1958–59 Southern Football League

The 1958–59 Southern Football League season saw the league split into two divisions for the first time since 1936 following the election of thirteen new clubs at the end of the previous season. Hereford United won the North-west Division, whilst Bedford Town won the South-east Division. Bedford were declared Southern League champions after defeating Hereford 2-1 in a championship play-off at Hereford on 9 May.^[1] Nine clubs applied to join the Football League, although none were successful.

The plan for the following season was to have a Premier Division of 22 clubs and a Division One below it. As a result, the top eleven clubs in each division this season would remain in the new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing twelfth or lower would be in the new Division One.

Final tables

North-west Division

The North-west Division featured seven new clubs:

Boston United (from the Midland League)
Burton Albion (from the Birmingham & District League)
Corby Town (from the Midland League)
Nuneaton Borough (from the Birmingham & District League)
Rugby Town (from the Birmingham & District League)
Wellington Town (from the Cheshire League)
Wisbech Town (from the Midland League)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Hereford United	34	22	5	7	80	37	2.16	49
2	Kettering Town	34	20	7	7	83	63	1.32	47
3	Boston United	34	18	8	8	73	47	1.55	44
4	Cheltenham Town	34	20	4	10	65	47	1.38	44
5	Worcester City	34	19	4	11	74	47	1.57	42
6	Bath City	34	17	5	12	89	62	1.44	39
7	Wellington Town	34	15	9	10	74	58	1.28	39
8	Nuneaton Borough	34	17	5	12	76	66	1.15	39
9	Wisbech Town	34	16	5	13	77	54	1.43	37
10	Headington United	34	16	3	15	76	61	1.25	35
11	Barry Town	34	15	5	14	64	67	0.96	35
12	Merthyr Tydfil	34	16	3	15	54	59	0.92	35	Relegated to Division One
13	Gloucester City	34	12	6	16	50	65	0.77	30
14	Corby Town	34	10	8	16	59	79	0.75	28
15	Lovells Athletic	34	10	3	21	51	70	0.73	23	Left league at end of season
16	Rugby Town	34	7	6	21	45	93	0.48	20	Relegated to Division One
17	Kidderminster Harriers	34	7	3	24	42	94	0.44	17
18	Burton Albion	34	3	3	28	41	104	0.39	9

^{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.}

South-east Division

The South-east Division featured six new clubs:

Cambridge City (from the Athenian League)
Cambridge United (from the Eastern Counties League)
Clacton Town (from the Eastern Counties League)
King's Lynn (from the Midland League)
Trowbridge Town (from the Western League)
Yiewsley (from the Corinthian League)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv¹	Pts²	Notes
1	Bedford Town	32	21	6	5	90	41	2.2	48
2	Gravesend & Northfleet	32	21	2	9	79	54	1.46	44
3	Dartford	32	20	3	9	77	41	1.88	43
4	Yeovil Town	32	17	8	7	60	41	1.46	42
5	Weymouth	32	13	11	8	61	43	1.42	37
6	Chelmsford City	32	12	12	8	74	53	1.4	36
7	King's Lynn	32	14	5	13	70	63	1.11	33
8	Poole Town	32	12	8	12	60	65	0.92	32
9	Cambridge City	32	12	7	13	61	54	1.13	31
10	Hastings United	32	13	5	14	60	59	1.02	31
11	Tonbridge	32	14	3	15	51	59	0.86	31
12	Cambridge United	32	11	8	13	55	77	0.71	30	Relegated to Division One
13	Trowbridge Town	32	12	4	16	53	75	0.71	28
14	Exeter City II	32	7	12	13	47	71	0.66	26
15	Guildford City	32	7	6	19	45	67	0.67	20
16	Clacton Town	32	6	7	19	44	81	0.54	19
17	Yiewsley	32	3	7	22	36	78	0.46	13

^{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.}

Football League election

Nine Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League. However, all four League clubs were re-elected.^[2]

Club	League	Votes
Oldham Athletic	Football League	46
Southport	Football League	34
Barrow	Football League	32
Aldershot	Football League	31
Peterborough United	Midland League	26
Headington United	Southern League	7
Worcester City	Southern League	7
Wigan Athletic	Lancashire Combination	3
Cambridge City	Southern League	2
Gloucester City	Southern League	2
Kettering Town	Southern League	1
South Shields	Midland League	1
Scarborough	Midland League	1
Yeovil Town	Southern League	0
Bedford Town	Southern League	0
Hereford United	Southern League	0
King's Lynn	Southern League	0
Morecambe	Lancashire Combination	0

References

↑ Bedford Town at the Football Club History Database
↑ A history of admission to the Football League

Southern League
South Premier	Banbury United Basingstoke Town Biggleswade Town Bishop's Stortford Chesham United Dorchester Town Dunstable Town Farnborough Frome Town Gosport Borough Hereford Hitchin Town Kettering Town King's Lynn Town King's Langley Merthyr Town Redditch United Royston Town Slough Town St Ives Town St Neots Town Stratford Town Tiverton Town Weymouth
South East	AFC Dunstable AFC Rushden & Diamonds Arlesey Town Ashford Town Aylesbury Aylesbury United Barton Rovers Beaconsfield Town Bedford Town Cambridge City Chalfont St Peter Egham Town Fleet Town Hanwell Town Hartley Wintney Hayes and Yeading United Kempston Rovers Marlow Moneyfields Northwood Thame United Uxbridge
South West	AFC Totton Barnstaple Town Bideford Bishop's Cleeve Bristol Manor Farm Cinderford Town Cirencester Town Didcot Town Evesham United Kidlington Larkhall Athletic Mangotsfield United North Leigh Paulton Rovers Salisbury Shortwood United Slimbridge Swindon Supermarine Taunton Town Wimborne Town Winchester City 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 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

1958–59 in English football

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1959–60 »

FA competitions

Football League

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons
First Division	Arsenal Aston Villa Birmingham City Blackburn Rovers Blackpool Bolton Wanderers Burnley Chelsea Everton Leeds United Leicester City Luton Town Manchester City Manchester United Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Portsmouth Preston North End Tottenham Hotspur West Bromwich Albion West Ham United Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Barnsley Brighton & Hove Albion Bristol City Bristol Rovers Cardiff City Charlton Athletic Derby County Fulham Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Leyton Orient Lincoln City Liverpool Middlesbrough Rotherham United Scunthorpe United Sheffield United Sheffield Wednesday Stoke City Sunderland Swansea Town
Third Division	Accrington Stanley Bradford City Brentford Bury Chesterfield Colchester United Doncaster Rovers Halifax Town Hull City Mansfield Town Newport County Norwich City Notts County Plymouth Argyle Queens Park Rangers Reading Rochdale Southend United Southampton Stockport County Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers Wrexham
Fourth Division	Aldershot Barrow Bournemouth Bradford Park Avenue Carlisle United Chester Coventry City Crewe Alexandra Crystal Palace Darlington Exeter City Gateshead Gillingham Hartlepools United Millwall Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Port Vale Shrewsbury Town Southport Torquay United Walsall Watford Workington York City

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