The 2012–13 season was the 110th in the history of the Southern League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales. From the previous season onwards, the Southern League was known as The Evo-Stik League Southern, following a sponsorship deal with Evo-Stik.
Due to step three leagues increasing their number of clubs from 22 to 24 from the 2013–14 season onwards, only two clubs were relegated from the Premier Division, and only one club was relegated from each of Division One Central and South & West this season.[1]
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and seven new clubs:
Hinckley United and Maidenhead United were originally relegated to this division from the Conference North/South, but were reprieved after the liquidation of Darlington and the resignation of Kettering Town from the Conference National.[2] [3] Darlington were relegated to the Northern League, and Kettering applied to join the Southern League, allowing for a further reprieve for Hemel Hempstead Town.[4]
Leamington won the division and were promoted to the Conference North, while play-off winners Gosport Borough were promoted to the Conference South. Hemel Hempstead Town reached the play-off final after two relegation reprieves in the previous three seasons. Only two clubs were relegated this season due to the expansion of the Premier Division to 24 clubs for the next season. Bedworth United were relegated straight back to step 4, while Kettering Town continued their fall to Division One Central.
| Competition: | Southern Football League Premier Division |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Leamington |
| Promoted: | Leamington Gosport Borough |
| Relegated: | Bedworth United Kettering Town |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1409 |
| League Topscorer: | John Frendo (Hitchin Town) - 31 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Gosport Borough 7–0 Kettering Town, 15 December 2012 Stourbridge 8–1 Banbury United, 18 September 2012 |
| Biggest Away Win: | Kettering Town 0–7 Bashley, 6 October 2012 |
| Highest Scoring: | Hemel Hempstead Town 8–2 Hitchin Town, 15 December 2012 |
| Highest Attendance: | 1027 (Leamington 2–1 St. Albans City, 27 April 2013) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 80 (Arlesey Town 3–0 Redditch United, 26 March 2013) |
| Average Attendance: | 312 |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
Semi-finals
Final
| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Testwood Stadium | 3,000 | |
| Hitchin Road | 2,920 | |
| Spencer Stadium | 2,000 | |
| Kirkby Road | 2,500 | |
| Bashley Road | 2,000 | |
| The Eyrie | 3,000 | |
| The Oval | 3,000 | |
| The Sports Ground | 2,000 | |
| 2,300 | ||
| The Meadow | 5,000 | |
| Hardenhuish Park | 2,815 | |
| Badgers Hill | 2,000 | |
| Privett Park | 4,500 | |
| Vauxhall Road | 3,152 | |
| Top Field | 4,000 | |
| Nene Park, then Steel Park (groundshare with Corby Town) | 6,441 3,893 | |
| New Windmill Ground | 3,000 | |
| The Valley | 5,000 | |
| 5,007 | ||
| New Rowley Park | 3,500 | |
| 2,626 | ||
| 6,600 | ||
Division One Central consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from previous season and four new clubs:
Burnham won the division on the final day of the season and were promoted to the Premier Division along with play-off winners Biggleswade Town. Woodford United lost all their matches and were the only club relegated from division this season.
