# 1968–69 Southern Football League

The 1968–69 Southern Football League season was the 66th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Cambridge United won the championship, winning their first Southern League title, whilst Bath City, Brentwood Town, Crawley Town and Gloucester City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Twelve Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League 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, promoted from Division One:
* Bedford Town
* Kettering Town
* Rugby Town
* Worcester City
At the end of the season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Cambridge United | 42 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 72 | 39 | 1.846 | 59 | |
| 2 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 24 | 10 | 8 | 68 | 47 | 1.447 | 58 | |
| 3 | Wimbledon | 42 | 21 | 12 | 9 | 66 | 48 | 1.375 | 54 | |
| 4 | King's Lynn | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 68 | 60 | 1.133 | 49 | |
| 5 | Worcester City | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 53 | 47 | 1.128 | 49 | |
| 6 | Romford | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 58 | 52 | 1.115 | 48 | |
| 7 | Weymouth | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 52 | 41 | 1.268 | 47 | |
| 8 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 52 | 50 | 1.040 | 45 | |
| 9 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 51 | 55 | 0.927 | 44 | |
| 10 | Dover | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 66 | 61 | 1.082 | 43 | |
| 11 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 74 | 58 | 1.276 | 41 | |
| 12 | Barnet | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 72 | 66 | 1.091 | 40 | |
| 13 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 17 | 6 | 19 | 56 | 58 | 0.966 | 40 | |
| 14 | Hereford United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 66 | 62 | 1.065 | 39 | |
| 15 | Wellington Town | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 62 | 61 | 1.016 | 38 | |
| 16 | Poole Town | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 75 | 76 | 0.987 | 38 | |
| 17 | Burton Albion | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 55 | 71 | 0.775 | 37 | |
| 18 | Margate | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 79 | 90 | 0.878 | 35 | |
| 19 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 15 | 5 | 22 | 55 | 64 | 0.859 | 35 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | Bedford Town | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 46 | 63 | 0.730 | 34 | Relegated to Division One |
| 21 | Rugby Town | 42 | 10 | 6 | 26 | 38 | 83 | 0.458 | 26 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Guildford City | 42 | 7 | 11 | 24 | 41 | 73 | 0.562 | 25 | Relegated to Division One |

## Division One

Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:
* Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
** Cambridge City
** Corby Town
** Hastings United
* Plus:
** Salisbury, joined from the Western Football League
Also, at the end of the previous season Folkestone Town was renamed Folkestone.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 26 | 12 | 4 | 94 | 37 | 2.541 | 64 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Bath City | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 96 | 40 | 2.400 | 62 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Gloucester City | 42 | 25 | 9 | 8 | 100 | 53 | 1.887 | 59 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 4 | Crawley Town | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 65 | 32 | 2.031 | 55 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 5 | Corby Town | 42 | 22 | 6 | 14 | 81 | 65 | 1.246 | 50 | |
| 6 | Dartford | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 79 | 51 | 1.549 | 48 | |
| 7 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 72 | 57 | 1.263 | 47 | |
| 8 | Salisbury | 42 | 20 | 6 | 16 | 69 | 52 | 1.327 | 46 | |
| 9 | Cambridge City | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 73 | 63 | 1.159 | 46 | |
| 10 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 70 | 60 | 1.167 | 44 | |
| 11 | Banbury United | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 67 | 72 | 0.931 | 44 | |
| 12 | Folkestone | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 53 | 59 | 0.898 | 43 | |
| 13 | Canterbury City | 42 | 17 | 7 | 18 | 67 | 63 | 1.063 | 41 | |
| 14 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 72 | 73 | 0.986 | 40 | |
| 15 | Bexley United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 64 | 75 | 0.853 | 39 | |
| 16 | Hastings United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 58 | 69 | 0.841 | 39 | |
| 17 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 57 | 70 | 0.814 | 35 | |
| 18 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 14 | 6 | 22 | 73 | 99 | 0.737 | 34 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 10 | 7 | 25 | 49 | 101 | 0.485 | 27 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 39 | 78 | 0.500 | 26 | |
| 21 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 51 | 79 | 0.646 | 25 | |
| 22 | Tonbridge | 42 | 2 | 6 | 34 | 36 | 137 | 0.263 | 10 | |

## Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 10 non-League clubs applied for election, all of which were Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.
| Club | League | Votes |
| Grimsby Town | Football League | 47 |
| York City | Football League | 45 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | Football League | 38 |
| Newport County | Football League | 27 |
| Cambridge United | Southern League | 16 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 3 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 2 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 2 |
| Romford | Southern League | 2 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 1 |
| Worcester City | Southern League | 1 |
| Nuneaton Borough | Southern League | 0 |
| Wimbledon | Southern League | 0 |