1997–98 Southern Football League

The 1997–98 season was the 95th in the history of the Southern League.

Premier Division

Southern Football League
Premier Division
Season	1997–98
Champions	Forest Green Rovers
Promoted	Forest Green Rovers
Relegated	Ashford Town St.Leonards Stamcroft Sittingbourne
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1372 (2.97 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

League table

The Premier Division featured six new teams:

Bath City relegated from the Conference
Bromsgrove Rovers relegated from the Conference
Forest Green Rovers promoted as champions from the Southern Division
Rothwell Town promoted as runners-up from the Midland Division
St. Leonards Stamcroft promoted as runners-up from the Southern Division
Tamworth promoted as champions from the Midland Division


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Forest Green Rovers !Forest Green Rovers (C) (P)	42	27	8	7	93	55	+38	89	Promotion to 1998–99 Football Conference
2	Merthyr Tydfil !Merthyr Tydfil	42	24	12	6	80	42	+38	84
3	Burton Albion !Burton Albion	42	21	8	13	64	43	+21	71
4	Dorchester Town !Dorchester Town	42	19	13	10	63	38	+25	70
5	Halesowen Town !Halesowen Town	42	18	15	9	70	38	+32	69
6	Bath City !Bath City	42	19	12	11	72	51	+21	69
7	Worcester City !Worcester City	42	19	11	12	53	44	+9	68
8	King's Lynn !King's Lynn	42	19	10	13	64	64	0	67
9	Atherstone United !Atherstone United	42	17	12	13	55	49	+6	63
10	Crawley Town !Crawley Town	42	17	8	17	63	60	+3	59
11	Gloucester City !Gloucester City	42	16	11	15	57	57	0	59
12	Nuneaton Borough !Nuneaton Borough	42	17	6	19	68	61	+7	57
13	Cambridge City !Cambridge City	42	16	8	18	62	70	−8	56
14	Hastings Town !Hastings Town	42	14	12	16	67	70	−3	54
15	Tamworth !Tamworth	42	14	11	17	68	65	+3	53
16	Rothwell Town !Rothwell Town	42	11	16	15	55	73	−18	49
17	Gresley Rovers !Gresley Rovers	42	14	6	22	59	77	−18	48
18	Salisbury City !Salisbury City	42	12	12	18	53	72	−19	48
19	Bromsgrove Rovers !Bromsgrove Rovers	42	13	6	23	67	85	−18	45
20	Sittingbourne !Sittingbourne (R)	42	12	8	22	47	66	−19	44	Relegation to 1998–99 Southern Division
21	Ashford Town !Ashford Town (R)	42	8	5	29	34	85	−51	29
22	St. Leonards Stamcroft !St. Leonards Stamcroft (R)	42	5	10	27	48	97	−49	25

Updated to games played on 29 Apr 1998.
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Midland Division

Southern Football League
Midland Division
Season	1997–98
Champions	Grantham Town
Promoted	Grantham Town Ilkeston Town
Relegated	None
Matches played	420
Goals scored	1302 (3.1 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Grantham Town !Grantham Town (C) (P)	40	30	4	6	87	39	+48	94	Promotion to 1998–99 Southern League Premier Division
2	Ilkeston Town !Ilkeston Town (P)	40	29	6	5	123	39	+84	93	Promotion to 1998–99 Southern League Premier Division
3	Solihull Borough !Solihull Borough	40	22	9	9	81	48	+33	75
4	Raunds Town !Raunds Town	40	20	8	12	73	44	+29	68	Transferred to SFL Southern Division
5	Wisbech Town !Wisbech Town	40	20	7	13	79	56	+23	67
6	Moor Green !Moor Green	40	20	7	13	72	55	+17	67
7	Bilston Town !Bilston Town	40	20	5	15	69	57	+12	65
8	Blakenall !Blakenall	40	17	13	10	66	56	+10	64
9	Stafford Rangers !Stafford Rangers	40	18	6	16	57	56	+1	60
10	Redditch United !Redditch United	40	16	11	13	58	40	+18	59
11	Stourbridge !Stourbridge	40	16	9	15	56	55	+1	57
12	Hinckley United !Hinckley United	40	15	11	14	59	56	+3	56
13	Brackley Town !Brackley Town	40	15	7	18	44	57	−13	52	Transferred to SFL Southern Division
14	Bedworth United !Bedworth United	40	15	5	20	50	73	−23	50
15	Racing Club Warwick !Racing Club Warwick	40	11	9	20	49	56	−7	42
16	Shepshed Dynamo !Shepshed Dynamo	40	9	14	17	55	74	−19	41
17	Sutton Coldfield Town !Sutton Coldfield Town	40	9	12	19	42	68	−26	39
18	Paget Rangers !Paget Rangers	40	9	12	19	40	75	−35	39
19	VS Rugby !VS Rugby	40	8	12	20	53	93	−40	36
20	Evesham United !Evesham United	40	7	9	24	48	94	−46	30
21	Corby Town !Corby Town	40	2	8	30	41	111	−70	14	Transferred to SFL Southern Division

