1939–40 Southern Football League

The 1939–40 season was the 42nd in the history of the Southern League. The league was split into two sections, Eastern and Western as part of an emergency war-time competition.^[1] Chelmsford City won the Eastern Section and Lovells Athletic won the Western one. A championship play-off between the two clubs was drawn 3–3 and they were declared joint champions.^[2] After this season, the Southern Football League did not resume until World War II had ended in 1945.

Eastern Section

Southern Football League Eastern Division
Season	1939-40
Matches played	18
Goals scored	102 (5.67 per match)
← 1938–39 1945–46 →

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Chelmsford City	7	5	0	2	29	9	3.22	10
2	Guildford City	8	4	1	3	26	13	2.00	9	Did not return to league after World War II
3	Tunbridge Wells Rangers	7	2	3	2	21	16	1.31	7
4	Dartford	7	2	1	4	17	30	0.57	5
5	Norwich City II	7	2	1	4	9	34	0.26	5

^{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.}

Western Section

Southern Football League Western Division
Season	1939-40
Matches played	55
Goals scored	291 (5.29 per match)
← 1938–39 1945–46 →

The Western Section featured three new clubs:

Gloucester City
Hereford United
Lovells Athletic.

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Lovells Athletic	14	11	1	2	53	22	2.41	23	Did not return to league after World War II
2	Worcester City	14	9	2	3	55	30	1.83	20
3	Hereford United	14	8	0	6	45	31	1.45	16
4	Yeovil & Petters United	14	7	2	5	30	24	1.25	16
5	Gloucester City	14	5	0	9	35	49	0.71	10	Did not return to league after World War II
6	Barry	14	4	1	9	31	56	0.55	9
7	Cheltenham Town	13	3	2	8	21	38	0.55	8
8	Bath City	13	3	2	8	21	41	0.51	8

^{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.}

References

↑ Lovells Athletic at the Football Club History Database
↑ Chelmsford City at the Football Club History Database

Southern League

Premier Division	Arlesey Town Banbury United Bideford Biggleswade Town Burnham Cambridge City Chesham United Chippenham Town Cirencester Town Corby Town Dorchester Town Dunstable Town Frome Town Histon Hitchin Town Hungerford Town Paulton Rovers Poole Town Redditch United Slough Town St Neots Town Truro City Weymouth

Division One Central	AFC Hayes Aylesbury Aylesbury United Barton Rovers Beaconsfield SYCOB Bedford Town Bedworth United Chalfont St. Peter Daventry Town Egham Town Godalming Town Hanwell Town Kettering Town Leighton Town Marlow North Greenford United Northwood Potters Bar Town Royston Town Rugby Town St Ives Town Uxbridge

Division One South & West	AFC Totton Bashley Bishop's Cleeve Bridgwater Town Cinderford Town Clevedon Town Didcot Town Evesham United Fleet Town Larkhall Athletic Mangotsfield United Merthyr Town North Leigh Sholing Shortwood United Stratford Town Swindon Supermarine Taunton Town Tiverton Town Wantage Town Wimborne Town Yate Town

Seasons	1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15

1939–40 in English football

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FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)
FA Charity Shield

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First Division

Arsenal
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Second Division

Barnsley
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Third Division

North	Accrington Stanley Barrow Bradford City Carlisle United Chester Crewe Alexandra Darlington Doncaster Rovers Gateshead Halifax Town Hartlepools United Hull City Lincoln City New Brighton Oldham Athletic Rochdale Rotherham County Southport Stockport County Tranmere Rovers Wrexham York City

South	Aldershot Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Cardiff City Clapton Orient Crystal Palace Exeter City Ipswich Town Mansfield Town Northampton Town Norwich City Notts County Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Southend United Swindon Town Torquay United Walsall Watford