1976–77 Southern Football League

The 1976–77 Southern Football League season was the 74th in the history of the league, an English football competition. It was the first Southern Football League season to use goal difference as a tie-breaker.

Wimbledon won the championship, winning their third Southern League title in a row and was elected to the Football League replacing Workington, whilst Worcester City, Barnet, Cheltenham Town and Hastings United were all promoted to the Premier Division, the former two as champions. Metropolitan Police left the league to join the Isthmian League.

Premier Division

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

Wimbledon was elected to the Football League in place of Workington. Thus, Telford United remained in the division.

League table
Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1976–77
ChampionsWimbledon
RelegatedBurton Albion
Chelmsford City
Margate
Matches played462
Goals scored1,113 (2.41 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Wimbledon 42 28 7 7 64 22 +42 63 Elected to the Football League
2 Minehead 42 23 12 7 73 39 +34 58
3 Kettering Town 42 20 16 6 66 46 +20 56
4 Bath City 42 20 15 7 51 30 +21 55
5 Nuneaton Borough 42 20 11 11 52 35 +17 51
6 Bedford Town 42 17 14 11 54 47 +7 48
7 Yeovil Town 42 15 16 11 54 42 +12 46
8 Dover 42 13 16 13 46 43 +3 42
9 Grantham 42 14 12 16 55 50 +5 40
10 Maidstone United 42 13 14 15 46 50 −4 40
11 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 13 13 16 38 43 −5 39
12 AP Leamington 42 12 15 15 44 53 −9 39
13 Redditch United 42 12 14 16 45 54 −9 38
14 Wealdstone 42 13 12 17 54 66 −12 38
15 Hillingdon Borough 42 14 10 18 45 59 −14 38
16 Atherstone Town 42 14 9 19 41 49 −8 37
17 Weymouth 42 16 5 21 53 73 −20 37
18 Dartford 42 13 10 19 52 57 −5 36
19 Telford United 42 11 12 19 36 50 −14 34 Reprieved from relegation
20 Chelmsford City 42 9 13 20 56 68 −12 31 Relegated to Division One South
21 Burton Albion 42 10 10 22 41 52 −11 30 Relegated to Division One North
22 Margate 42 9 10 23 47 85 −38 28 Relegated to Division One South
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One North

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

League table
Southern Football League
Division One North
Season1976–77
ChampionsWorcester City
PromotedCheltenham Town
Worcester City
Matches played380
Goals scored1,169 (3.08 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Worcester City 38 32 5 1 97 22 +75 69 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Cheltenham Town 38 23 8 7 85 35 +50 54
3 Witney Town 38 21 8 9 48 31 +17 50
4 Bromsgrove Rovers 38 20 8 10 61 37 +24 48
5 Barry Town 38 19 8 11 62 45 +17 46
6 Cambridge City 38 17 10 11 68 43 +25 44
7 Stourbridge 38 17 9 12 48 35 +13 43
8 Kidderminster Harriers 38 17 6 15 74 65 +9 40
9 Banbury United 38 15 10 13 51 47 +4 40
10 Gloucester City 38 18 4 16 70 81 −11 40
11 Enderby Town 38 15 9 14 50 44 +6 39
12 King's Lynn 38 13 11 14 47 53 −6 37
13 Corby Town 38 11 13 14 56 64 −8 35
14 Tamworth 38 11 13 14 49 58 −9 35
15 Merthyr Tydfil 38 12 6 20 60 69 −9 30
16 Oswestry Town 38 8 10 20 30 60 −30 26
17 Wellingborough Town 38 8 7 23 37 73 −36 23
18 Dunstable 38 7 7 24 38 84 −46 21
19 Bedworth United 38 5 10 23 28 68 −40 20
20 Milton Keynes City 38 7 6 25 31 76 −45 20
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One South

Division One South consisted of 18 clubs, including 15 clubs from the previous season and three new clubs:

League table
Southern Football League
Division One South
Season1976–77
ChampionsBarnet
PromotedBarnet
Hastings United
Matches played306
Goals scored759 (2.48 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Barnet 34 23 8 3 65 25 +40 54 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Hastings United 34 18 11 5 47 18 +29 47
3 Waterlooville 34 19 6 9 50 25 +25 44
4 Dorchester Town 34 16 11 7 48 30 +18 43
5 Salisbury 34 15 11 8 57 39 +18 41
6 Romford 34 18 5 11 47 32 +15 41
7 Poole Town 34 17 7 10 40 35 +5 41
8 Trowbridge Town 34 15 8 11 47 39 +8 38
9 Crawley Town 34 14 9 11 53 42 +11 37
10 Folkestone & Shepway 34 12 11 11 39 42 −3 35
11 Basingstoke Town 34 12 10 12 51 43 +8 34
12 Canterbury City 34 6 16 12 36 46 −10 28
13 Bognor Regis Town 34 9 9 16 33 50 −17 27
14 Tonbridge Angels 34 9 9 16 33 50 −17 27
15 Metropolitan Police 34 5 12 17 37 61 −24 22 Transferred to the Isthmian League
16 Andover 34 4 11 19 17 49 −32 19
17 Ashford Town (Kent) 34 5 8 21 32 65 −33 18
18 Aylesbury United 34 5 6 23 27 68 −41 16
19 Guildford & Dorking United 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Club folded, record expunged
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Football League elections

At the end of the season, the bottom four of the Football League had to be re-elected to retain their place. Whilst in previous seasons the number of non-League applicants had been unlimited, this season saw the Football League Management Committee limit the number to two, with Wimbledon and Northern Premier League members Altrincham (who had finished tenth) entering the ballot. The top four in the vote would retain/win a place in the League.

With 27 votes, Wimbledon finished fourth in the election, earning a place in the League at the expense of Workington, who dropped into the Northern Premier League.

ClubLeagueVotes
Halifax TownFootball League Division Four44
HartlepoolFootball League Division Four42
SouthportFootball League Division Four37
WimbledonSouthern League Premier Division27
WorkingtonFootball League Division Four21
AltrinchamNorthern Premier League12
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References
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