1965–66 Southern Football League

The 1965–66 Southern Football League season was the 63rd in the history of the league, an English football competition.

Weymouth won the championship for the second time in a row, whilst Barnet, Bath City, Burton Albion and Hillingdon Borough were all promoted to the Premier Division. Nine Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

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:

League table

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Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season1965–66
ChampionsWeymouth
RelegatedDartford
Margate
Rugby Town
Tonbridge
Matches played462
Goals scored1,548 (3.35 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Weymouth 42 22 13 7 70 35 2.000 57
2 Chelmsford City 42 21 12 9 74 50 1.480 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 1.300 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 42 13 7 22 62 69 0.899 33 Relegated to Division One
20 Rugby Town 42 11 10 21 67 95 0.705 32
21 Tonbridge 42 11 6 25 63 101 0.624 28
22 Margate 42 8 10 24 66 111 0.595 26
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal ratio.

Division One

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Division One expanded up to 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:

League table

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Southern Football League
Division One
Season1965–66
ChampionsBarnet
PromotedBarnet
Bath City
Burton Albion
Hillingdon Borough
Matches played552
Goals scored1,845 (3.34 per match)

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Barnet 46 30 9 7 114 49 2.327 69 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Hillingdon Borough 46 27 10 9 101 46 2.196 64
3 Burton Albion 46 28 8 10 121 60 2.017 64
4 Bath City 46 25 13 8 88 50 1.760 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 (Kent) 46 9 10 27 44 92 0.478 28
24 Deal Town 46 3 4 39 29 165 0.176 10 Resigned from league
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 14 non-League clubs applied for election, including nine Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]

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

References

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