The 2016–17 season was the 114th in the history of the
Southern League, which is an English
football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales. From the 2014–15 season onwards, the Southern League is known as Evo-Stik League Southern, following a sponsorship deal with
Evo-Stik.
The league constitution was announced on 12 May 2016.
Premier Division
On 12 May 2016 the league constitution was announced. Later,
Cinderford Town, who were originally promoted to the Southern Football League Premier Division as champions of Division One South & West, initially declined promotion due to financial concerns. On 27 May it was confirmed that Cinderford Town would remain in Division One South & West. As a consequence, the team with the best record among those relegated at
level 7 -
Stamford - were reprieved from relegation.
Corby Town
Corby Town Football Club is a football club based in Corby, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Steel Park.
History
The club was established in 1948, taking over from Stewarts & Lloyds as the main team ...
, who were originally placed in the Premier Division, were transferred to the Southern Football League to take the vacated place.
On 14 June 2016,
Evesham United, who had been transferred from the Southern League Division One South & West to the Northern Premier League First Division South due to Cinderford's refusal to accept promotion, had an appeal against the decision to transfer them leagues heard by the Football Association. On 15 June 2016, they were informed they were successful in their appeal, meaning they would stay in their original league. The knock on effect of this was
Cinderford Town were forced to take promotion to the Southern Football League Premier Division. This meant that Corby Town were placed back in the Northern Premier League Premier Division for the 2016-17 season.
The Premier Division consisted of 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from the
previous season and six new clubs:
*Two clubs promoted from Division One Central:
**
Kings Langley
**
St Ives Town
*Two clubs promoted from Division One South & West:
**
Banbury United
Banbury United Football Club is a football club based in Banbury, Oxfordshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Spencer Stadium.
History
The club was established in 1931 as Spencer Sports Club, a works team of the Sp ...
**
Cinderford Town
*Two clubs relegated from the
National League South:
**
Basingstoke Town
Basingstoke Town Football Club is a football club based in Basingstoke, Hampshire, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Winklebury Sports Complex. Their motto, 'Vestigia Nulla Retrorsum', means 'Never a step backward' ...
**
Hayes & Yeading United
League table
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Final
Results
Stadia and locations
Division One Central
On 12 May 2016 the league constitution was announced. Three Division One Central clubs were moved to the parallel divisions:
AFC Rushden & Diamonds
A.F.C. Rushden & Diamonds is an English football club based in Rushden in Northamptonshire. They played their opening season at Kiln Park, the home of Raunds Town, in 2011–12 and subsequently shared the Dog & Duck ground with Wellingboroug ...
were transferred to
Northern Premier League Division One South
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
,
Godalming Town to
Isthmian League Division One South
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...
and
Ware
Ware may refer to:
People
* Ware (surname)
* William of Ware (), English Franciscan theologian
Places Canada
* Fort Ware, British Columbia
United Kingdom
* Ware, Devon
*Ware, Hertfordshire
* Ware, Kent
United States
* Ware, Elmore County ...
to
Isthmian League Division One North
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...
.
Division One Central consisted of 22 clubs, including 15 clubs from
previous season and seven new clubs:
*
AFC Dunstable
AFC Dunstable are a football club based in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, England. The club are members of Division One Central of the Southern League, and are affiliated to the Bedfordshire County Football Association. They play at Creasey Park.
H ...
, promoted from the
Spartan South Midlands League
The Spartan South Midlands Football League is an English football league covering Hertfordshire, northwest Greater London, central Buckinghamshire and southern Bedfordshire. It is a feeder to the Southern Football League or the Isthmian League, ...
*
AFC Kempston Rovers, promoted from the
United Counties League
The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''Uhlsport United Counties League'') is an English football league covering Northamptonshire, Rutland and Bedfordshire and most of Leicestershire as well as parts of Buckinghamshi ...
*
Ashford Town, promoted from the
Combined Counties League
The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Jersey, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the western half and sou ...
*
Farnborough, demoted from the
Isthmian League Premier Division
The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs.
Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 teams ...
*
Histon
Histon is a village and civil parish in the South Cambridgeshire district, in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is immediately north of Cambridge – and is separated from the city – by the A14 road which runs east–west. In ...
, relegated from the Premier Division
*
Kidlington
Kidlington is a major village and civil parish in Oxfordshire, England, between the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, north of Oxford and 7 miles (12 km) south-west of Bicester. It remains officially a village despite its size. The 20 ...
, promoted from the
Hellenic League
*
Marlow, transferred from Division One South & West
League table
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Final
Results
Stadia and locations
Division One South & West
On 12 May 2016 the league constitution was announced. One Division One South & West club were moved to the parallel division:
Marlow were transferred to Division One Central. Later,
Cinderford Town, who were originally promoted to the Premier Division as champions of Division One South & West, declined promotion due to financial concerns. On 27 May it was confirmed that Cinderford Town would remain in Division One South & West. As a consequence,
Evesham United were transferred to the
Northern Premier League Division One South
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...
to create a place for Cinderford Town.
On 14 June 2016,
Evesham United, who had been transferred from the Southern League Division One South & West to the Northern Premier League First Division South due to Cinderford's refusal to accept promotion, had an appeal against the decision to transfer them leagues heard by the Football Association. On 15 June 2016, they were informed they were successful in their appeal, meaning they would stay in their original league. The knock on effect of this was
Cinderford Town were forced to take promotion to the Southern Football League Premier Division.
Thus, Division One South & West featured five new clubs:
*
Barnstaple Town, promoted from the
Western League
*
Bideford
Bideford ( ) is a historic port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is the main town of the Torridge local government district.
Toponymy
In ancient records Bideford is recorded as ''Bedeford'', ''By ...
, relegated from the Premier Division
*
Hereford, promoted from the
Midland League
The Midland Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midland Combination. The league has four divisions that sit at levels 9–12 of the football pyramid.
History
T ...
*
Paulton Rovers, relegated from the Premier Division
*
Salisbury
Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath.
Salisbury is in the southeast of ...
, promoted from the
Wessex League
The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The part ...
League table
Play-offs
Semi-finals
Final
Results
Stadia and locations
League Cup
The 2016–17 Southern League Cup (billed as The League Challenge Cup) was the 79th edition of the Southern League Cup, the cup competition of the
Southern Football League.
1st round
2nd round
3rd round
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
See also
*
Southern Football League
*
2016–17 Isthmian League The 2016–17 season was the 102nd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. Also, it was the eleventh season for the current incar ...
*
2016–17 Northern Premier League
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 Southern Football League
Southern Football League seasons
7