1902–03 Southern Football League

The 1902–03 season was the ninth in the history of Southern League. Southampton won Division One for the 5th time in seven seasons. Fulham finished top of Division Two. No Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League.

Division One

Southern Football League Division One
Season1902–03
ChampionsSouthampton (5th title)
Promotednone
RelegatedWatford
Matches played240
Goals scored715 (2.98 per match)

There were no new clubs in Division One this season.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification
1 Southampton 30 20 8 2 83 20 4.150 48
2 Reading 30 19 7 4 72 30 2.400 45
3 Portsmouth 30 17 7 6 69 32 2.156 41
4 Tottenham Hotspur 30 14 7 9 47 31 1.516 35
5 Bristol Rovers 30 13 8 9 46 34 1.353 34
6 New Brompton 30 11 11 8 37 35 1.057 33
7 Millwall Athletic[a] 30 14 3 13 52 37 1.405 31
8 Northampton Town 30 12 6 12 39 48 0.813 30
9 Queens Park Rangers 30 11 6 13 34 42 0.810 28
10 West Ham United 30 9 10 11 35 49 0.714 28
11 Luton Town 30 10 7 13 43 44 0.977 27
12 Swindon Town 30 10 7 13 38 46 0.826 27
13 Kettering 30 8 11 11 33 40 0.825 27
14 Wellingborough 30 11 3 16 36 56 0.643 25
15 Watford 30 6 4 20 35 87 0.402 16 Relegation test matches
16 Brentford 30 2 1 27 16 84 0.190 5
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used until the 1976-77 season. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
Notes:
  1. ^ Changed name to Millwall at end of season

Division Two

Southern Football League Division Two
Season1902–03
ChampionsFulham
PromotedFulham
Brighton & Hove Albion
Relegatednone
Matches played30
Goals scored121 (4.03 per match)

There were also no new clubs in Division Two this season.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification
1 Fulham 10 7 1 2 27 7 3.857 15 Promotion test matches
2 Brighton & Hove Albion 10 7 1 2 34 11 3.091 15
3 Grays United 10 7 0 3 28 12 2.333 14
4 Wycombe Wanderers 10 3 3 4 13 19 0.684 9
5 Chesham Town 10 2 1 7 9 37 0.243 5
6 Southall 10 1 0 9 10 35 0.286 2
Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used 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. Brentford beat Fulham 7-2 to retain their place in Division One, although Fulham were promoted anyway after Division One was expanded to 18 clubs.[1] Brighton beat Watford 5-3 in the other match, which saw the two clubs swap divisions.

Division One clubsvDivision Two clubs
Brentford7 – 2Fulham
Shepherd's Bush
Watford3 – 5Brighton & Hove Albion

References

  1. ^ Fulham at the Football Club History Database