The 1895–96 season was the fourth in the history of the

Western Football League The Western Football League is a football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Toolstation, so it is also known as ...

, and the first to be held under this name. The league had been known as the Bristol & District League until this season.

Warmley Warmley is a village in South Gloucestershire, England. Warmley is situated in between Bristol and Bath. It is a parish, with its own church, and has some minor landmarks, such as a World War One memorial the focus of Remembrance Services, an ...

were the Division One champions for the third time in four years. Barton Hill won Division Two but were not promoted.Robinson, Michael (ed.), Non-League Football Tables 1889–2006, Soccer Books, 2006

League constitution and rules

The twelve teams that would take part in Division One were agreed at a meeting of the league on Wednesday 8 May 1895. The top eight finishers from the previous season ( Hereford Thistle,

St George Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...

, Staple Hill,

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

, Eastville Rovers, Trowbridge Town and

Clifton Clifton may refer to: People *Clifton (surname) *Clifton (given name) Places Australia * Clifton, Queensland, a town **Shire of Clifton *Clifton, New South Wales, a suburb of Wollongong *Clifton, Western Australia Canada *Clifton, Nova Scotia ...

) were all automatically granted a place in the division for the 1895–96 campaign, while the bottom four finishers ( Bedminster,

Mangotsfield Mangotsfield is an urban area and former village in the unitary authority area of South Gloucestershire, in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, England, to the north-east of Bristol. The village was mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 ...

, Swindon Wanderers and

Clevedon Clevedon (, ) is an English seaside town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, part of the ceremonial county of Somerset. It recorded a parish population of 21,281 in the United Kingdom Census 2011, estimated at 21,442 i ...

) would all need to apply for re-election to retain a spot in the top flight. Clevedon opted not to return to the league this season, but Barton Hill,

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

and St Paul's all submitted applications to the league. The result of the election is shown in the table below. A change to the way teams were ranked in the league table was agreed at a committee meeting in September 1895. Up to this point when teams finished level on points

goal average A goal is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to a purpose or ai ...

was used as a tie-breaker, but for this season the use of goal average was abolished and any teams tied on points would play a test match at the end of the season to decide their ranking.

Division One

Two new clubs joined Division One for this season, though the number of clubs remained at 12 after Hereford Thistle and

left. *

* St Paul's, promoted from Division Two

Test match

Since Eastville Rovers and Staple Hill were tied on points at the end of the season a one-off

test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to: * Test cricket * Test match (indoor cricket) * Test match (rugby union) * Test match (rugby league) * Test match (association football) ...

was arranged between the two teams to decide which team would finish second and which finished third. The match ended in a 2–2 draw, leading to the two teams being declared joint runners-up.

Division Two

Four new teams joined Division Two this season, though the number of clubs remained at 11 after

Reserves,

Waverley Waverley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Waverley'' (novel), by Sir Walter Scott ** ''Waverley'' Overture, a work by Hector Berlioz inspired by Scott's novel * Waverley Harrison, a character in the New Zealand soap opera ''Shortland Stree ...

and

Willsbridge Willsbridge is a village in the unitary authority of South Gloucestershire, England, located on the outskirts of Bristol. Willsbridge Castle, situated on a prominent hillside site, was built around 1730, with crenellations added in the nineteen ...

left the league and St Paul's were elected to Division One. Willsbridge's withdrawal was due to them having no ground available on which to play their home games. *

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

* Eastville Wanderers *

Fishponds Fishponds is a large suburb in the north-east of the English city of Bristol, about from the city centre. It has two large Victorian-era parks: Eastville Park and Vassall's Park (once the Vassall Family estate, also known as Oldbury Court). T ...

Frenchay Frenchay is a village in the County of South Gloucestershire, England, and the Civil Parish of Winterbourne. It is on the outskirts to the north east of the city of Bristol. Frenchay was first recorded in 1257 as ''Fromscawe'' and later as '' ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Football League, 1895-96 1895-96 1895–96 in English association football leagues