1902–03 Southern Football League

The 1902–03 season was the ninth in the history of Southern League. Southampton won Division One for the 5th time in seven seasons. Fulham finished top of Division Two. No Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League.

Division One

Southern Football League Division One

Season	1902–03
Champions	Southampton (5th title)
Promoted	none
Relegated	Watford
Matches played	240
Goals scored	715 (2.98 per match)
← 1901–02 1903–04 →

There were no new clubs in Division One this season.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Southampton	30	20	8	2	83	20	4.15	48
2	Reading	30	19	7	4	72	30	2.4	45
3	Portsmouth	30	17	7	6	69	32	2.16	41
4	Tottenham Hotspur	30	14	7	9	47	31	1.52	35
5	Bristol Rovers	30	13	8	9	46	34	1.35	34
6	New Brompton	30	11	11	8	37	35	1.06	33
7	Millwall Athletic	30	14	3	13	52	37	1.41	31	Changed name to Millwall at end of season
8	Northampton Town	30	12	6	12	39	48	0.81	30
9	Queens Park Rangers	30	11	6	13	34	42	0.81	28
10	West Ham United	30	9	10	11	35	49	0.71	28
11	Luton Town	30	10	7	13	43	44	0.98	27
12	Swindon Town	30	10	7	13	38	46	0.83	27
13	Kettering	30	8	11	11	33	40	0.83	27
14	Wellingborough	30	11	3	16	36	56	0.64	25
15	Watford	30	6	4	20	35	87	0.4	16	Relegation test matches
16	Brentford	30	2	1	27	16	84	0.19	5

^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season.}

^{2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

Division two

Southern Football League Division Two

Season	1902–03
Champions	Fulham
Promoted	Fulham Brighton & Hove Albion
Relegated	none
Matches played	30
Goals scored	121 (4.03 per match)
← 1901–02 1903–04 →

There were also no new clubs in Division Two this season.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Fulham	10	7	1	2	27	7	3.86	15	Promotion test matches
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	10	7	1	2	34	11	3.09	15
3	Grays United	10	7	0	3	28	12	2.33	14
4	Wycombe Wanderers	10	3	3	4	13	19	0.68	9
5	Chesham Town	10	2	1	7	9	37	0.24	5
6	Southall	10	1	0	9	10	35	0.29	2

^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season.}

^{2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

Promotion-relegation test matches

At the end of the season, test matches were held between the bottom two clubs in Division One and the top two clubs in Division Two. Brentford beat Fulham 7-2 to retain their place in Division One, although Fulham were promoted anyway after Division One was expanded to 18 clubs. Brighton beat Watford 5-3 in the other match, which saw the two clubs swap divisions.

Division One clubs	v	Division Two clubs

27 April 1903

Brentford	7 – 2	Fulham

Shepherd's Bush

27 April 1903

Watford	3 – 5	Brighton & Hove Albion

Memorial Grounds, West Ham

External links

• Southern League First Division Tables at RSSSF
• Southern League Second Division Tables at RSSSF