1996–97 Isthmian League

The 1996–97 season was the 82nd season of the Isthmian League, which is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from London, East and South East England. The league consisted of four divisions.

Premier Division

Isthmian League
Premier Division

Season	1996–97
Champions	Yeovil Town
Promoted	Yeovil Town
Relegated	Chertsey Town Grays Athletic Staines Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,362 (2.95 per match)
Highest attendance	8,007 – Yeovil Town – Enfield, (25 March)
Total attendance	230,209
Average attendance	498 (+2.9% to previous season)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs, including 18 clubs from the previous season and four new clubs:

• Dagenham & Redbridge, relegated from the Football Conference
• Heybridge Swifts, promoted as runners-up in Division One
• Oxford City, promoted as champions of Division One
• Staines Town, promoted as third in Division One

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Yeovil Town	42	31	8	3	83	34	+49	101	Promoted to the Football Conference
2	Enfield	42	28	11	3	91	29	+62	95
3	Sutton United	42	18	13	11	87	70	+17	67
4	Dagenham & Redbridge	42	18	11	13	57	43	+14	65
5	St Albans City	42	18	11	13	66	55	+11	65
6	Yeading	42	17	14	11	58	47	+11	65
7	Heybridge Swifts	42	17	14	11	64	60	+4	65
8	Aylesbury United	42	17	11	14	62	56	+6	62
9	Purfleet	42	17	11	14	67	63	+4	62
10	Boreham Wood	42	15	13	14	56	52	+4	58
11	Kingstonian	42	16	8	18	79	79	0	56
12	Dulwich Hamlet	42	14	13	15	57	57	0	55
13	Carshalton Athletic	42	14	11	17	51	56	−5	53
14	Hitchin Town	42	15	7	20	67	73	−6	52
15	Oxford City	42	14	10	18	67	83	−16	52
16	Hendon	42	13	12	17	53	59	−6	51
17	Harrow Borough	42	12	14	16	58	63	−5	50
18	Bromley	42	13	9	20	67	72	−5	48
19	Bishop's Stortford	42	10	13	19	43	64	−21	43
20	Staines Town	42	10	8	24	46	71	−25	38	Relegated to Division One
21	Grays Athletic	42	8	9	25	43	78	−35	33
22	Chertsey Town	42	8	7	27	40	98	−58	31

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division One

Isthmian League
Division One

Season	1996–97
Champions	Chesham United
Promoted	Basingstoke Town Chesham United Walton & Hersham
Relegated	Canvey Island Marlow Tooting & Mitcham United
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,254 (2.71 per match)
Highest attendance	2,262 – Aldershot Town – Basingstoke Town, (31 March)
Total attendance	139,574
Average attendance	302 (+10.6% to previous season)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division One consisted of 22 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and six new teams:

Three clubs relegated from the Premier Division:

• Molesey
• Walton & Hersham
• Worthing

Three clubs promoted from Division Two:

• Canvey Island
• Croydon
• Hampton

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Chesham United	42	27	6	9	80	46	+34	87	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Basingstoke Town	42	22	13	7	81	38	+43	79
3	Walton & Hersham	42	21	13	8	67	41	+26	76
4	Hampton	42	21	12	9	62	39	+23	75
5	Billericay Town	42	21	12	9	69	49	+20	75
6	Bognor Regis Town	42	21	9	12	63	44	+19	72
7	Aldershot Town	42	19	14	9	67	45	+22	71
8	Uxbridge	42	15	17	10	65	48	+17	62
9	Whyteleafe	42	18	7	17	71	68	+3	61
10	Molesey	42	17	9	16	50	53	−3	60
11	Abingdon Town	42	15	11	16	44	42	+2	56
12	Leyton Pennant	42	14	12	16	71	72	−1	54
13	Maidenhead United	42	15	10	17	57	57	0	52
14	Wokingham Town	42	14	10	18	41	45	−4	52
15	Thame United	42	13	10	19	57	69	−12	49
16	Worthing	42	11	11	20	58	77	−19	44
17	Barton Rovers	42	11	11	20	31	58	−27	44
18	Croydon	42	11	10	21	40	57	−17	43
19	Berkhamsted Town	42	11	9	22	47	66	−19	42
20	Canvey Island	42	9	14	19	52	71	−19	41	Relegated to Division Two
21	Marlow	42	11	6	25	41	84	−43	39
22	Tooting & Mitcham United	42	8	8	26	40	85	−45	32

