1911–12 Southern Football League

The 1911–12 Southern Football League season was the 18th in the history of the Southern League. Queens Park Rangers won their second league championship (the first being in 1907–08), but no clubs applied to join the Football League. Luton Town, who finished second bottom of Division One were relegated to Division Two, whilst Leyton, who finished bottom, left the Southern League after 7 seasons of participation to join the South Essex League.

Merthyr Town won the Division Two championship and were promoted to Division One together with runners-up Portsmouth, who returned to Division One after one season of absence. Walsall, who also played in the Birmingham & District League, left the Southern League, but continued to play in the Birmingham & District League. Kettering also left the Southern League along with Cwm Albion and Chesham Town, who became a founder member of the Athenian League.

Division One

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Southern Football League Division One
Season1911–12
ChampionsQueens Park Rangers (2nd title)
Promotednone
RelegatedCroydon Common
Reading
Matches played380
Goals scored1,115 (2.93 per match)

A total of 20 teams contest the division, including 18 sides from previous season and two new teams.

Teams promoted from 1910–11 Division Two:

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Queens Park Rangers 38 21 11 6 59 35 1.686 53
2 Plymouth Argyle 38 23 6 9 63 31 2.032 52
3 Northampton Town 38 22 7 9 82 41 2.000 51
4 Swindon Town 38 21 6 11 82 50 1.640 48
5 Brighton & Hove Albion 38 19 9 10 73 35 2.086 47
6 Coventry City 38 17 8 13 66 54 1.222 42
7 Crystal Palace 38 15 10 13 70 46 1.522 40
8 Millwall 38 15 10 13 60 57 1.053 40
9 Watford 38 13 10 15 56 68 0.824 36
10 Stoke 38 13 10 15 51 63 0.810 36
11 Reading 38 11 14 13 43 59 0.729 36
12 Norwich City 38 10 14 14 40 60 0.667 34
13 West Ham United 38 13 7 18 64 69 0.928 33
14 Brentford 38 12 9 17 60 65 0.923 33
15 Exeter City 38 11 11 16 48 62 0.774 33
16 Southampton 38 10 11 17 46 63 0.730 31
17 Bristol Rovers 38 9 13 16 41 62 0.661 31
18 New Brompton[a] 38 11 9 18 35 72 0.486 31
19 Luton Town 38 9 10 19 49 61 0.803 28 Relegated to Division Two
20 Leyton 38 7 11 20 27 62 0.435 25 Left to join South Essex League at end of season
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976–77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Notes:
  1. ^ Changed name to Gillingham at end of season.

Division Two

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Southern Football League Division Two
Season1911–12
ChampionsMerthyr Town
PromotedMerthyr Town
Portsmouth
RelegatedWalsall (resigned)
Kettering (resigned)
Cwm Albion (resigned)
Chesham Town (resigned)
Matches played178
Goals scored645 (3.62 per match)

A total of 14 teams contest the division, including 9 sides from previous season, two teams relegated from Division One and three new teams.

Teams relegated from 1910–11 Division One:

Newly elected teams:

  • Cwm Albion
  • Mardy
  • Pontypridd

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Merthyr Town 26 19 3 4 60 14 4.286 41 Promoted to Division One
2 Portsmouth 26 19 3 4 73 20 3.650 41
3 Cardiff City 26 15 4 7 55 26 2.115 34
4 Southend United 26 16 1 9 73 24 3.042 33
5 Pontypridd 26 13 6 7 39 24 1.625 32
6 Ton Pentre 26 12 3 11 56 45 1.244 27
7 Walsall 25 13 1 11 44 41 1.073 27[a] Left league at end of season
8 Treharris 26 11 5 10 44 47 0.936 27
9 Aberdare 26 10 3 13 39 44 0.886 23
10 Kettering 26 11 0 15 37 62 0.597 22 Left league at end of season
11 Croydon Common 25 8 2 15 43 45 0.956 18[a]
12 Mardy 24 6 6 12 37 51 0.725 18[b]
13 Cwm Albion 22 5 1 16 27 70 0.386 11[c] Left league at end of season
14 Chesham Town 26 1 0 25 18 131 0.137 2 Left to join Athenian League at end of season
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Note: Number of goals for and/or against is inaccurate.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b One match against Cwm Albion not played.
  2. ^ Both matches against Cwm Albion not played.
  3. ^ Unable to complete fixtures due to a coal strike.
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