1899–1900 Southern Football League

The 1899–1900 season was the sixth in the history of the Southern League. This season saw the expansion of Division One up to 17 teams, though two of them resigned from league before the end of the season. Tottenham Hotspur were Division One champions for the first time, but no Southern League clubs applied for election to the Football League.

Division One
Southern Football League Division One
Season1899–1900
ChampionsTottenham Hotspur (1st title)
Promotednone
RelegatedBedminster (merged)
Sheppey United
Brighton United (resigned)
Cowes (resigned)
Matches played210
Goals scored676 (3.22 per match)

A total of 17 teams contested the division, including 13 sides from previous season and four new teams.

Teams promoted from Division Two
  • Cowes
  • Thames Ironworks
Newly elected teams
  • Queens Park Rangers
  • Bristol Rovers
  • Portsmouth

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Tottenham Hotspur 28 20 4 4 67 26 2.577 44
2 Portsmouth 28 20 1 7 59 29 2.034 41 Directly elected into Division One[lower-alpha 1]
3 Southampton 28 17 1 10 70 33 2.121 35
4 Reading 28 15 2 11 41 28 1.464 32
5 Swindon Town 28 15 2 11 50 42 1.190 32
6 Bedminster 28 13 2 13 44 45 0.978 28 Left at end of season
7 Millwall Athletic 28 12 3 13 36 37 0.973 27
8 Queens Park Rangers 28 12 2 14 50 58 0.862 26
9 Bristol City 28 9 7 12 44 47 0.936 25
10 Bristol Rovers 28 11 3 14 46 55 0.836 25
11 New Brompton 28 9 6 13 39 49 0.796 24
12 Gravesend United 28 10 4 14 38 58 0.655 24
13 Chatham Town 28 10 3 15 38 58 0.655 23
14 Thames Ironworks[lower-alpha 2] 28 8 5 15 30 45 0.667 21 Relegation test matches
15 Sheppey United 28 3 7 18 24 66 0.364 13
16 Brighton United 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Resigned from league after 22 matches record expunged
17 Cowes 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 Resigned from league after 13 matches, record expunged
Source: rsssf.com[1]
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season (note: source does not refer to goal average). The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Notes:
  1. Portsmouth founded 5 April 1898, before Royal Artillery Portsmouth disbanded in 1899.
  2. Changed name to West Ham United at end of season.

Division Two
Southern Football League Division Two
Season1899–1900
ChampionsWatford
PromotedWatford
RelegatedWolverton L&NWR (resigned)
Dartford (resigned)
Matches played110
Goals scored437 (3.97 per match)

A total of 11 teams contested the division, including nine sides from previous season and two new teams.

Newly elected teams:

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Watford 20 14 2 4 57 25 2.280 30 Promotion test matches
2 Fulham 20 10 4 6 44 23 1.913 24
3 Chesham Town 20 11 2 7 43 37 1.162 24
4 Wolverton L&NWR 20 9 6 5 46 36 1.278 24 Left league at end of season
5 Grays United 20 8 6 6 63 29 2.172 22
6 Shepherds Bush 20 9 4 7 45 37 1.216 22
7 Dartford 20 8 3 9 36 44 0.818 19 Left league at end of season
8 Wycombe Wanderers 20 8 3 9 35 50 0.700 19
9 Brentford 20 5 7 8 31 48 0.646 17
10 Southall 20 6 3 11 21 44 0.477 15
11 Maidenhead 20 1 2 17 16 64 0.250 4
Source: rsssf.com
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.

Promotion-relegation test matches

At the end of the season, test matches were held between the bottom two clubs in Division One and the top two clubs in Division Two. Thames Ironworks retained their place in Division One after beating Fulham 5–1, whilst Watford were promoted after beating Sheppey United 2–1, a result which saw the latter relegated.[2]

Division One clubsvDivision Two clubs
Thames Ironworks5–1Fulham
Sheppey United1–2Watford

References
  1. "Final Tables Division One". England - Southern League Final Tables. RSSSF. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  2. Sheppey United at the Football Club History Database
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