The1978–79Southern Football League season was the 76th in the history of the league, an Englishfootball competition.
Worcester City won the championship, winning their first Southern League title. At the end of the season theAlliance Premier League was established as a new, national top division of non-League football. Thirteen clubs from the Premier Division joined the new league, leading to a restructuring of the Southern League for thenext season, in which it was divided solely into Midland and Southern divisions.
Due to the forthcoming changes, there was no relegation or promotion between the Southern League's divisions, although the Premier Division clubs that remained in the Southern League had effectively been relegated one level, being placed in the Midland or Southern divisions the following season. Several clubs left the Division One North at the end of the season to join theNorthern Premier League, which had also lost clubs to the new Alliance Premier League, whilst Premier Division clubAtherstone Town folded.
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from theprevious season and four new clubs:
At the end of the season most of the Premier Division clubs left the league to join newly createdAlliance Premier League.Atherstone Town folded at the end of the season. The rest of the clubs were distributed between newly created Midland and Southern divisions.
| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Worcester City |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,251 (2.71 per match) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Worcester City | 42 | 27 | 11 | 4 | 92 | 33 | +59 | 65 | Promoted to theAlliance Premier League |
| 2 | Kettering Town | 42 | 27 | 7 | 8 | 109 | 43 | +66 | 61 | |
| 3 | Telford United | 42 | 22 | 10 | 10 | 60 | 39 | +21 | 54 | |
| 4 | Maidstone United | 42 | 18 | 18 | 6 | 55 | 35 | +20 | 54 | |
| 5 | Bath City | 42 | 17 | 19 | 6 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 53 | |
| 6 | Weymouth | 42 | 18 | 15 | 9 | 71 | 51 | +20 | 51 | |
| 7 | AP Leamington | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 65 | 53 | +12 | 49 | |
| 8 | Redditch United | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 70 | 57 | +13 | 48 | |
| 9 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 15 | 16 | 11 | 59 | 49 | +10 | 46 | |
| 10 | Witney Town | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 53 | 52 | +1 | 44 | Placed to theMidland Division |
| 11 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 13 | 17 | 12 | 59 | 50 | +9 | 43 | Promoted to theAlliance Premier League |
| 12 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 56 | 55 | +1 | 42 | |
| 13 | Barnet | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 52 | 64 | −12 | 42 | |
| 14 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 12 | 16 | 14 | 50 | 41 | +9 | 40 | Placed to theSouthern Division |
| 15 | Wealdstone | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 51 | 59 | −8 | 36 | Promoted to theAlliance Premier League |
| 16 | Atherstone Town | 42 | 9 | 17 | 16 | 46 | 65 | −19 | 35 | Club folded |
| 17 | Dartford | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 40 | 56 | −16 | 34 | Placed to theSouthern Division |
| 18 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 38 | 72 | −34 | 32 | Placed to theMidland Division |
| 19 | Margate | 42 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 44 | 75 | −31 | 29 | Placed to theSouthern Division |
| 20 | Dorchester Town | 42 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 46 | 86 | −40 | 25 | |
| 21 | Hastings United | 42 | 5 | 13 | 24 | 37 | 85 | −48 | 23 | |
| 22 | Bridgend Town | 42 | 6 | 6 | 30 | 39 | 90 | −51 | 18 | Placed to theMidland Division |
Division One North consisted of 20 clubs, including 17 clubs from theprevious season and three new clubs:
At the end of the seasonAlliance Premier League on the top of non-league was created. Following that Southern Football League was restructured with Midland and Southern divisions replacing three old divisions. Most of the Division One North clubs were placed to the Midland Division.
| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Grantham |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 1,109 (2.92 per match) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grantham | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 70 | 45 | +25 | 52 | Promoted and transferred to theNorthern Premier League |
| 2 | Merthyr Tydfil | 38 | 22 | 7 | 9 | 90 | 53 | +37 | 51 | |
| 3 | Alvechurch | 38 | 20 | 10 | 8 | 70 | 42 | +28 | 50 | |
| 4 | Bedford Town | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 74 | 49 | +25 | 47 | |
| 5 | King's Lynn | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 57 | 46 | +11 | 45 | |
| 6 | Oswestry Town | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 63 | 43 | +20 | 44 | Promoted and transferred to theNorthern Premier League |
| 7 | Gloucester City | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 76 | 59 | +17 | 44 | |
| 8 | Burton Albion | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 42 | Promoted and transferred to theNorthern Premier League |
| 9 | Kidderminster Harriers | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 70 | 60 | +10 | 40 | |
| 10 | Bedworth United | 38 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 41 | 34 | +7 | 40 | |
| 11 | Tamworth | 38 | 15 | 8 | 15 | 47 | 45 | +2 | 38 | Promoted and transferred to theNorthern Premier League |
| 12 | Stourbridge | 38 | 15 | 7 | 16 | 64 | 61 | +3 | 37 | |
| 13 | Barry Town | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 51 | 53 | −2 | 37 | |
| 14 | Enderby Town | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 46 | 55 | −9 | 36 | |
| 15 | Banbury United | 38 | 10 | 13 | 15 | 42 | 58 | −16 | 33 | |
| 16 | Wellingborough Town | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 50 | 71 | −21 | 32 | |
| 17 | Cambridge City | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 37 | 62 | −25 | 27 | |
| 18 | Bromsgrove Rovers | 38 | 6 | 14 | 18 | 33 | 61 | −28 | 26 | |
| 19 | Milton Keynes City | 38 | 7 | 9 | 22 | 37 | 87 | −50 | 23 | |
| 20 | Corby Town | 38 | 5 | 6 | 27 | 40 | 85 | −45 | 16 |
Division One South expanded up to 21 clubs, including 17 clubs from theprevious season and four new clubs:
At the end of the seasonAlliance Premier League on the top of non-league was created. Following that Southern Football League was restructured with Midland and Southern divisions replacing three old divisions. Most of the Division One South clubs were placed to the Southern Division.
| Season | 1978–79 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Dover |
| Matches | 420 |
| Goals | 1,145 (2.73 per match) |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dover | 40 | 28 | 9 | 3 | 88 | 20 | +68 | 65 | |
| 2 | Folkestone & Shepway | 40 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 84 | 50 | +34 | 50 | |
| 3 | Gosport Borough | 40 | 19 | 11 | 10 | 62 | 47 | +15 | 49 | |
| 4 | Chelmsford City | 40 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 65 | 61 | +4 | 47 | |
| 5 | Minehead | 40 | 16 | 13 | 11 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 45 | Placed to theMidland Division |
| 6 | Poole Town | 40 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 48 | 44 | +4 | 45 | |
| 7 | Hounslow | 40 | 16 | 12 | 12 | 56 | 45 | +11 | 44 | |
| 8 | Waterlooville | 40 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 52 | 43 | +9 | 44 | |
| 9 | Trowbridge Town | 40 | 15 | 12 | 13 | 65 | 61 | +4 | 42 | Placed to theMidland Division |
| 10 | Aylesbury United | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 54 | 52 | +2 | 41 | |
| 11 | Taunton Town | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 53 | 51 | +2 | 41 | Placed to theMidland Division |
| 12 | Bognor Regis Town | 40 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 58 | 58 | 0 | 41 | |
| 13 | Dunstable | 40 | 18 | 4 | 18 | 57 | 55 | +2 | 40 | |
| 14 | Tonbridge Angels | 40 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 43 | 47 | −4 | 40 | |
| 15 | Salisbury | 40 | 13 | 10 | 17 | 47 | 51 | −4 | 36 | |
| 16 | Basingstoke Town | 40 | 12 | 11 | 17 | 49 | 62 | −13 | 35 | |
| 17 | Addlestone | 40 | 12 | 9 | 19 | 56 | 64 | −8 | 33 | |
| 18 | Andover | 40 | 12 | 6 | 22 | 47 | 69 | −22 | 30 | |
| 19 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 28 | 53 | −25 | 30 | |
| 20 | Crawley Town | 40 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 44 | 75 | −31 | 27 | |
| 21 | Canterbury City | 40 | 6 | 3 | 31 | 31 | 98 | −67 | 15 |
Runners-up Kettering Town were the only Southern League club to apply for election to the Football League. However, all four Football League clubs were re-elected.[1]
| Club | League | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Doncaster Rovers | Football League Division Four | 50 |
| Crewe Alexandra | Football League Division Four | 49 |
| Darlington | Football League Division Four | 43 |
| Halifax Town | Football League Division Four | 37 |
| Altrincham | Northern Premier League | 13 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 12 |