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The 1971–72 Southern Football League season was the 69th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
At the end of the previous season Division One was split into divisions One North and One South with 14 new clubs joining the league.
Chelmsford City won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst Burton Albion, Kettering Town, Ramsgate Athletic and Waterlooville were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eight Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, Hereford United was elected in favour of Barrow after a tie in the first vote.
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
League table
| Season | 1971–72 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Chelmsford City |
| Relegated | Bath City Gloucester City Merthyr Tydfil |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,378 (2.98 per match) |
← 1970–71 1972–73 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 109 | 46 | 2.370 | 62 | |
| 2 | Hereford United | 42 | 24 | 12 | 6 | 68 | 30 | 2.267 | 60 | Elected to the Football League Fourth Division |
| 3 | Dover | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 67 | 45 | 1.489 | 51 | |
| 4 | Barnet | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 80 | 57 | 1.404 | 49 | |
| 5 | Dartford | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 75 | 68 | 1.103 | 48 | |
| 6 | Weymouth | 42 | 21 | 5 | 16 | 69 | 43 | 1.605 | 47 | |
| 7 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 51 | 1.314 | 47 | |
| 8 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 64 | 58 | 1.103 | 46 | |
| 9 | Margate | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 74 | 68 | 1.088 | 46 | |
| 10 | Wimbledon | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 75 | 64 | 1.172 | 45 | |
| 11 | Romford | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 54 | 49 | 1.102 | 45 | |
| 12 | Guildford City | 42 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 71 | 65 | 1.092 | 45 | |
| 13 | Telford United | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 83 | 68 | 1.221 | 43 | |
| 14 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 46 | 47 | 0.979 | 42 | |
| 15 | Bedford Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 59 | 66 | 0.894 | 41 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 46 | 57 | 0.807 | 41 | |
| 17 | Cambridge City | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 68 | 71 | 0.958 | 38 | |
| 18 | Folkestone | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 58 | 64 | 0.906 | 35 | |
| 19 | Poole Town | 42 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 41 | 72 | 0.569 | 29 | |
| 20 | Bath City | 42 | 11 | 4 | 27 | 45 | 86 | 0.523 | 26 | Relegated to Division One South |
| 21 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 7 | 8 | 27 | 29 | 93 | 0.312 | 22 | Relegated to Division One North |
| 22 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 5 | 6 | 31 | 30 | 110 | 0.273 | 16 | Relegated to Division One South |
Division One North consisted of 18 clubs, including eight clubs from the previous season Division One and ten new clubs:
- Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
- Two clubs joined from the Metropolitan League:
- Two clubs joined from the Midland League:
- Two clubs joined from the West Midlands (Regional) League:
- Plus:
- Wealdstone, joined from the Isthmian League
League table
| Season | 1971–72 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Kettering Town |
| Promoted | Burton Albion Kettering Town |
| Matches played | 306 |
| Goals scored | 904 (2.95 per match) |
← 1970–71 1972–73 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kettering Town | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 70 | 27 | 2.593 | 52 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Burton Albion | 34 | 18 | 13 | 3 | 58 | 27 | 2.148 | 49 | |
| 3 | Cheltenham Town | 34 | 20 | 4 | 10 | 72 | 51 | 1.412 | 44 | |
| 4 | Rugby Town | 34 | 18 | 7 | 9 | 52 | 36 | 1.444 | 43 | |
| 5 | Wellingborough Town | 34 | 15 | 10 | 9 | 73 | 44 | 1.659 | 40 | |
| 6 | Stourbridge | 34 | 13 | 14 | 7 | 59 | 42 | 1.405 | 40 | |
| 7 | King's Lynn | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 62 | 45 | 1.378 | 39 | |
| 8 | Corby Town | 34 | 15 | 9 | 10 | 47 | 35 | 1.343 | 39 | |
| 9 | Ilkeston Town | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 44 | 38 | 1.158 | 39 | |
| 10 | Banbury United | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 54 | 46 | 1.174 | 33 | |
| 11 | Bury Town | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 47 | 44 | 1.068 | 33 | |
| 12 | Wealdstone | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 51 | 58 | 0.879 | 33 | Transferred to Division One South |
| 13 | Lockheed Leamington | 34 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 41 | 52 | 0.788 | 33 | |
| 14 | Gloucester City | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 46 | 61 | 0.754 | 24 | |
| 15 | Stevenage Athletic | 34 | 8 | 8 | 18 | 41 | 69 | 0.594 | 24 | |
| 16 | Bletchley Town | 34 | 7 | 7 | 20 | 36 | 70 | 0.514 | 21 | Transferred to Division One South |
| 17 | Dunstable Town | 34 | 5 | 7 | 22 | 29 | 75 | 0.387 | 17 | |
| 18 | Barry Town | 34 | 1 | 7 | 26 | 22 | 84 | 0.262 | 9 |
Division One South consisted of 16 clubs, including eight clubs from the previous season Division One and eight new clubs:
- Three clubs joined from the Hampshire League:
- Two clubs joined from the Metropolitan League:
- Plus:
- Andover, joined from the Western League
- Ashford Town (Kent), relegated from the Premier Division
- Maidstone United, joined from the Isthmian League
At the end of the season Ramsgate Athletic was renamed Ramsgate.
League table
| Season | 1971–72 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Waterlooville |
| Promoted | Ramsgate Athletic Waterlooville |
| Matches played | 240 |
| Goals scored | 661 (2.75 per match) |
← 1970–71 1972–73 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waterlooville | 30 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 40 | 22 | 1.818 | 39 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Ramsgate Athletic | 30 | 14 | 11 | 5 | 42 | 27 | 1.556 | 39 | |
| 3 | Maidstone United | 30 | 14 | 10 | 6 | 48 | 28 | 1.714 | 38 | |
| 4 | Crawley Town | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 67 | 55 | 1.218 | 35 | |
| 5 | Metropolitan Police | 30 | 15 | 3 | 12 | 48 | 41 | 1.171 | 33 | |
| 6 | Tonbridge | 30 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 37 | 34 | 1.088 | 33 | |
| 7 | Bexley United | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 52 | 46 | 1.130 | 32 | |
| 8 | Basingstoke Town | 30 | 14 | 4 | 12 | 37 | 36 | 1.028 | 32 | |
| 9 | Andover | 30 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 32 | 34 | 0.941 | 31 | |
| 10 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 30 | 12 | 4 | 14 | 43 | 48 | 0.896 | 28 | |
| 11 | Salisbury | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 45 | 44 | 1.023 | 27 | |
| 12 | Winchester City | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 47 | 0.851 | 27 | |
| 13 | Hastings United | 30 | 10 | 7 | 13 | 28 | 42 | 0.667 | 27 | |
| 14 | Trowbridge Town | 30 | 8 | 7 | 15 | 41 | 49 | 0.837 | 23 | |
| 15 | Canterbury City | 30 | 7 | 8 | 15 | 39 | 56 | 0.696 | 22 | |
| 16 | Woodford Town | 30 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 22 | 52 | 0.423 | 14 | Resigned to the Essex Senior League |
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 12 non-League clubs applied for election, eight of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, along with Hereford United who were elected in favour of Barrow after a tie in the first vote.[1]
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