1946–47 Southern Football League

The 1946–47 season was the 44th in the history of the Southern League. Gillingham won the championship. The league featured eight new clubs, including Football League members Millwall, who also entered their first team in the Southern League. However, due to fixture congestion, they only played 24 matches, with the remaining fixtures all being awarded as 0–0 draws.^[1]

Final table

Southern Football League
Season	1946-47
Champions	Gillingham (1st title)
Promoted	none
Relegated	Millwall (resigned)
Matches played	272
Goals scored	1250 (4.6 per match)
← 1945–46 1947–48 →

A total of 17 teams contest the division, including nine sides from previous season, three teams missed previous season and five new teams.

Teams returned to the league after resigning in 1940:

Dartford
Gloucester City
Guildford City

Newly elected teams:

Gravesend & Northfleet
Gillingham - returned after resigning in 1939
Merthyr Tydfil - runners-up of Welsh Football League
Millwall - also participated in the Football League this season
Exeter City II

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF¹	GA¹	GAv²	Pts³	Notes
1	Gillingham	32	20	7	5	103	45	2.29	47
2	Guildford City	32	21	4	7	86	39	2.21	46
3	Merthyr Tydfil	32	21	3	8	104	37	2.81	45
4	Yeovil Town	32	19	6	7	100	49	2.04	44
5	Chelmsford City	32	17	4	11	90	60	1.5	38
6	Gravesend & Northfleet	32	17	4	11	82	58	1.41	38
7	Barry Town	32	14	8	10	89	61	1.46	36
8	Colchester United	32	15	5	12	65	60	1.08	35
9	Cheltenham Town	32	14	4	14	68	75	0.91	32
10	Millwall	32	8	13	11	59	57	1.04	29	Left league at end of season
11	Dartford	32	10	5	17	71	100	0.71	25
12	Bedford Town	32	8	8	16	63	98	0.64	24
13	Hereford United	32	8	7	17	37	85	0.44	23
14	Worcester City	32	8	6	18	55	90	0.61	22
15	Exeter City II	32	10	2	20	69	126	0.55	22
16	Bath City	32	7	7	18	52	93	0.56	21
17	Gloucester City	32	8	1	23	57	120	0.47	17

^{1 Number of goals for and/or against is inaccurate.}

^{2 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.}

^{3 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

Football League elections

Barry Town, Bath City, Chelmsford City, Colchester United, Gillingham, Gravesend & Northfleet, Guildford City, Merthyr Tydfil, Worcester City and Yeovil Town were amongst 27 non-League clubs to apply for election to the Football League. However, as the two clubs relegated from Division Two to the regional Division Threes were both from the south, the Football League secretary had suggested that electing new members could create an imbalance in the divisions' geographical boundaries, and that instead all four clubs (Halifax, Mansfield, Norwich and Southport) should be re-elected en bloc. This was accepted and no elections took place.^[2]

References

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

1946–47 in English football

« 1945–46

1947–48 »

FA competitions

FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds
Final)
FA Charity Shield

Football League

Football League (First Division
Second Division
Third Division)

Lower leagues

Related to national team

Walter Winterbottom
Home Championship

Club seasons

First Division

Arsenal
Aston Villa
Blackpool
Bolton Wanderers
Brentford
Charlton Athletic
Chelsea
Derby County
Everton
Grimsby Town
Huddersfield Town
Leeds United
Liverpool
Manchester United
Middlesbrough
Portsmouth
Preston North End
Sheffield United
Stoke City
Sunderland
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division

Barnsley
Birmingham City
Blackburn Rovers
Bradford Park Avenue
Burnley
Bury
Chesterfield
Coventry City
Fulham
Leicester City
Luton Town
Manchester City
Millwall
Newcastle United
Newport County
Nottingham Forest
Plymouth Argyle
Sheffield Wednesday
Southampton
Swansea Town
Tottenham Hotspur
West Bromwich Albion
West Ham United

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 United Southport Stockport County Tranmere Rovers Wrexham York City

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