1960–61 Southern Football League

The 1960–61 Southern Football League season was the 58th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Oxford United won 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.

Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:

League table

Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1960–61
ChampionsOxford United
RelegatedDartford
Hastings United
Wisbech Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,697 (3.67 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Oxford United 42 27 10 5 104 43 2.419 64
2 Chelmsford City 42 23 11 8 91 55 1.655 57
3 Yeovil Town 42 23 9 10 109 54 2.019 55
4 Hereford United 42 21 10 11 83 67 1.239 52
5 Weymouth 42 21 9 12 78 63 1.238 51
6 Bath City 42 18 14 10 74 52 1.423 50
7 Cambridge City 42 16 12 14 101 71 1.423 44
8 Wellington Town 42 17 9 16 66 68 0.971 43
9 Bedford Town 42 18 7 17 94 97 0.969 43
10 Folkestone Town 42 18 7 17 75 86 0.872 43
11 King's Lynn 42 13 16 13 68 66 1.030 42
12 Worcester City 42 15 11 16 69 69 1.000 41
13 Clacton Town 42 15 11 16 82 83 0.988 41
14 Romford 42 13 15 14 66 69 0.957 41
15 Guildford City 42 14 11 17 65 62 1.048 39
16 Tonbridge 42 16 6 20 79 85 0.929 38
17 Cheltenham Town 42 15 7 20 81 81 1.000 37
18 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 15 7 20 75 101 0.743 37
19 Dartford 42 13 11 18 57 90 0.633 37 Relegated to Division One
20 Hastings United 42 8 9 25 60 100 0.600 25
21 Wisbech Town 42 9 6 27 58 112 0.518 24
22 Boston United 42 6 8 28 62 123 0.504 20 Resigned from the league
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

Division One consisted of 21 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:

League table

Southern Football League
Division One
Season1960–61
ChampionsKettering Town
PromotedKettering Town
Cambridge United
Bexleyheath & Welling
Merthyr Tydfil
Matches played420
Goals scored1,513 (3.6 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Kettering Town 40 26 7 7 100 55 1.818 59 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Cambridge United 40 25 5 10 100 53 1.887 55
3 Bexleyheath & Welling 40 22 8 10 93 46 2.022 52
4 Merthyr Tydfil 40 23 6 11 88 65 1.354 52
5 Sittingbourne 40 21 10 9 77 63 1.222 52
6 Hinckley Athletic 40 17 13 10 74 59 1.254 47
7 Ramsgate Athletic 40 19 7 14 77 56 1.375 45
8 Rugby Town 40 18 9 13 89 71 1.254 45
9 Corby Town 40 16 10 14 82 73 1.123 42
10 Poole Town 40 18 5 17 71 65 1.092 41
11 Barry Town 40 16 9 15 65 74 0.878 41
12 Yiewsley 40 17 7 16 65 76 0.855 41
13 Trowbridge Town 40 14 10 16 71 73 0.973 38
14 Ashford Town (Kent) 40 14 8 18 61 67 0.910 36
15 Margate 40 11 12 17 62 75 0.827 34
16 Dover 40 12 7 21 67 74 0.905 31
17 Canterbury City 40 10 10 20 52 75 0.693 30
18 Nuneaton Borough 40 11 7 22 60 91 0.659 29
19 Burton Albion 40 12 4 24 63 85 0.741 28
20 Tunbridge Wells United 40 8 5 27 56 115 0.487 21
21 Gloucester City 40 7 7 26 40 102 0.392 21
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

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.[1]

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

References