1975–76 Southern Football League

The 1975–76 season was the 73rd in the history of the Southern League. It was the last Southern League season to use goal average as a tie-breaking criteria.

Premier Division

The Premier Division featured four new teams:

• Bedford Town, promoted as champions of Division One North
• Dunstable Town, promoted as runners-up of Division One North
• Gravesend & Northfleet, promoted as champions of Division One South
• Hillingdon Borough, promoted as runners-up of in Division One South

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Wimbledon (C)	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 Town (R)	42	17	9	16	55	43	1.279	43	Relegation to SFL Division One North
9	Bedford Town	42	13	17	12	52	51	1.02	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	1.13	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	0.85	34
19	Wealdstone	42	12	9	21	61	82	0.744	33
20	Tonbridge (R)	42	11	11	20	45	70	0.643	33	Relegation to SFL Division One South
21	Cambridge City (R)	42	8	15	19	41	67	0.612	31	Relegation to SFL Division One North
22	Stourbridge (R)	42	10	9	23	38	72	0.528	29

Source: [1]
^{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.}
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 nine non-League clubs applied for election, six of which were Southern League clubs. All the League clubs were re-elected.

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

Division One North

Division One featured two new teams:

• Barnet, relegated from the Premier Division
• Oswestry Town, promoted as 10th in the Cheshire County League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Redditch United (C) (P)	42	29	11	2	101	39	2.59	69	Promotion to 1976–77 Southern League Premier Division
2	AP Leamington (P)	42	27	10	5	85	31	2.742	64
3	Witney Town	42	24	9	9	66	40	1.65	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 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	0.81	36
16	Bury Town (R)	42	12	11	19	52	72	0.722	35	Relegation to 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	109	0.422	18	Club folded

Source: [2]
^{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.}
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.

Division One South

Division One South featured two new teams:

• Dartford, Guildford & Dorking United and Romford, relegated from the Premier Division

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Minehead (C) (P)	38	27	8	3	102	35	2.914	62	Promotion to 1976–77 Southern League Premier Division
2	Dartford (P)	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	42
7	Bexley United (R)	38	14	13	11	62	53	1.17	41	Relegation to London Spartan League
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	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	0.64	32
15	Guildford & Dorking United	38	9	13	16	43	50	0.86	31	Club folded
16	Bognor Regis Town	38	6	17	15	44	72	0.611	29
17	Ramsgate (R)	38	9	10	19	57	76	0.75	28	Relegation to 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: [3]
^{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.}
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.

References

• RSSF – Southern Football League archive