# 1896–97 Southern Football League

The 1896–97 season was the third in the history of the Southern League. Southampton St.Mary's won the Division One championship. Millwall Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur applied for election to Football League. However, they were not elected so were allowed to play in the Southern League.

## Division One

Division One featured seven teams from previous season and five new clubs: two promoted from Division Two and three newly elected members.
Teams promoted from Division Two:
* Wolverston L&NWR - champions, winners of testing matches
* Sheppey United - runners-up, winners of testing matches
Newly promoted teams:
* Northfleet - Kent League champions
* Gravesend United - Kent League members
* Tottenham Hotspur
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Relegation |
| 1 | Southampton St.Mary's | 20 | 15 | 5 | 0 | 63 | 18 | 3.500 | 35 | |
| 2 | Millwall Athletic | 20 | 13 | 5 | 2 | 63 | 24 | 2.625 | 31 | |
| 3 | Chatham Town | 20 | 13 | 1 | 6 | 54 | 29 | 1.862 | 27 | |
| 4 | Tottenham Hotspur | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 43 | 29 | 1.483 | 22 | |
| 5 | Gravesend United | 20 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 35 | 34 | 1.029 | 22 | |
| 6 | Swindon Town | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 33 | 37 | 0.892 | 19 | |
| 7 | Reading | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 31 | 49 | 0.633 | 19 | |
| 8 | New Brompton | 20 | 7 | 2 | 11 | 32 | 42 | 0.762 | 16 | |
| 9 | Northfleet | 20 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 24 | 46 | 0.522 | 14 | Relegation test matches |
| 10 | Sheppey United | 20 | 5 | 1 | 14 | 34 | 47 | 0.723 | 11 | Relegation test matches |
| 11 | Wolverton L&NWR | 20 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 17 | 74 | 0.230 | 4 | Relegation test matches |
| 12 | Royal Ordnance Factories | 7 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 11 | 5 | 2.200 | 6 | Resigned from league after seven matches, record expunged |
* ↑ Changed name to Southampton at end of season

## Division Two

Division Two featured five teams from previous season and eight new clubs, all of which were newly elected.
Newly promoted teams:
* Dartford - Kent League members
* RETB Chatham - Kent League members
* 1st Coldstream Guards
* Freemantle
* Southall
* Warmley
* West Herts
* Wycombe Wanderers
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Dartford | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 83 | 19 | 4.368 | 36 | Promotion test matches |
| 2 | RETB Chatham | 24 | 11 | 9 | 4 | 49 | 37 | 1.324 | 31 | Promotion test matches |
| 3 | Freemantle | 24 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 58 | 40 | 1.450 | 28 | Promotion test matches, left league at end of season |
| 4 | Uxbridge | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 62 | 37 | 1.676 | 27 | |
| 5 | Wycombe Wanderers | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 37 | 54 | 0.685 | 26 | |
| 6 | Chesham | 24 | 11 | 3 | 10 | 41 | 55 | 0.745 | 25 | |
| 7 | Southall | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 55 | 52 | 1.058 | 24 | |
| 8 | 1st Scots Guards | 24 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 49 | 50 | 0.980 | 24 | Left league at end of season |
| 9 | Warmley | 24 | 10 | 3 | 11 | 44 | 43 | 1.023 | 23 | |
| 10 | West Herts | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 41 | 49 | 0.837 | 23 | |
| 11 | Old St.Stephen's | 24 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 36 | 52 | 0.692 | 17 | |
| 12 | Maidenhead | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 33 | 64 | 0.516 | 16 | |
| 13 | 1st Coldstream Guards | 24 | 3 | 6 | 15 | 30 | 66 | 0.455 | 12 | Left league at end of season |
* ↑ Freemantle resigned at the end of the season from the Southern Football League, creating a vacancy filled by Royal Artillery Portsmouth in the next 1897-98 season

## Promotion-relegation test matches

At the end of the season, test matches were held between the bottom three clubs in Division One and the top three clubs in Division Two. Third-placed Freemantle were the only Division Two club to win, but withdrew from the league at the end of season, meaning their defeated opponents Northfleet remained in Division One.

## Football League elections

Only one Southern League club, Millwall Athletic, applied for election to Division Two of the Football League. However, they received only one vote and were not elected.
| Club | League | Votes |
| Lincoln City | Football League | 21 |
| Burton Swifts | Football League | 15 |
| Luton Town | United League | 13 |
| Burslem Port Vale | Midland League | 11 |
| Burton Wanderers | Football League | 9 |
| Nelson | Lancashire League | 7 |
| Glossop North End | The Combination | 5 |
| Fairfield | Lancashire League | 3 |
| Crewe Alexandra | The Combination | 2 |
| Millwall Athletic | Southern League | 1 |