1953–54 Southern Football League
# 1953–54 Southern Football League

The 1953–54 Southern Football League season was the 51st in the history of the league, an English football competition.

No new clubs had joined the league for this season so the league consisted of 22 clubs from previous season. Merthyr Tydfil were champions, winning their fifth Southern League title. Four Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

## Final table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 27 | 8 | 7 | 97 | 55 | 1.764 | 62 |
| 2 | Headington United | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 68 | 43 | 1.581 | 53 |
| 3 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 87 | 76 | 1.145 | 48 |
| 4 | Bath City | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 73 | 67 | 1.090 | 46 |
| 5 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 62 | 59 | 1.051 | 45 |
| 6 | Weymouth | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 83 | 72 | 1.153 | 44 |
| 7 | Barry Town | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 108 | 91 | 1.187 | 43 |
| 8 | Bedford Town | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 80 | 84 | 0.952 | 43 |
| 9 | Gloucester City | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 69 | 77 | 0.896 | 43 |
| 10 | Hastings United | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 73 | 67 | 1.090 | 42 |
| 11 | Kettering Town | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 65 | 63 | 1.032 | 42 |
| 12 | Hereford United | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 62 | 1.065 | 41 |
| 13 | Llanelly | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 80 | 85 | 0.941 | 41 |
| 14 | Guildford City | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 56 | 60 | 0.933 | 41 |
| 15 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 76 | 77 | 0.987 | 40 |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 66 | 71 | 0.930 | 40 |
| 17 | Lovells Athletic | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 62 | 60 | 1.033 | 39 |
| 18 | Tonbridge | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 85 | 91 | 0.934 | 39 |
| 19 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 67 | 71 | 0.944 | 38 |
| 20 | Exeter City II | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 61 | 72 | 0.847 | 35 |
| 21 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 56 | 83 | 0.675 | 34 |
| 22 | Dartford | 42 | 6 | 13 | 23 | 42 | 89 | 0.472 | 25 |

## Football League elections

Four Southern League clubs applied for election to the Football League. However, none were successful as all four League clubs were re-elected.

| Club | League | Votes |
| - | - | - |
| Chester | Football League | 48 |
| Colchester United | Football League | 45 |
| Walsall | Football League | 32 |
| Halifax Town | Football League | 28 |
| Wigan Athletic | Lancashire Combination | 19 |
| Peterborough United | Midland League | 18 |
| Nelson | Lancashire Combination | 3 |
| Worcester City | Southern League | 2 |
| Merthyr Tydfil | Southern League | 1 |
| Bath City | Southern League | 0 |
| North Shields | North Eastern League | 0 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 0 |
