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1896–97 Southern Football League
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| competition | Southern Football League Division One |
| season | 1896–97 |
| winners | Southampton St.Mary's (1st title) |
| promoted | none |
| relegated | Royal Ordnance Factories |
| (resigned) | |
| matches | 110 |
| total goals | 429 |
| prevseason | [1895–96](1895-96-southern-football-league-division-one) |
| nextseason | [1897–98](1897-98-southern-football-league-division-one) |
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
(resigned)
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
Division Two
1st Scots Guards (resigned) 1st Coldstream Guards (resigned) 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
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 |
References
References
- Phil Soar. "Tottenham Hotspur The Official Illustrated History 1882-1995". Hamlyn.
- "Glory Gunners – The History of Royal Artillery (Portsmouth) FC".
- {{fchd
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- [http://www.nonleaguematters.co.uk/forum/gforum.cgi?do=post_attachment;postatt_id=3506; A history of admission to the Football League]
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