The1979–80Southern Football League season was the 77th in the history of the league, an Englishfootball competition.
At the end of the previous 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 this season, in which it was divided solely into Midland and Southern divisions.Bridgend Town won the Midland Division, whilstDorchester Town won the Southern Division. Bridgend were declared Southern League champions after defeating Dorchester 3–0 at home and 2–1 away to win a championship play-off.[1] There was no promotion to the Alliance Premier League and no relegation to feeder leagues.
At the end of the previous 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. The Midland Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from theprevious season Division One North and six new clubs:
| Season | 1979–80 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Bridgend Town |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,293 (2.8 per match) |
←1978–79 (Division One North) 1980–81 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bridgend Town | 42 | 28 | 6 | 8 | 85 | 39 | +46 | 62 | |
| 2 | Minehead | 42 | 22 | 15 | 5 | 70 | 42 | +28 | 59 | |
| 3 | Bedford Town | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 71 | 42 | +29 | 52 | |
| 4 | Kidderminster Harriers | 42 | 23 | 6 | 13 | 81 | 59 | +22 | 52 | |
| 5 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 70 | 47 | +23 | 51 | |
| 6 | Enderby Town | 42 | 21 | 8 | 13 | 62 | 50 | +12 | 50 | |
| 7 | Stourbridge | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 49 | +18 | 49 | |
| 8 | Alvechurch | 42 | 17 | 14 | 11 | 78 | 60 | +18 | 48 | |
| 9 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 62 | 61 | +1 | 47 | |
| 10 | Bromsgrove Rovers | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 56 | +11 | 46 | |
| 11 | Barry Town | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 64 | 58 | +6 | 42 | |
| 12 | King's Lynn | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 48 | 55 | −7 | 41 | Transferred to theNorthern Premier League |
| 13 | Banbury United | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 56 | 56 | 0 | 40 | |
| 14 | Taunton Town | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 55 | 62 | −7 | 40 | |
| 15 | Witney Town | 42 | 10 | 19 | 13 | 43 | 45 | −2 | 39 | |
| 16 | Bedworth United | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 40 | 42 | −2 | 39 | |
| 17 | Milton Keynes City | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 46 | 59 | −13 | 37 | |
| 18 | Gloucester City | 42 | 10 | 14 | 18 | 55 | 68 | −13 | 32[a] | |
| 19 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 13 | 5 | 24 | 49 | 70 | −21 | 31 | |
| 20 | Wellingborough Town | 42 | 9 | 7 | 26 | 54 | 106 | −52 | 25 | |
| 21 | Cambridge City | 42 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 30 | 73 | −43 | 21 | |
| 22 | Corby Town | 42 | 5 | 9 | 28 | 40 | 94 | −54 | 19 |
At the end of the previous 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. The Southern Division consisted of 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from theprevious season Division One South and six new clubs:
At the end of the seasonAddlestone was renamed Addlestone & Weybridge Town andFolkestone and Shepway was renamed Folkestone.
| Season | 1979–80 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Dorchester Town |
| Matches | 552 |
| Goals | 1,465 (2.65 per match) |
←1978–79 (Division One South) 1980–81 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dorchester Town | 46 | 25 | 12 | 9 | 81 | 53 | +28 | 62 |
| 2 | Aylesbury United | 46 | 25 | 11 | 10 | 73 | 40 | +33 | 61 |
| 3 | Dover | 46 | 22 | 13 | 11 | 78 | 47 | +31 | 57 |
| 4 | Gosport Borough | 46 | 21 | 15 | 10 | 70 | 50 | +20 | 57 |
| 5 | Dartford | 46 | 21 | 14 | 11 | 66 | 45 | +21 | 56 |
| 6 | Bognor Regis Town | 46 | 20 | 15 | 11 | 66 | 38 | +28 | 55 |
| 7 | Hillingdon Borough | 46 | 19 | 16 | 11 | 64 | 41 | +23 | 54 |
| 8 | Dunstable | 46 | 17 | 19 | 10 | 93 | 64 | +29 | 53 |
| 9 | Addlestone | 46 | 20 | 13 | 13 | 72 | 57 | +15 | 53 |
| 10 | Hastings United | 46 | 19 | 15 | 12 | 74 | 65 | +9 | 53 |
| 11 | Fareham Town | 46 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 61 | 53 | +8 | 48 |
| 12 | Waterlooville | 46 | 17 | 12 | 17 | 67 | 64 | +3 | 46 |
| 13 | Andover | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 65 | 65 | 0 | 45 |
| 14 | Poole Town | 46 | 16 | 13 | 17 | 49 | 64 | −15 | 45 |
| 15 | Canterbury City | 46 | 15 | 14 | 17 | 56 | 60 | −4 | 44 |
| 16 | Hounslow | 46 | 14 | 15 | 17 | 44 | 57 | −13 | 43 |
| 17 | Margate | 46 | 17 | 8 | 21 | 51 | 62 | −11 | 42 |
| 18 | Folkestone & Shepway | 46 | 14 | 11 | 21 | 54 | 63 | −9 | 39 |
| 19 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 46 | 12 | 14 | 20 | 54 | 71 | −17 | 38 |
| 20 | Crawley Town | 46 | 13 | 11 | 22 | 55 | 72 | −17 | 37 |
| 21 | Chelmsford City | 46 | 9 | 18 | 19 | 47 | 69 | −22 | 36 |
| 22 | Basingstoke Town | 46 | 9 | 15 | 22 | 48 | 79 | −31 | 33 |
| 23 | Salisbury | 46 | 10 | 12 | 24 | 47 | 58 | −11 | 32 |
| 24 | Tonbridge Angels | 46 | 3 | 9 | 34 | 30 | 128 | −98 | 15 |