The1982–83Southern Football League season was the 80th in the history of the league, an Englishfootball competition.
This season saw the reintroduction of the Premier Division.AP Leamington won the Premier Division, winning their first Southern League title, whilstKidderminster Harriers was promoted to theAlliance Premier League.Cheltenham Town,Folkestone,Sutton Coldfield Town,Fisher Athletic were all promoted to the Premier Division, the last two for the first time in their history.
The Premier Division was reformed and consisted of the best clubs from the Midland and the Southern divisions. It also featured three new clubs, relegated from theAlliance Premier League:
At the end of the seasonEnderby Town changed name toLeicester United.
| Season | 1982–83 |
|---|---|
| Champions | AP Leamington |
| Promoted | Kidderminster Harriers |
| Relegated | Addlestone & Weybridge Town Enderby Town Poole Town Waterlooville |
| Matches | 380 |
| Goals | 1,105 (2.91 per match) |
1983–84 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AP Leamington | 38 | 25 | 4 | 9 | 78 | 50 | +28 | 79 | |
| 2 | Kidderminster Harriers | 38 | 23 | 7 | 8 | 69 | 40 | +29 | 76 | Promoted to theAlliance Premier League |
| 3 | Welling United | 38 | 21 | 6 | 11 | 63 | 40 | +23 | 69 | |
| 4 | Chelmsford City | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 57 | 40 | +17 | 59 | |
| 5 | Bedworth United | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 47 | 39 | +8 | 59 | |
| 6 | Dartford | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 56 | |
| 7 | Gosport Borough | 38 | 14 | 13 | 11 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 55 | |
| 8 | Fareham Town | 38 | 16 | 7 | 15 | 73 | 82 | −9 | 55 | |
| 9 | Dorchester Town | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 52 | 50 | +2 | 54 | |
| 10 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 49 | 50 | −1 | 54 | |
| 11 | Gloucester City | 38 | 13 | 12 | 13 | 61 | 57 | +4 | 51 | |
| 12 | Witney Town | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 60 | 48 | +12 | 47[a] | |
| 13 | Alvechurch | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 60 | 66 | −6 | 47 | |
| 14 | Stourbridge | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 48 | 54 | −6 | 47 | |
| 15 | Corby Town | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 58 | 67 | −9 | 47 | |
| 16 | Hastings United | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 61 | −13 | 44 | |
| 17 | Enderby Town | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 44 | 62 | −18 | 42 | Relegated to theMidland Division |
| 18 | Waterlooville | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 62 | 83 | −21 | 39 | Relegated to theSouthern Division |
| 19 | Poole Town | 38 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 57 | 73 | −16 | 36 | |
| 20 | Addlestone & Weybridge Town | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 24 | 62 | −38 | 25 |
After the Premier Division reintroduction at the end of the previous season, the Midland Division consisted of 17 clubs, including 11 clubs from theprevious season Midland Division and six new clubs:
| Season | 1982–83 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Cheltenham Town |
| Promoted | Cheltenham Town Sutton Coldfield Town |
| Matches | 272 |
| Goals | 832 (3.06 per match) |
1983–84 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cheltenham Town | 32 | 22 | 5 | 5 | 65 | 29 | +36 | 71 | Promoted to thePremier Division |
| 2 | Sutton Coldfield Town | 32 | 21 | 7 | 4 | 62 | 24 | +38 | 70 | |
| 3 | Forest Green Rovers | 32 | 21 | 3 | 8 | 68 | 32 | +36 | 66 | |
| 4 | Merthyr Tydfil | 32 | 17 | 7 | 8 | 64 | 45 | +19 | 58 | |
| 5 | Willenhall Town | 32 | 17 | 6 | 9 | 74 | 49 | +25 | 57 | |
| 6 | Oldbury United | 32 | 16 | 6 | 10 | 52 | 49 | +3 | 54 | |
| 7 | Banbury United | 32 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 59 | 55 | +4 | 48 | |
| 8 | Bridgend Town | 32 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 46 | 37 | +9 | 47 | Transferred to theWelsh Football League |
| 9 | Wellingborough Town | 32 | 13 | 7 | 12 | 49 | 37 | +12 | 46 | |
| 10 | Bromsgrove Rovers | 32 | 13 | 5 | 14 | 47 | 47 | 0 | 44 | |
| 11 | Dudley Town | 32 | 12 | 7 | 13 | 40 | 45 | −5 | 43 | |
| 12 | Bridgwater Town | 32 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 42 | 43 | −1 | 42 | |
| 13 | Aylesbury United | 32 | 12 | 5 | 15 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 41 | |
| 14 | Redditch United | 32 | 8 | 6 | 18 | 51 | 73 | −22 | 30 | |
| 15 | Taunton Town | 32 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 30 | 64 | −34 | 22 | Resigned to theWestern Football League |
| 16 | Minehead | 32 | 5 | 7 | 20 | 24 | 62 | −38 | 22 | |
| 17 | Milton Keynes City | 32 | 0 | 4 | 28 | 22 | 90 | −68 | 4 |
After the Premier Division reintroduction at the end of the previous season, the Southern Division consisted of 18 clubs, including 14 clubs from theprevious season Southern Division and four new clubs:
| Season | 1982–83 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Fisher Athletic |
| Promoted | Fisher Athletic Folkestone |
| Matches | 306 |
| Goals | 878 (2.87 per match) |
1983–84 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fisher Athletic | 34 | 23 | 5 | 6 | 79 | 34 | +45 | 74 | Promoted to thePremier Division |
| 2 | Folkestone | 34 | 22 | 6 | 6 | 79 | 41 | +38 | 72 | |
| 3 | Road-Sea Southampton | 34 | 21 | 7 | 6 | 66 | 30 | +36 | 70 | |
| 4 | Dunstable | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 57 | 39 | +18 | 62 | |
| 5 | Hillingdon Borough | 34 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 41 | 30 | +11 | 53 | |
| 6 | Salisbury | 34 | 14 | 10 | 10 | 58 | 49 | +9 | 52 | |
| 7 | Crawley Town | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 51 | 43 | +8 | 51 | |
| 8 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 51 | 41 | +10 | 49 | |
| 9 | Tonbridge | 34 | 14 | 5 | 15 | 57 | 57 | 0 | 47 | |
| 10 | Hounslow | 34 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 46 | 47 | −1 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 34 | 12 | 9 | 13 | 52 | 63 | −11 | 45 | |
| 12 | Cambridge City | 34 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 56 | 63 | −7 | 41 | |
| 13 | Dover | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 52 | −17 | 40 | Club folded |
| 14 | Thanet United | 34 | 10 | 5 | 19 | 30 | 61 | −31 | 35 | |
| 15 | Basingstoke Town | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 37 | 56 | −19 | 34 | |
| 16 | Woodford Town | 34 | 6 | 9 | 19 | 29 | 57 | −28 | 27 | |
| 17 | Andover | 34 | 6 | 8 | 20 | 28 | 53 | −25 | 26 | |
| 18 | Erith & Belvedere | 34 | 5 | 9 | 20 | 26 | 62 | −36 | 24 |