1996–97 Isthmian League

The 1996–97 season was the 82nd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. The league consisted of four divisions.

Premier Division

Isthmian League
Premier Division
Season1996–97
ChampionsYeovil Town
PromotedYeovil Town
RelegatedChertsey Town
Grays Athletic
Staines Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,362 (2.95 per match)
Highest attendance8,007 – Yeovil Town – Enfield, (25 March)
Total attendance230,209
Average attendance498 (+2.9% to previous season)

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Yeovil Town 42 31 8 3 83 34 +49 101 Promoted to the Football Conference
2 Enfield 42 28 11 3 91 29 +62 95
3 Sutton United 42 18 13 11 87 70 +17 67
4 Dagenham & Redbridge 42 18 11 13 57 43 +14 65
5 St Albans City 42 18 11 13 66 55 +11 65
6 Yeading 42 17 14 11 58 47 +11 65
7 Heybridge Swifts 42 17 14 11 64 60 +4 65
8 Aylesbury United 42 17 11 14 62 56 +6 62
9 Purfleet 42 17 11 14 67 63 +4 62
10 Boreham Wood 42 15 13 14 56 52 +4 58
11 Kingstonian 42 16 8 18 79 79 0 56
12 Dulwich Hamlet 42 14 13 15 57 57 0 55
13 Carshalton Athletic 42 14 11 17 51 56 −5 53
14 Hitchin Town 42 15 7 20 67 73 −6 52
15 Oxford City 42 14 10 18 67 83 −16 52
16 Hendon 42 13 12 17 53 59 −6 51
17 Harrow Borough 42 12 14 16 58 63 −5 50
18 Bromley 42 13 9 20 67 72 −5 48
19 Bishop's Stortford 42 10 13 19 43 64 −21 43
20 Staines Town 42 10 8 24 46 71 −25 38 Relegated to Division One
21 Grays Athletic 42 8 9 25 43 78 −35 33
22 Chertsey Town 42 8 7 27 40 98 −58 31
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One

Isthmian League
Division One
Season1996–97
ChampionsChesham United
PromotedBasingstoke Town
Chesham United
Walton & Hersham
RelegatedCanvey Island
Marlow
Tooting & Mitcham United
Matches played462
Goals scored1,254 (2.71 per match)
Highest attendance2,262 – Aldershot Town – Basingstoke Town, (31 March)
Total attendance139,574
Average attendance302 (+10.6% to previous season)

Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and six new teams:

Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:

Three clubs promoted from Division Two:

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Chesham United 42 27 6 9 80 46 +34 87 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Basingstoke Town 42 22 13 7 81 38 +43 79
3 Walton & Hersham 42 21 13 8 67 41 +26 76
4 Hampton 42 21 12 9 62 39 +23 75
5 Billericay Town 42 21 12 9 69 49 +20 75
6 Bognor Regis Town 42 21 9 12 63 44 +19 72
7 Aldershot Town 42 19 14 9 67 45 +22 71
8 Uxbridge 42 15 17 10 65 48 +17 62
9 Whyteleafe 42 18 7 17 71 68 +3 61
10 Molesey 42 17 9 16 50 53 −3 60
11 Abingdon Town 42 15 11 16 44 42 +2 56
12 Leyton Pennant 42 14 12 16 71 72 −1 54
13 Maidenhead United 42 15 10 17 57 57 0 52[a]
14 Wokingham Town 42 14 10 18 41 45 −4 52
15 Thame United 42 13 10 19 57 69 −12 49
16 Worthing 42 11 11 20 58 77 −19 44
17 Barton Rovers 42 11 11 20 31 58 −27 44
18 Croydon 42 11 10 21 40 57 −17 43
19 Berkhamsted Town 42 11 9 22 47 66 −19 42
20 Canvey Island 42 9 14 19 52 71 −19 41 Relegated to Division Two
21 Marlow 42 11 6 25 41 84 −43 39
22 Tooting & Mitcham United 42 8 8 26 40 85 −45 32
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ 3 points deducted

Division Two

Isthmian League
Division Two
Season1996–97
ChampionsCollier Row & Romford
PromotedLeatherhead
Collier Row & Romford
Wembley
RelegatedDorking
Hemel Hempstead
Ware
Matches played462
Goals scored1,451 (3.14 per match)
Highest attendance820 – Collier Row & Romford – Leatherhead, (15 April)
Total attendance62,737
Average attendance136 (+17.2% to previous season)

Division Two consisted of 22 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:

Two clubs relegated from Division One:

Three clubs promoted from Division Three:

Also, Collier Row & Romford, formed from a merger between Collier Row and Romford

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Collier Row & Romford 42 28 12 2 93 33 +60 96 Promoted to Division One
2 Leatherhead 42 30 5 7 116 45 +71 95
3 Wembley 42 23 11 8 91 44 +47 80
4 Barking 42 22 13 7 68 39 +29 79
5 Horsham 42 22 11 9 78 48 +30 77
6 Edgware Town 42 20 14 8 74 50 +24 74
7 Bedford Town 42 21 8 13 77 43 +34 71
8 Banstead Athletic 42 21 5 16 75 52 +23 68
9 Windsor & Eton 42 17 13 12 65 62 +3 64
10 Leighton Town 42 17 12 13 64 52 +12 63
11 Wivenhoe Town 42 17 9 16 69 62 +7 60
12 Bracknell Town 42 16 10 16 78 72 +6 58
13 Chalfont St Peter 42 14 13 15 53 61 −8 55
14 Hungerford Town 42 14 13 15 68 77 −9 55
15 Metropolitan Police 42 14 7 21 72 75 −3 49
16 Tilbury 42 14 7 21 68 77 −9 49
17 Witham Town 42 11 11 20 40 67 −27 44
18 Egham Town 42 10 9 23 47 86 −39 39
19 Cheshunt 42 9 3 30 37 101 −64 30
20 Ware 42 7 8 27 44 80 −36 29 Relegated to Division Three
21 Dorking 42 7 6 29 40 100 −60 27
22 Hemel Hempstead 42 5 6 31 34 125 −91 21
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Three

Isthmian League
Division Three
Season1996–97
ChampionsWealdstone
PromotedBraintree Town
Northwood
Wealdstone
Matches played272
Goals scored886 (3.26 per match)
Highest attendance630 – Wealdstone – Epsom & Ewell, (19 April)
Total attendance30,404
Average attendance112 (+9.8% to previous season)

Division Three consisted of 17 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and one new club:

Before the start of the season Cove and Harefield United resigned from the league.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Wealdstone 32 24 3 5 72 24 +48 75 Promoted to Division Two
2 Braintree Town 32 23 5 4 99 29 +70 74
3 Northwood 32 18 10 4 60 31 +29 64
4 Harlow Town 32 19 4 9 60 41 +19 61
5 Aveley 32 17 6 9 64 39 +25 57
6 East Thurrock United 32 16 6 10 58 51 +7 54
7 Camberley Town 32 15 6 11 55 44 +11 51
8 Wingate & Finchley 32 11 7 14 52 63 −11 40
9 Hornchurch 32 11 6 15 35 51 −16 39
10 Clapton 32 11 6 15 31 49 −18 39
11 Lewes 32 10 8 14 45 53 −8 38
12 Kingsbury Town 32 11 4 17 41 54 −13 37
13 Hertford Town 32 10 6 16 55 65 −10 36
14 Epsom & Ewell 32 8 5 19 62 78 −16 29
15 Flackwell Heath 32 8 5 19 36 71 −35 29
16 Tring Town 32 7 3 22 33 74 −41 24
17 Southall 32 6 4 22 28 69 −41 22
Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

References