The1965–66Southern Football League season was the 63rd in the history of the league, an Englishfootball competition.
Weymouth won the championship for the second time in a row, whilstBarnet,Bath City,Burton Albion andHillingdon Borough were all promoted to the Premier Division. Nine Southern League clubs applied to jointhe Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from theprevious season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
| Season | 1965–66 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Weymouth |
| Relegated | Dartford Margate Rugby Town Tonbridge |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,548 (3.35 per match) |
1966–67 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Weymouth | 42 | 22 | 13 | 7 | 70 | 35 | 2.000 | 57 | |
| 2 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 74 | 50 | 1.480 | 54 | |
| 3 | Hereford United | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 81 | 49 | 1.653 | 52 | |
| 4 | Bedford Town | 42 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 80 | 57 | 1.404 | 52 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 80 | 47 | 1.702 | 50 | |
| 6 | Cambridge City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 52 | 1.288 | 49 | |
| 7 | Romford | 42 | 21 | 7 | 14 | 87 | 72 | 1.208 | 49 | |
| 8 | Worcester City | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 69 | 54 | 1.278 | 48 | |
| 9 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 91 | 70 | 1.300 | 45 | |
| 10 | Cambridge United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 72 | 64 | 1.125 | 45 | |
| 11 | King's Lynn | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 75 | 72 | 1.042 | 43 | |
| 12 | Corby Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 66 | 73 | 0.904 | 41 | |
| 13 | Wellington Town | 42 | 13 | 13 | 16 | 65 | 70 | 0.929 | 39 | |
| 14 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 74 | 0.811 | 38 | |
| 15 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 53 | 75 | 0.707 | 37 | |
| 16 | Guildford City | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 70 | 84 | 0.833 | 36 | |
| 17 | Poole Town | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 61 | 75 | 0.813 | 35 | |
| 18 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 69 | 99 | 0.697 | 35 | |
| 19 | Dartford | 42 | 13 | 7 | 22 | 62 | 69 | 0.899 | 33 | Relegated toDivision One |
| 20 | Rugby Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 67 | 95 | 0.705 | 32 | |
| 21 | Tonbridge | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 63 | 101 | 0.624 | 28 | |
| 22 | Margate | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 66 | 111 | 0.595 | 26 |
Division One expanded up to 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from theprevious season and six new clubs:
| Season | 1965–66 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Barnet |
| Promoted | Barnet Bath City Burton Albion Hillingdon Borough |
| Matches | 552 |
| Goals | 1,845 (3.34 per match) |
1966–67 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barnet | 46 | 30 | 9 | 7 | 114 | 49 | 2.327 | 69 | Promoted to thePremier Division |
| 2 | Hillingdon Borough | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 101 | 46 | 2.196 | 64 | |
| 3 | Burton Albion | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 121 | 60 | 2.017 | 64 | |
| 4 | Bath City | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 88 | 50 | 1.760 | 63 | |
| 5 | Hastings United | 46 | 25 | 10 | 11 | 104 | 59 | 1.763 | 60 | |
| 6 | Wisbech Town | 46 | 25 | 9 | 12 | 98 | 54 | 1.815 | 59 | |
| 7 | Canterbury City | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 89 | 66 | 1.348 | 58 | |
| 8 | Stevenage Town | 46 | 23 | 9 | 14 | 86 | 49 | 1.755 | 55 | |
| 9 | Kettering Town | 46 | 22 | 9 | 15 | 77 | 74 | 1.041 | 53 | |
| 10 | Merthyr Tydfil | 46 | 22 | 6 | 18 | 95 | 68 | 1.397 | 50 | |
| 11 | Dunstable Town | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 76 | 72 | 1.056 | 44 | |
| 12 | Crawley Town | 46 | 17 | 10 | 19 | 72 | 71 | 1.014 | 44 | |
| 13 | Bexley United | 46 | 20 | 4 | 22 | 65 | 71 | 0.915 | 44 | |
| 14 | Trowbridge Town | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 79 | 81 | 0.975 | 43 | |
| 15 | Dover | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 59 | 62 | 0.952 | 42 | |
| 16 | Barry Town | 46 | 16 | 10 | 20 | 72 | 94 | 0.766 | 42 | |
| 17 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 46 | 16 | 9 | 21 | 84 | 86 | 0.977 | 41 | |
| 18 | Gloucester City | 46 | 14 | 12 | 20 | 75 | 98 | 0.765 | 40 | |
| 19 | Sittingbourne | 46 | 11 | 12 | 23 | 77 | 121 | 0.636 | 34 | |
| 20 | Ramsgate Athletic | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 35 | 76 | 0.461 | 33 | |
| 21 | Hinckley Athletic | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 58 | 93 | 0.624 | 32 | |
| 22 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | 46 | 12 | 8 | 26 | 47 | 88 | 0.534 | 32 | |
| 23 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 46 | 9 | 10 | 27 | 44 | 92 | 0.478 | 28 | |
| 24 | Deal Town | 46 | 3 | 4 | 39 | 29 | 165 | 0.176 | 10 | Resigned from league |
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 14 non-League clubs applied for election, including nine Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]