1968–69 Southern Football League
The 1968–69 Southern Football League season was the 66th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Cambridge United won the championship, winning their first Southern League title, whilst Bath City, Brentwood Town, Crawley Town and Gloucester City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Twelve Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
Premier Division
[edit]The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
At the end of the season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.
League table
[edit]| Season | 1968–69 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Cambridge United |
| Relegated | Bedford Town Cheltenham Town Guildford City Rugby Town |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,325 (2.87 per match) |
← 1967–68 1969–70 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge United | 42 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 72 | 39 | 1.846 | 59 | |
| 2 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 68 | 47 | 1.447 | 58 | |
| 3 | Wimbledon | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 66 | 48 | 1.375 | 54 | |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 68 | 60 | 1.133 | 49 | |
| 5 | Worcester City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 53 | 47 | 1.128 | 49 | |
| 6 | Romford | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 52 | 1.115 | 48 | |
| 7 | Weymouth | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 52 | 41 | 1.268 | 47 | |
| 8 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 52 | 50 | 1.040 | 45 | |
| 9 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 51 | 55 | 0.927 | 44 | |
| 10 | Dover | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 66 | 61 | 1.082 | 43 | |
| 11 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 74 | 58 | 1.276 | 41 | |
| 12 | Barnet | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 72 | 66 | 1.091 | 40 | |
| 13 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 56 | 58 | 0.966 | 40 | |
| 14 | Hereford United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 66 | 62 | 1.065 | 39 | |
| 15 | Wellington Town | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 62 | 61 | 1.016 | 38 | |
| 16 | Poole Town | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 75 | 76 | 0.987 | 38 | |
| 17 | Burton Albion | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 55 | 71 | 0.775 | 37 | |
| 18 | Margate | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 79 | 90 | 0.878 | 35 | |
| 19 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 15 | 5 | 22 | 55 | 64 | 0.859 | 35 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | Bedford Town | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 63 | 0.730 | 34 | |
| 21 | Rugby Town | 42 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 38 | 83 | 0.458 | 26 | |
| 22 | Guildford City | 42 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 41 | 73 | 0.562 | 25 |
Division One
[edit]Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:
- Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
- Plus:
- Salisbury, joined from the Western Football League
Also, at the end of the previous season Folkestone Town was renamed Folkestone.
League table
[edit]| Season | 1968–69 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Brentwood Town |
| Promoted | Bath City Brentwood Town Crawley Town Gloucester City |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,485 (3.21 per match) |
← 1967–68 1969–70 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 94 | 37 | 2.541 | 64 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Bath City | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 96 | 40 | 2.400 | 62 | |
| 3 | Gloucester City | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 100 | 53 | 1.887 | 59 | |
| 4 | Crawley Town | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 65 | 32 | 2.031 | 55 | |
| 5 | Corby Town | 42 | 22 | 6 | 14 | 81 | 65 | 1.246 | 50 | |
| 6 | Dartford | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 79 | 51 | 1.549 | 48 | |
| 7 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 72 | 57 | 1.263 | 47 | |
| 8 | Salisbury | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 69 | 52 | 1.327 | 46 | |
| 9 | Cambridge City | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 73 | 63 | 1.159 | 46 | |
| 10 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 70 | 60 | 1.167 | 44 | |
| 11 | Banbury United | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 72 | 0.931 | 44 | |
| 12 | Folkestone | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 53 | 59 | 0.898 | 43 | |
| 13 | Canterbury City | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 67 | 63 | 1.063 | 41 | |
| 14 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 72 | 73 | 0.986 | 40 | |
| 15 | Bexley United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 64 | 75 | 0.853 | 39 | |
| 16 | Hastings United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 58 | 69 | 0.841 | 39 | |
| 17 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 57 | 70 | 0.814 | 35 | |
| 18 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 73 | 99 | 0.737 | 34 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 10 | 7 | 25 | 49 | 101 | 0.485 | 27 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 39 | 78 | 0.500 | 26 | |
| 21 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 51 | 79 | 0.646 | 25 | |
| 22 | Tonbridge | 42 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 36 | 137 | 0.263 | 10 |
Football League elections
[edit]Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, all of which were Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]