1972–73 Southern Football League

The 1972–73 season was the 70th in the history of the Southern League.

Premier Division

Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season	1972–73
Champions	Kettering Town
Promoted	None
Relegated	Burton Albion Poole Town Ramsgate Waterlooville
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1236 (2.68 per match)
← 1971–72 1973–74 →

The Premier Division featured four new teams:

Burton Albion, promoted as runners-up of Division One North
Kettering Town, promoted as champions of Division One North
Ramsgate, promoted as runners-up of in Division One South
Waterlooville, promoted as champions of Division One South

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kettering Town !Kettering Town (C)	42	20	17	5	74	44	1.682	57
2	Yeovil Town !Yeovil Town	42	21	14	7	67	31	2.161	56
3	Dover !Dover	42	23	9	10	61	38	1.605	55
4	Chelmsford City !Chelmsford City	42	23	7	12	75	43	1.744	53
5	Worcester City !Worcester City	42	20	13	9	68	47	1.447	53
6	Weymouth !Weymouth	42	20	12	10	72	51	1.412	52
7	Margate !Margate	42	17	15	10	80	60	1.333	49
8	Bedford Town !Bedford Town	42	16	15	11	43	36	1.194	47
9	Nuneaton Borough !Nuneaton Borough	42	16	14	12	51	41	1.244	46
10	Telford United !Telford United	42	12	20	10	57	47	1.213	44
11	Cambridge City !Cambridge City	42	14	15	13	64	53	1.208	43
12	Wimbledon !Wimbledon	42	14	14	14	50	50	1	42
13	Barnet !Barnet	42	15	11	16	60	59	1.017	41
14	Romford !Romford	42	17	5	20	51	65	0.785	39
15	Hillingdon Borough !Hillingdon Borough	42	16	6	20	53	59	0.898	38
16	Dartford !Dartford	42	12	11	19	49	63	0.778	35
17	Folkestone !Folkestone	42	11	11	20	41	72	0.569	33
18	Guildford City !Guildford City	42	10	11	21	59	84	0.702	31
19	Ramsgate !Ramsgate (R)	42	9	13	20	35	61	0.574	31	Relegation to SFL Division One South
20	Poole Town !Poole Town (R)	42	10	10	22	50	88	0.568	30	Relegation to SFL Division One South
21	Burton Albion !Burton Albion (R)	42	9	7	26	43	81	0.531	25	Relegation to SFL Division One North
22	Waterlooville !Waterlooville (R)	42	4	16	22	33	63	0.524	24	Relegation to SFL Division One South

Source:
^{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.}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, eight of which were Southern League clubs. All the League clubs were re-elected.^[1]

Club	League	Votes
Colchester United	Football League	48
Northampton Town	Football League	43
Crewe Alexandra	Football League	36
Darlington	Football League	26
Yeovil Town	Southern League	14
Kettering Town	Southern League	12
Wigan Athletic	Northern Premier League	10
Chelmsford City	Southern League	4
Cambridge City	Southern League	1
Nuneaton Borough	Southern League	1
Telford United	Southern League	1
Bedford Town	Southern League	0
Boston United	Northern Premier League	0
Wimbledon	Southern League	0

Division One North

Southern Football League
Division One North
Season	1972–73
Champions	Grantham
Promoted	Atherstone Town Grantham
Relegated	Ilkeston Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1298 (2.81 per match)
← 1971–72 1973–74 →

Division One featured nine new teams:

Atherstone Town, runners-up of the West Midlands (Regional) League
Bedworth United, tenth in the West Midlands (Regional) League
Bromsgrove Rovers, fourth in the West Midlands (Regional) League
Enderby Town
Grantham, champions of the Midland League
Kidderminster Harriers, third in the West Midlands (Regional) League
Merthyr Tydfil relegated from the Premier Division
Redditch United, sixth in the West Midlands (Regional) League
Tamworth, champions of the West Midlands (Regional) League

