1970–71 Southern Football League

The 1970–71 Southern Football League season was the 68th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Yeovil Town won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst Folkestone, Gravesend & Northfleet, Guildford City and Merthyr Tydfil were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eight Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

At the end of the season Division One was split into divisions One North and One South with 14 new clubs joining the league.

Premier Division

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

League table

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Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1970–71
ChampionsYeovil Town
RelegatedAshford Town (Kent)
Gloucester City
Kettering Town
King's Lynn
Matches played462
Goals scored1,287 (2.79 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Yeovil Town 42 25 7 10 66 31 2.129 57
2 Cambridge City 42 22 11 9 66 38 1.737 55
3 Romford 42 23 9 10 63 42 1.500 55
4 Hereford United 42 23 8 11 71 53 1.340 54
5 Chelmsford City 42 20 11 11 61 32 1.906 51
6 Barnet 42 18 14 10 69 49 1.408 50
7 Bedford Town 42 20 10 12 62 46 1.348 50
8 Wimbledon 42 20 8 14 72 54 1.333 48
9 Worcester City 42 20 8 14 61 46 1.326 48
10 Weymouth 42 14 16 12 64 47 1.362 44
11 Dartford 42 15 12 15 53 51 1.039 42
12 Dover 42 16 9 17 64 63 1.016 41
13 Margate 42 15 10 17 64 70 0.914 40
14 Hillingdon Borough 42 17 6 19 61 68 0.897 40
15 Bath City 42 13 12 17 48 68 0.706 38
16 Nuneaton Borough 42 12 12 18 43 66 0.652 36
17 Telford United 42 13 8 21 64 70 0.914 34
18 Poole Town 42 14 6 22 57 75 0.760 34
19 King's Lynn 42 11 7 24 44 67 0.657 29 Relegated to Division One North
20 Ashford Town (Kent) 42 8 13 21 52 86 0.605 29 Relegated to Division One South
21 Kettering Town 42 8 11 23 48 84 0.571 27 Relegated to Division One North
22 Gloucester City 42 6 10 26 34 81 0.420 22
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

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Division One consisted of 20 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:

At the end of the season Division One was split into divisions One North and One South with 14 new clubs joining the league.

League table

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Southern Football League
Division One
Season1970–71
ChampionsGuildford City
PromotedFolkestone
Gravesend & Northfleet
Guildford City
Merthyr Tydfil
Matches played380
Goals scored1,174 (3.09 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Guildford City 38 22 10 6 76 36 2.111 54 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Merthyr Tydfil 38 19 12 7 52 33 1.576 50
3 Gravesend & Northfleet 38 19 10 9 74 42 1.762 48
4 Folkestone 38 20 8 10 83 53 1.566 48
5 Burton Albion 38 19 10 9 56 37 1.514 48 Placed to Division One North
6 Rugby Town 38 17 14 7 58 40 1.450 48
7 Ramsgate Athletic 38 20 5 13 83 54 1.537 45 Placed to Division One South
8 Trowbridge Town 38 19 7 12 78 55 1.418 45
9 Bexley United 38 17 11 10 57 45 1.267 45
10 Crawley Town 38 15 11 12 84 68 1.235 41
11 Hastings United 38 13 12 13 51 50 1.020 38
12 Banbury United 38 13 11 14 58 53 1.094 37 Placed to Division One North
13 Corby Town 38 14 8 16 57 60 0.950 36
14 Salisbury 38 13 7 18 56 60 0.933 33 Placed to Division One South
15 Cheltenham Town 38 8 15 15 44 58 0.759 31 Placed to Division One North
16 Stevenage Athletic 38 12 7 19 55 79 0.696 31
17 Tonbridge 38 8 8 22 48 83 0.578 24 Placed to Division One South
18 Barry Town 38 9 6 23 35 82 0.427 24 Placed to Division One North
19 Dunstable Town 38 8 4 26 32 81 0.395 20
20 Canterbury City 38 5 4 29 37 105 0.352 14 Placed to Division One South
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

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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. All League clubs were re-elected.[1]

Club League Votes
Lincoln City Football League 47
Barrow Football League 38
Hartlepool Football League 33
Newport County Football League 33
Wigan Athletic Northern Premier League 14
Cambridge City Southern League 2
Telford United Southern League 2
Yeovil Town Southern League 2
Boston United Northern Premier League 1
Romford Southern League 1
Bradford Park Avenue Northern Premier League 1
Gateshead Wearside League 1
Bedford Town Southern League 0
Chelmsford City Southern League 0
Hillingdon Borough Southern League 0
Kettering Town Southern League 0

See also

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References

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