1938–39 Southern Football League
Encyclopedia
The 1938–39 Southern Football League
season saw Colchester United
win the title. Three clubs applied to join the Football League
, although none were successful. The following season
saw the club split into Eastern and Western sections as part an emergency war-time competition, after which the league was discontinued until the end of World War II
.
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.
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
season saw Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....
win the title. Three clubs applied to join the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
, although none were successful. The following season
1939–40 Southern Football League
The 1939–40 Southern Football League season saw the league split into two sections, Eastern and Western as part of an emergency war-time competition. Chelmsford City won the Eastern Section and Lovells Athletic won the Western one. A championship play-off between the two clubs was drawn 3–3 and...
saw the club split into Eastern and Western sections as part an emergency war-time competition, after which the league was discontinued until the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Final table
The league featured six new clubs:- Arsenal II (newly-elected)
- Cardiff City II (newly-elected)
- Chelmsford City (newly-elected)
- Gillingham (relegated from the Football League)
- Ipswich Town II (replacing their first team, who had been elected to the Football League the previous season)
- Worcester City (newly-elected)
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Colchester United Colchester United F.C. Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910.... |
44 | 31 | 5 | 8 | 110 | 37 | 2.97 | 67 | Left league at end of season |
| 2 | Guildford City Guildford City F.C. Guildford City Football Club is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was originally established in 1921, folded in 1974 and were reformed in 1996... |
44 | 30 | 6 | 8 | 126 | 52 | 2.42 | 66 | |
| 3 | Gillingham Gillingham F.C. Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium... |
44 | 29 | 6 | 9 | 104 | 57 | 1.82 | 64 | Left league at end of season |
| 4 | Plymouth Argyle II Plymouth Argyle F.C. Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the... |
44 | 26 | 5 | 13 | 128 | 63 | 2.03 | 57 | |
| 5 | Yeovil & Petters United Yeovil Town F.C. Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05... |
44 | 22 | 10 | 12 | 85 | 70 | 1.21 | 54 | |
| 6 | Arsenal II Arsenal F.C. Reserves Arsenal Reserves are the reserve team of Arsenal Football Club.They have been members of the FA Premier Reserve League Southern Division since its foundation in 1999. They play their home games at Underhill Stadium, which is also the home of Barnet FC. The team mainly consists of Under-21 players... |
44 | 21 | 9 | 14 | 92 | 57 | 1.61 | 51 | Left league at end of season |
| 7 | Cardiff City II Cardiff City F.C. Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for... |
44 | 24 | 3 | 17 | 105 | 72 | 1.46 | 51 | |
| 8 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | 44 | 22 | 6 | 16 | 93 | 76 | 1.22 | 50 | |
| 9 | Norwich City II Norwich City F.C. Norwich City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. As of the 2011–12 season, Norwich City are again playing in the Premier League after a six-year absence, having finished as runner up in the Championship in 2010–11 and winning automatic promotion.The... |
44 | 23 | 4 | 17 | 86 | 76 | 1.13 | 50 | |
| 10 | Chelmsford City Chelmsford City F.C. Chelmsford City F.C. is an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Chelmsford, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Melbourne Stadium.-Chelmsford:... |
44 | 18 | 8 | 18 | 74 | 73 | 1.01 | 44 | |
| 11 | Bath City Bath City F.C. Bath City Football Club are a semi-professional football club based in Bath, Somerset. They play in the Conference National league after gaining promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs in May 2010... |
44 | 16 | 12 | 16 | 58 | 74 | 0.78 | 44 | |
| 12 | Barry Barry Town F.C. Barry Town FC are a football team based in Barry. They dominated the League of Wales during the 1990s, but finished bottom in 2003-04 and were relegated... |
44 | 18 | 7 | 19 | 76 | 90 | 0.84 | 43 | |
| 13 | Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town F.C. Cheltenham Town Football Club is an English football club playing in League Two, the fourth tier of English football. Founded in 1887, the team has played at four different grounds, namely Agg-Gardner's Recreation Ground, Carter's Field and now the Abbey Business Stadium, although it is more... |
44 | 16 | 9 | 19 | 76 | 105 | 0.72 | 41 | |
| 14 | Ipswich Town II Ipswich Town F.C. Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02.... |
44 | 14 | 12 | 18 | 64 | 76 | 0.84 | 40 | Left league at end of season |
| 15 | Worcester City Worcester City F.C. Worcester City Football Club is an English football club based in Worcester, Worcestershire. The club are currently members of the Conference North and play at St George's Lane.-History:... |
44 | 13 | 14 | 17 | 72 | 90 | 0.8 | 40 | |
| 16 | Folkestone Folkestone F.C. Folkestone Football Club was the name of two English football clubs based in the town of Folkestone, Kent. It is unclear if the two clubs were in fact connected, but neither has any formal connection to Folkestone Invicta, who took over the Cheriton Road stadium after the demise of Folkestone F.C.... |
44 | 16 | 6 | 22 | 74 | 85 | 0.87 | 38 | Left league at end of season |
| 17 | Newport County II Newport County A.F.C. Newport County Association Football Club are a professional football club based in the city of Newport, south Wales, who currently play in the Conference National, the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system... |
44 | 13 | 10 | 21 | 74 | 108 | 0.68 | 36 | |
| 18 | Exeter City II Exeter City F.C. Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003... |
44 | 12 | 9 | 23 | 51 | 107 | 0.47 | 33 | |
| 19 | Torquay United II Torquay United F.C. Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley... |
44 | 12 | 8 | 24 | 53 | 89 | 0.59 | 32 | |
| 20 | Swindon Town II Swindon Town F.C. Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011... |
44 | 11 | 9 | 24 | 66 | 101 | 0.65 | 31 | |
| 21 | Aldershot II Aldershot F.C. Aldershot Football Club was an English Football League club, which was wound up in the High Court in March 1992. They became the first Football League club since Accrington Stanley to resign from the League during the course of a season. The club was nicknamed the Shots for both the last syllable... |
44 | 12 | 6 | 26 | 69 | 92 | 0.75 | 30 | |
| 22 | Bristol Rovers II Bristol Rovers F.C. Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city.... |
44 | 9 | 11 | 24 | 66 | 85 | 0.77 | 29 | |
| 23 | Dartford Dartford F.C. Dartford F.C. are an English football club based in Dartford, Kent. After finishing as champions of the Isthmian League Division One North in the 2007–08 season, they compete in the Isthmian League Premier Division. They finished in 8th position in their first season... |
44 | 8 | 5 | 31 | 53 | 119 | 0.44 | 21 |
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 election
Three Southern League clubs, Chelmsford City, Colchester United and Gillingham, applied to join the Football League. However, both League clubs were re-elected.| Club | League | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers F.C. Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city.... |
Football League Third Division South | 45 |
| Walsall Walsall F.C. Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second... |
Football League Third Division South | 36 |
| Gillingham Gillingham F.C. Gillingham Football Club is an English professional football club based in the town of Gillingham, Kent. The only Kent-based club in the Football League, they play their home matches at the Priestfield Stadium... |
Southern League | 15 |
| Chelmsford City Chelmsford City F.C. Chelmsford City F.C. is an English semi-professional football club based in the town of Chelmsford, Essex. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Melbourne Stadium.-Chelmsford:... |
Southern League | 1 |
| Colchester United Colchester United F.C. Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910.... |
Southern League | 1 |