 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 23 | 5 | 14 | 93 | 71 | 1.31 | 51 | |
4 | Exeter City II | 42 | 23 | 3 | 16 | 85 | 62 | 1.37 | 49 | Left league at end of season |
5 | Guildford City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 79 | 56 | 1.41 | 47 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
6 | Sittingbourne | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 66 | 56 | 1.18 | 47 | |
7 | Margate | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 88 | 77 | 1.14 | 46 | |
8 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 89 | 78 | 1.14 | 45 | |
9 | Cambridge United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 71 | 72 | 0.99 | 45 | |
10 | Yiewsley | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 83 | 71 | 1.17 | 43 | |
11 | Bexleyheath & Welling | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 85 | 77 | 1.1 | 43 | |
12 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 63 | 65 | 0.97 | 42 | |
13 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 84 | 85 | 0.99 | 40 | |
14 | Ashford Town | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 61 | 70 | 0.87 | 40 | |
15 | Tunbridge Wells United | 42 | 17 | 5 | 20 | 77 | 74 | 1.04 | 39 | |
16 | Hinckley Athletic | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 62 | 75 | 0.83 | 36 | |
17 | Gloucester City | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 56 | 84 | 0.66 | 35 | |
18 | Dover | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 59 | 85 | 0.69 | 34 | |
19 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 59 | 97 | 0.60 | 34 | Dropped into Birmingham & DL at end of season |
20 | Corby Town | 42 | 15 | 3 | 24 | 75 | 91 | 0.82 | 33 | |
21 | Burton Albion | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 52 | 79 | 0.65 | 32 | |
22 | Rugby Town | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 67 | 91 | 0.73 | 31 |