The Third Division South of
The Football League was a tier in the
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...
from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the
Third Division North with clubs
elected to the League or
relegated from
Division Two
NCL Division Two
The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two)
League winners
{, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
, -
, colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO
, ...
allocated to one or the other according to geographical position. Some clubs in the English
Midlands
The Midlands (also referred to as Central England) are a part of England that broadly correspond to the Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in the Ind ...
shuttled between the Third Division South and the Third Division North according to the composition of the two leagues in any one season.
This division was created in 1921 from the Third Division, formed one year earlier when
the Football League absorbed the leading clubs from the
Southern League.
In 1921, a Northern section was also created called the Third Division North. The Third Division South was formed from the original 22 teams in the Third Division, with the exceptions of
Crystal Palace, who were promoted to the
Second Division,
Grimsby Town who were transferred to the Third Division North, and
Aberdare Athletic
Aberdare Athletic Football Club were a Welsh football club founded in 1893 and based in Aberdare. They joined the Football League in 1921 but were replaced by Torquay United after failing to be re-elected in 1927.
History
Founded in 1893, Aber ...
and
Charlton Athletic who joined The Football League for the first time. Several Midlands-based teams were included in the Third Division South from time to time, although most were geographically closer to their Northern division rivals;
Nottingham Forest and
Notts County played in the Southern division although nearby
Derby County spent time in the Northern division.
For the 1950–51 season the division was expanded to 24 clubs, with
Colchester United and
Gillingham joining.
Only one promotion place was available each season from the Third Division South to the Second Division, which made it very difficult to win promotion. Six teams,
Brighton & Hove Albion,
Exeter City,
Northampton Town,
Southend United,
Swindon Town, and
Watford, were ever-present in the division for the 30 years of its existence. Of the teams that played in the Third Division South,
Portsmouth,
Ipswich Town, and
Nottingham Forest were later English football champions.
Its final season was 1957–58, after which the North and South sections were merged to form a single
Third Division
In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below.
Association football
*Belgian Thir ...
and a new
Fourth Division
Fourth or the fourth may refer to:
* the ordinal form of the number 4
* ''Fourth'' (album), by Soft Machine, 1971
* Fourth (angle), an ancient astronomical subdivision
* Fourth (music), a musical interval
* ''The Fourth'' (1972 film), a Sovie ...
. The top 12 clubs in Division Three South, except for the Champions
Brighton & Hove Albion, went into the new Third Division, and the bottom 12 clubs went into the Fourth Division.
Tournaments between Third Division South and North
From 1934 to the war's outbreak, there was a short-lived knockout competition
Football League Third Division South Cup.
From the 1954–55 season until the 1957–58 season, there was a
series of games between teams representing the Third Division North and the Third Division South.
Champions
Source: Statto
References
{{UEFA third level leagues
3
Eng
1921 establishments in England
1958 disestablishments in England
Sports leagues established in 1921
Sports leagues disestablished in 1958