2020–21 West of Scotland Football League

West of Scotland Football League
Season2020–21

The 2020–21 West of Scotland Football League (known as the PDM Buildbase West of Scotland League for sponsorship reasons) was the inaugural season of the West of Scotland Football League, with its top division as part of the sixth tier of the Scottish football pyramid system.

Originally, the league was set to begin in October 2020 with 67 teams split across two tiers and four leagues. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, 14 teams considered pulling out of the league before nine confirmed it was not financially viable to compete while supporters were not allowed into football grounds. The league decided not to penalise teams who chose to withdraw due to the pandemic and introduced proposals to have no promotion and relegation in the inaugural season.[1][2][3]

On 11 January 2021 the league was suspended by the Scottish Football Association due to the escalating pandemic situation.[4] On 17 March, the board declared the season null and void.[5]

Premier Division

West of Scotland Football League Premier Division
Season2020–21
Dates24 October 2020 – 17 March 2021
(abandoned)
Matches played48[N 1]
Goals scored164 (3.42 per match)[N 1]
Biggest home winClydebank 4–0 Hurlford United
(31 October 2020)
Clydebank 4–0 Rutherglen Glencairn
(5 December 2020)
Biggest away winBonnyton Thistle 1–6 Blantyre Victoria
(5 December 2020)[N 2]
Highest scoringRossvale 3–4 Blantyre Victoria
(28 November 2020)
Bonnyton Thistle 1–6 Blantyre Victoria
(5 December 2020)
Darvel 5–2 Troon
(27 December 2020)
Longest winning run5 matches:
Clydebank
Longest unbeaten run7 matches:
Clydebank
Longest winless run7 matches:
Cumbernauld United
Longest losing run7 matches:
Cumbernauld United
All statistics correct as of 29 December 2020.

Teams

The Premier Division initially consisted of all 16 teams from the 2019–20 West Region Premiership, the top 3 teams based on points per game from the 2019–20 West Region Championship, and Bonnyton Thistle from the 2019–20 South of Scotland Football League.

Due to the start of the season being delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the division was split into two groups so that the number of games played by each team would be reduced from 38 to 28.[6]

However, after the start date for the league was confirmed, five teams withdrew so the two groups were scrapped and the division reverted to 28 games played on a home and away basis, with no relegation from the Premier Division at the end of the season.[7]

class=notpageimage|
Location of teams in 2020–21 West of Scotland League Premier Division

Stadia and locations

Club Location Ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Beith Juniors Beith Bellsdale Park[8] 1,500 0 No
Benburb Drumoyne, Glasgow New Tinto Park[9] 1,000 500 Yes
Blantyre Victoria Blantyre Castle Park 2,500 0 No
Bonnyton Thistle Kilmarnock Bonnyton Park[10] 1,000 100 Yes
Clydebank Clydebank Holm Park 3,500 0 Yes
Cumbernauld United Cumbernauld Guy's Meadow 2,500 0 No
Darvel Darvel Recreation Park 2,200 60 No
Hurlford United Hurlford Blair Park[11] 1,500 0 No
Irvine Meadow XI Irvine Meadow Park[12] 5,200 700 Yes
Kilwinning Rangers Kilwinning Buffs Park 1,500 0 No
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy Cumbernauld Guy's Meadow[A] 2,500 0 No
Largs Thistle Largs Barrfields Stadium[13] 4,500 800 No
Rossvale Drumoyne, Glasgow New Tinto Park[B] 1,000 500 Yes
Rutherglen Glencairn Rutherglen New Southcroft Park[14] 1,500 0 Yes
Troon Troon Portland Park[15] 2,600 0 No
Notes
  1. ^
    Kirkintilloch Rob Roy were ground-sharing with Cumbernauld United at Guy's Meadow.
  2. ^
    Rossvale were ground-sharing with Benburb at New Tinto Park.

Withdrawn

Club Location Ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Auchinleck Talbot Auchinleck Beechwood Park[16] 4,000 500 Yes
Cumnock Juniors Cumnock Townhead Park[17] 3,000 0 Yes
Glenafton Athletic New Cumnock Loch Park[18] 3,400 250 No
Kilbirnie Ladeside Kilbirnie Valefield Park[19] 3,000 0 No
Pollok Pollokshaws, Glasgow Newlandsfield Park[20] 4,000 0 No

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Clydebank 7 6 1 0 20 3 +17 19
2 Troon 7 5 1 1 14 9 +5 16
3 Kilwinning Rangers 7 5 0 2 14 9 +5 15
4 Irvine Meadow XI 7 4 1 2 10 7 +3 13
5 Darvel 5 4 0 1 15 3 +12 12
6 Largs Thistle 7 3 2 2 11 7 +4 11
7 Blantyre Victoria 7 3 1 3 17 17 0 10
8 Hurlford United 7 3 1 3 10 14 −4 10
9 Rossvale 9 2 3 4 14 15 −1 9
10 Beith Juniors 5 1 4 0 7 6 +1 7
11 Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 7 2 0 5 10 16 −6 6
12 Bonnyton Thistle 8 2 0 6 9 21 −12 6
13 Rutherglen Glencairn 6 1 0 5 5 13 −8 3
14 Cumbernauld United 7 0 0 7 8 24 −16 0
15 Benburb 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Withdrawn; record expunged
Source: West of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored