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Grantham !Grantham (C) (P)	42	29	8	5	113	41	2.756	66	Promotion to 1973–74 Southern League Premier Division
2	Atherstone Town !Atherstone Town (P)	42	23	11	8	82	48	1.708	57	Promotion to 1973–74 Southern League Premier Division
3	Cheltenham Town !Cheltenham Town	42	24	8	10	87	47	1.851	56
4	Rugby Town !Rugby Town	42	20	10	12	60	47	1.277	50	Club folded
5	Kidderminster Harriers !Kidderminster Harriers	42	19	12	11	67	56	1.196	50
6	Merthyr Tydfil !Merthyr Tydfil	42	17	12	13	51	40	1.275	46
7	Corby Town !Corby Town	42	14	16	12	62	56	1.107	44
8	Stourbridge !Stourbridge	42	16	11	15	70	64	1.094	43
9	Gloucester City !Gloucester City	42	18	7	17	55	64	0.859	43
10	Bromsgrove Rovers !Bromsgrove Rovers	42	17	8	17	63	54	1.167	42
11	Redditch United !Redditch United	42	18	6	18	58	59	0.983	42
12	Banbury United !Banbury United	42	18	5	19	60	53	1.132	41
13	Wellingborough Town !Wellingborough Town	42	17	7	18	58	71	0.817	41
14	King's Lynn !King's Lynn	42	14	12	16	48	49	0.98	40
15	Lockheed Leamington !Lockheed Leamington	42	13	12	17	51	58	0.879	38
16	Enderby Town !Enderby Town	42	12	14	16	50	61	0.82	38
17	Stevenage Athletic !Stevenage Athletic	42	12	13	17	50	63	0.794	37
18	Tamworth !Tamworth	42	14	8	20	45	65	0.692	36
19	Bury Town !Bury Town	42	13	9	20	52	69	0.754	35
20	Barry Town !Barry Town	42	11	10	21	39	71	0.549	32
21	Ilkeston Town !Ilkeston Town (R)	42	9	6	27	35	68	0.515	24	Relegation to Midland League
22	Bedworth United !Bedworth United	42	10	3	29	42	94	0.447	23

Division One South

Southern Football League
Division One South
Season	1972–73
Champions	Maidstone United
Promoted	Maidstone United Tonbridge
Relegated	Winchester City
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1347 (2.92 per match)
← 1971–72 1973–74 →

Division One South featured eight new teams:

Bath City and Gravesend & Northfleet relegated from the Premier Division
Bideford, champions of the Western League
Bletchley Town, Dunstable Town and Wealdstone, transferred from Division One North
Bognor Regis Town, champions of the Sussex League
Dorchester Town, seventh in the Western League
Minehead, runners up in the Western League

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Maidstone United !Maidstone United (C) (P)	42	25	12	5	90	38	2.368	62	Promotion to 1973–74 Southern League Premier Division
2	Tonbridge !Tonbridge (P)	42	26	7	9	70	44	1.591	59	Promotion to 1973–74 Southern League Premier Division
3	Ashford Town !Ashford Town	42	24	7	11	90	40	2.25	55
4	Bideford !Bideford	42	19	14	9	70	43	1.628	52
5	Minehead !Minehead	42	20	12	10	65	47	1.383	52
6	Gravesend & Northfleet !Gravesend & Northfleet	42	22	7	13	81	55	1.473	51
7	Bath City !Bath City	42	18	11	13	56	54	1.037	47
8	Wealdstone !Wealdstone	42	16	12	14	81	61	1.328	44
9	Bletchley Town !Bletchley Town	42	14	13	15	54	51	1.059	41	Transferred to Division One North
10	Hastings United !Hastings United	42	14	13	15	53	53	1	41
11	Andover !Andover	42	15	11	16	62	70	0.886	41
12	Canterbury City !Canterbury City	42	14	12	16	51	59	0.864	40
13	Basingstoke Town !Basingstoke Town	42	14	12	16	48	57	0.842	40
14	Crawley Town !Crawley Town	42	14	11	17	59	76	0.776	39
15	Metropolitan Police !Metropolitan Police	42	15	8	19	82	75	1.093	38
16	Bexley United !Bexley United	42	12	14	16	54	64	0.844	38
17	Trowbridge Town !Trowbridge Town	42	15	8	19	65	77	0.844	38
18	Salisbury !Salisbury	42	14	10	18	49	60	0.817	38
19	Bognor Regis Town !Bognor Regis Town	42	12	9	21	41	66	0.621	33
20	Dorchester Town !Dorchester Town	42	10	12	20	47	73	0.644	32
21	Winchester City !Winchester City (R)	42	7	11	24	41	79	0.519	25	Relegation to Hampshire League
22	Dunstable Town !Dunstable Town	42	4	10	28	38	105	0.362	18	Transferred to Division One North

References

RSSF – Southern Football League archive

↑ A history of admission to the Football League

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

1972–73 in English football

« 1971–72

1973–74 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

First Division	Arsenal Birmingham City Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Ipswich Town Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Norwich City Queens Park Rangers Sheffield United Southampton Stoke City Tottenham Hotspur Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Aston Villa Blackpool Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Burnley Cardiff City Carlisle United Fulham Huddersfield Town Hull City Leyton Orient Luton Town Middlesbrough Millwall Nottingham Forest Oxford United Portsmouth Preston North End Sheffield Wednesday Sunderland Swindon Town West Bromwich Albion West Ham United

Third Division	Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Bournemouth Brentford Bristol Rovers Charlton Athletic Chesterfield Grimsby Town Halifax Town Notts County Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Port Vale Rochdale Rotherham United Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Southend United Swansea City Tranmere Rovers Walsall Watford Wrexham York City

Fourth Division	Aldershot Barnsley Bradford City Bury Cambridge United Chester Colchester United Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Gillingham Hartlepool United Hereford United Lincoln City Mansfield Town Newport County Northampton Town Peterborough United Reading Southport Stockport County Torquay United Workington

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