The 1972–73
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 70th 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.
Kettering Town won the championship, winning their third Southern League title, whilst
Atherstone Town,
Grantham
Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
,
Maidstone United and
Tonbridge
Tonbridge ( ) (historic spelling ''Tunbridge'') is a market town in Kent, England, on the River Medway, north of Royal Tunbridge Wells, south west of Maidstone and south east of London. In the administrative borough of Tonbridge and Mall ...
were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eight Southern League 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 ...
at the end of the season, but none were successful.
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:
**
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 ...
**
Kettering Town
*Two clubs promoted from Division One South:
**
Ramsgate Athletic, who were renamed Ramsgate at the end of the previous season
**
Waterlooville
Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, ...
League table
Division One North
Division One North consisted of 22 clubs, including 13 clubs from the
previous season and nine new clubs:
*Six clubs joined from the
West Midlands (Regional) League
The West Midlands (Regional) League is an English association football competition for semi-professional and amateur teams based in the West Midlands county, Shropshire, Worcestershire, southern Staffordshire and northern Herefordshire. It has tw ...
:
**
Atherstone Town
**
Bedworth United
**
Bromsgrove Rovers
**
Kidderminster Harriers
Kidderminster Harriers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England. The team competes in the National League North, the sixth level of the English football league system.
Formed in ...
**
Redditch United
Redditch United Football Club is an English football club based in Redditch, Worcestershire. The club participates in the and play their home games at the Valley Stadium. They are managed by Matt Clarke.
History
They were originally called Re ...
**
Tamworth
*Plus:
**
Enderby Town, joined from the Leicestershire Senior League
**
Grantham
Grantham () is a market town and civil parish in the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England, situated on the banks of the River Witham and bounded to the west by the A1 road (Great Britain), A1 road. It lies south of Lincoln, England ...
, joined 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 ...
**
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...
, relegated from the Premier Division
At the end of the season
Lockheed Leamington was renamed
AP Leamington.
League table
Division One South
Division One South consisted of 22 clubs, including 13 clubs from the
previous season and nine new clubs:
*Two clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
**
Bath City
**
Gravesend & Northfleet
*Three clubs transferred from Division One North:
**
Bletchley Town
**
Dunstable Town
**
Wealdstone
Wealdstone () is a district located in the centre of the London Borough of Harrow, England. It is located just north of Harrow, London, Harrow town centre and is south of Harrow Weald, west of Belmont, Harrow, Belmont and Kenton, London, Kenton, ...
*Three clubs joined 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 District, Torridge Districts of England, local government district.
Toponymy
In ancient records Bi ...
**
Dorchester Town
**
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the boundary with the county of Devon and close to the Exmoor National Park. T ...
*Plus:
**
Bognor Regis Town
Bognor Regis Town Football Club is an English football club based in Bognor Regis, West Sussex. Nicknamed 'The Rocks’, the club is an FA Chartered Standard Community club affiliated to the Sussex County Football Association. They currently co ...
, joined from the
Sussex County League
The Southern Combination Football League (named Premier Sports Southern Combination Football League) is a football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and South West London, England. The league consists of e ...
League table
Football League elections
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, eight of which were Southern League clubs. All the League clubs were re-elected.
A history of admission to the Football League
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See also
* 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 ...
* 1972–73 Northern Premier League
The 1972–73 Northern Premier League was the fifth 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 12 August 1972 and concluded on 4 M ...
References
RSSF – Southern Football League archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:1972-73 Southern Football League
Southern Football League seasons
S