Everything about Southern League Football totally explained
» For other uses, see Southern Football League (disambiguation).
The
Southern League is an
English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England. For historical reasons the
Welsh club
Merthyr Tydfil also currently play in the Southern League.
The structure of the Southern League has changed several times since its formation in 1894, and currently there are 65 clubs which are divided into three divisions. The Premier Division is at Level 3 of the
National League System, and is a feeder division to
Conference South. Feeding the Premier Division are two regional divisions, known as Division One Midlands and Division One South & West, which are at Level 4 of the system. These divisions are in turn fed by various regional leagues.
For sponsorship reasons the Southern League is currently known as the
British Gas Business Football League
History
Professional football (and
professional sport in general) developed more slowly in
southern England than in the
north. Professionalism was sanctioned by the
The Football Association as early as
1885, but when
The Football League was founded in
1888 it was based entirely in the north and
midlands with the establishment and
county FAs in the south being firmly opposed to professionalism.
Woolwich Arsenal (nowadays simply
Arsenal) were the first London club to turn professional in 1891 and were one of the prime motivators behind an attempt to set up a Southern League to mirror the existing Northern- and Midlands-based Football League. However, this venture failed in the face of opposition from the London FA and Woolwich Arsenal instead joined the Football League as its only representative south of Birmingham in 1893. Additionally, an amateur league called the
Southern Alliance was founded in 1892, involving seven teams from the region, but folded after one incomplete season.
Nonetheless, another attempt was made to form the Southern League, and this time it was successful; a competition for both professional and amateur clubs, was founded in 1894 under the initiative of
Millwall Athletic (now simply Millwall). Initially only one division was envisaged but such was the enthusiasm that eventually two divisions were formed. The 16 founder members were:
2nd Scots Guards withdrew before the first season started and were replaced by
Southampton St Mary's. Woolwich Arsenal attempted to add their reserve side to the second division but this application was refused.
The Southern League soon became the dominant competition outside
The Football League in southern and central England. Indeed, in 1907, it accepted
Bradford Park Avenue, a top northern club as a member, reflecting its senior position at the time. Of the 16 original founder members, six – Gillingham (as New Brompton were renamed), Luton Town, Millwall, Reading, Southampton and Swindon Town – are now League clubs.
Whilst still a Southern League club,
Tottenham Hotspur became the first and so far only team to win the
FA Cup after the establishment of the league as a
non-League club; this happened in
1901, although
Southampton reached the final in 1900 and 1902 showing the strength of the Southern League. The relative strengths of the two leagues was during this period elucidated through the annual
Charity Shield.
In
1920, virtually the entire top division of the Southern League was absorbed by the Football League to become that league's new
Third Division. A year later this became the
Third Division South, the delay in the incorporation of the
Third Division North being due to the lack of an overall coherent structure in the North outside of the Football League.
For the next six decades, the Football League and Southern League would exchange a limited number of clubs as a result of the older league's re-election process. From 1920 on, the Southern League's status as a semi-professional league was firmly established.
With its clubs seeking a more regular means of advancing to the Football League, in
1979 the Southern League became a feeder to the new
Football Conference along with the
Isthmian League and the
Northern Premier League, and the top Southern clubs of the day joined the new league. In turn, the Conference would eventually succeed in become a feeder to the Football League. The league lost more of its top clubs in
2004 when the Conference added two regional divisions below the existing
Conference National.
Southern League clubs
Listed below are the clubs currently competing in the three divisions of the Southern League, for the 2007–08 season.
Past Southern League winners
For the 1898-99 season, Division Two was divided into London and South-West sections, with a playoff contested between the winners of each section.
For the 1899-00 season, the league reverted to the old format.
For the 1909-10 season, Division Two was split into an 'A' section and a 'B' section, with the winners of each section contesting a play-off for the Division Two championship.
For the 1910-11 season, the league again reverted back to the previous format.
At the end of the 1919-20 season, the majority of the teams in the First Division moved into the new Third Division of the Football League. The Southern League was therefore split into two national sections for England and Wales, with the winners of each section contesting a playoff for the Southern League championship.
For the 1923-24 season, the league was split into two regional sections, with the winners of each section contesting a playoff for the Southern League championship.
For the 1933-34 season an extra section, the Central Section was introduced to provide additional fixtures. The Central included teams from the other two sections and didn't contribute to the overall championship.
For the 1936-37 season, the Eastern and Western sections were merged into a single division. Additional fixtures were obtained through the Midweek Section which didn't contribute to the overall championship.
For the 1945-46 season, the Midweek Section wasn't played due to power restrictions after the Second World War.
For the 1958-59 season the Southern League was again divided into two sections: North-Western and South-Eastern. The winners of each section contested a playoff for the Southern League championship
The following season saw the two sections merged to form a Premier Division, and a new Division One introduced.
For the 1971-72 season Division One was regionalised.
For the 1979-80 season, thirteen Premier Division clubs joined the newly-formed Alliance Premier League. The Premier Division and Division One were subsequently merged, and two regional divisions formed.
For the 1982-83 season, the Premier Division was re-introduced, above the regional divisions.
For the 2000-01 season, the regional divisions were renamed the Western and Eastern divisions.
For the 2006-07 season, the two regional divisions were renamed Division One Midlands and Division One South & West.
League structure
The league structure has changed several times over the years, and currently consists of a
Premier Division at step 3 of the pyramid, and
Division One South & West and
Division One Midlands at step 4. The winners of the Premier Division, together with the winners of a playoff, will be promoted to the
Conference North or
Conference South divisions, depending on their location.
Clubs relegated from the Southern League can be placed in any of the fourteen leagues below, but in practice it's likely to be one of the following (based on geography):
Season by season
Southern Football League 2006-07
Southern Football League 2007-08Further Information
Get more info on 'Southern League Football'.
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