1973–74 Southern Football League
# 1973–74 Southern Football League

The 1973–74 Southern Football League season was the 71st in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Dartford won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst Burton Albion, Stourbridge, Bath City and Wealdstone 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:
   * Atherstone Town
   * Grantham
* Two clubs promoted from Division One South:
   * Maidstone United
   * Tonbridge

At the end of the season Guildford City, who lost its ground earlier, merged with Dorking to form a new club Guildford & Dorking United. Also, Folkestone was renamed Folkestone and Shepway.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Dartford | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 67 | 37 | 1.811 | 57 | |
| 2 | Grantham | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 70 | 49 | 1.429 | 49 | |
| 3 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 62 | 49 | 1.265 | 48 | |
| 4 | Kettering Town | 42 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 62 | 51 | 1.216 | 48 | |
| 5 | Maidstone United | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 54 | 43 | 1.256 | 46 | |
| 6 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 13 | 20 | 9 | 45 | 39 | 1.154 | 46 | |
| 7 | Weymouth | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 60 | 41 | 1.463 | 45 | |
| 8 | Barnet | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 55 | 46 | 1.196 | 45 | |
| 9 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 13 | 19 | 10 | 54 | 47 | 1.149 | 45 | |
| 10 | Cambridge City | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 45 | 54 | 0.833 | 42 | |
| 11 | Atherstone Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 61 | 59 | 1.034 | 41 | |
| 12 | Wimbledon | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 50 | 56 | 0.893 | 41 | |
| 13 | Telford United | 42 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 51 | 57 | 0.895 | 40 | |
| 14 | Dover | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 41 | 46 | 0.891 | 39 | |
| 15 | Tonbridge | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 38 | 45 | 0.844 | 39 | |
| 16 | Romford | 42 | 11 | 17 | 14 | 39 | 52 | 0.750 | 39 | |
| 17 | Margate | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 56 | 63 | 0.889 | 38 | |
| 18 | Guildford City | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 48 | 67 | 0.716 | 37 | Merged into Guildford & Dorking United |
| 19 | Worcester City | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 53 | 67 | 0.791 | 36 | Relegated to Division One North |
| 20 | Bedford Town | 42 | 11 | 14 | 17 | 38 | 51 | 0.745 | 36 | Relegated to Division One North |
| 21 | Folkestone | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 56 | 65 | 0.862 | 34 | Relegated to Division One South |
| 22 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 9 | 15 | 18 | 44 | 65 | 0.677 | 33 | Relegated to Division One South |

## Division One North

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

* Bletchley Town, transferred from Division One South
* Burton Albion, relegated from the Premier Division
* Dunstable Town, transferred from Division One South
* Witney Town, joined from the Hellenic Football League

Also, at the end of the previous season Lockheed Leamington was renamed AP Leamington.

At the end of the season Bletchley Town was renamed Milton Keynes City.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Stourbridge | 42 | 29 | 11 | 2 | 103 | 36 | 2.861 | 69 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Burton Albion | 42 | 27 | 9 | 6 | 88 | 32 | 2.750 | 63 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 75 | 51 | 1.471 | 56 | |
| 4 | AP Leamington | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 82 | 45 | 1.822 | 54 | |
| 5 | Enderby Town | 42 | 19 | 14 | 9 | 60 | 36 | 1.667 | 52 | |
| 6 | Witney Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 69 | 55 | 1.255 | 50 | |
| 7 | Stevenage Athletic | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 65 | 46 | 1.413 | 49 | |
| 8 | Banbury United | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 69 | 57 | 1.211 | 49 | |
| 9 | King's Lynn | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 65 | 50 | 1.300 | 48 | |
| 10 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 67 | 53 | 1.264 | 44 | |
| 11 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 70 | 61 | 1.148 | 44 | |
| 12 | Redditch United | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 56 | 73 | 0.767 | 39 | |
| 13 | Bromsgrove Rovers | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 54 | 61 | 0.885 | 38 | |
| 14 | Bedworth United | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 50 | 77 | 0.649 | 38 | |
| 15 | Tamworth | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 42 | 51 | 0.824 | 37 | |
| 16 | Corby Town | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 40 | 57 | 0.702 | 35 | |
| 17 | Bletchley Town | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 47 | 71 | 0.662 | 35 | |
| 18 | Barry Town | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 53 | 85 | 0.624 | 28 | |
| 19 | Bury Town | 42 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 57 | 84 | 0.679 | 26 | |
| 20 | Gloucester City | 42 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 52 | 81 | 0.642 | 26 | |
| 21 | Wellingborough Town | 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 42 | 87 | 0.483 | 23 | |
| 22 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 5 | 11 | 26 | 26 | 83 | 0.313 | 21 | |

## Division One South

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

* Poole Town
* Ramsgate
* Waterlooville

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Wealdstone | 38 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 75 | 35 | 2.143 | 59 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Bath City | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 55 | 34 | 1.618 | 48 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Waterlooville | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 55 | 38 | 1.447 | 47 | |
| 4 | Minehead | 38 | 16 | 15 | 7 | 69 | 52 | 1.327 | 47 | |
| 5 | Bideford | 38 | 17 | 12 | 9 | 61 | 51 | 1.196 | 46 | |
| 6 | Poole Town | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 67 | 47 | 1.426 | 45 | |
| 7 | Bexley United | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 50 | 42 | 1.190 | 43 | |
| 8 | Hastings United | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 45 | 36 | 1.250 | 41 | |
| 9 | Basingstoke Town | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 55 | 44 | 1.250 | 39 | |
| 10 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 38 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 58 | 52 | 1.115 | 39 | |
| 11 | Bognor Regis Town | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 48 | 54 | 0.889 | 38 | |
| 12 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 42 | 0.976 | 36 | |
| 13 | Ramsgate | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 46 | 44 | 1.045 | 35 | |
| 14 | Dorchester Town | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 40 | 48 | 0.833 | 33 | |
| 15 | Canterbury City | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 37 | 46 | 0.804 | 30 | |
| 16 | Trowbridge Town | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 44 | 61 | 0.721 | 30 | |
| 17 | Salisbury | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 40 | 60 | 0.667 | 29 | |
| 18 | Metropolitan Police | 38 | 9 | 11 | 18 | 37 | 61 | 0.607 | 29 | |
| 19 | Andover | 38 | 11 | 3 | 24 | 38 | 70 | 0.543 | 25 | |
| 20 | Crawley Town | 38 | 6 | 9 | 23 | 35 | 79 | 0.443 | 21 | |

## Football League elections

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

| Club | League | Votes |
| - | - | - |
| Doncaster Rovers | Football League | 46 |
| Stockport County | Football League | 38 |
| Crewe Alexandra | Football League | 37 |
| Workington | Football League | 21 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 16 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 14 |
| Wigan Athletic | Northern Premier League | 10 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 8 |
| Nuneaton Borough | Southern League | 1 |
| Telford United | Southern League | 1 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 0 |
