The 1958–59

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

season was the 56th in the history of the league, an English

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition. It was the first season since 1936 the league split into two divisions following the election of thirteen new clubs at the end of the previous season.

Hereford United Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...

won the North-West Division, whilst

Bedford Town Bedford Town Football Club is a football club based in the Borough of Bedford, England. The club are currently members of the and play at the Eyrie in Cardington, a village on the outskirts of Bedford. They are full members of the Football As ...

won the South-East Division. Bedford were declared Southern League champions after defeating Hereford 2–1 in a championship play-off at

Edgar Street Edgar Street, currently known as MandM Edgar Street Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Hereford and was the home of Hereford United Football Club from the club's formation in 1924 until December 2014, when the club was w ...

on 9 May. Nine clubs applied to join

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

, although none were successful. The plan for the following season was to have a Premier Division of 22 clubs and a Division One below it. As a result, the top eleven clubs in each division this season would remain in the new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing twelfth or lower would be in the new Division One.

North-West Division

It was the first and the only North-West Division season. North-West Division consisted of 18 clubs, including 11 Southern League clubs from the previous season and seven new clubs: *Three clubs from the Birmingham & District League: **

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial problems and faces liquidation. In 1889, Nuneaton S ...

** Rugby Town *One club from the Cheshire League: ** Wellington Town *Three clubs from the

Midland League The Midland Football League, officially known as the Capelli Sport Midland Football League since January 2025 for sponsorship reasons, is an English football league that was founded in 2014 by the merger of the former Midland Alliance and Midl ...

: **

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. The club is known as 'the ...

** Corby Town ** Wisbech Town At the end of the season Southern League divisions were restructured. The top eleven clubs in each division this season remained in the new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing twelfth or lower relegated to the new Division One. Lovells Athletic left the league and switched to the Welsh football pyramid.

League table

South-East Division

It was the first and the only South-East Division season. South-East Division consisted of 17 clubs, including 11 Southern League clubs from the previous season and six new clubs: * Cambridge City, from the

Athenian League The Athenian League was an England, English amateur association football, 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 ...

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

, from the

Eastern Counties League The Eastern Counties Football League, currently known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship purposes, is an English football league at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. It currently contains clubs from Norfolk, Suffolk ...

* Clacton Town, from the

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

, from the

Trowbridge Town Trowbridge Town Football Club is a football club based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England. They compete at Step 7 in the and play at Woodmarsh, on the southern edge of the town. History A Trowbridge Town team was originally formed in 1880 and ...

, from the Western League *

Yiewsley Yiewsley ( ) is a large suburban village in the London Borough of Hillingdon, England, 2 miles (3 km) south of Uxbridge, the borough's commercial and administrative centre. Yiewsley was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Hillingdon, Middl ...

, from the

Corinthian League The League of Corinth, also referred to as the Hellenic League (, ''koinòn tõn Hellḗnōn''; or simply , ''the Héllēnes''), was a federation of Greek states created by Philip IIDiodorus Siculus, Book 16, 89. «διόπερ ἐν Κορίν ...

At the end of the season Southern League divisions were restructured. The top eleven clubs in each division this season remained in the new Premier Division, whilst clubs finishing twelfth or lower relegated to the new Division One.

League table

Football League election

Nine Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League. However, all four League clubs were re-elected.A history of admission to the Football League
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1958-59 Southern Football League Southern Football League seasons S