Southern Football League 1898-99
Encyclopedia
The 1898-99 season was the fifth in the history of the Southern League
. Southampton
were Division One champions for the third season in a row. Division Two was split into two regional leagues, with the overall Division Two champions being decided in a playoff in which Thames Ironworks
defeated Cowes 3-1 at The Den. Division Two South-West was disbanded after a single season after all its clubs left. No Southern League clubs applied for promotion to the Football League.
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.
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.
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.
, whilst Cowes were promoted. Sheppey United and Thames Ironworks drew 1-1, leading to Sheppy remaining in Division One and Thames Ironworks joining them.
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...
. Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...
were Division One champions for the third season in a row. Division Two was split into two regional leagues, with the overall Division Two champions being decided in a playoff in which Thames Ironworks
Thames Ironworks F.C.
Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor in 1895. Thames Ironworks took over the tenancy of The Old Castle Swifts' Hermit Road ground in Canning Town until their...
defeated Cowes 3-1 at The Den. Division Two South-West was disbanded after a single season after all its clubs left. No Southern League clubs applied for promotion to the Football League.
Division One
Division One featured four new clubs:- Bedminster (elected from the Western LeagueWestern Football LeagueThe Western Football League is a football league in the south west of England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire and parts of South Wales...
) - Brighton United (newly-elected)
- Royal Artillery (promoted from Division Two)
- Warmley (promoted from Division Two)
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Southampton Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club... |
24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 54 | 24 | 2.25 | 35 | |
| 2 | Bristol City Bristol City F.C. Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City... |
24 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 55 | 33 | 1.67 | 33 | |
| 3 | Millwall Athletic Millwall F.C. Millwall Football Club is an English professional football club based in South Bermondsey, south east London, that plays in the Football League Championship, the second tier of English football. Founded as Millwall Rovers in 1885, the club has retained its name despite having last played in the... |
24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 59 | 35 | 1.69 | 30 | |
| 4 | Chatham Town Chatham Town F.C. Chatham Town are an English Association Football club based in Chatham, Kent. They currently play in Division One North of the Isthmian League and are nicknamed "The Chats".... |
24 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 32 | 23 | 1.39 | 28 | |
| 5 | Reading Reading F.C. Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship... |
24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 31 | 24 | 1.29 | 26 | |
| 6 | New Brompton 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... |
24 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 38 | 30 | 1.27 | 25 | |
| 7 | Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane.... |
24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 40 | 36 | 1.11 | 24 | |
| 8 | Bedminster Bedminster F.C. Bedminster F.C. was an English football club based in Bristol. The club was established in 1887 as Southville and played at Ashton Gate. They were founder members of the Bristol & District League in 1892, which became the Western League in 1895... |
24 | 10 | 4 | 10 | 35 | 39 | 0.9 | 24 | |
| 9 | Swindon Town 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... |
24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 43 | 49 | 0.88 | 23 | |
| 10 | Brighton United Brighton United F.C. Brighton United F.C. were an association football club based in Brighton, Sussex who were active for a few years at the end of the 19th century.... |
24 | 9 | 2 | 13 | 37 | 48 | 0.77 | 20 | |
| 11 | Gravesend United Gravesend United F.C. Gravesend United Football Club was a football club based in Gravesend, Kent.They were founder members of the Kent League in 1894-95 before moving to join the Southern League in 1896-97... |
24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 42 | 52 | 0.81 | 19 | |
| 12 | Sheppey United Sheppey United F.C. Sheppey United F.C. is an English football club based on the Isle of Sheppey in Kent. The club are currently members of Division One of the Kent County League and play at the Sheppey Sports Ground.-History:... |
24 | 5 | 3 | 16 | 23 | 53 | 0.43 | 13 | Relegation test matches |
| 13 | Royal Artillery Portsmouth F.C. Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from... |
24 | 4 | 4 | 16 | 17 | 60 | 0.28 | 12 | Relegation test matches, changed name to Portsmouth at end of season |
| 14 | Warmley Warmley F.C. Warmley F.C. was a football club based in Warmley, near Kingswood, England. They were formed in 1882. They are widely regarded as playing the first organised football match in the Bristol region against St George.... |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Resigned from League after 17 matches, record expunged |
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.
