2017–18 Wessex Football League

Wessex Football League
Season2017–18
ChampionsBlackfield & Langley
PromotedBlackfield & Langley
RelegatedAmesbury Town, Newport (IOW), Petersfield Town

The 2017–18 Wessex Football League season (known as the Sydenhams Football League (Wessex) for sponsorship reasons) was the 32nd in the history of the Wessex Football League since its establishment in 1986.

The league consists of two divisions: the Premier Division and Division One. The constitution was announced on 26 May 2017.[1]

Premier Division

The Premier Division remained at 22 clubs after Moneyfields were promoted to the Southern League, and Fawley, Whitchurch United and Verwood Town were relegated to Division One.

Four teams joined the division:

With the suspension of ground grading Grade E for this season and the creation of a new league at Steps 3 and 4, the champions of all Step 5 leagues were compulsorily promoted to Step 4. Of the fourteen runners-up, the twelve clubs with the best PPG (points per game ratio) were also to be compulsorily promoted, but with resignations and mergers in leagues above, thirteen runners-up were promoted.

Teams at Step 5 without ground grading Grade F were to be relegated to Step 6, but no club in this division failed the ground grading process. All Step 5 leagues were fixed at 20 clubs for 2018–19, but in this case there were no further relegations or reprieves.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Blackfield & Langley (C, P) 42 31 7 4 118 28 +90 100 Promotion to the Southern League Division One South
2 Andover Town 42 32 3 7 116 56 +60 99 Refused promotion and demoted to Division One
3 Sholing 42 28 7 7 100 34 +66 91
4 Horndean 42 24 7 11 94 55 +39 79
5 Hamworthy United 42 24 4 14 83 72 +11 76
6 AFC Portchester 42 23 5 14 81 53 +28 74
7 Alresford Town 42 20 10 12 89 59 +30 70
8 Lymington Town 42 20 11 11 82 57 +25 68[a]
9 Baffins Milton Rovers 42 20 5 17 85 77 +8 65
10 Hamble Club 42 18 9 15 104 72 +32 63
11 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 42 19 8 15 76 80 −4 62[b]
12 Shaftesbury 42 16 8 18 63 75 −12 56
13 Brockenhurst 42 15 9 18 66 74 −8 54
14 Bashley 42 15 7 20 77 87 −10 52
15 Portland United 42 12 14 16 73 76 −3 50
16 Fareham Town 42 15 5 22 77 92 −15 50
17 Team Solent 42 12 10 20 95 107 −12 46
18 Bournemouth 42 11 9 22 54 78 −24 42
19 Cowes Sports 42 9 6 27 61 97 −36 33
20 Amesbury Town (R) 42 8 5 29 64 130 −66 29 Relegation to Division One
21 Newport (IOW) (R) 42 7 5 30 49 117 −68 26
22 Petersfield Town (R) 42 4 4 34 39 170 −131 16
Updated to match(es) played on 16:36, 5 May 2018 (UTC). Source: thefa.com
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Lymington Town were deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player in their 2–1 win over Blackfield & Langley. Blackfield appealed, requesting the game be replayed, and their appeal was upheld.
  2. ^ Bemerton Heath Harlequins were deducted three points. Andover Town were initially promoted to the Southern League as runners-up, but refused promotion due to financial and other reasons. As a result they were demoted to Division One.[2]

Division One

Division One was reduced from 21 to 19 clubs after Baffins Milton Rovers, Hamble Club and Shaftesbury were promoted to the Premier Division, Fleet Spurs were transferred to the Combined Counties League, and Pewsey Vale were transferred to the Hellenic League.

Three clubs joined the division:

Reserve sides are not eligible for promotion to Step 5.

Step 6 clubs without ground grading Grade G were to be relegated to Step 7, but no club in this division failed the ground grading process. All Step 6 leagues were fixed at a maximum of 20 clubs for 2018–19, but in this case there were no further relegations or reprieves.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Christchurch (C, P) 34 23 8 3 88 33 +55 77 Promotion to the Premier Division
2 Andover New Street (P) 34 24 0 10 82 56 +26 72
3 Tadley Calleva (P) 34 22 4 8 96 45 +51 70
4 United Services Portsmouth 34 20 5 9 74 47 +27 65
5 AFC Stoneham 34 18 8 8 75 38 +37 62
6 Romsey Town 34 18 6 10 74 51 +23 60
7 Laverstock & Ford 34 18 5 11 79 56 +23 59
8 Alton 34 16 6 12 73 64 +9 54
9 Fawley 34 16 3 15 53 56 −3 51
10 New Milton Town 34 13 7 14 55 63 −8 46
11 Ringwood Town 34 14 3 17 81 93 −12 45
12 Downton 34 12 2 20 51 77 −26 38
13 Whitchurch United 34 10 5 19 45 77 −32 35
14 Totton & Eling 34 9 6 19 55 82 −27 33
15 Hythe & Dibden 34 8 7 19 48 65 −17 31
16 East Cowes Victoria Athletic 34 7 7 20 53 78 −25 28
17 Verwood Town 34 8 3 23 47 83 −36 27
18 Folland Sports 34 5 5 24 42 107 −65 17[a]
19 Weymouth Reserves 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0[b] Resigned, record expunged
Updated to match(es) played on 16:38, 5 May 2018 (UTC). Source: FA Full-Time, League Official
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Folland Sports had three points deducted.
  2. ^ Weymouth Reserves resigned from the Wessex League on 12 September 2017. Their record (P8 W2 D0 L6 GF11 GA21 Pts6) was subsequently expunged.

References

  1. ^ "Club Allocations for Step 5–6" (PDF). FA. 26 May 2017.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "Andover Town Refuse Promotion – Re-Shuffle Announced". Non-League Pitchero. 15 May 2018.