# 1965–66 Southern Football League

The 1965–66 Southern Football League season was the 63rd in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Weymouth won the championship for the second time in a row, whilst Barnet, Bath City, Burton Albion and Hillingdon Borough were all promoted to the Premier Division. Nine 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:
* Corby Town
* Hereford United
* Poole Town
* Wimbledon

### League table

| 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 to Division One |
| 20 | Rugby Town | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 67 | 95 | 0.705 | 32 | Relegated to Division One |
| 21 | Tonbridge | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 63 | 101 | 0.624 | 28 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Margate | 42 | 8 | 10 | 24 | 66 | 111 | 0.595 | 26 | Relegated to Division One |

## Division One

Division One expanded up to 24 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:
* Four clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
** Bath City
** Bexley United
** Hastings United
** Wisbech Town
* Plus:
** Barnet, joined from the Athenian League
** Dunstable Town, joined from the Metropolitan League

### League table

| 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 the Premier Division |
| 2 | Hillingdon Borough | 46 | 27 | 10 | 9 | 101 | 46 | 2.196 | 64 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Burton Albion | 46 | 28 | 8 | 10 | 121 | 60 | 2.017 | 64 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 4 | Bath City | 46 | 25 | 13 | 8 | 88 | 50 | 1.760 | 63 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 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 |

## Football League elections

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.
| Club | League | Votes |
| Lincoln City | Football League | 43 |
| Bradford City | Football League | 42 |
| Wrexham | Football League | 40 |
| Rochdale | Football League | 40 |
| Wigan Athletic | Cheshire League | 5 |
| Cambridge United | Southern League | 5 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 4 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 3 |
| Romford | Southern League | 2 |
| Morecambe | Lancashire Combination | 2 |
| Corby Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Wellington Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Wimbledon | Southern League | 0 |
| Scarborough | Midland League | 0 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 0 |
| Folkestone | Southern League | 0 |