1981–82 Southern Football League

The 1981–82 Southern Football League season was the 79th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

The league was split into Midland and Southern Divisions for a third and final season, at the end of it league restructuring for the forthcoming season meant that the top ten in each division (minus promoted clubs) would remain at the sixth level in a new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing lower would be relegated to the seventh level.

Nuneaton Borough won the Midland Division, whilst Wealdstone won the Southern Division, both earning promotion to the Alliance Premier League, having both also been relegated from the APL the previous season. Wealdstone were declared Southern League champions after defeating Nuneaton on penalties, after the two championship play-offs had finished 2–2 on aggregate (Wealdstone won 2–1 at home and Nuneaton won 1–0).^[1] They completed the double by also winning the Southern League Cup.

At the end of the season Bedford Town folded, whilst Barry Town left to join the Welsh Football League.

Midland Division

The Midland Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 21 clubs from the previous season and one new club:

• Nuneaton Borough, relegated from the Alliance Premier League

League table

Southern Football League
Midland Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Nuneaton Borough
Promoted	Nuneaton Borough
Relegated	11 clubs
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,295 (2.8 per match)
← 1980–81 1982–83 (Premier Division) 1982–83 (Midland Division) →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Nuneaton Borough	42	27	11	4	88	32	+56	65	Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
2	Alvechurch	42	26	10	6	79	34	+45	62
3	Kidderminster Harriers	42	22	12	8	71	40	+31	56
4	Stourbridge	42	21	10	11	69	47	+22	52
5	Gloucester City	42	21	9	12	64	48	+16	51
6	Bedworth United	42	20	10	12	59	40	+19	50
7	Enderby Town	42	20	10	12	79	66	+13	50
8	Witney Town	42	19	8	15	71	49	+22	46
9	Barry Town	42	16	14	12	59	46	+13	46	Left to join Welsh Football League
10	Corby Town	42	19	8	15	70	59	+11	46
11	Merthyr Tydfil	42	16	12	14	63	54	+9	44	Relegated to the Midland Division
12	Wellingborough Town	42	15	12	15	50	45	+5	42
13	Bridgend Town	42	13	13	16	50	62	−12	39
14	Bromsgrove Rovers	42	15	8	19	57	63	−6	38
15	Bedford Town	42	12	13	17	45	54	−9	37	Folded at end of season
16	Cheltenham Town	42	11	14	17	65	68	−3	36	Relegated to the Midland Division
17	Taunton Town	42	12	8	22	46	76	−30	32
18	Banbury United	42	11	8	23	63	91	−28	30
19	Minehead	42	12	6	24	38	69	−31	30
20	Cambridge City	42	10	8	24	38	80	−42	28
21	Milton Keynes City	42	6	11	25	34	70	−36	23
22	Redditch United	42	8	5	29	37	102	−65	21

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Southern Division

The Southern Division consisted of 24 clubs, including 22 clubs from the previous season and two new clubs:

• Wealdstone, relegated from the Alliance Premier League
• Welling United, joined from the Athenian League

At the end of the previous season, Margate had been renamed Thanet United.

League table

Southern Football League
Southern Division

Season	1981–82
Champions	Wealdstone
Promoted	Wealdstone
Relegated	14 clubs
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,541 (2.79 per match)
← 1980–81 1982–83 (Premier Division) 1982–83 (Southern Division) →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wealdstone	46	32	8	6	100	32	+68	72	Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
2	Hastings United	46	31	9	6	79	34	+45	71
3	Dorchester Town	46	21	18	7	76	41	+35	60
4	Gosport Borough	46	26	8	12	76	45	+31	60
5	Fareham Town	46	20	14	12	58	48	+10	54
6	Poole Town	46	19	15	12	92	63	+29	53
7	Waterlooville	46	22	9	15	75	53	+22	53
8	Welling United	46	19	13	14	70	48	+22	51
9	Addlestone & Weybridge	46	17	17	12	71	53	+18	51
10	Chelmsford City	46	20	11	15	64	53	+11	51
11	Aylesbury United	46	19	12	15	79	61	+18	50	Relegated to the Southern Division
12	Basingstoke Town	46	18	12	16	74	61	+13	48
13	Dover	46	19	8	19	61	63	−2	46
14	Ashford Town (Kent)	46	16	14	16	52	56	−4	46
15	Tonbridge	46	19	7	20	62	70	−8	45
16	Dunstable	46	18	8	20	63	68	−5	44
17	Salisbury	46	16	10	20	64	81	−17	42
18	Hounslow	46	15	11	20	59	83	−24	41
19	Hillingdon Borough	46	14	10	22	46	58	−12	38
20	Canterbury City	46	10	16	20	49	78	−29	36
21	Crawley Town	46	9	12	25	46	81	−35	30
22	Folkestone	46	10	6	30	49	101	−52	26
23	Andover	46	4	11	31	39	100	−61	19
24	Thanet United	46	5	7	34	37	110	−73	17

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

• Southern Football League
• 1981–82 Isthmian League
• 1981–82 Northern Premier League

References

1. Wealdstone at the Football Club History Database