The Third Division South of

The Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

from 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 Mercia, Kingdom of Mercia of the Early Middle Ages, bordered by Wales, Northern England and Southern England. The Midlands were important in ...

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 The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

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 Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in t ...

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 Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

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 Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

played in the Southern division although nearby

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

spent time in the Northern division. For the 1950–51 season the division was expanded to 24 clubs, with

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

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 Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

, Exeter City, Northampton Town,

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

, and

Watford Watford () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal en ...

, were ever-present in the division for the 30 years of its existence. Of the teams that played in the Third Division South,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn professio ...

, and

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 and a new Fourth Division. The top 12 clubs in Division Three South, except for the Champions

, 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