Results

Home \ Away BEI BLV BON CLY CMU DAR HUR IVM KWN KRR LRG ROS RUG TRO
Beith Juniors — 0–0 2–1 1–1 2–2
Blantyre Victoria — 0–4 2–2 1–3
Bonnyton Thistle 1–6 — 1–2 2–1 0–3
Clydebank — 4–1 4–0 1–1 4–0
Cumbernauld United — 0–3 1–4
Darvel — 0–1 3–0 5–2[N 3]
Hurlford United 1–2 — 2–1 2–1
Irvine Meadow XI 3–2 2–0 1–2 — 1–2
Kilwinning Rangers 1–2 4–2 3–1 — 1–2 2–1
Kirkintilloch Rob Roy 4–2 0–4 —
Largs Thistle 2–2 0–1 4–1 0–1 — 0–0
Rossvale 3–4 3–2 1–2 — 3–1
Rutherglen Glencairn 2–1 — 1–2
Troon 2–0 2–1 1–0 —
Source: West of Scotland Football League
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Tier 7

Conference A

Stadia and locations

Team Location Home ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Annbank United Annbank New Pebble Park 2,600 0 No
Ardeer Thistle Stevenston Ardeer Stadium 3,500 0 No
Ashfield Possilpark, Glasgow Ashfield Stadium 3,500 600 Yes
Bellshill Athletic Bellshill Rockburn Park 500 0 No
Craigmark Burntonians Dalmellington Station Park 2,200 0 No
Glasgow University [SFA] Airdrie Excelsior Stadium [C] 10,101 10,101 Yes
Kello Rovers Kirkconnel Nithside Park 1,700 0 No
Maryhill Maryhill, Glasgow Lochburn Park 1,800 205 Yes
Maybole Juniors Maybole Ladywell Stadium 2,000 0 No
Muirkirk Juniors Muirkirk Burnside Park 2,300 0 No
Renfrew Renfrew New Western Park 1,000 0 Yes
St Roch's Provanmill, Glasgow James McGrory Park 2,000 0 No
Notes
  1. ^
    Glasgow University are ground-sharing with Airdrieonians at the Excelsior Stadium.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Annbank United 7 5 2 0 17 8 +9 17
2 Bellshill Athletic 7 4 2 1 22 14 +8 14
3 Muirkirk Juniors 7 3 2 2 14 10 +4 11
4 Renfrew 5 2 3 0 12 6 +6 9
5 Craigmark Burntonians 7 2 3 2 16 15 +1 9
6 Glasgow University 6 2 2 2 10 11 −1 8
7 Kello Rovers 5 2 1 2 11 9 +2 7
8 St Roch's 5 2 1 2 11 9 +2 7
9 Maryhill 6 2 1 3 6 9 −3 7
10 Maybole Juniors 6 2 0 4 12 11 +1 6
11 Ashfield 5 1 1 3 14 17 −3 4
12 Ardeer Thistle 6 0 0 6 7 33 −26 0
Source: West of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored


Conference B

Stadia and locations

Team Location Home ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Carluke Rovers Carluke John Cumming Stadium 1,500 0 Yes
Forth Wanderers Forth Kingshill Park 3,500 0 No
Gartcairn Airdrie MTC Park 500 0 Yes
Greenock Juniors Greenock Ravenscraig Stadium 6,000 1,000 Yes
Irvine Victoria Irvine Victoria Park 1,800 0 No
Johnstone Burgh Johnstone Keanie Park 5,000 0 No
Lugar Boswell Thistle Lugar Rosebank Park 2,000 0 No
Neilston Neilston Brig-o-Lea Stadium 2,000 0 Yes
Port Glasgow Port Glasgow Port Glasgow Community Stadium 2,000 0 Yes
St Cadoc's Shieldhall, Glasgow McKenna Park [D] 1,000 0 No
Vale of Clyde Tollcross, Glasgow Fullarton Park 2,500 0 No
Vale of Leven Alexandria Millburn Park 3,000 0 No
Wishaw Wishaw Beltane Park 1,000 0 No
Notes
  1. ^
    St Cadoc's are ground-sharing with St Anthony's at McKenna Park.

