1985–86 Southern Football League

The 1985–86 Southern Football League season saw Welling United win the Premier Division and earn promotion to the Football Conference, whilst RS Southampton and Oldbury United left the league at the end of the season.^[1]

Final tables

The Premier Division featured five new clubs:

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Welling United	38	29	6	3	95	31	64	93	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Chelmsford City	38	20	10	8	68	41	27	70
3	Fisher Athletic	38	20	7	11	67	45	22	67
4	Alvechurch	38	19	9	10	71	56	15	66
5	Worcester City	38	19	9	10	64	50	14	66
6	Crawley Town	38	18	5	15	76	59	17	59
7	Shepshed Charterhouse	38	19	1	18	51	52	−1	58
8	Aylesbury United	38	14	10	14	52	49	3	52
9	Folkestone	38	14	10	14	56	56	0	52
10	Bedworth United	38	14	8	16	44	49	−5	50
11	Willenhall Town	38	12	13	13	51	44	7	49
12	Dudley Town	38	15	4	19	58	62	−4	49
13	Corby Town	38	14	7	17	61	67	−6	49
14	King's Lynn	38	12	10	16	39	42	−3	46
15	Basingstoke Town	38	13	4	21	36	67	−31	43
16	RS Southampton	38	11	9	18	44	61	−17	42	Dropped into Wessex League at end of season
17	Witney Town	38	11	6	21	44	74	−30	39
18	Gosport Borough	38	10	8	20	42	66	−24	38
19	Fareham Town	38	8	13	17	40	62	−22	37
20	Gravesend & Northfleet	38	9	9	20	29	55	−26	36	Relegated to Southern Division

The Midland Division featured five new clubs:

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Bromsgrove Rovers	40	29	5	6	95	44	51	92	Promoted to Premier Division
2	Redditch United	40	23	6	11	70	42	28	75	Promoted to Premier Division
3	Merthyr Tydfil	40	21	10	9	60	40	20	73
4	VS Rugby	40	17	14	9	41	31	10	65
5	Stourbridge	40	15	14	11	62	39	23	59
6	Rushden Town	40	17	7	16	69	74	−5	58
7	Bilston Town	40	15	12	13	60	48	12	57
8	Bridgnorth Town	40	13	18	9	56	45	11	57
9	Gloucester City	40	15	12	13	61	57	4	57
10	Grantham	40	16	7	17	46	59	−13	55
11	Wellingborough Town	40	15	9	16	56	56	0	54
12	Sutton Coldfield Town	40	13	14	13	60	45	15	53
13	Hednesford Town	40	14	9	17	67	70	−3	51
14	Forest Green Rovers	40	14	9	17	52	56	−4	51
15	Mile Oak Rovers	40	14	8	18	56	73	−17	50
16	Leicester United	40	13	10	17	41	48	−7	49
17	Banbury United	40	13	8	19	38	55	−17	47
18	Coventry Sporting	40	10	15	15	42	48	−6	45
19	Moor Green	40	12	6	22	63	91	−28	42
20	Leamington	40	10	6	24	40	77	−37	36
21	Oldbury United	40	8	7	25	50	87	−37	31	Relegated to West Midlands (Regional) League

The Southern Division featured three new clubs:

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Cambridge City	40	23	11	6	87	41	46	80	Promoted to Premier Division
2	Salisbury	40	24	8	8	84	51	33	80	Promoted to Premier Division
3	Hastings Town	40	23	9	8	83	51	32	78
4	Dover Athletic	40	23	6	11	89	53	36	75
5	Corinthian	40	20	9	11	78	45	33	69
6	Tonbridge	40	17	13	10	65	51	14	64
7	Dunstable	40	17	11	12	70	61	9	62
8	Ruislip	40	17	6	17	67	66	1	57
9	Erith & Belvedere	40	14	12	14	35	40	−5	54
10	Waterlooville	40	16	6	18	52	58	−6	54
11	Burnham & Hillingdon	40	16	6	18	44	59	−15	54
12	Canterbury City	40	13	13	14	58	58	0	52
13	Trowbridge Town	40	13	13	14	57	63	−6	52
14	Sheppey United	40	14	10	16	43	53	−10	52
15	Thanet United	40	13	7	20	58	63	−5	46
16	Woodford Town	40	12	10	18	49	62	−13	46
17	Poole Town	40	12	7	21	55	63	−8	43
18	Ashford Town	40	10	12	18	45	65	−20	42
19	Chatham Town	40	8	15	17	53	70	−17	39
20	Andover	40	10	8	22	52	92	−40	38
21	Dorchester Town	40	5	8	27	35	94	−59	23