1995–96 Southern Football League

The 1995–96 Southern Football League season saw the Max Griggs-funded Rushden & Diamonds win the Premier Division to earn promotion to the Football Conference. Ilkeston Town, Stafford Rangers and VS Rugby were relegated to the Midland and Southern Divisions, whilst Nuneaton Borough, Sittingbourne, King's Lynn and Ashford Town were promoted to the Premier Division, the former two as champions.

In the Midland Division, the bottom two clubs, Bury Town and Bridgnorth Town, were relegated to level eight leagues. Poole Town, who finished bottom of the Southern Division with just one point (from a 0–0 draw with Bashley) dropped two levels into the Hampshire League.

Tables

Premier Division

The Premier Division featured six new clubs:

• Baldock Town (promoted from the Southern Division)
• Merthyr Tydfil (relegated from the Football Conference)
• Ilkeston Town (promoted from the Midland Division)
• Newport (promoted from the Midland Division)
• Salisbury City (promoted from the Southern Division)
• Stafford Rangers (relegated from the Football Conference)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Rushden & Diamonds	42	29	7	6	99	41	58	94	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Halesowen Town	42	27	11	4	70	36	34	92
3	Cheltenham Town	42	21	11	10	76	57	19	74
4	Gloucester City	42	21	8	13	65	47	18	71
5	Gresley Rovers	42	20	10	12	70	58	12	70
6	Worcester City	42	19	12	11	61	43	18	69
7	Merthyr Tydfil	42	19	6	17	67	59	8	63
8	Hastings Town	42	16	13	13	68	56	12	61
9	Crawley Town	42	15	13	14	57	56	1	58
10	Sudbury Town	42	15	10	17	69	71	−2	55
11	Gravesend & Northfleet	42	15	10	17	60	62	−2	55
12	Chelmsford City	42	13	16	13	46	53	−7	55
13	Dorchester Town	42	15	8	19	62	57	5	53
14	Newport	42	13	13	16	53	59	−6	52
15	Salisbury City	42	14	10	18	57	69	−12	52
16	Burton Albion	42	13	12	17	55	56	−1	51
17	Atherstone United	42	12	12	18	58	75	−17	48
18	Baldock Town	42	11	14	17	51	56	−5	47
19	Cambridge City	42	12	10	20	56	68	−12	46
20	Ilkeston Town	42	11	10	21	53	87	−34	43	Relegated to Midland and Southern Divisions
21	Stafford Rangers	42	11	4	27	58	90	−32	37
22	VS Rugby	42	5	10	27	37	92	−55	25

Midland Division

The Midland Division featured four new clubs:

• Bury Town (transferred from the Southern Division)
• Corby Town (relegated from the Premier Division)
• Paget Rangers (promoted from the Midland Alliance)
• Solihull Borough (relegated from the Premier Division)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Nuneaton Borough	42	30	5	7	82	35	47	95	Promoted to Premier Division
2	King's Lynn	42	27	5	10	85	43	42	84	Two points deducted, promoted
3	Bedworth United	42	24	10	8	76	42	34	81	One point deducted
4	Moor Green	42	22	8	12	81	47	34	74
5	Paget Rangers	42	21	9	12	70	45	25	72
6	Tamworth	42	22	3	17	97	64	33	69
7	Solihull Borough	42	19	9	14	77	64	13	66
8	Rothwell Town	42	17	14	11	79	62	17	65
9	Buckingham Town	42	18	9	15	74	62	12	63
10	Dudley Town	42	15	16	11	83	66	17	61
11	Stourbridge	42	17	8	17	60	63	−3	59
12	Bilston Town	42	16	9	17	61	62	−1	57
13	Sutton Coldfield Town	42	16	9	17	62	67	−5	57
14	Grantham Town	42	17	5	20	71	83	−12	56
15	Redditch United	42	14	11	17	57	77	−20	53
16	Leicester United	42	13	13	16	58	72	−14	52
17	Hinckley Town	42	14	7	21	62	83	−21	49
18	Racing Club Warwick	42	10	13	19	67	90	−23	43
19	Evesham United	42	11	6	25	59	94	−35	39
20	Corby Town	42	9	7	26	52	95	−43	34
21	Bury Town	42	8	8	26	57	95	−38	32	Relegated to Eastern Counties League
22	Bridgnorth Town	42	7	6	29	53	112	−59	27	Relegated to Midland Alliance

Southern Division

The Southern Division featured five new clubs

• Cinderford Town (promoted from the Hellenic League
• Fleet Town (promoted from the Wessex League
• Forest Green Rovers (transferred from the Midland Division)
• Sittingbourne (relegated from the Premier Division)
• Trowbridge Town (relegated from the Premier Division)

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts	Notes
1	Sittingbourne	42	28	4	10	102	44	58	88	Promoted to Premier Division
2	Ashford Town	42	25	9	8	75	44	31	84
3	Waterlooville	42	24	8	10	87	44	43	80
4	Newport Isle of Wight	42	24	6	12	75	58	17	78
5	Braintree Town	42	24	8	10	93	70	23	77	Three points deducted
6	Weymouth	42	24	4	14	75	55	20	76
7	Havant Town	42	23	11	8	73	42	31	74	Six points deducted
8	Forest Green Rovers	42	22	8	12	85	55	30	74
9	Trowbridge Town	42	18	8	16	86	51	35	62
10	Yate Town	42	17	8	17	85	71	14	59
11	Margate	42	18	5	19	68	62	6	59
12	Witney Town	42	16	11	15	60	54	6	59
13	Weston-super-Mare	42	16	9	17	78	68	10	57
14	Cinderford Town	42	16	8	18	74	77	−3	56
15	Fisher 93	42	14	13	15	58	59	−1	55
16	Bashley	42	14	11	17	63	61	2	53
17	Clevedon Town	42	15	6	21	70	80	−10	51
18	Tonbridge Angels	42	13	10	19	58	79	−21	49
19	Fleet Town	42	14	5	23	58	79	−21	47
20	Fareham Town	42	12	5	25	71	97	−26	41
21	Erith & Belvedere	42	4	4	34	38	111	−73	16
22	Poole Town	42	0	1	41	17	188	−171	1	Dropped into Hampshire League