1961–62 Southern Football League
# 1961–62 Southern Football League

The 1961–62 Southern Football League season was the 59th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Oxford United won the championship for the second successive season and was admitted to the Football League.

## Premier Division

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

* Bexleyheath & Welling
* Cambridge United
* Kettering Town
* Merthyr Tydfil

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Oxford United | 42 | 28 | 5 | 9 | 118 | 46 | 2.565 | 61 | Elected to the Football League Fourth Division |
| 2 | Bath City | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 102 | 70 | 1.457 | 57 | |
| 3 | Guildford City | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 79 | 49 | 1.612 | 56 | |
| 4 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 23 | 8 | 11 | 97 | 59 | 1.644 | 54 | |
| 5 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 74 | 60 | 1.233 | 50 | |
| 6 | Weymouth | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 80 | 64 | 1.250 | 47 | |
| 7 | Kettering Town | 42 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 90 | 84 | 1.071 | 47 | |
| 8 | Hereford United | 42 | 21 | 2 | 19 | 81 | 68 | 1.191 | 44 | |
| 9 | Cambridge City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 70 | 71 | 0.986 | 44 | |
| 10 | Bexleyheath & Welling | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 69 | 75 | 0.920 | 43 | |
| 11 | Romford | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 63 | 70 | 0.900 | 39 | |
| 12 | Cambridge United | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 76 | 78 | 0.974 | 38 | |
| 13 | Wellington Town | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 75 | 78 | 0.962 | 38 | |
| 14 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 17 | 4 | 21 | 59 | 92 | 0.641 | 38 | |
| 15 | Bedford Town | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 73 | 79 | 0.924 | 37 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 51 | 64 | 0.797 | 37 | |
| 17 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 62 | 80 | 0.775 | 37 | |
| 18 | Clacton Town | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 74 | 91 | 0.813 | 36 | |
| 19 | Tonbridge | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 71 | 92 | 0.772 | 34 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | King's Lynn | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 59 | 74 | 0.797 | 32 | Relegated to Division One |
| 21 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 12 | 6 | 24 | 64 | 103 | 0.621 | 30 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 9 | 7 | 26 | 48 | 86 | 0.558 | 25 | Relegated to Division One |

## Division One

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

* Dartford
* Hastings United
* Wisbech Town

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wisbech Town | 38 | 21 | 11 | 6 | 76 | 42 | 1.810 | 53 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Poole Town | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 81 | 47 | 1.723 | 52 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Dartford | 38 | 21 | 8 | 9 | 89 | 50 | 1.780 | 50 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 4 | Rugby Town | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 82 | 49 | 1.673 | 49 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 5 | Margate | 38 | 20 | 6 | 12 | 74 | 55 | 1.345 | 46 | |
| 6 | Corby Town | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 82 | 60 | 1.367 | 44 | |
| 7 | Sittingbourne | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 69 | 51 | 1.353 | 44 | |
| 8 | Dover | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 66 | 55 | 1.200 | 44 | |
| 9 | Yiewsley | 38 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 64 | 51 | 1.255 | 42 | |
| 10 | Barry Town | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 55 | 51 | 1.078 | 39 | |
| 11 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 66 | 70 | 0.943 | 39 | |
| 12 | Hinckley Athletic | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 75 | 65 | 1.154 | 38 | |
| 13 | Burton Albion | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 70 | 79 | 0.886 | 37 | |
| 14 | Nuneaton Borough | 38 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 63 | 71 | 0.887 | 36 | |
| 15 | Tunbridge Wells United | 38 | 12 | 7 | 19 | 61 | 85 | 0.718 | 31 | |
| 16 | Canterbury City | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 82 | 0.732 | 30 | |
| 17 | Ramsgate Athletic | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 49 | 70 | 0.700 | 29 | |
| 18 | Trowbridge Town | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 45 | 67 | 0.672 | 27 | |
| 19 | Gloucester City | 38 | 6 | 4 | 28 | 46 | 104 | 0.442 | 16 | |
| 20 | Hastings United | 38 | 5 | 4 | 29 | 46 | 115 | 0.400 | 14 | |

## Football League elections

Due to the resignation of Accrington Stanley there was a free place in the Football League. Alongside the three League clubs facing re-election, a total of 26 non-League clubs applied for election, including 19 Southern League clubs. Southern League champions Oxford United were the only non-League club to be elected.

| Club | League | Votes |
| - | - | - |
| Chester | Football League | 46 |
| Doncaster Rovers | Football League | 45 |
| Hartlepools | Football League | 40 |
| Oxford United | Southern League | 39 |
| Wigan Athletic | Cheshire League | 5 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 4 |
| Gateshead | Northern Counties League | 4 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 2 |
| Worcester City | Southern League | 2 |
| Bath City | Southern League | 1 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 1 |
| King's Lynn | Southern League | 1 |
| Morecambe | Lancashire Combination | 1 |
| New Brighton | Lancashire Combination | 1 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Bexleyheath & Welling | Southern League | 0 |
| Corby Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Folkestone Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | Southern League | 0 |
| Guildford City | Southern League | 0 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 0 |
| North Shields | Northern Counties League | 0 |
| Poole Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Romford | Southern League | 0 |
| Scarborough | Northern Counties League | 0 |
| Sittingbourne | Southern League | 0 |
| South Shields | Midland League | 0 |
| Wellington Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 0 |
