1960–61 Southern Football League

The 1960–61 Southern Football League season saw Oxford United win the championship, whilst Kettering Town, Cambridge United, Bexleyheath & Welling and Merthyr Tydfil were all promoted to the Premier Division. Ten Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

Final tables

Premier Division

The Premier Division featured four new clubs, all promoted from Division One the previous season:

• Clacton Town
• Folkestone Town
• Guildford City
• Romford

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Oxford United	42	27	10	5	104	43	2.42	64
2	Chelmsford City	42	23	11	8	91	55	1.65	57
3	Yeovil Town	42	23	9	10	109	54	2.02	55
4	Hereford United	42	21	10	11	83	67	1.24	52
5	Weymouth	42	21	9	12	78	63	1.24	51
6	Bath City	42	18	14	10	74	52	1.42	50
7	Cambridge City	42	16	12	14	101	71	1.42	44
8	Wellington Town	42	17	9	16	66	68	0.97	43
9	Bedford Town	42	18	7	17	94	97	0.97	43
10	Folkestone Town	42	18	7	17	75	86	0.87	43
11	King's Lynn	42	13	16	13	68	66	1.03	42
12	Worcester City	42	15	11	16	69	69	1	41
13	Clacton Town	42	15	11	16	82	83	0.99	41
14	Romford	42	13	15	14	66	69	0.96	41
15	Guildford City	42	14	11	17	65	62	1.05	39
16	Tonbridge	42	16	6	20	79	85	0.93	38
17	Cheltenham Town	42	15	7	20	81	81	1	37
18	Gravesend & Northfleet	42	15	7	20	75	101	0.74	37
19	Dartford	42	13	11	18	57	90	0.63	37	Relegated to Division One
20	Hastings United	42	8	9	25	60	100	0.6	25
21	Wisbech Town	42	9	6	27	58	112	0.51	24
22	Boston United	42	6	8	28	62	123	0.50	20	Left league at end of season

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

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

Football League elections

Ten Southern League clubs (including Bexleyheath & Welling and Kettering Town from Division One) applied for election to the Football League. However, all four League clubs were re-elected.

Club	League	Votes
Chester	Football League	45
Exeter City	Football League	44
Barrow	Football League	35
Hartlepools United	Football League	32
Oxford United	Southern League	19
Bedford Town	Southern League	4
Wigan Athletic	Lancashire Combination	4
Cambridge City	Southern League	3
Chelmsford City	Southern League	3
Gateshead	Northern Counties League	3
Hereford United	Southern League	1
Kettering Town	Southern League	1
Romford	Southern League	1
Scarborough	Northern Counties League	1
South Shields	Northern Counties League	1
Bexleyheath & Welling	Southern League	0
Gravesend & Northfleet	Southern League	0
King's Lynn	Southern League	0
Morecambe	Lancashire Combination	0

Division One

Division One featured five new clubs:

• Barry Town (relegated from the Premier Division)
• Canterbury City (elected from the Metropolitan League)
• Kettering Town (relegated from the Premier Division)
• Nuneaton Borough (relegated from the Premier Division)
• Poole Town (relegated from the Premier Division)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Kettering Town	40	26	7	7	100	55	1.82	59	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Cambridge United	40	25	5	10	100	53	1.88	55
3	Bexleyheath & Welling	40	22	8	10	93	46	2.02	52
4	Merthyr Tydfil	40	23	6	11	88	65	1.35	52
5	Sittingbourne	40	21	10	9	77	63	1.22	52
6	Hinckley Athletic	40	17	13	10	74	59	1.25	47
7	Ramsgate Athletic	40	19	7	14	77	56	1.38	45
8	Rugby Town	40	18	9	13	89	71	1.25	45
9	Corby Town	40	16	10	14	82	73	1.12	42
10	Poole Town	40	18	5	17	71	65	1.09	41
11	Barry Town	40	16	9	15	65	74	0.88	41
12	Yiewsley	40	17	7	16	65	76	0.86	41
13	Trowbridge Town	40	14	10	16	71	73	0.97	38
14	Ashford Town	40	14	8	18	61	67	0.91	36
15	Margate	40	11	12	17	62	75	0.83	34
16	Dover	40	12	7	21	67	74	0.91	31
17	Canterbury City	40	10	10	20	52	75	0.69	30
18	Nuneaton Borough	40	11	7	22	60	91	0.65	29
19	Burton Albion	40	12	4	24	63	85	0.74	28
20	Tunbridge Wells United	40	8	5	27	56	115	0.48	21
21	Gloucester City	40	7	7	26	40	102	0.39	21