1968–69 Southern Football League

The 1968–69 Southern Football League season was the 66th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Cambridge United won the championship, winning their first Southern League title, whilst Bath City, Brentwood Town, Crawley Town and Gloucester City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Twelve 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, promoted from Division One:

• Bedford Town
• Kettering Town
• Rugby Town
• Worcester City

At the end of the season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.

League table

Southern Football League
Premier Division

Season	1968–69
Champions	Cambridge United
Relegated	Bedford Town Cheltenham Town Guildford City Rugby Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,325 (2.87 per match)
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Cambridge United	42	27	5	10	72	39	1.846	59
2	Hillingdon Borough	42	24	10	8	68	47	1.447	58
3	Wimbledon	42	21	12	9	66	48	1.375	54
4	King's Lynn	42	20	9	13	68	60	1.133	49
5	Worcester City	42	19	11	12	53	47	1.128	49
6	Romford	42	18	12	12	58	52	1.115	48
7	Weymouth	42	16	15	11	52	41	1.268	47
8	Yeovil Town	42	16	13	13	52	50	1.040	45
9	Kettering Town	42	18	8	16	51	55	0.927	44
10	Dover	42	17	9	16	66	61	1.082	43
11	Nuneaton Borough	42	17	7	18	74	58	1.276	41
12	Barnet	42	15	10	17	72	66	1.091	40
13	Chelmsford City	42	17	6	19	56	58	0.966	40
14	Hereford United	42	15	9	18	66	62	1.065	39
15	Wellington Town	42	14	10	18	62	61	1.016	38
16	Poole Town	42	16	6	20	75	76	0.987	38
17	Burton Albion	42	16	5	21	55	71	0.775	37
18	Margate	42	14	7	21	79	90	0.878	35
19	Cheltenham Town	42	15	5	22	55	64	0.859	35	Relegated to Division One
20	Bedford Town	42	11	12	19	46	63	0.730	34
21	Rugby Town	42	10	6	26	38	83	0.458	26
22	Guildford City	42	7	11	24	41	73	0.562	25

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

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

• Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
  • Cambridge City
  • Corby Town
  • Hastings United

• Plus:
  • Salisbury, joined from the Western Football League

Also, at the end of the previous season Folkestone Town was renamed Folkestone.

League table

Southern Football League
Division One

Season	1968–69
Champions	Brentwood Town
Promoted	Bath City Brentwood Town Crawley Town Gloucester City
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,485 (3.21 per match)
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Brentwood Town	42	26	12	4	94	37	2.541	64	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Bath City	42	26	10	6	96	40	2.400	62
3	Gloucester City	42	25	9	8	100	53	1.887	59
4	Crawley Town	42	21	13	8	65	32	2.031	55
5	Corby Town	42	22	6	14	81	65	1.246	50
6	Dartford	42	20	8	14	79	51	1.549	48
7	Ramsgate Athletic	42	19	9	14	72	57	1.263	47
8	Salisbury	42	20	6	16	69	52	1.327	46
9	Cambridge City	42	18	10	14	73	63	1.159	46
10	Trowbridge Town	42	15	14	13	70	60	1.167	44
11	Banbury United	42	16	12	14	67	72	0.931	44
12	Folkestone	42	19	5	18	53	59	0.898	43
13	Canterbury City	42	17	7	18	67	63	1.063	41
14	Ashford Town (Kent)	42	16	8	18	72	73	0.986	40
15	Bexley United	42	15	9	18	64	75	0.853	39
16	Hastings United	42	15	9	18	58	69	0.841	39
17	Wisbech Town	42	11	13	18	57	70	0.814	35
18	Dunstable Town	42	14	6	22	73	99	0.737	34
19	Merthyr Tydfil	42	10	7	25	49	101	0.485	27
20	Barry Town	42	8	10	24	39	78	0.500	26
21	Gravesend & Northfleet	42	8	9	25	51	79	0.646	25
22	Tonbridge	42	2	6	34	36	137	0.263	10

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, all of which were Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.^[1]

Club	League	Votes
Grimsby Town	Football League	47
York City	Football League	45
Bradford Park Avenue	Football League	38
Newport County	Football League	27
Cambridge United	Southern League	16
Kettering Town	Southern League	3
Cambridge City	Southern League	2
Hereford United	Southern League	2
Romford	Southern League	2
Bedford Town	Southern League	1
Chelmsford City	Southern League	1
Worcester City	Southern League	1
Nuneaton Borough	Southern League	0
Wimbledon	Southern League	0

See also

• Southern Football League
• 1968–69 Northern Premier League

References

• RSSF – Southern Football League archive

1. A history of admission to the Football League