1978–79 Southern Football League

The 1978–79 Southern Football League season was the 76th in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Worcester City won the championship, winning their first Southern League title. At the end of the season the Alliance Premier League was established as a new, national top division of non-League football. Thirteen clubs from the Premier Division joined the new league, leading to a restructuring of the Southern League for the next season, in which it was divided solely into Midland and Southern divisions.

Due to the forthcoming changes, there was no relegation or promotion between the Southern League's divisions, although the Premier Division clubs that remained in the Southern League had effectively been relegated one level, being placed in the Midland or Southern divisions the following season. Several clubs left the Division One North at the end of the season to join the Northern Premier League, which had also lost clubs to the new Alliance Premier League, whilst Premier Division club Atherstone Town folded.

Premier Division

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

  • Two clubs promoted from Division One North:

At the end of the season most of the Premier Division clubs left the league to join newly created Alliance Premier League. Atherstone Town folded at the end of the season. The rest of the clubs were distributed between newly created Midland and Southern divisions.

League table
Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1978–79
ChampionsWorcester City
Matches played462
Goals scored1,251 (2.71 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Worcester City 42 27 11 4 92 33 +59 65 Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
2 Kettering Town 42 27 7 8 109 43 +66 61
3 Telford United 42 22 10 10 60 39 +21 54
4 Maidstone United 42 18 18 6 55 35 +20 54
5 Bath City 42 17 19 6 59 41 +18 53
6 Weymouth 42 18 15 9 71 51 +20 51
7 AP Leamington 42 19 11 12 65 53 +12 49
8 Redditch United 42 19 10 13 70 57 +13 48
9 Yeovil Town 42 15 16 11 59 49 +10 46
10 Witney Town 42 17 10 15 53 52 +1 44 Placed to the Midland Division
11 Nuneaton Borough 42 13 17 12 59 50 +9 43 Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
12 Gravesend & Northfleet 42 15 12 15 56 55 +1 42
13 Barnet 42 16 10 16 52 64 −12 42
14 Hillingdon Borough 42 12 16 14 50 41 +9 40 Placed to the Southern Division
15 Wealdstone 42 12 12 18 51 59 −8 36 Promoted to the Alliance Premier League
16 Atherstone Town 42 9 17 16 46 65 −19 35 Club folded
17 Dartford 42 10 14 18 40 56 −16 34 Placed to the Southern Division
18 Cheltenham Town 42 11 10 21 38 72 −34 32 Placed to the Midland Division
19 Margate 42 10 9 23 44 75 −31 29 Placed to the Southern Division
20 Dorchester Town 42 7 11 24 46 86 −40 25
21 Hastings United 42 5 13 24 37 85 −48 23
22 Bridgend Town 42 6 6 30 39 90 −51 18 Placed to the Midland Division
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 new clubs:

At the end of the season Alliance Premier League on the top of non-league was created. Following that Southern Football League was restructured with Midland and Southern divisions replacing three old divisions. Most of the Division One North clubs were placed to the Midland Division.

League table
Southern Football League
Division One North
Season1978–79
ChampionsGrantham
Matches played380
Goals scored1,109 (2.92 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Grantham 38 21 10 7 70 45 +25 52 Transferred to the Northern Premier League
2 Merthyr Tydfil 38 22 7 9 90 53 +37 51
3 Alvechurch 38 20 10 8 70 42 +28 50
4 Bedford Town 38 19 9 10 74 49 +25 47
5 King's Lynn 38 17 11 10 57 46 +11 45
6 Oswestry Town 38 18 8 12 63 43 +20 44 Transferred to the Northern Premier League
7 Gloucester City 38 18 8 12 76 59 +17 44
8 Burton Albion 38 16 10 12 51 40 +11 42 Transferred to the Northern Premier League
9 Kidderminster Harriers 38 13 14 11 70 60 +10 40
10 Bedworth United 38 13 14 11 41 34 +7 40
11 Tamworth 38 15 8 15 47 45 +2 38 Transferred to the Northern Premier League
12 Stourbridge 38 15 7 16 64 61 +3 37
13 Barry Town 38 14 9 15 51 53 −2 37
14 Enderby Town 38 14 8 16 46 55 −9 36
15 Banbury United 38 10 13 15 42 58 −16 33
16 Wellingborough Town 38 13 6 19 50 71 −21 32
17 Cambridge City 38 9 9 20 37 62 −25 27
18 Bromsgrove Rovers 38 6 14 18 33 61 −28 26
19 Milton Keynes City 38 7 9 22 37 87 −50 23
20 Corby Town 38 5 6 27 40 85 −45 16
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One South

Division One South expanded up to 21 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:

At the end of the season Alliance Premier League on the top of non-league was created. Following that Southern Football League was restructured with Midland and Southern divisions replacing three old divisions. Most of the Division One South clubs were placed to the Southern Division.

League table
Southern Football League
Division One South
Season1978–79
ChampionsDover
Matches played420
Goals scored1,145 (2.73 per match)
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Dover 40 28 9 3 88 20 +68 65
2 Folkestone & Shepway 40 22 6 12 84 50 +34 50
3 Gosport Borough 40 19 11 10 62 47 +15 49
4 Chelmsford City 40 20 7 13 65 61 +4 47
5 Minehead 40 16 13 11 58 39 +19 45 Placed to the Midland Division
6 Poole Town 40 15 15 10 48 44 +4 45
7 Hounslow 40 16 12 12 56 45 +11 44
8 Waterlooville 40 17 10 13 52 43 +9 44
9 Trowbridge Town 40 15 12 13 65 61 +4 42 Placed to the Midland Division
10 Aylesbury United 40 16 9 15 54 52 +2 41
11 Taunton Town 40 16 9 15 53 51 +2 41 Placed to the Midland Division
12 Bognor Regis Town 40 17 7 16 58 58 0 41
13 Dunstable 40 18 4 18 57 55 +2 40
14 Tonbridge Angels 40 15 10 15 43 47 −4 40
15 Salisbury 40 13 10 17 47 51 −4 36
16 Basingstoke Town 40 12 11 17 49 62 −13 35
17 Addlestone 40 12 9 19 56 64 −8 33
18 Andover 40 12 6 22 47 69 −22 30
19 Ashford Town (Kent) 40 10 10 20 28 53 −25 30
20 Crawley Town 40 9 9 22 44 75 −31 27
21 Canterbury City 40 6 3 31 31 98 −67 15
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Football League election

Runners-up Kettering Town were the only Southern League club to apply for election to the Football League. However, all four Football League clubs were re-elected.[1]

Club League Votes
Doncaster RoversFootball League Division Four50
Crewe AlexandraFootball League Division Four49
DarlingtonFootball League Division Four43
Halifax TownFootball League Division Four37
AltrinchamNorthern Premier League13
Kettering TownSouthern League12
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References
  1. A history of admission to the Football League
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