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The Southern League was well-established by 1900 with a high level of competition in Division 1 and a good standard of football being played.  The quality of the League’s better clubs can be seen in the F.A. Cup success achieved against Football League sides.  Spurs actually won the competition in 1901 and Southampton also reached the final, for the second time in three years, in 1902.

 

There was talk during these years of the Southern League merging with the Football League, but these never came to anything.  For ambitious clubs the only way forward would be to leave the Southern competition and join the Football League, who were more than happy to accept Bristol City in 1901 and Southern League 2^nd Division side Clapton Orient in 1905, when Chelsea, who had never played in any league, also entered Division 2 of the national competition.

 

The six seasons covered below saw the lower tier of the Southern League almost fade away and need an influx of top flight reserve teams in order to survive.  By the end of the period the membership of the competition had grown in size, but perhaps standards were not quite as high any more as the ‘glory days’ of F.A. Cup success were becoming fewer.

 

1900-1901

 

Division 1

 

1	Southampton	28	18	5	5	58	26	41
2	Bristol City	28	17	5	6	54	27	39
3	Portsmouth	28	17	4	7	56	32	38
4	Millwall Athletic	28	17	2	9	55	32	36
5	Tottenham Hotspur	28	16	4	8	55	33	36
6	West Ham United	28	14	5	9	40	28	33
7	Bristol Rovers	28	14	4	10	46	35	32
8	Queen’s Park Rangers	28	11	4	13	43	48	26
9	Reading	28	8	8	12	24	25	24
10	Luton Town	28	11	2	15	43	49	24
11	Kettering	28	7	9	12	33	46	23
12	New Brompton	28	7	5	16	34	51	19
13	Gravesend United	28	6	7	15	32	85	19
14	Watford	28	6	4	18	24	52	16
15	Swindon Town	28	3	8	17	19	47	14
		420	172	76	172	616	616	420

 

Chatham Town resigned after ten games and the club’s record was deleted.  Bristol City joined the Football League Division 2 and Gravesend United also left the Southern League.  Northampton Town and Wellingborough joined the section from the Midland League.

 

Division 2

 

1	Brentford	16	14	2	0	63	11	30
2	Grays United	16	12	2	2	62	12	26
3	Sheppey United	16	8	1	7	44	26	17
4	Shepherds Bush	16	8	1	7	30	30	17
5	Fulham	16	8	0	8	38	26	16
6	Chesham Town	16	5	1	10	26	39	11
7	Maidenhead	16	4	1	11	21	49	9
8	Wycombe Wanderers	16	4	1	11	23	68	9
9	Southall	16	4	1	11	22	68	9
		144	67	10	67	329	329	144

 

Brentford were promoted to Division 1.  Sheppey United left the Southern League, which was joined by Brighton & Hove Albion and West Hampstead.

 

1901-1902

 

Division 1

 

1	Portsmouth	30	20	7	3	67	24	47
2	Tottenham Hotspur	30	18	6	6	61	22	42
3	Southampton	30	18	6	6	71	28	42
4	West Ham United	30	17	6	7	45	28	40
5	Reading	30	16	7	7	57	24	39
6	Millwall Athletic	30	13	6	11	48	31	32
7	Luton Town	30	11	10	9	31	35	32
8	Kettering	30	12	5	13	44	39	29
9	Bristol Rovers	30	12	5	13	43	39	29
10	New Brompton	30	10	7	13	39	38	27
11	Northampton Town	30	11	5	14	53	64	27
12	Queen’s Park Rangers	30	8	7	15	34	56	23
13	Watford	30	9	4	17	36	60	22
14	Wellingborough	30	9	4	17	34	72	22
15	Brentford	30	7	6	17	34	61	20
16	Swindon Town	30	2	3	25	17	93	7
		480	193	94	193	714	714	480

 

Division 2       

 

1	Fulham	16	13	0	3	51	19	26
2	Grays United	16	12	1	3	49	14	25
3	Brighton & Hove Albion	16	11	0	5	34	17	22
4	Wycombe Wanderers	16	7	3	6	36	30	17
5	West Hampstead	16	6	4	6	39	29	16
6	Shepherds Bush	16	6	1	9	31	31	13
7	Southall	16	5	2	9	28	52	12
8	Maidenhead	16	3	1	12	23	59	7
9	Chesham Town	16	2	2	12	24	64	6
		144	65	14	65	315	315	144

 

Maidenhead, Shepherds Bush and West Hampstead all left the Southern League.

