# 1969–70 Southern Football League

The 1969–70 Southern Football League season was the 67th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Cambridge United won the championship, winning their second Southern League title in a row and were elected to the Football League, whilst Ashford Town (Kent), Bedford Town, Cambridge City, Dartford were all promoted to the Premier Division.

## Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
* Bath City
* Brentwood Town
* Crawley Town
* Gloucester City
Also, at the end of the previous season Wellington Town were renamed Telford United.
Cambridge United was elected to the Football League in place of Bradford Park Avenue. At the end of the season Brentwood Town resigned from the league after three seasons and folded. Thus, Gloucester City and Nuneaton Borough remained in the division.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Cambridge United | 42 | 26 | 6 | 10 | 84 | 50 | 1.680 | 58 | Elected to the Football League Fourth Division |
| 2 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 25 | 7 | 10 | 78 | 48 | 1.625 | 57 | |
| 3 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 58 | 1.310 | 51 | |
| 4 | Weymouth | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 59 | 37 | 1.595 | 50 | |
| 5 | Wimbledon | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 64 | 52 | 1.231 | 50 | |
| 6 | Hillingdon Borough | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 56 | 50 | 1.120 | 50 | |
| 7 | Barnet | 42 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 71 | 54 | 1.315 | 47 | |
| 8 | Telford United | 42 | 18 | 10 | 14 | 61 | 62 | 0.984 | 46 | |
| 9 | Brentwood Town | 42 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 61 | 38 | 1.605 | 45 | Club folded |
| 10 | Hereford United | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 74 | 65 | 1.138 | 45 | |
| 11 | Bath City | 42 | 18 | 8 | 16 | 63 | 55 | 1.145 | 44 | |
| 12 | King's Lynn | 42 | 16 | 11 | 15 | 72 | 68 | 1.059 | 43 | |
| 13 | Margate | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 70 | 64 | 1.094 | 42 | |
| 14 | Dover | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 51 | 50 | 1.020 | 40 | |
| 15 | Kettering Town | 42 | 18 | 3 | 21 | 64 | 75 | 0.853 | 39 | |
| 16 | Worcester City | 42 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 35 | 44 | 0.795 | 38 | |
| 17 | Romford | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 50 | 62 | 0.806 | 37 | |
| 18 | Poole Town | 42 | 8 | 19 | 15 | 48 | 57 | 0.842 | 35 | |
| 19 | Gloucester City | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 53 | 73 | 0.726 | 33 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 11 | 10 | 21 | 52 | 74 | 0.703 | 32 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 21 | Crawley Town | 42 | 6 | 15 | 21 | 53 | 101 | 0.525 | 27 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Burton Albion | 42 | 3 | 9 | 30 | 24 | 82 | 0.293 | 15 | Relegated to Division One |

## Division One

Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, relegated from the Premier Division:
* Bedford Town
* Cheltenham Town
* Guildford City
* Rugby Town
At the end of the season Wisbech Town resigned from the league and switched to the Eastern Counties Football League.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Bedford Town | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 93 | 37 | 2.514 | 61 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 2 | Cambridge City | 42 | 26 | 8 | 8 | 104 | 43 | 2.419 | 60 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 3 | Dartford | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 88 | 46 | 1.913 | 59 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 4 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 19 | 16 | 7 | 71 | 43 | 1.651 | 54 | Promoted to Premier Division |
| 5 | Rugby Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 82 | 66 | 1.242 | 50 | |
| 6 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 72 | 65 | 1.108 | 48 | |
| 7 | Hastings United | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 67 | 51 | 1.314 | 47 | |
| 8 | Guildford City | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 68 | 58 | 1.172 | 47 | |
| 9 | Banbury United | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 86 | 72 | 1.194 | 46 | |
| 10 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 20 | 5 | 17 | 78 | 81 | 0.963 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 42 | 15 | 13 | 14 | 61 | 57 | 1.070 | 43 | |
| 12 | Corby Town | 42 | 14 | 15 | 13 | 58 | 54 | 1.074 | 43 | |
| 13 | Folkestone | 42 | 19 | 5 | 18 | 57 | 55 | 1.036 | 43 | |
| 14 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 14 | 13 | 15 | 53 | 57 | 0.930 | 41 | |
| 15 | Salisbury | 42 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 47 | 53 | 0.887 | 38 | |
| 16 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 62 | 71 | 0.873 | 37 | |
| 17 | Bexley United | 42 | 10 | 11 | 21 | 58 | 76 | 0.763 | 31 | |
| 18 | Dunstable Town | 42 | 11 | 9 | 22 | 52 | 82 | 0.634 | 31 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 9 | 11 | 22 | 40 | 80 | 0.500 | 29 | |
| 20 | Barry Town | 42 | 11 | 6 | 25 | 39 | 76 | 0.513 | 28 | |
| 21 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 58 | 116 | 0.500 | 25 | Resigned to the Eastern Counties League |
| 22 | Tonbridge | 42 | 4 | 10 | 28 | 46 | 101 | 0.455 | 18 | |

## Football League elections

Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 13 non-League clubs applied for election, ten of which were Southern League clubs. Three League clubs were re-elected, and Cambridge United were elected.
| Club | League | Votes |
| Darlington | Football League | 47 |
| Hartlepool | Football League | 42 |
| Cambridge United | Southern League | 31 |
| Newport County | Football League | 31 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | Football League | 17 |
| Wigan Athletic | Northern Premier League | 3 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 2 |
| Yeovil Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 1 |
| Morecambe | Northern Premier League | 1 |
| Romford | Southern League | 1 |
| Boston United | Northern Premier League | 0 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 0 |
| Hillingdon Borough | Southern League | 0 |
| Telford United | Southern League | 0 |
| Wimbledon | Southern League | 0 |