1973–74 Southern Football League

The 1973–74 Southern Football League season was the 71st in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Dartford won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst Burton Albion, Stourbridge, Bath City and Wealdstone were all promoted to the Premier Division. Six 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:

At the end of the season Guildford City, who lost its ground earlier, merged with Dorking to form a new club Guildford & Dorking United. Also, Folkestone was renamed Folkestone and Shepway.

League table
Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1973–74
ChampionsDartford
RelegatedBedford Town
Folkestone
Hillingdon Borough
Worcester City
Matches played462
Goals scored1,149 (2.49 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Dartford 42 22 13 7 67 37 1.811 57
2 Grantham 42 18 13 11 70 49 1.429 49
3 Chelmsford City 42 19 10 13 62 49 1.265 48
4 Kettering Town 42 16 16 10 62 51 1.216 48
5 Maidstone United 42 16 14 12 54 43 1.256 46
6 Yeovil Town 42 13 20 9 45 39 1.154 46
7 Weymouth 42 19 7 16 60 41 1.463 45
8 Barnet 42 18 9 15 55 46 1.196 45
9 Nuneaton Borough 42 13 19 10 54 47 1.149 45
10 Cambridge City 42 15 12 15 45 54 0.833 42
11 Atherstone Town 42 16 9 17 61 59 1.034 41
12 Wimbledon 42 15 11 16 50 56 0.893 41
13 Telford United 42 12 16 14 51 57 0.895 40
14 Dover 42 11 17 14 41 46 0.891 39
15 Tonbridge 42 12 15 15 38 45 0.844 39
16 Romford 42 11 17 14 39 52 0.750 39
17 Margate 42 15 8 19 56 63 0.889 38
18 Guildford City 42 13 11 18 48 67 0.716 37 Merged into Guildford & Dorking United
19 Worcester City 42 11 14 17 53 67 0.791 36 Relegated to Division One North
20 Bedford Town 42 11 14 17 38 51 0.745 36
21 Folkestone 42 11 12 19 56 65 0.862 34 Relegated to Division One South
22 Hillingdon Borough 42 9 15 18 44 65 0.677 33
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One North

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

Also, at the end of the previous season Lockheed Leamington was renamed AP Leamington.

At the end of the season Bletchley Town was renamed Milton Keynes City.

League table
Southern Football League
Division One North
Season1973–74
ChampionsStourbridge
PromotedBurton Albion
Stourbridge
Matches played462
Goals scored1,332 (2.88 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Stourbridge 42 29 11 2 103 36 2.861 69 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Burton Albion 42 27 9 6 88 32 2.750 63
3 Cheltenham Town 42 24 8 10 75 51 1.471 56
4 AP Leamington 42 21 12 9 82 45 1.822 54
5 Enderby Town 42 19 14 9 60 36 1.667 52
6 Witney Town 42 20 10 12 69 55 1.255 50
7 Stevenage Athletic 42 19 11 12 65 46 1.413 49
8 Banbury United 42 19 11 12 69 57 1.211 49
9 King's Lynn 42 19 10 13 65 50 1.300 48
10 Kidderminster Harriers 42 15 14 13 67 53 1.264 44
11 Merthyr Tydfil 42 16 12 14 70 61 1.148 44
12 Redditch United 42 14 11 17 56 73 0.767 39
13 Bromsgrove Rovers 42 14 10 18 54 61 0.885 38
14 Bedworth United 42 14 10 18 50 77 0.649 38
15 Tamworth 42 13 11 18 42 51 0.824 37
16 Corby Town 42 12 11 19 40 57 0.702 35
17 Bletchley Town 42 10 15 17 47 71 0.662 35
18 Barry Town 42 10 8 24 53 85 0.624 28
19 Bury Town 42 10 6 26 57 84 0.679 26
20 Gloucester City 42 10 6 26 52 81 0.642 26
21 Wellingborough Town 42 7 9 26 42 87 0.483 23
22 Dunstable Town 42 5 11 26 26 83 0.313 21
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One South

Division One North consisted of 20 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:

League table
Southern Football League
Division One South
Season1973–74
ChampionsWealdstone
PromotedBath City
Wealdstone
Matches played380
Goals scored996 (2.62 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Wealdstone 38 26 7 5 75 35 2.143 59 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Bath City 38 20 8 10 55 34 1.618 48
3 Waterlooville 38 16 15 7 55 38 1.447 47
4 Minehead 38 16 15 7 69 52 1.327 47
5 Bideford 38 17 12 9 61 51 1.196 46
6 Poole Town 38 18 9 11 67 47 1.426 45
7 Bexley United 38 18 7 13 50 42 1.190 43
8 Hastings United 38 16 9 13 45 36 1.250 41
9 Basingstoke Town 38 14 11 13 55 44 1.250 39
10 Gravesend & Northfleet 38 13 13 12 58 52 1.115 39
11 Bognor Regis Town 38 13 12 13 48 54 0.889 38
12 Ashford Town (Kent) 38 14 8 16 41 42 0.976 36
13 Ramsgate 38 13 9 16 46 44 1.045 35
14 Dorchester Town 38 10 13 15 40 48 0.833 33
15 Canterbury City 38 9 12 17 37 46 0.804 30
16 Trowbridge Town 38 8 14 16 44 61 0.721 30
17 Salisbury 38 10 9 19 40 60 0.667 29
18 Metropolitan Police 38 9 11 18 37 61 0.607 29
19 Andover 38 11 3 24 38 70 0.543 25
20 Crawley Town 38 6 9 23 35 79 0.443 21
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of seven non-League clubs applied for election, six of which were Southern League clubs. All the League clubs were re-elected.[1]

Club League Votes
Doncaster RoversFootball League46
Stockport CountyFootball League38
Crewe AlexandraFootball League37
WorkingtonFootball League21
Kettering TownSouthern League16
Yeovil TownSouthern League14
Wigan AthleticNorthern Premier League10
Chelmsford CitySouthern League8
Nuneaton BoroughSouthern League1
Telford UnitedSouthern League1
Cambridge CitySouthern League0

References
  1. A history of admission to the Football League
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