The 1977–78
Southern Football League season was the 75th in the history of the league, an English
football competition.
Bath City
Bath City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset, England. The club is affiliated to the Somerset FA and currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club have ...
won the championship, winning their second Southern League title, whilst
Witney Town,
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
,
Bridgend Town and
Dorchester Town were all promoted to the Premier Division, the former two as champions.
Romford
Romford is a large town in east London and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Havering. It is located northeast of Charing Cross and is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Historically, Romfo ...
folded at the end of the season.
Premier Division
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the
previous season and four new clubs:
*Two clubs promoted from Division One North:
**
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
**
Worcester City
Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club play in the Midland Football League, the ninth tier of English football. Established in 1902, the club play at Claines Lane.
Worcester City's ...
*Two clubs promoted from Division One South:
**
Barnet
**
Hastings United
League table
Division One North
Division One North consisted of 20 clubs, including 18 clubs from the
previous season and two new clubs:
*
Bridgend Town, joined from the
Welsh Football League
The Welsh Football League (also known as the Nathaniel Car Sales Welsh Football League for sponsorship reasons) was a club football league in Wales. For its final season in 2019–20 season it operated at levels 3 and 4 of the Welsh football leag ...
*
Burton Albion
Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club moved its home grou ...
, relegated from the Premier Division
League table
Division One South
Division One South expanded up to 20 clubs, including 15 clubs from the
previous season and five new clubs:
*Two clubs, relegated from the Premier Division
**
Chelmsford City
Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium.
History Chelmsford
Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...
**
Margate
Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook.
The town has been a significan ...
*Two clubs joined from the
Athenian League
The Athenian League was an English amateur football league for clubs in and around London. The league was originally to be called the Corinthian League,Athenian Football League minutes 1912-1921 (National Football Museum, Preston). but this nam ...
**
Addlestone
Addlestone ( or ) is a town in Surrey, England. It is located approximately southwest of London. The town is the administrative centre of the Runnymede (borough), Borough of Runnymede, of which it is the largest settlement.
History
The town is ...
**
Hounslow
Hounslow () is a large suburban district of West London, west-southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hounslow, and is identified in the London Plan as one of the 12 metropolitan centres in ...
*Plus:
**
Taunton Town
Taunton Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Taunton, Somerset. They compete in the , the sixth tier of English football and play their home matches at Wordsworth Drive, which they moved into during the 1953 season. ...
, joined from the
Western League
League table
Football League elections
At the end of the season, the bottom four of the Football League had to be re-elected to retain their place, with one club from each of the Southern League and
Northern Premier League also on the ballot. Champions Bath City participated in the vote, but finished bottom. NPL club
Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1932, ...
were elected to the League after beating
Southport
Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England.
Southport lies on the Iris ...
in a second round of voting.
A history of election to the Football League
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See also
* Southern Football League
* 1977–78 Northern Premier League
The 1977–78 Northern Premier League was the tenth season of the Northern Premier League, a regional football league in Northern England, the northern areas of the Midlands and North Wales. The season began on 21 August 1976 and concluded on ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1977-78 Southern Football League
Southern Football League seasons
S