# 1977–78 Southern Football League

The 1977–78 Southern Football League season was the 75th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Bath City won the championship, winning their second Southern League title, whilst Witney Town, Margate, Bridgend Town and Dorchester Town were all promoted to the Premier Division, the former two as champions. Romford folded at the end of the season.

## Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:
* Two clubs promoted from Division One North:
** Cheltenham Town
** Worcester City
* Two clubs promoted from Division One South:
** Barnet
** Hastings United

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Bath City | 42 | 22 | 18 | 2 | 83 | 32 | +51 | 62 | |
| 2 | Weymouth | 42 | 21 | 16 | 5 | 64 | 36 | +28 | 58 | |
| 3 | Maidstone United | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 59 | 41 | +18 | 51 | |
| 4 | Worcester City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 67 | 50 | +17 | 51 | |
| 5 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 57 | 42 | +15 | 49 | |
| 6 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 47 | |
| 7 | Barnet | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 63 | 58 | +5 | 47 | |
| 8 | Wealdstone | 42 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 54 | 48 | +6 | 46 | |
| 9 | Telford United | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 52 | 45 | +7 | 45 | |
| 10 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 44 | |
| 11 | Dartford | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 57 | 65 | −8 | 43 | |
| 12 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 57 | 49 | +8 | 42 | |
| 13 | Hastings United | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 49 | 60 | −11 | 39 | |
| 14 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 43 | 52 | −9 | 38 | |
| 15 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 45 | 54 | −9 | 35 | |
| 16 | Atherstone Town | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 41 | 56 | −15 | 35 | |
| 17 | Redditch United | 42 | 15 | 5 | 22 | 40 | 55 | −15 | 35 | |
| 18 | AP Leamington | 42 | 11 | 13 | 18 | 34 | 57 | −23 | 35 | |
| 19 | Minehead | 42 | 11 | 12 | 19 | 43 | 48 | −5 | 34 | Relegated to Division One South |
| 20 | Dover | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 41 | 63 | −22 | 31 | Relegated to Division One South |
| 21 | Bedford Town | 42 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 51 | 75 | −24 | 29 | Relegated to Division One North |
| 22 | Grantham | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 40 | 66 | −26 | 28 | Relegated to Division One North |

## Division One North

Division One North consisted of 20 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and two new clubs:
* Bridgend Town, joined from the Welsh Football League
* Burton Albion, relegated from the Premier Division

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Witney Town | 38 | 20 | 15 | 3 | 54 | 27 | +27 | 55 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Bridgend Town | 38 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 59 | 45 | +14 | 49 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Burton Albion | 38 | 17 | 11 | 10 | 48 | 32 | +16 | 45 | |
| 4 | Enderby Town | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 59 | 44 | +15 | 44 | |
| 5 | Bromsgrove Rovers | 38 | 16 | 12 | 10 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 44 | |
| 6 | Banbury United | 38 | 17 | 10 | 11 | 52 | 47 | +5 | 44 | |
| 7 | Kidderminster Harriers | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 58 | 41 | +17 | 43 | |
| 8 | Merthyr Tydfil | 38 | 18 | 6 | 14 | 85 | 62 | +23 | 42 | |
| 9 | Cambridge City | 38 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 56 | 45 | +11 | 40 | |
| 10 | Barry Town | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 58 | 48 | +10 | 39 | |
| 11 | Wellingborough Town | 38 | 11 | 15 | 12 | 47 | 43 | +4 | 37 | |
| 12 | King's Lynn | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 37 | |
| 13 | Gloucester City | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 68 | 75 | −7 | 36 | |
| 14 | Corby Town | 38 | 9 | 17 | 12 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 35 | |
| 15 | Dunstable | 38 | 11 | 13 | 14 | 49 | 59 | −10 | 35 | Transferred to the Division One South |
| 16 | Stourbridge | 38 | 9 | 15 | 14 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 33 | |
| 17 | Tamworth | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 37 | 48 | −11 | 31 | |
| 18 | Bedworth United | 38 | 8 | 14 | 16 | 36 | 58 | −22 | 30 | |
| 19 | Milton Keynes City | 38 | 5 | 11 | 22 | 26 | 74 | −48 | 21 | |
| 20 | Oswestry Town | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 29 | 85 | −56 | 20 | |

## Division One South

Division One South expanded up to 20 clubs, including 15 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:
* Two clubs, relegated from the Premier Division
** Chelmsford City
** Margate
* Two clubs joined from the Athenian League
** Addlestone
** Hounslow
* Plus:
** Taunton Town, joined from the Western League

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Margate | 38 | 24 | 10 | 4 | 92 | 32 | +60 | 58 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Dorchester Town | 38 | 23 | 10 | 5 | 67 | 31 | +36 | 56 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Salisbury | 38 | 21 | 10 | 7 | 60 | 27 | +33 | 52 | |
| 4 | Waterlooville | 38 | 19 | 13 | 6 | 66 | 36 | +30 | 51 | |
| 5 | Romford | 38 | 17 | 15 | 6 | 58 | 37 | +21 | 49 | Club folded |
| 6 | Aylesbury United | 38 | 20 | 7 | 11 | 56 | 42 | +14 | 47 | |
| 7 | Trowbridge Town | 38 | 16 | 11 | 11 | 65 | 59 | +6 | 43 | |
| 8 | Chelmsford City | 38 | 15 | 11 | 12 | 58 | 46 | +12 | 41 | |
| 9 | Folkestone & Shepway | 38 | 16 | 9 | 13 | 64 | 56 | +8 | 41 | |
| 10 | Taunton Town | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 57 | 54 | +3 | 40 | |
| 11 | Addlestone | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 57 | 60 | −3 | 38 | |
| 12 | Crawley Town | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 61 | 60 | +1 | 37 | |
| 13 | Basingstoke Town | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 44 | 50 | −6 | 33 | |
| 14 | Tonbridge Angels | 38 | 13 | 5 | 20 | 64 | 77 | −13 | 31 | |
| 15 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 38 | 9 | 13 | 16 | 39 | 60 | −21 | 31 | |
| 16 | Hounslow | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 43 | 62 | −19 | 30 | |
| 17 | Bognor Regis Town | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 52 | 69 | −17 | 26 | |
| 18 | Poole Town | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 43 | 68 | −25 | 26 | |
| 19 | Andover | 38 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 30 | 68 | −38 | 20 | |
| 20 | Canterbury City | 38 | 2 | 6 | 30 | 31 | 113 | −82 | 10 | |

## Football League elections

At the end of the season, the bottom four of the Football League had to be re-elected to retain their place, with one club from each of the Southern League and Northern Premier League also on the ballot. Champions Bath City participated in the vote, but finished bottom. NPL club Wigan Athletic were elected to the League after beating Southport in a second round of voting.
| Club | League | First round votes | Second round votes |
| York City | Football League Division Four | 49 | |
| Rochdale | Football League Division Four | 39 | |
| Hartlepool United | Football League Division Four | 37 | |
| Wigan Athletic | Northern Premier League | 26 | 29 |
| Southport | Football League Division Four | 26 | 20 |
| Bath City | Southern League | 23 | |