1967–68 Southern Football League
The 1967–68 Southern Football League season was the 65th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Chelmsford City won the championship, winning their second Southern League title, whilst Bedford Town, Kettering Town, Rugby Town and Worcester City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Twelve Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
Premier Division
[edit]The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
At the end of the season Stevenage Town left the league and folded, thus Burton Albion Albion were reprieved from relegation.
League table
[edit]| Season | 1967–68 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Chelmsford City |
| Relegated | Cambridge City Corby Town Hastings United |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,388 (3 per match) |
← 1966–67 1968–69 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 85 | 50 | 1.700 | 57 | |
| 2 | Wimbledon | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 85 | 47 | 1.809 | 55 | |
| 3 | Cambridge United | 42 | 20 | 13 | 9 | 73 | 42 | 1.738 | 53 | |
| 4 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 23 | 7 | 12 | 97 | 67 | 1.448 | 53 | |
| 5 | Guildford City | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 56 | 43 | 1.302 | 49 | |
| 6 | Romford | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 60 | 1.200 | 48 | |
| 7 | Barnet | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 81 | 71 | 1.141 | 48 | |
| 8 | Margate | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 80 | 71 | 1.127 | 46 | |
| 9 | Wellington Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 70 | 66 | 1.061 | 45 | |
| 10 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 53 | 54 | 0.981 | 45 | |
| 11 | King's Lynn | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 66 | 57 | 1.158 | 44 | |
| 12 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 45 | 43 | 1.047 | 44 | |
| 13 | Weymouth | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 65 | 61 | 1.066 | 42 | |
| 14 | Hereford United | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 58 | 62 | 0.935 | 41 | |
| 15 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 62 | 64 | 0.969 | 40 | |
| 16 | Dover | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 54 | 56 | 0.964 | 40 | |
| 17 | Poole Town | 42 | 13 | 10 | 19 | 55 | 74 | 0.743 | 36 | |
| 18 | Stevenage Town | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 57 | 75 | 0.760 | 35 | Club folded |
| 19 | Burton Albion | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 51 | 73 | 0.699 | 34 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Corby Town | 42 | 7 | 13 | 22 | 40 | 77 | 0.519 | 27 | Relegated to Division One |
| 21 | Cambridge City | 42 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 50 | 81 | 0.617 | 26 | |
| 22 | Hastings United | 42 | 4 | 8 | 30 | 33 | 94 | 0.351 | 16 |
Division One
[edit]After three clubs left the league at the end of the previous season, Division One reverted to 22-clubs format, including 17 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:
- Four clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
- Plus:
- Brentwood Town, joined from the Metropolitan League
At the end of the season Folkestone Town was renamed Folkestone.
League table
[edit]| Season | 1967–68 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Worcester City |
| Promoted | Bedford Town Kettering Town Rugby Town Worcester City |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,438 (3.11 per match) |
← 1966–67 1968–69 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worcester City | 42 | 23 | 14 | 5 | 93 | 35 | 2.657 | 60 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Kettering Town | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 88 | 39 | 2.256 | 58 | |
| 3 | Bedford Town | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 101 | 40 | 2.525 | 55 | |
| 4 | Rugby Town | 42 | 20 | 15 | 7 | 72 | 44 | 1.636 | 55 | |
| 5 | Dartford | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 72 | 48 | 1.500 | 55 | |
| 6 | Bath City | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 78 | 51 | 1.529 | 54 | |
| 7 | Banbury United | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 79 | 59 | 1.339 | 53 | |
| 8 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 17 | 17 | 8 | 70 | 37 | 1.892 | 51 | |
| 9 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 80 | 66 | 1.212 | 49 | |
| 10 | Tonbridge | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 76 | 71 | 1.070 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 66 | 63 | 1.048 | 43 | |
| 12 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 18 | 6 | 18 | 73 | 79 | 0.924 | 42 | |
| 13 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 63 | 73 | 0.863 | 41 | |
| 14 | Bexley United | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 56 | 64 | 0.875 | 37 | |
| 15 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 64 | 71 | 0.901 | 35 | |
| 16 | Gloucester City | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 54 | 68 | 0.794 | 33 | |
| 17 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 43 | 78 | 0.551 | 32 | |
| 18 | Crawley Town | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 53 | 85 | 0.624 | 28 | |
| 19 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 10 | 7 | 25 | 49 | 80 | 0.613 | 27 | |
| 20 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 44 | 94 | 0.468 | 26 | |
| 21 | Barry Town | 42 | 7 | 12 | 23 | 36 | 81 | 0.444 | 26 | |
| 22 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 6 | 7 | 29 | 28 | 112 | 0.250 | 19 |
Football League elections
[edit]Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 15 non-League clubs applied for election, including twelve Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]