Southern Division

Southern Football League
Southern Division
Season	1997–98
Champions	Weymouth
Promoted	Weymouth
Relegated	Fareham Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1470 (3.18 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

League table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Weymouth !Weymouth (C) (P)	42	32	2	8	107	48	+59	98	Promotion to 1998–99 Southern League Premier Division
2	Chelmsford City !Chelmsford City	42	29	8	5	86	39	+47	95
3	Bashley !Bashley	42	29	4	9	101	59	+42	91
4	Newport IOW !Newport IOW	42	25	9	8	72	34	+38	84
5	Fisher Athletic !Fisher Athletic	42	25	5	12	87	50	+37	80
6	Margate !Margate	42	23	8	11	71	42	+29	77
7	Newport !Newport	42	21	6	15	83	65	+18	69	Transferred to SFL Midland Division
8	Witney Town !Witney Town	42	20	9	13	74	58	+16	69
9	Clevedon Town !Clevedon Town	42	20	7	15	57	55	+2	67	Transferred to SFL Midland Division
10	Waterlooville !Waterlooville	42	17	7	18	69	64	+5	058^*
11	Dartford !Dartford	42	17	7	18	60	60	0	58
12	Havant Town !Havant Town	42	13	14	15	65	70	−5	053^*
13	Fleet Town !Fleet Town	42	16	5	21	63	83	−20	53
14	Tonbridge Angels !Tonbridge Angels	42	14	10	18	49	55	−6	52
15	Trowbridge Town !Trowbridge Town	42	14	6	22	55	69	−14	48	Club folded
16	Erith & Belvedere !Erith & Belvedere	42	11	13	18	47	68	−21	46
17	Fareham Town !Fareham Town	42	12	9	21	75	87	−12	45	Voluntary demotion to Wessex League
18	Cirencester Town !Cirencester Town	42	12	7	23	63	88	−25	43
19	Weston-super-Mare !Weston-super-Mare	42	12	5	25	49	86	−37	41	Transferred to SFL Midland Division
20	Baldock Town !Baldock Town	42	10	5	27	53	81	−28	35
21	Cinderford Town !Cinderford Town	42	6	5	31	40	112	−72	23	Transferred to SFL Midland Division
22	Yate Town !Yate Town	42	5	7	30	44	97	−53	22

Updated to games played on 29 Apr 1998.
Source:
^*The following season, Havant Town and Waterlooville merged to form Havant & Waterlooville
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

References

RSSF – Southern Football League archive

Southern League

Premier Division	Banbury United Basingstoke Town Biggleswade Town Cambridge City Chesham United Chippenham Town Cinderford Town Cirencester Town Dorchester Town Dunstable Town Frome Town Hayes and Yeading United Hitchin Town Kettering Town King's Langley King's Lynn Town Leamington Merthyr Town Redditch United Slough Town St Ives Town St Neots Town Stratford Town Weymouth

Division One Central	AFC Dunstable Arlesey Town Ashford Town Aylesbury Aylesbury United Barton Rovers Beaconsfield SYCOB Bedford Town Chalfont St Peter Egham Town Farnborough Fleet Town Hanwell Town Histon Kempston Rovers Kidlington Marlow Northwood Petersfield Town Potters Bar Town Royston Town Uxbridge

Division One South & West	AFC Totton Barnstaple Town Bideford Bishop's Cleeve Bridgwater Town Didcot Town Evesham United Hereford Larkhall Athletic Mangotsfield United North Leigh Paulton Rovers Salisbury Shortwood United Slimbridge Swindon Supermarine Taunton Town Tiverton Town Wantage Town Wimborne Town Winchester City Yate Town

Seasons	1894–95 1895–96 1896–97 1897–98 1898–99 1899–1900 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17

1997–98 in English football

« 1996–97

1998–99 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference
Conference League Cup

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

Club seasons

Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Barnsley Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers Chelsea Coventry City Crystal Palace Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Newcastle United Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon

First Division	Birmingham City Bradford City Bury Charlton Athletic Crewe Alexandra Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Middlesbrough Norwich City Nottingham Forest Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Stockport County Stoke City Sunderland Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers

Second Division	Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Carlisle United Chesterfield Fulham Gillingham Grimsby Town Luton Town Millwall Northampton Town Oldham Athletic Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Southend United Walsall Watford Wigan Athletic Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers York City

Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Cambridge United Cardiff City Chester City Colchester United Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Hartlepool United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Macclesfield Town Mansfield Town Notts County Peterborough United Rochdale Rotherham United Scarborough Scunthorpe United Shrewsbury Town Swansea City Torquay United

Non-League	Newport

Summer 1997 transfers
Winter 1997–98 transfers

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