Division Two London
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thames Ironworks Thames Ironworks F.C. Thames Ironworks Football Club, the club that later became West Ham United, was founded by Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Co. Ltd owner Arnold Hills and foreman Dave Taylor in 1895. Thames Ironworks took over the tenancy of The Old Castle Swifts' Hermit Road ground in Canning Town until their... |
22 | 19 | 1 | 2 | 64 | 16 | 4 | 39 | Promotion test matches |
| 2 | Wolverton LNWR Wolverton A.F.C. Wolverton Association Football Club, often known simply as Wolverton, was an English football team representing the town of Wolverton . The club's motto was "In Omnia Paratus" . The club was wound up in 1992... |
22 | 13 | 4 | 5 | 88 | 43 | 2.05 | 30 | |
| 3 | Watford Watford F.C. Watford Football Club is an English professional football club based in Watford, Hertfordshire. It is often referred to as Watford F.C., Watford, or by the team's nickname The Hornets . Watford Rovers, Founded in 1881, entered the FA Cup for the first time in 1886, and the Southern League a decade... |
22 | 14 | 2 | 6 | 62 | 35 | 1.77 | 30 | |
| 4 | Brentford Brentford F.C. Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One.... |
22 | 11 | 3 | 8 | 59 | 39 | 1.51 | 25 | |
| 5 | Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers F.C. Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional football team from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which has been promoted to Football League One after finishing third in Football League Two in the season 2010–11. The club's nicknames are "The Chairboys" and "The Blues", and they play... |
22 | 10 | 2 | 10 | 55 | 57 | 0.96 | 22 | |
| 6 | Southall Southall F.C. Southall F.C. is a semi-professional football club based in the Southall area of west London, in the London Borough of Ealing, England. Football has been played in Southall from at least 1871.-History:... |
22 | 11 | 0 | 11 | 44 | 55 | 0.8 | 22 | |
| 7 | Chesham | 22 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 45 | 62 | 0.73 | 20 | Changed name to Chesham Town at end of season |
| 8 | St Albans | 22 | 8 | 3 | 11 | 45 | 59 | 0.76 | 19 | Folded at end of season |
| 9 | Shepherds Bush | 22 | 7 | 3 | 12 | 37 | 53 | 0.7 | 17 | |
| 10 | Fulham Fulham F.C. Fulham Football Club is a professional English Premier League club based in southwest London Fulham, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. Founded in 1879, they play in the Premier League, their 11th current season... |
22 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 36 | 44 | 0.82 | 16 | |
| 11 | Uxbridge Uxbridge F.C. Uxbridge Football Club are a football club representing Uxbridge but now based in West Drayton, in the County of Middlesex England. They were established in 1871 and are one of the oldest clubs in the South of England. They were founder members of the Southern League Division Two in 1894 and have... |
22 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 29 | 48 | 0.6 | 16 | Left league at end of season |
| 12 | Maidenhead | 22 | 3 | 2 | 17 | 33 | 86 | 0.38 | 8 |
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.
Division Two South-West
| Pos | Club | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GAv1 | Pts2 | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cowes | 10 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 10 | 5.2 | 20 | Promotion test matches |
| 2 | Ryde | 10 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 30 | 11 | 2.73 | 14 | Left league at end of season |
| 3 | Freemantle Freemantle F.C. Freemantle Football Club were a football club based in the Freemantle area of Southampton who were active at the end of the nineteenth century. During their brief heyday, they were rivals to Southampton Football Club... |
10 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 21 | 32 | 0.66 | 10 | Left league at end of season |
| 4 | Sandown Bay | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 22 | 34 | 0.65 | 8 | Left league at end of season |
| 5 | Eastleigh Eastleigh F.C. Eastleigh Football Club is an English semi-professional football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire. The club are currently members of the Conference South and play at the Silverlake Stadium.-History:... |
10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 19 | 32 | 0.59 | 4 | Left league at end of season |
| 6 | Andover Andover F.C. Andover F.C. was a football club based in Andover, Hampshire, established in 1883. Since the 2007–08 season, Andover had been a member of the Southern League Division One South and West at Step 4 of the National League System... |
10 | 2 | 0 | 8 | 16 | 41 | 0.39 | 4 | Left league at end of season |
| 7 | East Lancs Regiment | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Resigned from league after three matches, record expunged |
| 8 | Trowbridge Town Trowbridge Town F.C. Trowbridge Town F.C. are a football club based in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England, and they play at Woodmarsh on the southern edge of the town. They are currently members of the Hellenic Football League Division One West.-History:... |
0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Resigned from league after three matches, record expunged |
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.
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 club in both Division Twos. Royal Artilerry lost 4-1 to Cowes, but remained in Division One after reforming as PortsmouthPortsmouth F.C.
Portsmouth Football Club is an English football club based in the city of Portsmouth. The club is nicknamed Pompey. Portsmouth's home matches have been played at Fratton Park since the club's formation in 1898. The team currently play in the Football League Championship after being relegated from...
, whilst Cowes were promoted. Sheppey United and Thames Ironworks drew 1-1, leading to Sheppy remaining in Division One and Thames Ironworks joining them.