1969–70 Southern Football League

The 1969–70 Southern Football League season was the 67th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Cambridge United won the championship, winning their second Southern League title in a row and were elected to the Football League, whilst Ashford Town (Kent), Bedford Town, Cambridge City, Dartford were all promoted to the Premier Division.

Premier Division

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

Also, at the end of the previous season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.

Cambridge United was elected to the Football League in place of Bradford Park Avenue. At the end of the season Brentwood Town resigned from the league after three seasons and folded. Thus, Gloucester City and Nuneaton Borough remained in the division.

League table

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Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1969–70
ChampionsCambridge United
RelegatedBurton Albion
Crawley Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,319 (2.85 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Cambridge United 42 26 6 10 84 50 1.680 58 Elected to the Football League Fourth Division
2 Yeovil Town 42 25 7 10 78 48 1.625 57
3 Chelmsford City 42 20 11 11 76 58 1.310 51
4 Weymouth 42 18 14 10 59 37 1.595 50
5 Wimbledon 42 19 12 11 64 52 1.231 50
6 Hillingdon Borough 42 19 12 11 56 50 1.120 50
7 Barnet 42 16 15 11 71 54 1.315 47
8 Telford United 42 18 10 14 61 62 0.984 46
9 Brentwood Town 42 16 13 13 61 38 1.605 45 Club folded
10 Hereford United 42 18 9 15 74 65 1.138 45
11 Bath City 42 18 8 16 63 55 1.145 44
12 King's Lynn 42 16 11 15 72 68 1.059 43
13 Margate 42 17 8 17 70 64 1.094 42
14 Dover 42 15 10 17 51 50 1.020 40
15 Kettering Town 42 18 3 21 64 75 0.853 39
16 Worcester City 42 14 10 18 35 44 0.795 38
17 Romford 42 13 11 18 50 62 0.806 37
18 Poole Town 42 8 19 15 48 57 0.842 35
19 Gloucester City 42 12 9 21 53 73 0.726 33 Reprieved from relegation
20 Nuneaton Borough 42 11 10 21 52 74 0.703 32
21 Crawley Town 42 6 15 21 53 101 0.525 27 Relegated to Division One
22 Burton Albion 42 3 9 30 24 82 0.293 15
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

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

At the end of the season Wisbech Town resigned from the league and switched to the Eastern Counties Football League.

League table

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Southern Football League
Division One
Season1969–70
ChampionsBedford Town
PromotedAshford Town (Kent)
Bedford Town
Cambridge City
Dartford
Matches played462
Goals scored1,440 (3.12 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Bedford Town 42 26 9 7 93 37 2.514 61 Promoted to Premier Division
2 Cambridge City 42 26 8 8 104 43 2.419 60
3 Dartford 42 24 11 7 88 46 1.913 59
4 Ashford Town (Kent) 42 19 16 7 71 43 1.651 54
5 Rugby Town 42 20 10 12 82 66 1.242 50
6 Trowbridge Town 42 20 8 14 72 65 1.108 48
7 Hastings United 42 18 11 13 67 51 1.314 47
8 Guildford City 42 19 9 14 68 58 1.172 47
9 Banbury United 42 19 8 15 86 72 1.194 46
10 Cheltenham Town 42 20 5 17 78 81 0.963 45
11 Canterbury City 42 15 13 14 61 57 1.070 43
12 Corby Town 42 14 15 13 58 54 1.074 43
13 Folkestone 42 19 5 18 57 55 1.036 43
14 Ramsgate Athletic 42 14 13 15 53 57 0.930 41
15 Salisbury 42 12 14 16 47 53 0.887 38
16 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 13 11 18 62 71 0.873 37
17 Bexley United 42 10 11 21 58 76 0.763 31
18 Dunstable Town 42 11 9 22 52 82 0.634 31
19 Merthyr Tydfil 42 9 11 22 40 80 0.500 29
20 Barry Town 42 11 6 25 39 76 0.513 28
21 Wisbech Town 42 8 9 25 58 116 0.500 25 Resigned to the Eastern Counties League
22 Tonbridge 42 4 10 28 46 101 0.455 18
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Football League elections

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Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 13 non-League clubs applied for election, ten of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, and Cambridge United were elected.[1]

Club League Votes
Darlington Football League 47
Hartlepool Football League 42
Cambridge United Southern League 31
Newport County Football League 31
Bradford Park Avenue Football League 17
Wigan Athletic Northern Premier League 3
Cambridge City Southern League 2
Yeovil Town Southern League 1
Bedford Town Southern League 1
Hereford United Southern League 1
Morecambe Northern Premier League 1
Romford Southern League 1
Boston United Northern Premier League 0
Chelmsford City Southern League 0
Hillingdon Borough Southern League 0
Telford United Southern League 0
Wimbledon Southern League 0

See also

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References

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