# 1960–61 Southern Football League

The 1960–61 Southern Football League season was the 58th in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Oxford United won the championship, whilst Kettering Town, Cambridge United, Bexleyheath & Welling and Merthyr Tydfil were all promoted to the Premier Division. Ten 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:
* Clacton Town
* Folkestone Town
* Guildford City
* Romford

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Oxford United | 42 | 27 | 10 | 5 | 104 | 43 | 2.419 | 64 | |
| 2 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 23 | 11 | 8 | 91 | 55 | 1.655 | 57 | |
| 3 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 23 | 9 | 10 | 109 | 54 | 2.019 | 55 | |
| 4 | Hereford United | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 83 | 67 | 1.239 | 52 | |
| 5 | Weymouth | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 78 | 63 | 1.238 | 51 | |
| 6 | Bath City | 42 | 18 | 14 | 10 | 74 | 52 | 1.423 | 50 | |
| 7 | Cambridge City | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 101 | 71 | 1.423 | 44 | |
| 8 | Wellington Town | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 66 | 68 | 0.971 | 43 | |
| 9 | Bedford Town | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 94 | 97 | 0.969 | 43 | |
| 10 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 75 | 86 | 0.872 | 43 | |
| 11 | King's Lynn | 42 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 68 | 66 | 1.030 | 42 | |
| 12 | Worcester City | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 69 | 69 | 1.000 | 41 | |
| 13 | Clacton Town | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 82 | 83 | 0.988 | 41 | |
| 14 | Romford | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 66 | 69 | 0.957 | 41 | |
| 15 | Guildford City | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 65 | 62 | 1.048 | 39 | |
| 16 | Tonbridge | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 79 | 85 | 0.929 | 38 | |
| 17 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 81 | 81 | 1.000 | 37 | |
| 18 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 75 | 101 | 0.743 | 37 | |
| 19 | Dartford | 42 | 13 | 11 | 18 | 57 | 90 | 0.633 | 37 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | Hastings United | 42 | 8 | 9 | 25 | 60 | 100 | 0.600 | 25 | Relegated to Division One |
| 21 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 9 | 6 | 27 | 58 | 112 | 0.518 | 24 | Relegated to Division One |
| 22 | Boston United | 42 | 6 | 8 | 28 | 62 | 123 | 0.504 | 20 | Resigned from the league |

## Division One

Division One consisted of 21 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:
* Four clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
** Barry Town
** Kettering Town
** Nuneaton Borough
** Poole Town
* Plus:
** Canterbury City, elected from the Metropolitan League

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Kettering Town | 40 | 26 | 7 | 7 | 100 | 55 | 1.818 | 59 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Cambridge United | 40 | 25 | 5 | 10 | 100 | 53 | 1.887 | 55 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Bexleyheath & Welling | 40 | 22 | 8 | 10 | 93 | 46 | 2.022 | 52 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 4 | Merthyr Tydfil | 40 | 23 | 6 | 11 | 88 | 65 | 1.354 | 52 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 5 | Sittingbourne | 40 | 21 | 10 | 9 | 77 | 63 | 1.222 | 52 | |
| 6 | Hinckley Athletic | 40 | 17 | 13 | 10 | 74 | 59 | 1.254 | 47 | |
| 7 | Ramsgate Athletic | 40 | 19 | 7 | 14 | 77 | 56 | 1.375 | 45 | |
| 8 | Rugby Town | 40 | 18 | 9 | 13 | 89 | 71 | 1.254 | 45 | |
| 9 | Corby Town | 40 | 16 | 10 | 14 | 82 | 73 | 1.123 | 42 | |
| 10 | Poole Town | 40 | 18 | 5 | 17 | 71 | 65 | 1.092 | 41 | |
| 11 | Barry Town | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 65 | 74 | 0.878 | 41 | |
| 12 | Yiewsley | 40 | 17 | 7 | 16 | 65 | 76 | 0.855 | 41 | |
| 13 | Trowbridge Town | 40 | 14 | 10 | 16 | 71 | 73 | 0.973 | 38 | |
| 14 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 40 | 14 | 8 | 18 | 61 | 67 | 0.910 | 36 | |
| 15 | Margate | 40 | 11 | 12 | 17 | 62 | 75 | 0.827 | 34 | |
| 16 | Dover | 40 | 12 | 7 | 21 | 67 | 74 | 0.905 | 31 | |
| 17 | Canterbury City | 40 | 10 | 10 | 20 | 52 | 75 | 0.693 | 30 | |
| 18 | Nuneaton Borough | 40 | 11 | 7 | 22 | 60 | 91 | 0.659 | 29 | |
| 19 | Burton Albion | 40 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 63 | 85 | 0.741 | 28 | |
| 20 | Tunbridge Wells United | 40 | 8 | 5 | 27 | 56 | 115 | 0.487 | 21 | |
| 21 | Gloucester City | 40 | 7 | 7 | 26 | 40 | 102 | 0.392 | 21 | |

## Football League elections

Ten Southern League clubs (including Bexleyheath & Welling and Kettering Town from Division One) applied for election to the Football League. However, all four League clubs were re-elected.
| Club | League | Votes |
| Chester | Football League | 45 |
| Exeter City | Football League | 44 |
| Barrow | Football League | 35 |
| Hartlepools United | Football League | 32 |
| Oxford United | Southern League | 19 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 4 |
| Wigan Athletic | Lancashire Combination | 4 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 3 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 3 |
| Gateshead | Northern Counties League | 3 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 1 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Romford | Southern League | 1 |
| Scarborough | Northern Counties League | 1 |
| South Shields | Northern Counties League | 1 |
| Bexleyheath & Welling | Southern League | 0 |
| Gravesend & Northfleet | Southern League | 0 |
| King's Lynn | Southern League | 0 |
| Morecambe | Lancashire Combination | 0 |