| Competition: | Southern Football League Division One Central |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Burnham |
| Promoted: | Burnham Biggleswade Town |
| Relegated: | Woodford United |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1645 |
| League Topscorer: | Ryan Bird (Burnham) - 42 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Ashford Town 10 – 0 Woodford United, 30 March 2013 |
| Biggest Away Win: | Woodford United 0 – 10 Biggleswade Town, 19 March 2013 |
| Highest Scoring: | Woodford United 3 – 7 Chertsey Town, 1 December 2012 |
| Highest Attendance: | 448 (Burnham 1 – 0 Slough Town, 1 April 2013) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 32 (Woodford United 0 – 5 Northwood, 2 February 2013) |
| Average Attendance: | 113 |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
Semi-finals
Final
| Club | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farm Park | 1,500 | ||
| The Robert Parker Stadium | 2,550 | ||
| Haywood Way | 1,300 | ||
| Sharpenhoe Road | 4,000 | ||
| Holloways Park | 3,500 | ||
| The Carlsberg Stadium | 3,000 | ||
| The Gore | 2,500 | ||
| Mill Meadow | 1,500 | ||
| Alwyns Lane | 2,500 | ||
| Communications Park | 5,000 | ||
| Calthorpe Park | 2,000 | ||
| Weycourt | 3,000 | ||
| 2,000 | |||
| Bell Close | 2,800 | ||
| Berkeley Fields | 2,000 | ||
| Northwood Park | 3,075 | ||
| Garden Walk | 5,000 | ||
| Butlin Road | 6,000 | ||
| Holloways Park (groundshare with Beaconsfield SYCOB) | 3,500 | ||
| Waterside Park | 1,500 | ||
| Honeycroft | 3,770 | ||
| Byfield Road | 3,000 |
Division One South & West consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from previous season and four new clubs:
Poole Town won the division in their second season in the league, and were promoted to the Premier Division along with play-off winners Hungerford Town. Winchester City finished bottom and left the Southern League for the Wessex League for the second time in four seasons.
Sholing resigned at the end of the season for financial reasons, and dropped down to the Wessex League.[5]
On 12 May 2013, Abingdon United also resigned from the league for financial reasons, and dropped down to the Hellenic League.[6]
| Competition: | Southern Football League Division One South & West |
| Season: | 2012–13 |
| Winners: | Poole Town |
| Promoted: | Poole Town Hungerford Town |
| Relegated: | Winchester City Sholing (resigned) Abingdon United (resigned) |
| Matches: | 462 |
| Total Goals: | 1359 |
| League Topscorer: | Lee Wort (Sholing) - 33 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Merthyr Town 10–0 Winchester City, 6 April 2013 |
| Biggest Away Win: | Cirencester Town 1–6 Bridgwater Town, 15 December 2012 Bridgwater Town 0–5 Shortwood United, 7 March 2013 |
| Highest Attendance: | 726 (Wimborne Town 0–2 Poole Town, 1 January 2013) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 33 (Winchester City 0–4 Cirencester Town, 30 March 2013) |
| Average Attendance: | 148 |
| Prevseason: | 2011–12 |
| Nextseason: | 2013–14 |
Semi-finals
Final
| Club | Stadium | Capacity | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northcourt Road | 2,000 | ||
| Kayte Lane | 1,500 | ||
| Fairfax Park | 2,500 | ||
| Causeway Ground | 3,500 | ||
| Corinium Stadium | 4,500 | ||
| Hand Stadium | 3,500 | ||
| Draycott Engineering Loop Meadow Stadium | 3,000 | ||
| Spiers and Hartwell Jubilee Stadium | 3,000 | ||
| Bulpit Lane | 2,500 | ||
| Cossham Street | 2,500 | ||
| 10,000 | |||
| Eynsham Hall Park Sports Ground | 2,000 | ||
| Paulton Rovers | Athletic Field | 2,500 | |
| Tatnam Ground | 2,500 | ||
| Universal Stadium | 1,000 | ||
| Meadowbank Ground | 2,000 | ||
| Hunts Copse Ground | 3,000 | ||
| Wordsworth Drive | 2,500 | ||
| Ladysmead | 3,500 | ||
| The Cuthbury | 3,250 | ||
| The City Ground | 4,500 | ||
| Lodge Road | 2,000 |
| Southern League Cup | |
| Year: | 2012–13 |
| Country: | England |
| Num Teams: | 66 |
| Winners: | Arlesey Town |
| Second: | Frome Town |
| Prev Season: | 2011–12 |
| Next Season: | 2013–14 |
The Southern League Cup 2012–13 (billed as the RedInsure Cup 2012–13 for sponsorship reasons) is the 75th season of the Southern League Cup, the cup competition of the Southern Football League.
First leg
Second leg