1975–76 Southern Football League

The 1975–76 Southern Football League season was the 73rd in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Wimbledon won the championship, winning their second Southern League title in a row, whilst AP Leamington, Redditch United, Dartford and Minehead were all promoted to the Premier Division. Six Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

Premier Division

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The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:

Midway through the season Dunstable Town and Tonbridge folded, their records was transferred to the new clubs Dunstable and Tonbridge Angels respectively, with both clubs to be demoted to divisions One wherever they finish. Thus, Wealdstone was reprieved from relegation.

League table

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Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1975–76
ChampionsWimbledon
RelegatedCambridge City
Stourbridge
Matches played462
Goals scored1,181 (2.56 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Wimbledon 42 26 10 6 74 29 2.552 62
2 Yeovil Town 42 21 12 9 68 35 1.943 54
3 Atherstone Town 42 18 15 9 56 55 1.018 51
4 Maidstone United 42 17 16 9 52 39 1.333 50
5 Nuneaton Borough 42 16 18 8 41 33 1.242 50
6 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 16 18 8 49 47 1.043 50
7 Grantham 42 15 14 13 56 47 1.191 44
8 Dunstable 42 17 9 16 55 43 1.279 43 Demoted to Division One North
9 Bedford Town 42 13 17 12 52 51 1.020 43
10 Burton Albion 42 17 9 16 52 53 0.981 43
11 Margate 42 15 12 15 62 60 1.033 42
12 Hillingdon Borough 42 13 14 15 61 54 1.130 40
13 Telford United 42 14 12 16 54 51 1.059 40
14 Chelmsford City 42 13 14 15 52 57 0.912 40
15 Kettering Town 42 11 17 14 48 52 0.923 39
16 Bath City 42 11 16 15 62 57 1.088 38
17 Weymouth 42 13 9 20 51 67 0.761 35
18 Dover 42 8 18 16 51 60 0.850 34
19 Wealdstone 42 12 9 21 61 82 0.744 33 Reprieved from relegation
20 Tonbridge Angels 42 11 11 20 45 70 0.643 33 Demoted to Division One South
21 Cambridge City 42 8 15 19 41 67 0.612 31 Relegated to Division One North
22 Stourbridge 42 10 9 23 38 72 0.528 29
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One North

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Division One North consisted of 22 clubs, including 20 clubs from the previous season and two new clubs:

League table

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Southern Football League
Division One North
Season1975–76
ChampionsRedditch United
PromotedAP Leamington
Redditch United
Matches played462
Goals scored1,316 (2.85 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Redditch United 42 29 11 2 101 39 2.590 69 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 AP Leamington 42 27 10 5 85 31 2.742 64
3 Witney Town 42 24 9 9 66 40 1.650 57
4 Worcester City 42 24 8 10 90 49 1.837 56
5 Cheltenham Town 42 20 10 12 87 55 1.582 50
6 Barry Town 42 19 10 13 52 47 1.106 48
7 King's Lynn 42 17 14 11 52 48 1.083 48
8 Tamworth 42 18 11 13 65 43 1.512 47
9 Barnet 42 15 12 15 56 57 0.982 42 Transferred to the Division One South
10 Oswestry Town 42 16 8 18 63 71 0.887 40
11 Enderby Town 42 16 6 20 48 51 0.941 38
12 Banbury United 42 15 8 19 58 67 0.866 38
13 Merthyr Tydfil 42 11 15 16 59 67 0.881 37
14 Bromsgrove Rovers 42 13 11 18 49 65 0.754 37
15 Milton Keynes City 42 15 6 21 51 63 0.810 36
16 Bury Town 42 12 11 19 52 72 0.722 35 Resigned to the Eastern Counties League
17 Gloucester City 42 13 9 20 49 78 0.628 35
18 Kidderminster Harriers 42 13 8 21 54 70 0.771 34
19 Bedworth United 42 8 18 16 41 65 0.631 34
20 Corby Town 42 11 10 21 50 65 0.769 32
21 Wellingborough Town 42 9 11 22 42 68 0.618 29
22 Stevenage Athletic 42 6 6 30 46 105 0.438 18 Club folded
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One South

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Division One South consisted of 20 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and three clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:

League table

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Southern Football League
Division One South
Season1975–76
ChampionsMinehead
PromotedDartford
Minehead
Matches played380
Goals scored1,169 (3.08 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Minehead 38 27 8 3 102 35 2.914 62 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Dartford 38 26 4 8 84 46 1.826 56
3 Romford 38 21 9 8 66 37 1.784 51
4 Salisbury 38 17 11 10 73 53 1.377 45
5 Hastings United 38 15 15 8 67 51 1.314 45
6 Poole Town 38 20 2 16 57 57 1.000 42
7 Bexley United 38 14 13 11 62 53 1.170 41 Club folded
8 Waterlooville 38 13 13 12 62 54 1.148 39
9 Basingstoke Town 38 13 12 13 69 71 0.972 38
10 Ashford Town (Kent) 38 14 8 16 67 73 0.918 36
11 Canterbury City 38 11 13 14 53 60 0.883 35
12 Folkestone & Shepway 38 10 14 14 36 51 0.706 34
13 Metropolitan Police 38 9 14 15 46 58 0.793 32
14 Trowbridge Town 38 11 10 17 48 75 0.640 32
15 Guildford & Dorking United 38 9 13 16 43 50 0.860 31
16 Bognor Regis Town 38 6 17 15 44 72 0.611 29
17 Ramsgate 38 9 10 19 57 76 0.750 28 Resigned to the Kent Football League
18 Crawley Town 38 9 10 19 46 66 0.697 28
19 Andover 38 9 10 19 42 62 0.677 28
20 Dorchester Town 38 11 6 21 45 69 0.652 28
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

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

Club League Votes
Stockport County Football League 42
Newport County Football League 41
Southport Football League 38
Workington Football League 21
Yeovil Town Southern League 18
Kettering Town Southern League 14
Wigan Athletic Northern Premier League 6
Wimbledon Southern League 3
Chelmsford City Southern League 3
Nuneaton Borough Southern League 2
Telford United Southern League 2
Gainsborough Trinity Northern Premier League 1
Scarborough Northern Premier League 1

See also

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References

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