1896–97 Southern Football League

Southern Football League
Season	1896–97
1897–98 →

The 1896-97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship.

1 Final tables
2 Football League elections
3 References
4 External links

Final tables

Division One

Division One featured five new clubs:

Gravesend United (newly-elected)
Northfleet (newly-elected)
Sheppey United (promoted from Division Two)
Tottenham Hotspur (newly-elected)
Wolverston L&NWR (promoted from Division Two)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Southampton St.Mary's	20	15	5	0	63	18	3.5	35	Changed name to Southampton at end of season
2	Millwall Athletic	20	13	5	2	63	24	2.63	31
3	Chatham Town	20	13	1	6	54	29	1.86	27
4	Tottenham Hotspur	20	9	4	7	43	29	1.48	22
5	Gravesend United	20	9	4	7	35	34	1.03	22
6	Swindon Town	20	8	3	9	33	37	0.89	19
7	Reading	20	8	3	9	31	49	0.63	19
8	New Brompton	20	7	2	11	32	42	0.76	16
9	Northfleet	20	5	4	11	24	46	0.52	14	Relegation test matches
10	Sheppey United	20	5	1	14	34	47	0.72	11
11	Wolverton L&NWR	20	2	0	18	17	74	0.23	4
12	Royal Ordnance Factories	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Resigned from league after seven matches, record expunged

^{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.}

Division Two

Division Two featured eight new clubs, all of which were newly-elected:

1st Coldstream Guards
Dartford
Freemantle
Southall
RETB Chatham
Warmley
West Herts
Wycombe Wanderers

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Dartford	24	16	4	4	83	19	4.37	36	Promotion test matches
2	RETB Chatham	24	11	9	4	49	37	1.32	31	Promotion test matches
3	Freemantle	24	12	4	8	58	40	1.45	28	Promotion test matches, left league at end of season
4	Uxbridge	24	11	5	8	62	37	1.68	27
5	Wycombe Wanderers	24	10	6	8	37	54	0.69	26
6	Chesham	24	11	3	10	41	55	0.75	25
7	Southall	24	9	6	9	55	52	1.06	24
8	1st Scots Guards	24	9	6	9	49	50	0.98	24	Left league at end of season
9	West Herts	24	11	1	12	41	49	0.84	23
10	Warmley	24	10	3	11	44	43	1.02	23
11	Old St.Stephen's	24	5	7	12	36	52	0.69	17
12	Maidenhead	24	4	8	12	33	64	0.52	16
13	1st Coldstream Guards	24	3	6	15	30	66	0.45	12	Left league at end of season

^{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.}

Promotion-relegation test matches

At the end of the season, test matches were held between the bottom three clubs in Division One and the top three clubs in Division Two. Third-placed Freemantle were the only Division Two club to win, but withdrew from the league at the end of season, meaning their defeated opponents Northfleet remained in Division One.^[1]^[2]

	Division One clubs	v	Division Two clubs

	Wolverton LNWR	2 – 0	Dartford

	Sheppey United	2 – 1	RETB Chatham

	Northfleet	0 – 3	Freemantle

Football League elections

Only one Southern League club, Millwall Athletic, applied for election to Division Two of the Football League. However, they received only one vote and were not elected.^[3]

Club	League	Votes
Lincoln City	Football League	21
Burton Swifts	Football League	15
Luton Town	United League	13
Burslem Port Vale	Midland League	11
Burton Wanderers	Football League	9
Nelson	Lancashire League	7
Glossop North End	The Combination	5
Fairfield	Lancashire League	3
Crewe Alexandra	The Combination	2
Millwall Athletic	Southern League	1

References

^ Northfleet at the Football Club History Database
^ Freemantle at the Football Club History Database
^ A history of admission to the Football League

External links

Southern League

Premier Division	Arlesey Town AFC Totton Banbury United Barwell Bashley Bedford Town Brackley Town Cambridge City Chesham United Chippenham Town Cirencester Town Evesham United Frome Town Hemel Hempstead Town Hitchin Town Leamington Oxford City Redditch United St. Albans City Stourbridge Swindon Supermarine Weymouth

Division One Central	Ashford Town AFC Hayes Aylesbury Barton Rovers Beaconsfield SYCOB Bedfont Town Bedworth United Biggleswade Town Burnham Chalfont St. Peter Chertsey Town Daventry Town Fleet Town Leighton Town Marlow North Greenford United Northwood Rugby Town Slough Town St Neots Town Uxbridge Woodford United

Division One South & West	Abingdon United Bideford Bishop's Cleeve Bridgwater Town Cinderford Town Clevedon Town Didcot Town Gosport Borough Halesowen Town Hungerford Town Mangotsfield United North Leigh Paulton Rovers Poole Town Sholing Stourport Swifts Taunton Town Thatcham Town Tiverton Town Wimborne Town Yate Town

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1896–97 in English football

« 1895–96 1897–98 »

FA competitions	FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds, Final)

Football and Southern Leagues	Football League (First Division • Second Division) • Southern League

Lower leagues	Northern League · The Combination · Western League

Related to national team	Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division	Aston Villa · Blackburn Rovers · Bolton Wanderers · Burnley · Bury · Derby County · Everton · Liverpool · Nottingham Forest · Preston North End · Sheffield United · Stoke · Sunderland · The Wednesday · West Bromwich Albion · Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool · Burton Swifts · Burton Wanderers · Darwen · Gainsborough Trinity · Grimsby Town · Leicester Fosse · Lincoln City · Loughborough · Manchester City · Newcastle United · Newton Heath · Notts County · Small Heath · Walsall · Woolwich Arsenal

Southern League	Chatham Town · Gravesend United · Millwall Athletic · New Brompton · Northfleet · Reading · Royal Ordnance · Sheppey United · Southampton St Mary's · Swindon Town · Tottenham Hotspur · Wolverton L & NWR

Others	Thames Ironworks