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

Division Two

Isthmian League
Division Two

Season	1996–97
Champions	Collier Row & Romford
Promoted	Leatherhead Collier Row & Romford Wembley
Relegated	Dorking Hemel Hempstead Ware
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,451 (3.14 per match)
Highest attendance	820 – Collier Row & Romford – Leatherhead, (15 April)
Total attendance	62,737
Average attendance	136 (+17.2% to previous season)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division Two consisted of 22 clubs, including 17 clubs from the previous season and five new clubs:

Two clubs relegated from Division One:

• Barking
• Wembley

Three clubs promoted from Division Three:

• Horsham
• Leighton Town
• Windsor & Eton

Also, Collier Row & Romford, formed from a merger between Collier Row and Romford

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Collier Row & Romford	42	28	12	2	93	33	+60	96	Promoted to Division One
2	Leatherhead	42	30	5	7	116	45	+71	95
3	Wembley	42	23	11	8	91	44	+47	80
4	Barking	42	22	13	7	68	39	+29	79
5	Horsham	42	22	11	9	78	48	+30	77
6	Edgware Town	42	20	14	8	74	50	+24	74
7	Bedford Town	42	21	8	13	77	43	+34	71
8	Banstead Athletic	42	21	5	16	75	52	+23	68
9	Windsor & Eton	42	17	13	12	65	62	+3	64
10	Leighton Town	42	17	12	13	64	52	+12	63
11	Wivenhoe Town	42	17	9	16	69	62	+7	60
12	Bracknell Town	42	16	10	16	78	72	+6	58
13	Chalfont St Peter	42	14	13	15	53	61	−8	55
14	Hungerford Town	42	14	13	15	68	77	−9	55
15	Metropolitan Police	42	14	7	21	72	75	−3	49
16	Tilbury	42	14	7	21	68	77	−9	49
17	Witham Town	42	11	11	20	40	67	−27	44
18	Egham Town	42	10	9	23	47	86	−39	39
19	Cheshunt	42	9	3	30	37	101	−64	30
20	Ware	42	7	8	27	44	80	−36	29	Relegated to Division Three
21	Dorking	42	7	6	29	40	100	−60	27
22	Hemel Hempstead	42	5	6	31	34	125	−91	21

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Three

Isthmian League
Division Three

Season	1996–97
Champions	Wealdstone
Promoted	Braintree Town Northwood Wealdstone
Matches played	272
Goals scored	886 (3.26 per match)
Highest attendance	630 – Wealdstone – Epsom & Ewell, (19 April)
Total attendance	30,404
Average attendance	112 (+9.8% to previous season)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division Three consisted of 17 clubs, including 16 clubs from the previous season and one new club:

• Braintree Town, transferred from Southern League Southern Division

Before the start of the season Cove and Harefield United resigned from the league.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Wealdstone	32	24	3	5	72	24	+48	75	Promoted to Division Two
2	Braintree Town	32	23	5	4	99	29	+70	74
3	Northwood	32	18	10	4	60	31	+29	64
4	Harlow Town	32	19	4	9	60	41	+19	61
5	Aveley	32	17	6	9	64	39	+25	57
6	East Thurrock United	32	16	6	10	58	51	+7	54
7	Camberley Town	32	15	6	11	55	44	+11	51
8	Wingate & Finchley	32	11	7	14	52	63	−11	40
9	Hornchurch	32	11	6	15	35	51	−16	39
10	Clapton	32	11	6	15	31	49	−18	39
11	Lewes	32	10	8	14	45	53	−8	38
12	Kingsbury Town	32	11	4	17	41	54	−13	37
13	Hertford Town	32	10	6	16	55	65	−10	36
14	Epsom & Ewell	32	8	5	19	62	78	−16	29
15	Flackwell Heath	32	8	5	19	36	71	−35	29
16	Tring Town	32	7	3	22	33	74	−41	24
17	Southall	32	6	4	22	28	69	−41	22

Source: fchd.com rsssf.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

See also

• Isthmian League
• 1996–97 Northern Premier League
• 1996–97 Southern Football League