1959–60 Southern Football League

The 1959–60 Southern Football League season saw the league split into a Premier Division and Division One, the first time the league had had two hierarchical divisions since 1919–20. Bath City won the championship, whilst Clacton Town, Romford, Folkestone Town and Guildford City were all promoted to the Premier Division. Eleven Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.

Final tables

Premier Division

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Bath City	42	32	3	7	116	50	2.32	67
2	Headington United	42	23	8	11	78	61	1.28	54	Changed name to Oxford United at end of season
3	Weymouth	42	22	9	11	93	69	1.35	53
4	Cheltenham Town	42	21	6	15	82	68	1.21	48
5	Cambridge City	42	18	11	13	81	72	1.13	47
6	Chelmsford City	42	19	7	16	90	70	1.29	45
7	Bedford Town	42	21	3	18	97	85	1.14	45
8	King's Lynn	42	17	11	14	89	78	1.14	45
9	Boston United	42	17	10	15	83	80	1.04	44
10	Wisbech Town	42	17	10	15	81	84	0.96	44
11	Yeovil Town	42	17	8	17	81	73	1.11	42
12	Hereford United	42	15	12	15	70	74	0.95	42
13	Tonbridge	42	16	8	18	79	73	1.08	40
14	Hastings United	42	16	8	18	63	77	0.82	40
15	Wellington Town	42	13	11	18	63	78	0.81	37
16	Dartford	42	15	7	20	64	82	0.78	37
17	Gravesend & Northfleet	42	14	8	20	69	84	0.82	36
18	Worcester City	42	13	10	19	72	89	0.80	36
19	Nuneaton Borough	42	11	11	20	64	78	0.82	33	Relegated to Division One
20	Barry Town	42	14	5	23	78	103	0.75	33
21	Poole Town	42	10	8	24	69	96	0.71	28
22	Kettering Town	42	9	10	23	60	90	0.66	28

^{1 The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976-77 season.}

^{2 The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.}

Football League elections

Eleven Southern League clubs (including Guildford City and Romford from Division One) applied for election to the Football League. Although none were successful, Peterborough United were elected at the expense of Gateshead.

Club	League	Votes
Oldham Athletic	Football League	39
Peterborough United	Midland League	35
Hartlepools United	Football League	34
Southport	Football League	29
Gateshead	Football League	18
Headington United	Southern League	10
Chelmsford City	Southern League	3
Bedford Town	Southern League	2
Cambridge City	Southern League	2
Guildford City	Southern League	2
New Brighton	Lancashire Combination	2
Romford	Southern League	2
Scarborough	Midland League	2
Worcester City	Southern League	2
Ellesmere Port Town	Cheshire League	1
Kettering Town	Southern League	1
Morecambe	Lancashire Combination	1
South Shields	Midland League	1
Hereford United	Southern League	0
King's Lynn	Southern League	0
Yeovil Town	Southern League	0

Division One

Division One featured ten new clubs:

• Ashford Town (from the Kent League)
• Bexleyheath & Welling (from the Kent League)
• Dover (from the Kent League)
• Folkestone Town (from the Kent League)
• Hinckley Athletic (from the Birmingham & District League)
• Margate (from the Kent League)
• Ramsgate Athletic (from the Kent League)
• Romford (from the Isthmian League)
• Sittingbourne (from the Kent League)
• Tunbridge Wells United (from the Kent League)

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2	Notes
1	Clacton Town	42	27	5	10	106	69	1.54	59	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Romford	42	21	11	10	65	40	1.62	53
3	Folkestone Town	42	23	5	14	93	71	1.31	51
4	Exeter City II	42	23	3	16	85	62	1.37	49	Left league at end of season
5	Guildford City	42	19	9	14	79	56	1.41	47	Promoted to the Premier Division
6	Sittingbourne	42	20	7	15	66	56	1.18	47
7	Margate	42	20	6	16	88	77	1.14	46
8	Trowbridge Town	42	18	9	15	89	78	1.14	45
9	Cambridge United	42	18	9	15	71	72	0.99	45
10	Yiewsley	42	16	11	15	83	71	1.17	43
11	Bexleyheath & Welling	42	16	11	15	85	77	1.1	43
12	Merthyr Tydfil	42	16	10	16	63	65	0.97	42
13	Ramsgate Athletic	42	16	8	18	84	85	0.99	40
14	Ashford Town	42	14	12	16	61	70	0.87	40
15	Tunbridge Wells United	42	17	5	20	77	74	1.04	39
16	Hinckley Athletic	42	14	8	20	62	75	0.83	36
17	Gloucester City	42	13	9	20	56	84	0.66	35
18	Dover	42	14	6	22	59	85	0.69	34
19	Kidderminster Harriers	42	14	6	22	59	97	0.60	34	Dropped into Birmingham & DL at end of season
20	Corby Town	42	15	3	24	75	91	0.82	33
21	Burton Albion	42	11	10	21	52	79	0.65	32
22	Rugby Town	42	10	11	21	67	91	0.73	31