1948–49 Southern Football League

The 1948–49 season was the 46th in the history of the Southern League. Gillingham won the championship for the second time in three seasons. Four Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none was successful.

Final table

Southern Football League

Season	1948-49
Champions	Gillingham (2nd title)
Promoted	none
Relegated	none
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1677 (3.63 per match)
← 1947–48 1949–50 →

The league consisted of 22 clubs, including all 18 clubs from the previous season, and four newly elected clubs.

• Hastings United
• Kidderminster Harriers
• Tonbridge
• Chingford Town

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv1	Pts2
1	Gillingham	42	26	10	6	104	48	2.17	62
2	Chelmsford City	42	27	7	8	115	64	1.8	61
3	Merthyr Tydfil	42	26	8	8	133	54	2.46	60
4	Colchester United	42	21	10	11	94	61	1.54	52
5	Worcester City	42	22	7	13	87	56	1.55	51
6	Dartford	42	21	9	12	73	53	1.38	51
7	Gravesend & Northfleet	42	20	9	13	60	46	1.3	49
8	Yeovil Town	42	19	9	14	90	53	1.7	47
9	Cheltenham Town	42	19	9	14	71	64	1.11	47
10	Kidderminster Harriers	42	19	6	17	77	94	0.82	44
11	Exeter City II	42	18	7	17	83	73	1.14	43
12	Hereford United	42	17	6	19	83	84	0.99	40
13	Bath City	42	15	8	19	72	87	0.83	38
14	Hastings United	42	14	10	18	69	93	0.74	38
15	Torquay United II	42	15	7	20	73	93	0.78	37
16	Lovells Athletic	42	14	8	20	73	74	0.99	36
17	Guildford City	42	12	12	18	58	85	0.68	36
18	Gloucester City	42	12	10	20	78	100	0.78	34
19	Barry Town	42	12	10	20	55	95	0.57	34
20	Tonbridge	42	9	7	26	54	105	0.51	25
21	Chingford Town	42	6	9	27	43	94	0.45	21
22	Bedford Town	42	5	8	29	32	101	0.31	18

^{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.}

Football League elections

Eight Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League, but all four League clubs were re-elected.

Club	League	Votes
Bradford City	Football League	45
Southport	Football League	42
Aldershot	Football League	41
Crystal Palace	Football League	40
Worcester City	Southern League	5
Gillingham	Southern League	5
Shrewsbury Town	Midland League	5
Scunthorpe United	Midland League	5
Merthyr Tydfil	Southern League	3
Yeovil Town	Southern League	2
Peterborough United	Midland League	0
Wigan Athletic	Lancashire Combination	0
South Liverpool	Cheshire League	0
North Shields	North Eastern League	0
Nelson	Lancashire Combination	0