1986–87 Southern Football League

The 1985–86 Southern Football League season saw Fisher Athletic win the Premier Division and earn promotion to the Football Conference, whilst Basingstoke Town, Leamington and Woodford Town left the league at the end of the season.^[1] The Southern League Cup was lifted by Waterlooville, who won both legs of the final against Hednesford Town.

Final tables

The Premier Division featured five new clubs:

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Fisher Athletic	42	25	11	6	72	29	43	86	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Bromsgrove Rovers	42	24	11	7	82	41	41	83
3	Aylesbury United	42	24	11	7	72	40	32	83
4	Dartford	42	19	12	11	76	43	33	69
5	Chelmsford City	42	17	13	12	48	45	3	64
6	Cambridge City	42	14	20	8	68	52	16	62
7	Redditch United	42	16	14	12	59	54	5	62
8	Alvechurch	42	18	8	16	66	62	4	62
9	Corby Town	42	14	17	11	65	51	14	59
10	Worcester City	42	16	11	15	62	55	7	59
11	Shepshed Charterhouse	42	16	10	16	59	59	0	58
12	Bedworth United	42	15	12	15	55	51	4	57
13	Crawley Town	42	14	11	17	59	60	−1	53
14	Fareham Town	42	11	17	14	58	49	9	50
15	Willenhall Town	42	13	11	18	48	57	−9	50
16	Basingstoke Town	42	12	12	18	53	78	−25	48	Transferred to the Isthmian League at end of season
17	Witney Town	42	12	12	18	29	56	−27	48
18	Gosport Borough	42	11	13	18	42	57	−15	46
19	Salisbury	42	12	7	23	52	82	−30	43	Relegated
20	King's Lynn	42	9	13	20	48	72	−24	40
21	Dudley Town	42	9	9	24	39	76	−37	36
22	Folkestone	42	8	11	23	36	79	−43	35

The Midland Division featured two new clubs:

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	VS Rugby	38	25	5	8	81	43	38	80	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Leicester United	38	26	1	11	89	49	40	79	Promoted to the Premier Division
3	Merthyr Tydfil	38	23	6	9	95	54	41	75
4	Moor Green	38	22	6	10	73	55	18	72
5	Halesowen Town	38	19	12	7	72	50	22	69
6	Hednesford Town	38	21	5	12	84	56	28	68
7	Gloucester City	38	19	5	14	77	59	18	62
8	Coventry Sporting	38	17	8	13	55	54	1	59
9	Forest Green Rovers	38	16	9	13	65	53	12	57
10	Stourbridge	38	16	7	15	56	56	0	55
11	Grantham	38	15	9	14	74	54	20	54	Changed name to Grantham Town at end of season
12	Banbury United	38	14	7	17	55	65	−10	49
13	Buckingham Town	38	13	9	16	55	59	−4	48
14	Bridgnorth Town	38	12	9	17	59	63	−4	45
15	Wellingborough Town	38	13	6	19	55	76	−21	45
16	Mile Oak Rovers	38	11	10	17	50	63	−13	43
17	Sutton Coldfield Town	38	8	10	20	56	78	−22	34
18	Bilston Town	38	8	7	23	37	76	−39	31
19	Leamington	38	4	13	21	37	80	−43	25	Relegated to the Midland Combination
20	Rushden Town	38	1	10	27	42	124	−82	13

The Southern Division featured one new club, Gravesend & Northfleet, who had been relegated from the Premier Division the previous season.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Dorchester Town	38	23	8	7	83	42	41	77	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Ashford Town	38	23	7	8	63	32	31	76	Promoted to the Premier Division
3	Woodford Town	38	22	6	10	72	44	28	72	Dropped into Essex Senior League at end of season
4	Hastings Town	38	20	10	8	74	54	20	70
5	Dover Athletic	38	20	6	12	66	43	23	66
6	Gravesend & Northfleet	38	18	7	13	67	46	21	61
7	Tonbridge AFC	38	16	10	12	73	67	6	58
8	Erith & Belvedere	38	15	12	11	57	50	7	57
9	Chatham Town	38	16	9	13	52	46	6	57
10	Thanet United	38	14	14	10	56	50	6	56
11	Waterlooville	38	16	8	14	66	65	1	56
12	Trowbridge Town	38	15	9	14	77	65	12	54	Transferred to Midland Division at end of season
13	Dunstable	38	13	9	16	60	57	3	48
14	Corinthian	38	11	12	15	56	65	−9	45
15	Sheppey United	38	9	12	17	43	64	−21	39
16	Andover	38	9	9	20	51	80	−29	36
17	Burnham & Hillingdon	38	7	11	20	32	62	−30	32	Changed name to Burnham at end of season
18	Poole Town	38	8	6	24	50	90	−40	30
19	Ruislip	38	6	12	20	35	75	−40	30
20	Canterbury City	38	8	5	25	46	82	−36	29