1919–20 Southern Football League

The 1919–20 season was the 22nd in the history of the Southern League, and the first following World War I. Portsmouth won the Southern League championship for the second time, whilst Mid Rhondda won Division Two. There were no promotions or relegations between divisions at the end of the season as all of the clubs in Division One bar Cardiff City were elected to the new Division Three of the Football League, with Cardiff elected to Division Two.

With only 10 clubs remaining (Caerphilly left the league) the league went through a realignment. The league was split into two national sections for England and Wales, with the winners of each section contesting a playoff for the Southern League championship. The remaining clubs in Division Two moved to the Welsh Section. In the English Section, Brighton & Hove Albion Reserves, Chatham Town, Millwall Reserves, Portsmouth Reserves, Reading Reserves, Southampton Reserves, and Watford Reserves rejoined the Southern League. New clubs to join were Boscombe, Charlton Athletic, Gillingham Reserves, Luton Town Reserves, Norwich City Reserves, and Thornycrofts.

Division One
Southern Football League Division One
Season1919–20
ChampionsPortsmouth (2nd title)
PromotedCardiff City
Relegatednone
Matches played462
Goals scored1,275 (2.76 per match)

A total of 22 teams contest the division, including 18 sides from previous season and four new teams.

Teams promoted from 1914–15 Division Two:

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification
1 Portsmouth 42 23 12 7 73 27 2.704 58 Elected to the new Football League Third Division
2 Watford 42 26 6 10 69 42 1.643 58
3 Crystal Palace 42 22 12 8 69 43 1.605 56
4 Cardiff City 42 18 17 7 70 43 1.628 53 Elected to the Football League Second Division
5 Plymouth Argyle 42 20 10 12 57 29 1.966 50 Elected to the new Football League Third Division
6 Queens Park Rangers 42 18 10 14 62 50 1.240 46
7 Reading 42 16 13 13 51 43 1.186 45
8 Southampton 42 18 8 16 72 63 1.143 44
9 Swansea Town 42 16 11 15 53 45 1.178 43
10 Exeter City 42 17 9 16 57 51 1.118 43
11 Southend United 42 13 17 12 46 48 0.958 43
12 Norwich City 42 15 11 16 64 57 1.123 41
13 Swindon Town 42 17 7 18 65 68 0.956 41
14 Millwall 42 14 12 16 52 55 0.945 40
15 Brentford 42 15 10 17 52 59 0.881 40
16 Brighton & Hove Albion 42 14 8 20 60 72 0.833 36
17 Bristol Rovers 42 11 13 18 61 78 0.782 35
18 Newport County 42 13 7 22 45 70 0.643 33
19 Northampton Town 42 12 9 21 64 103 0.621 33
20 Luton Town 42 10 10 22 51 76 0.671 30
21 Merthyr Town 42 9 11 22 47 78 0.603 29
22 Gillingham 42 10 7 25 34 74 0.459 27
Source:
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.

Division Two
Southern Football League Division Two
Season1919–20
ChampionsMid Rhondda
Promotednone
RelegatedCaerphilly (resigned)
Matches played110
Goals scored416 (3.78 per match)

A total of 11 teams contest the division, including six sides from previous season and five new teams.

Newly elected teams:

  • Aberaman Athletic
  • Abertillery
  • Caerphilly
  • Mardy
  • Porth Athletic

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification
1 Mid Rhondda 20 17 3 0 79 10 7.900 37 Promoted and Transferred to Southern League Welsh Section
2 Ton Pentre 20 12 7 1 50 14 3.571 31
3 Llanelly 20 10 5 5 47 30 1.567 25
4 Pontypridd 20 10 3 7 33 29 1.138 23
5 Ebbw Vale 20 7 7 6 39 40 0.975 21
6 Barry 20 7 5 8 32 27 1.185 19
7 Mardy 20 7 5 8 29 30 0.967 19
8 Abertillery 20 6 5 9 29 40 0.725 17
9 Porth Athletic 20 4 4 12 30 74 0.405 12
10 Aberaman Athletic 20 4 3 13 28 48 0.583 11
11 Caerphilly 20 1 3 16 20 74 0.270 5 Left league at end of season
Source:
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Note: Number of goals for and/or against is inaccurate.

Football League elections

Cardiff City were the only Southern League club to apply for election to the Football League.[1] They were successful and, along with Leeds United, replaced Grimsby Town and Lincoln City in the Football League Second Division.

Club League Votes
Leeds UnitedMidland League31
Cardiff CitySouthern League23
Grimsby TownFootball League20
Lincoln CityFootball League7
WalsallBirmingham & District League3

After the voting, 21 clubs remained in Southern League alongside Grimsby, having gained more votes than other non-elected clubs, were then elected into the newly created Third Division.

References
  1. A history of admission to the Football League
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