 

1902-1903

 

Division 1

 

1	Southampton	30	20	8	2	83	20	48
2	Reading	30	19	7	4	72	30	45
3	Portsmouth	30	17	7	6	69	32	41
4	Tottenham Hotspur	30	14	7	9	47	31	35
5	Bristol Rovers	30	13	8	9	46	34	34
6	New Brompton	30	11	11	8	37	35	33
7	Millwall Athletic	30	14	3	13	52	37	31
8	Northampton Town	30	12	6	12	39	48	30
9	Queen’s Park Rangers	30	11	6	13	34	42	28
10	West Ham United	30	9	10	11	35	49	28
11	Luton Town	30	10	7	13	43	44	27
12	Swindon Town	30	10	7	13	38	46	27
13	Kettering	30	8	11	11	33	40	27
14	Wellingborough	30	11	3	16	36	56	25
15	Watford	30	6	4	20	35	87	16
16	Brentford	30	2	1	27	16	84	5
		480	187	106	187	715	715	480

 

Watford were relegated to Division 2.  Plymouth Argyle joined Division 1.

 

Division 2       

 

1	Fulham	10	7	1	2	27	7	15
2	Brighton & Hove Albion	10	7	1	2	34	11	15
3	Grays United	10	7	0	3	28	12	14
4	Wycombe Wanderers	10	3	3	4	13	19	9
5	Chesham Town	10	2	1	7	9	37	5
6	Southall	10	1	0	9	10	35	2
		60	27	6	27	121	121	60

 

Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion were promoted to Division 1. The reserve teams of Fulham, Millwall Athletic, Portsmouth, Reading, Southampton and Swindon Town joined Division 2.

 

1903-1904

 

Division 1

 

1	Southampton	34	22	6	6	75	30	50
2	Tottenham Hotspur	34	16	11	7	54	37	43
3	Bristol Rovers	34	17	8	9	64	42	42
4	Portsmouth	34	17	8	9	41	38	42
5	Queen’s Park Rangers	34	15	11	8	53	37	41
6	Reading	34	14	13	7	48	35	41
7	Millwall Athletic	34	16	8	10	64	42	40
8	Luton Town	34	14	12	8	38	33	40
9	Plymouth Argyle	34	13	10	11	44	34	36
10	Swindon Town	34	10	11	13	30	42	31
11	Fulham	34	9	12	13	34	36	30
12	West Ham United	34	10	7	17	39	44	27
13	Brentford	34	9	9	16	34	48	27
14	Wellingborough	34	11	5	18	44	63	27
15	Northampton Town	34	10	7	17	36	60	27
16	New Brompton	34	6	13	15	26	43	25
17	Brighton & Hove Albion	34	6	12	16	46	69	24
18	Kettering	34	6	7	21	39	76	19
		612	221	170	221	809	809	612

 

Kettering left the Southern League.

 

Division 2       

 

1	Watford	20	18	2	0	70	15	38
2	Portsmouth Reserves	20	15	2	3	85	25	32
3	Millwall Athletic Reserves	20	9	4	7	35	39	22
4	Southampton Reserves	20	9	3	8	59	35	21
5	Grays United	20	9	3	8	25	55	21
6	Fulham Reserves	20	8	4	8	40	34	20
7	Swindon Town Reserves	20	8	3	9	50	44	19
8	Reading Reserves	20	8	2	10	43	42	18
9	Wycombe Wanderers	20	5	5	10	29	64	15
10	Southall	20	4	2	14	25	62	10
11	Chesham Town	20	1	2	17	19	65	4
		220	94	32	94	480	480	220

 

Watford were promoted to Division 1.  Chesham Town and Millwall Athletic Reserves left the Southern League, which was joined by Clapton Orient and the reserve teams of Brighton & Hove Albion, Watford and West Ham United.

