1969–70 Southern Football League
The 1969–70 season was the 67th in the history of the Southern League.
Premier Division
| Season | 1969–70 | 
|---|---|
| Champions | Cambridge United | 
| Promoted | Cambridge United | 
| Relegated | Burton Albion Crawley Town | 
| Matches played | 462 | 
| Goals scored | 1319 (2.85 per match) | 
| ← 1968–69  1970–71 →  | |
The Premier Division featured four new teams:
- Bath City, promoted as runners-up of Division One
- Brentwood Town, promoted as champions of Division One
- Crawley Town, promoted as fourth in Division One
- Gloucester City, promoted as third in Division One
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAvg | Pts | Qualification or relegation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cambridge United (C) (P) | 42 | 26 | 6 | 10 | 84 | 50 | 1.68 | 58 | Promotion to 1970–71 Football League Division Four | 
| 2 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 78 | 48 | 1.625 | 57 | |
| 3 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 58 | 1.31 | 51 | |
| 4 | Weymouth | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 59 | 37 | 1.595 | 50 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 64 | 52 | 1.231 | 50 | |
| 6 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 56 | 50 | 1.12 | 50 | |
| 7 | Barnet | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 71 | 54 | 1.315 | 47 | |
| 8 | Telford United | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 61 | 62 | 0.984 | 46 | |
| 9 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 61 | 38 | 1.605 | 45 | Club folded | 
| 10 | Hereford United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 74 | 65 | 1.138 | 45 | |
| 11 | Bath City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 63 | 55 | 1.145 | 44 | |
| 12 | King's Lynn | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 72 | 68 | 1.059 | 43 | |
| 13 | Margate | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 70 | 64 | 1.094 | 42 | |
| 14 | Dover | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 50 | 1.02 | 40 | |
| 15 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 64 | 75 | 0.853 | 39 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 44 | 0.795 | 38 | |
| 17 | Romford | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 50 | 62 | 0.806 | 37 | |
| 18 | Poole Town | 42 | 8 | 19 | 15 | 48 | 57 | 0.842 | 35 | |
| 19 | Gloucester City | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 53 | 73 | 0.726 | 33 | |
| 20 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 52 | 74 | 0.703 | 32 | |
| 21 | Crawley Town (R) | 42 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 53 | 101 | 0.525 | 27 | Relegation to 1970–71 SFL Division One | 
| 22 | Burton Albion (R) | 42 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 24 | 82 | 0.293 | 15 | 
Source: 
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.
Rules for classification: 
1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round. 
Only applicable when the season is not finished: 
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
Football League elections
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 13 non-League clubs applied for election, ten of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, and Cambridge United were elected.[1]
Division One
| Season | 1969–70 | 
|---|---|
| Champions | Bedford Town | 
| Promoted | Ashford Town Bedford Town Cambridge City Dartford | 
| Relegated | Wisbech Town | 
| Matches played | 462 | 
| Goals scored | 1440 (3.12 per match) | 
| ← 1968–69  1970–71 →  | |
Division One featured four new teams:
- Bedford Town, Cheltenham Town, Guildford City, and Rugby Town relegated from the Premier Division
League table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAvg | Pts | Qualification or relegation | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bedford Town (C) (P) | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 93 | 37 | 2.514 | 61 | Promotion to 1970–71 Southern League Premier Division | 
| 2 | Cambridge City (P) | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 104 | 43 | 2.419 | 60 | |
| 3 | Dartford (P) | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 88 | 46 | 1.913 | 59 | |
| 4 | Ashford Town (P) | 42 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 71 | 43 | 1.651 | 54 | |
| 5 | Rugby Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 82 | 66 | 1.242 | 50 | |
| 6 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 65 | 1.108 | 48 | |
| 7 | Hastings United | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 51 | 1.314 | 47 | |
| 8 | Guildford City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 58 | 1.172 | 47 | |
| 9 | Banbury United | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 86 | 72 | 1.194 | 46 | |
| 10 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 78 | 81 | 0.963 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 61 | 57 | 1.07 | 43 | |
| 12 | Corby Town | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 58 | 54 | 1.074 | 43 | |
| 13 | Folkestone | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 57 | 55 | 1.036 | 43 | |
| 14 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 53 | 57 | 0.93 | 41 | |
| 15 | Salisbury | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 53 | 0.887 | 38 | |
| 16 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 62 | 71 | 0.873 | 37 | |
| 17 | Bexley United | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 58 | 76 | 0.763 | 31 | |
| 18 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 52 | 82 | 0.634 | 31 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 40 | 80 | 0.5 | 29 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 39 | 76 | 0.513 | 28 | |
| 21 | Wisbech Town (R) | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 58 | 116 | 0.5 | 25 | Relegation to Eastern Counties League | 
| 22 | Tonbridge | 42 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 46 | 101 | 0.455 | 18 | 
Source: 
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.
Rules for classification: 
1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round. 
Only applicable when the season is not finished: 
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.
References
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