The 1969–70 Southern Football League season was the 67th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Cambridge United won the championship, winning their second Southern League title in a row and were elected to the Football League, whilst Ashford Town (Kent), Bedford Town, Cambridge City, Dartford were all promoted to the Premier Division.
Premier Division
editThe Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
Also, at the end of the previous season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.
Cambridge United was elected to the Football League in place of Bradford Park Avenue. At the end of the season Brentwood Town resigned from the league after three seasons and folded. Thus, Gloucester City and Nuneaton Borough remained in the division.
League table
edit| Season | 1969–70 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Cambridge United |
| Relegated | Burton Albion Crawley Town |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,319 (2.85 per match) |
← 1968–69 1970–71 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge United | 42 | 26 | 6 | 10 | 84 | 50 | 1.680 | 58 | Elected to the Football League Fourth Division |
| 2 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 78 | 48 | 1.625 | 57 | |
| 3 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 58 | 1.310 | 51 | |
| 4 | Weymouth | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 59 | 37 | 1.595 | 50 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 64 | 52 | 1.231 | 50 | |
| 6 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 56 | 50 | 1.120 | 50 | |
| 7 | Barnet | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 71 | 54 | 1.315 | 47 | |
| 8 | Telford United | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 61 | 62 | 0.984 | 46 | |
| 9 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 61 | 38 | 1.605 | 45 | Club folded |
| 10 | Hereford United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 74 | 65 | 1.138 | 45 | |
| 11 | Bath City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 63 | 55 | 1.145 | 44 | |
| 12 | King's Lynn | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 72 | 68 | 1.059 | 43 | |
| 13 | Margate | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 70 | 64 | 1.094 | 42 | |
| 14 | Dover | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 50 | 1.020 | 40 | |
| 15 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 64 | 75 | 0.853 | 39 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 44 | 0.795 | 38 | |
| 17 | Romford | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 50 | 62 | 0.806 | 37 | |
| 18 | Poole Town | 42 | 8 | 19 | 15 | 48 | 57 | 0.842 | 35 | |
| 19 | Gloucester City | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 53 | 73 | 0.726 | 33 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 52 | 74 | 0.703 | 32 | |
| 21 | Crawley Town | 42 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 53 | 101 | 0.525 | 27 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Burton Albion | 42 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 24 | 82 | 0.293 | 15 |
Division One
editDivision One consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:
At the end of the season Wisbech Town resigned from the league and switched to the Eastern Counties Football League.
League table
edit| Season | 1969–70 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Bedford Town |
| Promoted | Ashford Town (Kent) Bedford Town Cambridge City Dartford |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,440 (3.12 per match) |
← 1968–69 1970–71 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bedford Town | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 93 | 37 | 2.514 | 61 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 2 | Cambridge City | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 104 | 43 | 2.419 | 60 | |
| 3 | Dartford | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 88 | 46 | 1.913 | 59 | |
| 4 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 71 | 43 | 1.651 | 54 | |
| 5 | Rugby Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 82 | 66 | 1.242 | 50 | |
| 6 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 65 | 1.108 | 48 | |
| 7 | Hastings United | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 51 | 1.314 | 47 | |
| 8 | Guildford City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 58 | 1.172 | 47 | |
| 9 | Banbury United | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 86 | 72 | 1.194 | 46 | |
| 10 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 78 | 81 | 0.963 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 61 | 57 | 1.070 | 43 | |
| 12 | Corby Town | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 58 | 54 | 1.074 | 43 | |
| 13 | Folkestone | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 57 | 55 | 1.036 | 43 | |
| 14 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 53 | 57 | 0.930 | 41 | |
| 15 | Salisbury | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 53 | 0.887 | 38 | |
| 16 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 62 | 71 | 0.873 | 37 | |
| 17 | Bexley United | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 58 | 76 | 0.763 | 31 | |
| 18 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 52 | 82 | 0.634 | 31 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 40 | 80 | 0.500 | 29 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 39 | 76 | 0.513 | 28 | |
| 21 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 58 | 116 | 0.500 | 25 | Resigned to the Eastern Counties League |
| 22 | Tonbridge | 42 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 46 | 101 | 0.455 | 18 |
Football League elections
editAlongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 13 non-League clubs applied for election, ten of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, and Cambridge United were elected.[1]