1997–98 Southern Football League

The 1997–98 Southern Football League season was the 95th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Forest Green Rovers won the Premier Division at the first attempt and earned promotion to the Football Conference for the first time in their history. Sittingbourne, Ashford Town (Kent) and St. Leonards Stamcroft were relegated to the Midland and Southern Divisions, whilst Bromsgrove Rovers were reprieved after the Southern Division runners-up Chelmsford City were denied in promotion due to ground grading. Ilkeston Town, Grantham Town and Weymouth were promoted to the Premier Division, the former two as champions.

No clubs were relegated to level eight leagues this season, though Southern Division clubs Trowbridge Town folded and Fareham Town voluntary demoted to the Wessex League.

Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:

• Two clubs promoted from the Midland Division:
  • Rothwell Town
  • Tamworth

• Two clubs promoted from the Southern Division:
  • Forest Green Rovers
  • St. Leonards Stamcroft

• Two clubs relegated from the Football Conference:
  • Bath City
  • Bromsgrove Rovers

League table

Southern Football League
Premier Division

Season	1997–98
Champions	Forest Green Rovers
Promoted	Forest Green Rovers
Relegated	Ashford Town (Kent) Sittingbourne St.Leonards Stamcroft
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,372 (2.97 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Forest Green Rovers	42	27	8	7	93	55	+38	89	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Merthyr Tydfil	42	24	12	6	80	42	+38	84
3	Burton Albion	42	21	8	13	64	43	+21	71
4	Dorchester Town	42	19	13	10	63	38	+25	70
5	Halesowen Town	42	18	15	9	70	38	+32	69
6	Bath City	42	19	12	11	72	51	+21	69
7	Worcester City	42	19	11	12	53	44	+9	68
8	King's Lynn	42	19	10	13	64	64	0	67
9	Atherstone United	42	17	12	13	55	49	+6	63
10	Crawley Town	42	17	8	17	63	60	+3	59
11	Gloucester City	42	16	11	15	57	57	0	59
12	Nuneaton Borough	42	17	6	19	68	61	+7	57
13	Cambridge City	42	16	8	18	62	70	−8	56
14	Hastings Town	42	14	12	16	67	70	−3	54
15	Tamworth	42	14	11	17	68	65	+3	53
16	Rothwell Town	42	11	16	15	55	73	−18	49
17	Gresley Rovers	42	14	6	22	59	77	−18	48
18	Salisbury City	42	12	12	18	53	72	−19	48
19	Bromsgrove Rovers	42	13	6	23	67	85	−18	45	Reprieved from relegation
20	Sittingbourne	42	12	8	22	47	66	−19	44	Relegated to the Southern Division
21	Ashford Town (Kent)	42	8	5	29	34	85	−51	29
22	St. Leonards Stamcroft	42	5	10	27	48	97	−49	25

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

Midland Division

The Midland Division consisted of 21 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs:

• Blakenall, promoted from the Midland Alliance
• Brackley Town, promoted from the Hellenic League
• Wisbech Town, promoted from the Eastern Counties League

Also, at the end of the previous season Hinckley Town merged with Midland Alliance club Hinckley Athletic to form Hinckley United.

League table

Southern Football League
Midland Division

Season	1997–98
Champions	Grantham Town
Promoted	Grantham Town Ilkeston Town
Matches played	420
Goals scored	1,302 (3.1 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Grantham Town	40	30	4	6	87	39	+48	94	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Ilkeston Town	40	29	6	5	123	39	+84	93
3	Solihull Borough	40	22	9	9	81	48	+33	75
4	Raunds Town	40	20	8	12	73	44	+29	68	Transferred to the Southern Division
5	Wisbech Town	40	20	7	13	79	56	+23	67
6	Moor Green	40	20	7	13	72	55	+17	67
7	Bilston Town	40	20	5	15	69	57	+12	65
8	Blakenall	40	17	13	10	66	56	+10	64
9	Stafford Rangers	40	18	6	16	57	56	+1	60
10	Redditch United	40	16	11	13	58	40	+18	59
11	Stourbridge	40	16	9	15	56	55	+1	57
12	Hinckley United	40	15	11	14	59	56	+3	56
13	Brackley Town	40	15	7	18	44	57	−13	52	Transferred to the Southern Division
14	Bedworth United	40	15	5	20	50	73	−23	50
15	Racing Club Warwick	40	11	9	20	49	56	−7	42
16	Shepshed Dynamo	40	9	14	17	55	74	−19	41
17	Sutton Coldfield Town	40	9	12	19	42	68	−26	39
18	Paget Rangers	40	9	12	19	40	75	−35	39
19	VS Rugby	40	8	12	20	53	93	−40	36
20	Evesham United	40	7	9	24	48	94	−46	30
21	Corby Town	40	2	8	30	41	111	−70	14	Transferred to the Southern Division

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 22 clubs, including 19 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:

• Baldock Town
• Chelmsford City
• Newport

At the end of the season Havant Town and Waterlooville merged to form a new club Havant & Waterlooville.

League table

Southern Football League
Southern Division

Season	1997–98
Champions	Weymouth
Promoted	Weymouth
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,470 (3.18 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Weymouth	42	32	2	8	107	48	+59	98	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Chelmsford City	42	29	8	5	86	39	+47	95	Denied promotion
3	Bashley	42	29	4	9	101	59	+42	91
4	Newport (Isle of Wight)	42	25	9	8	72	34	+38	84
5	Fisher Athletic	42	25	5	12	87	50	+37	80
6	Margate	42	23	8	11	71	42	+29	77
7	Newport	42	21	6	15	83	65	+18	69	Transferred to the Midland Division
8	Witney Town	42	20	9	13	74	58	+16	69
9	Clevedon Town	42	20	7	15	57	55	+2	67	Transferred to the Midland Division
10	Waterlooville	42	17	7	18	69	64	+5	58	Merged into Havant & Waterlooville
11	Dartford	42	17	7	18	60	60	0	58
12	Havant Town	42	13	14	15	65	70	−5	53	Merged into Havant & Waterlooville
13	Fleet Town	42	16	5	21	63	83	−20	53
14	Tonbridge Angels	42	14	10	18	49	55	−6	52
15	Trowbridge Town	42	14	6	22	55	69	−14	48	Club folded
16	Erith & Belvedere	42	11	13	18	47	68	−21	46
17	Fareham Town	42	12	9	21	75	87	−12	45	Resigned to the Wessex League
18	Cirencester Town	42	12	7	23	63	88	−25	43
19	Weston-super-Mare	42	12	5	25	49	86	−37	41	Transferred to the Midland Division
20	Baldock Town	42	10	5	27	53	81	−28	35
21	Cinderford Town	42	6	5	31	40	112	−72	23	Transferred to the Midland Division
22	Yate Town	42	5	7	30	44	97	−53	22

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

See also

• Southern Football League
• 1997–98 Isthmian League
• 1997–98 Northern Premier League

References