The 1963–64 Southern Football League season was the 61st in the history of the league, an English football competition.
Yeovil Town won the championship, whilst Cheltenham Town, Folkestone Town, King's Lynn, and Tonbridge were all promoted to the Premier Division. Seven Southern League clubs applied to join the Football League at the end of the season, but none were successful.
Premier Division
The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs, promoted from Division One:
Also, Bexleyheath & Welling changed name to Bexley United.
League table
| Season | 1963–64 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Yeovil Town |
| Relegated | Hereford United Hinckley Athletic Kettering Town Merthyr Tydfil |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,574 (3.41 per match) |
← 1962–63 1964–65 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yeovil Town | 42 | 29 | 5 | 8 | 93 | 36 | 2.583 | 63 | |
| 2 | Chelmsford City | 42 | 26 | 7 | 9 | 99 | 55 | 1.800 | 59 | |
| 3 | Bath City | 42 | 24 | 9 | 9 | 88 | 51 | 1.725 | 57 | |
| 4 | Guildford City | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 90 | 55 | 1.636 | 51 | |
| 5 | Romford | 42 | 20 | 9 | 13 | 71 | 58 | 1.224 | 49 | |
| 6 | Hastings United | 42 | 20 | 8 | 14 | 75 | 61 | 1.230 | 48 | |
| 7 | Weymouth | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 65 | 53 | 1.226 | 47 | |
| 8 | Bedford Town | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 71 | 68 | 1.044 | 47 | |
| 9 | Cambridge United | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 92 | 77 | 1.195 | 43 | |
| 10 | Cambridge City | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 76 | 70 | 1.086 | 43 | |
| 11 | Wisbech Town | 42 | 17 | 8 | 17 | 64 | 68 | 0.941 | 42 | |
| 12 | Bexley United | 42 | 16 | 10 | 16 | 70 | 77 | 0.909 | 42 | |
| 13 | Dartford | 42 | 16 | 8 | 18 | 56 | 71 | 0.789 | 40 | |
| 14 | Worcester City | 42 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 70 | 74 | 0.946 | 39 | |
| 15 | Nuneaton Borough | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 58 | 61 | 0.951 | 38 | |
| 16 | Rugby Town | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 68 | 86 | 0.791 | 38 | |
| 17 | Margate | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 68 | 81 | 0.840 | 37 | |
| 18 | Wellington Town | 42 | 12 | 9 | 21 | 73 | 85 | 0.859 | 33 | |
| 19 | Merthyr Tydfil | 42 | 12 | 8 | 22 | 69 | 108 | 0.639 | 32 | Relegated to Division One |
| 20 | Hereford United | 42 | 12 | 7 | 23 | 58 | 86 | 0.674 | 31 | |
| 21 | Kettering Town | 42 | 10 | 5 | 27 | 49 | 89 | 0.551 | 25 | |
| 22 | Hinckley Athletic | 42 | 7 | 6 | 29 | 51 | 104 | 0.490 | 20 |
Division One
Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and six new clubs:
- Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:
- Plus:
- Crawley Town, joined from the Metropolitan League
- Deal Town, joined from the Aetolian League
- Stevenage Town, joined from the Delphian League
Also, Tunbridge Wells United changed name to Tunbridge Wells Rangers.
At the end of the season, Yiewsley changed name to Hillingdon Borough, while Clacton Town switched to the Eastern Football League.
League table
| Season | 1963–64 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Folkestone Town |
| Promoted | Cheltenham Town Folkestone Town King's Lynn Tonbridge |
| Matches played | 462 |
| Goals scored | 1,585 (3.43 per match) |
← 1962–63 1964–65 → | |
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Folkestone Town | 42 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 82 | 38 | 2.158 | 63 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | King's Lynn | 42 | 28 | 5 | 9 | 94 | 44 | 2.136 | 61 | |
| 3 | Cheltenham Town | 42 | 25 | 10 | 7 | 92 | 49 | 1.878 | 60 | |
| 4 | Tonbridge | 42 | 24 | 11 | 7 | 98 | 54 | 1.815 | 59 | |
| 5 | Corby Town | 42 | 24 | 7 | 11 | 114 | 56 | 2.036 | 55 | |
| 6 | Stevenage Town | 42 | 21 | 6 | 15 | 70 | 59 | 1.186 | 48 | |
| 7 | Ashford Town (Kent) | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 73 | 57 | 1.281 | 47 | |
| 8 | Burton Albion | 42 | 19 | 8 | 15 | 76 | 70 | 1.086 | 46 | |
| 9 | Poole Town | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 75 | 61 | 1.230 | 45 | |
| 10 | Dover | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 86 | 75 | 1.147 | 45 | |
| 11 | Canterbury City | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 66 | 66 | 1.000 | 44 | |
| 12 | Crawley Town | 42 | 20 | 2 | 20 | 81 | 71 | 1.141 | 42 | |
| 13 | Trowbridge Town | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 71 | 78 | 0.910 | 41 | |
| 14 | Clacton Town | 42 | 19 | 1 | 22 | 76 | 88 | 0.864 | 39 | Resigned to the Eastern Football League |
| 15 | Gloucester City | 42 | 17 | 4 | 21 | 88 | 89 | 0.989 | 38 | |
| 16 | Yiewsley | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 63 | 77 | 0.818 | 38 | |
| 17 | Sittingbourne | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 52 | 70 | 0.743 | 38 | |
| 18 | Ramsgate Athletic | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 57 | 55 | 1.036 | 35 | |
| 19 | Tunbridge Wells Rangers | 42 | 10 | 8 | 24 | 47 | 89 | 0.528 | 28 | |
| 20 | Gravesend & Northfleet | 42 | 7 | 9 | 26 | 43 | 96 | 0.448 | 23 | |
| 21 | Deal Town | 42 | 5 | 7 | 30 | 48 | 106 | 0.453 | 17 | |
| 22 | Barry Town | 42 | 3 | 6 | 33 | 33 | 137 | 0.241 | 12 |
Football League elections
Alongside the four League clubs facing re-election, a total of 13 non-League clubs applied for election, including seven Southern League clubs. All four League clubs were re-elected.[1]