 

1904-1905

 

Division 1

 

1	Bristol Rovers	34	20	8	6	74	36	48
2	Reading	34	18	7	9	57	38	43
3	Southampton	34	18	7	9	54	40	43
4	Plymouth Argyle	34	18	5	11	57	39	41
5	Tottenham Hotspur	34	15	8	11	53	34	38
6	Fulham	34	14	10	10	46	34	38
7	Queen’s Park Rangers	34	14	8	12	51	46	36
8	Portsmouth	34	16	4	14	61	56	36
9	New Brompton	34	11	11	12	40	41	33
10	Watford	34	15	3	16	41	44	33
11	West Ham United	34	12	8	14	48	42	32
12	Brighton & Hove Albion	34	13	6	15	44	45	32
13	Northampton Town	34	12	8	14	43	54	32
14	Brentford	34	10	9	15	33	38	29
15	Millwall	34	11	7	16	38	47	29
16	Swindon Town	34	12	5	17	41	59	29
17	Luton Town	34	12	3	19	45	54	27
18	Wellingborough	34	5	3	26	25	104	13
		612	246	120	246	851	851	612

 

Wellingborough left the Southern League.  Norwich City joined the section.

 

Division 2       

 

1	Fulham Reserves	22	16	4	2	78	25	36
2	Portsmouth Reserves	22	14	2	6	75	28	30
3	Swindon Town Reserves	22	12	3	7	54	47	27
4	Grays United	22	11	3	8	61	40	25
5	Southampton Reserves	22	10	5	7	52	35	25
6	Brighton & H.A. Reserves	22	9	3	10	48	49	21
7	West Ham United Reserves	22	8	5	9	45	47	21
8	Clapton Orient	22	7	7	8	47	56	21
9	Watford Reserves	22	5	6	11	30	62	16
10	Southall	22	7	2	13	31	66	16
11	Wycombe Wanderers	22	6	2	14	37	70	14
12	Reading Reserves	22	4	4	14	24	57	12
		264	109	46	109	582	582	264

 

Clapton Orient were elected to the Football League Division 2.  Southall and Brighton & Hove Albion Reserves left the Southern League.  Crystal Palace, Leyton, St. Leonards United and Southern United joined the section.

 

1905-1906

 

Division 1

 

1	Fulham	34	19	12	3	44	15	50
2	Southampton	34	19	7	8	58	39	45
3	Portsmouth	34	17	9	8	61	35	43
4	Luton Town	34	17	7	10	64	40	41
5	Tottenham Hotspur	34	16	7	11	46	29	39
6	Plymouth Argyle	34	16	7	11	52	33	39
7	Norwich City	34	13	10	11	46	38	36
8	Bristol Rovers	34	15	5	14	56	56	35
9	Brentford	34	14	7	13	43	52	35
10	Reading	34	12	9	13	53	46	33
11	West Ham United	34	14	5	15	42	39	33
12	Millwall	34	11	11	12	38	41	33
13	Queen’s Park Rangers	34	12	7	15	58	44	31
14	Watford	34	8	10	16	38	57	26
15	Swindon Town	34	8	9	17	31	52	25
16	Brighton & Hove Albion	34	9	7	18	30	55	25
17	New Brompton	34	7	8	19	20	62	22
18	Northampton Town	34	8	5	21	32	79	21
		612	235	142	235	812	812	612

 

Division 2       

 

1	Crystal Palace	24	19	4	1	66	14	42
2	Leyton	24	16	6	2	61	18	38
3	Portsmouth Reserves	24	12	8	4	52	24	32
4	Fulham Reserves	24	11	6	7	52	39	28
5	Southampton Reserves	24	7	9	8	39	41	23
6	Southern United	24	8	7	9	45	49	23
7	St. Leonards United	24	9	4	11	54	50	22
8	Watford Reserves	24	8	5	11	43	47	21
9	West Ham United Reserves	24	7	5	12	46	48	19
10	Grays United	24	8	3	13	24	77	19
11	Reading Reserves	24	6	5	13	36	49	17
12	Swindon Town Reserves	24	5	5	14	36	51	15
13	Wycombe Wanderers	24	5	3	16	36	83	13

 

Crystal Palace and Leyton were promoted to Division 1.  Grays United, Southern United and Watford Reserves left the Southern League.  St. Leonards United became ‘Hastings & St. Leonards’.  Royal Engineers (Aldershot), Salisbury City, Southend United and Tunbridge Wells Rangers joined the section.