1975–76 Southern Football League
# 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

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

* Two clubs promoted from Division One North:
   * Bedford Town
   * Dunstable Town
* Two clubs promoted from Division One South:
   * Gravesend & Northfleet
   * Hillingdon Borough

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

| 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 | Relegated to Division One North |

## Division One North

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

* Barnet, relegated from the Premier Division
* Oswestry Town, joined from the Cheshire County League

### League table

| 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 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 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 |

## Division One South

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

* Dartford
* Guildford & Dorking United
* Romford

### League table

| 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 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 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 | |

## 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 |
