1956–57 Southern Football League
The 1956–57 Southern Football League season was the 54th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
No new clubs had joined the league for this season so the league consisted of 22 clubs from previous season. Kettering Town were champions, winning their first Southern League title. Five Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful. At the end of the season Welsh FA refused to sanction Llanelly's stay in the Southern League, the club left the league after seven years and switched to the Welsh football pyramid.
League table[]
| Season | 1956–57 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Kettering Town |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,613 (3.49 per match) |
← 1955–56 1957–58 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kettering Town | 42 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 106 | 47 | 2.255 | 66 | |
| 2 | Bedford Town | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 89 | 52 | 1.712 | 58 | |
| 3 | Weymouth | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 92 | 71 | 1.296 | 54 | |
| 4 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 19 | 15 | 8 | 73 | 46 | 1.587 | 53 | |
| 5 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 74 | 58 | 1.276 | 53 | |
| 6 | Lovells Athletic | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 99 | 84 | 1.179 | 49 | |
| 7 | Guildford City | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 68 | 49 | 1.388 | 47 | |
| 8 | Hereford United | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 96 | 60 | 1.600 | 46 | |
| 9 | Headington United | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 64 | 61 | 1.049 | 45 | |
| 10 | Gloucester City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 74 | 72 | 1.028 | 44 | |
| 11 | Hastings United | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 70 | 58 | 1.207 | 43 | |
| 12 | Worcester City | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 81 | 80 | 1.013 | 42 | |
| 13 | Dartford | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 79 | 88 | 0.898 | 42 | |
| 14 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 73 | 85 | 0.859 | 41 | |
| 15 | Tonbridge | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 74 | 65 | 1.138 | 40 | |
| 16 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 83 | 85 | 0.976 | 39 | |
| 17 | Bath City | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 56 | 78 | 0.718 | 38 | |
| 18 | Exeter City II | 42 | 10 | 10 | 22 | 52 | 89 | 0.584 | 30 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 72 | 95 | 0.758 | 29 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 39 | 84 | 0.464 | 23 | |
| 21 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 7 | 10 | 25 | 60 | 83 | 0.723 | 20[a] | |
| 22 | Llanelly | 42 | 5 | 8 | 29 | 39 | 123 | 0.317 | 18 | Left the league |
- ^ Kidderminster Harriers were deducted four points.
Football League elections[]
Five Southern League clubs applied for election to the Football League. However, none were successful as all four League clubs were re-elected.[1]
| Club | League | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Norwich City | Football League | 48 |
| Tranmere Rovers | Football League | 48 |
| Crewe Alexandra | Football League | 47 |
| Swindon Town | Football League | 42 |
| Peterborough United | Midland League | 7 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Burton Albion | Birmingham & District League | 1 |
| Wigan Athletic | Lancashire Combination | 1 |
| Headington United | Southern League | 0 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 0 |
| King's Lynn | Midland League | 0 |
| Morecambe | Lancashire Combination | 0 |
| Nelson | Lancashire Combination | 0 |
| North Shields | North Eastern League | 0 |
| Worcester City | Southern League | 0 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 0 |
References[]
Categories:
- Southern Football League seasons
- 1956–57 in English football leagues