The 1965–66 Southern Football League season was the 63rd in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Weymouth won the championship for the second time in a row, whilst Barnet, Bath City, Burton Albion and Hillingdon Borough were all promoted to the Premier Division. Nine Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
Premier Division
editThe Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
League table
edit| Season | 1965–66 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Weymouth |
| Relegated | Dartford Margate Rugby Town Tonbridge |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,548 (3.35 per match) |
← 1964–65 1966–67 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weymouth | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 70 | 35 | 2.000 | 57 | |
| 2 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 74 | 50 | 1.480 | 54 | |
| 3 | Hereford United | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 81 | 49 | 1.653 | 52 | |
| 4 | Bedford Town | 42 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 80 | 57 | 1.404 | 52 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 80 | 47 | 1.702 | 50 | |
| 6 | Cambridge City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 52 | 1.288 | 49 | |
| 7 | Romford | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 87 | 72 | 1.208 | 49 | |
| 8 | Worcester City | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 69 | 54 | 1.278 | 48 | |
| 9 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 91 | 70 | 1.300 | 45 | |
| 10 | Cambridge United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 72 | 64 | 1.125 | 45 | |
| 11 | King's Lynn | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 75 | 72 | 1.042 | 43 | |
| 12 | Corby Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 73 | 0.904 | 41 | |
| 13 | Wellington Town | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 65 | 70 | 0.929 | 39 | |
| 14 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 74 | 0.811 | 38 | |
| 15 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 75 | 0.707 | 37 | |
| 16 | Guildford City | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 70 | 84 | 0.833 | 36 | |
| 17 | Poole Town | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 61 | 75 | 0.813 | 35 | |
| 18 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 69 | 99 | 0.697 | 35 | |
| 19 | Dartford | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 62 | 69 | 0.899 | 33 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | Rugby Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 67 | 95 | 0.705 | 32 | |
| 21 | Tonbridge | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 63 | 101 | 0.624 | 28 | |
| 22 | Margate | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 66 | 111 | 0.595 | 26 |
Division One
editDivision One expanded up to 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:
- Four clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
- Plus:
- Barnet, joined from the Athenian League
- Dunstable Town, joined from the Metropolitan League
League table
edit| Season | 1965–66 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Barnet |
| Promoted | Barnet Bath City Burton Albion Hillingdon Borough |
| Matches played | 552 |
| Goals scored | 1,845 (3.34 per match) |
← 1964–65 1966–67 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnet | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 114 | 49 | 2.327 | 69 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Hillingdon Borough | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 101 | 46 | 2.196 | 64 | |
| 3 | Burton Albion | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 121 | 60 | 2.017 | 64 | |
| 4 | Bath City | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 88 | 50 | 1.760 | 63 | |
| 5 | Hastings United | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 104 | 59 | 1.763 | 60 | |
| 6 | Wisbech Town | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 98 | 54 | 1.815 | 59 | |
| 7 | Canterbury City | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 89 | 66 | 1.348 | 58 | |
| 8 | Stevenage Town | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 86 | 49 | 1.755 | 55 | |
| 9 | Kettering Town | 46 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 77 | 74 | 1.041 | 53 | |
| 10 | Merthyr Tydfil | 46 | 22 | 6 | 18 | 95 | 68 | 1.397 | 50 | |
| 11 | Dunstable Town | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 76 | 72 | 1.056 | 44 | |
| 12 | Crawley Town | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 72 | 71 | 1.014 | 44 | |
| 13 | Bexley United | 46 | 20 | 4 | 22 | 65 | 71 | 0.915 | 44 | |
| 14 | Trowbridge Town | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 79 | 81 | 0.975 | 43 | |
| 15 | Dover | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 59 | 62 | 0.952 | 42 | |
| 16 | Barry Town | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 72 | 94 | 0.766 | 42 | |
| 17 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 84 | 86 | 0.977 | 41 | |
| 18 | Gloucester City | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 75 | 98 | 0.765 | 40 | |
| 19 | Sittingbourne | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 77 | 121 | 0.636 | 34 | |
| 20 | Ramsgate Athletic | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 35 | 76 | 0.461 | 33 | |
| 21 | Hinckley Athletic | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 58 | 93 | 0.624 | 32 | |
| 22 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | 46 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 47 | 88 | 0.534 | 32 | |
| 23 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 46 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 44 | 92 | 0.478 | 28 | |
| 24 | Deal Town | 46 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 29 | 165 | 0.176 | 10 | Resigned from league |
Football League elections
editAlongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 14 non-League clubs applied for election, including nine Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]