1965–66 Southern Football League

The 1965–66 season was the 63rd in the history of the Southern League.

Premier Division

Southern Football League
Premier Division

Season	1965–66
Champions	Weymouth
Promoted	None
Relegated	Dartford Margate Rugby Town Tonbridge
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1548 (3.35 per match)
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

The Premier Division featured four new teams:

• Corby Town, promoted as fourth in Division One
• Hereford United, promoted as champions of Division One
• Poole Town, promoted as third in Division One
• Wimbledon, promoted as runners-up of Division One

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Weymouth (C)	42	22	13	7	70	35	2	57
2	Chelmsford City	42	21	12	9	74	50	1.48	54
3	Hereford United	42	21	10	11	81	49	1.653	52
4	Bedford Town	42	23	6	13	80	57	1.404	52
5	Wimbledon	42	20	10	12	80	47	1.702	50
6	Cambridge City	42	19	11	12	67	52	1.288	49
7	Romford	42	21	7	14	87	72	1.208	49
8	Worcester City	42	20	8	14	69	54	1.278	48
9	Yeovil Town	42	17	11	14	91	70	1.3	45
10	Cambridge United	42	18	9	15	72	64	1.125	45
11	King's Lynn	42	18	7	17	75	72	1.042	43
12	Corby Town	42	16	9	17	66	73	0.904	41
13	Wellington Town	42	13	13	16	65	70	0.929	39
14	Nuneaton Borough	42	15	8	19	60	74	0.811	38
15	Folkestone Town	42	14	9	19	53	75	0.707	37
16	Guildford City	42	14	8	20	70	84	0.833	36
17	Poole Town	42	14	7	21	61	75	0.813	35
18	Cheltenham Town	42	13	9	20	69	99	0.697	35
19	Dartford (R)	42	13	7	22	62	69	0.899	33	Relegation to 1966–67 SFL Division One
20	Rugby Town (R)	42	11	10	21	67	95	0.705	32
21	Tonbridge (R)	42	11	6	25	63	101	0.624	28
22	Margate (R)	42	8	10	24	66	111	0.595	26

Source: [1]
^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.
2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 14 non-League clubs applied for election, including nine Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.

Club	League	Votes
Lincoln City	Football League	43
Bradford City	Football League	42
Wrexham	Football League	40
Rochdale	Football League	40
Wigan Athletic	Cheshire League	5
Cambridge United	Southern League	5
Hereford United	Southern League	4
Bedford Town	Southern League	3
Romford	Southern League	2
Morecambe	Lancashire Combination	2
Corby Town	Southern League	1
Wellington Town	Southern League	1
Wimbledon	Southern League	0
Scarborough	Midland League	0
Yeovil Town	Southern League	0
Folkestone	Southern League	0

Division One

Southern Football League
Division One

Season	1965–66
Champions	Barnet
Promoted	Barnet Bath City Burton Albion Hillingdon Borough
Relegated	None
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1845 (3.34 per match)
← 1964–65 1966–67 →

Division One featured six new teams:

• Barnet, champions of the Athenian League
• Bath City, Bexley United, Hastings United and Wisbech Town, relegated from the Premier Division
• Dunstable Town, 13th in the Metropolitan League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAvg	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Barnet (C) (P)	46	30	9	7	114	49	2.327	69	Promotion to 1966–67 Southern League Premier Division
2	Hillingdon Borough (P)	46	27	10	9	101	46	2.196	64
3	Burton Albion (P)	46	28	8	10	121	60	2.017	64
4	Bath City (P)	46	25	13	8	88	50	1.76	63
5	Hastings United	46	25	10	11	104	59	1.763	60
6	Wisbech Town	46	25	9	12	98	54	1.815	59
7	Canterbury City	46	25	8	13	89	66	1.348	58
8	Stevenage Town	46	23	9	14	86	49	1.755	55
9	Kettering Town	46	22	9	15	77	74	1.041	53
10	Merthyr Tydfil	46	22	6	18	95	68	1.397	50
11	Dunstable Town	46	15	14	17	76	72	1.056	44
12	Crawley Town	46	17	10	19	72	71	1.014	44
13	Bexley United	46	20	4	22	65	71	0.915	44
14	Trowbridge Town	46	16	11	19	79	81	0.975	43
15	Dover	46	17	8	21	59	62	0.952	42
16	Barry Town	46	16	10	20	72	94	0.766	42
17	Gravesend & Northfleet	46	16	9	21	84	86	0.977	41
18	Gloucester City	46	14	12	20	75	98	0.765	40
19	Sittingbourne	46	11	12	23	77	121	0.636	34
20	Ramsgate Athletic	46	9	15	22	35	76	0.461	33
21	Hinckley Athletic	46	10	12	24	58	93	0.624	32
22	Tunbridge Wells Rangers	46	12	8	26	47	88	0.534	32
23	Ashford Town	46	9	10	27	44	92	0.478	28
24	Deal Town	46	3	4	39	29	165	0.176	10	Resigned from league at the end of the season

Source: [2]
^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.
2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

References

• RSSF – Southern Football League archive