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Neilston 8 8 0 0 31 6 +25 24
2 Greenock Juniors 8 6 1 1 23 8 +15 19
3 Johnstone Burgh 7 6 1 0 18 4 +14 19
4 St Cadoc's 8 6 0 2 22 5 +17 18
5 Port Glasgow 9 6 0 3 28 18 +10 18
6 Forth Wanderers 7 3 1 3 16 16 0 10
7 Wishaw 8 3 1 4 11 17 −6 10
8 Gartcairn 7 2 1 4 16 23 −7 7
9 Vale of Clyde 7 1 2 4 13 22 −9 5
10 Carluke Rovers 7 1 1 5 12 25 −13 4
11 Irvine Victoria 7 1 0 6 10 27 −17 3
12 Lugar Boswell Thistle 7 0 2 5 9 21 −12 2
13 Vale of Leven 6 0 0 6 4 21 −17 0
Source: West of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored


Conference C

Stadia and locations

Team Location Home ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Drumchapel United Drumchapel, Glasgow Donald Dewar Centre TBC 0 Yes
East Kilbride Thistle East Kilbride The Showpark 2,300 0 No
Glasgow Perthshire Possilpark, Glasgow Keppoch Park 1,800 0 No
Kilsyth Rangers Kilsyth Duncansfield 2,000 0 No
Lanark United Lanark Moor Park 4,000 0 No
Newmains United Newmains Victoria Park 1,000 0 No
St Anthony's Shieldhall, Glasgow McKenna Park 1,000 0 No
Thorniewood United Viewpark Robertson Park 3,000 0 No
Yoker Athletic Clydebank Holm Park 3,500 0 Yes

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kilsyth Rangers 6 5 1 0 21 5 +16 16
2 Drumchapel United 7 4 0 3 16 14 +2 12
3 Thorniewood United 5 3 1 1 10 4 +6 10
4 Lanark United 6 3 1 2 15 13 +2 10
5 Yoker Athletic 7 3 1 3 11 13 −2 10
6 Glasgow Perthshire 5 1 1 3 14 14 0 4
7 East Kilbride Thistle 5 1 1 3 6 14 −8 4
8 Newmains United 4 1 0 3 4 11 −7 3
9 St Anthony's 5 0 2 3 5 14 −9 2
Source: West of Scotland Football League
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Goals scored


Withdrawn

Team Location Home ground Capacity Seats Floodlit
Ardrossan Winton Rovers Ardrossan Winton Park 3,000 80 Yes
Arthurlie Barrhead Dunterlie Park 3,000 0 No
Cambuslang Rangers Cambuslang Somervell Park 3,000 0 No
Dalry Thistle Dalry Merksworth Park 3,000 0 No
Girvan [SFA] Girvan Hamilton Park 5,000 200 No
Larkhall Thistle Larkhall Gasworks Park 2,000 0 No
Lesmahagow Lesmahagow Craighead Park 3,500 0 No
Petershill Springburn, Glasgow Petershill Park 1,500 500 Yes
Royal Albert Stonehouse Tileworks Park 1,000 0 No
Saltcoats Victoria Saltcoats Campbell Park 2,500 0 No
Shettleston Shettleston, Glasgow Greenfield Park 1,800 10 No
Shotts Bon Accord Shotts Hannah Park 4,000 0 Yes
Whitletts Victoria Ayr Dam Park Stadium 3,000 478 Yes

Notes

SFA Club with an SFA Licence (as of July 2020)[21] eligible to participate in the Lowland League promotion play-off should they win the Premier Division.

  1. ^ a b 3 matches and 11 goals were expunged from the overall tallies, following Benburb's withdrawal from the league.
  2. ^ Benburb 0–5 Beith Juniors on 7 November 2020 was expunged, following Benburb's withdrawal from the league.
  3. ^ Match played at Townhead Park, Cumnock.

References

  1. ^ "Update: 11th October 2020". West of Scotland Football League. 11 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  2. ^ "Update: 113th October 2020". West of Scotland Football League. 13 October 2020. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  3. ^ Pirie, Mark (13 October 2020). "REVEALED: The West of Scotland League note that led to promotion and relegation being scrapped". Lanarkshire Live. Retrieved 13 October 2020.
  4. ^ "Scottish FA Board confirms three-week suspension of professional football beneath SPFL Championship | Scottish FA". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-03-10.
  5. ^ "End of Season Statement – West of Scotland Football League". Retrieved 2021-03-17.
  6. ^ "Division Structures for 2020/21 – West of Scotland Football League". Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  7. ^ "New Conference Layout – West of Scotland Football League". Retrieved 2020-10-22.
  8. ^ "Beith". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Benburb". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 24 April 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Bonnyton Thistle". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2019.
  11. ^ "Hurlford United". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  12. ^ "Irvine Meadow". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 1 March 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  13. ^ "Largs Thistle". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  14. ^ "Rutherglen Glencairn". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  15. ^ "Troon". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  16. ^ "Auchinleck Talbot". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Cumnock". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 1 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  18. ^ "Glenafton Athletic". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  19. ^ "Kilbirnie Ladeside". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  20. ^ "Pollok". nonleaguescotland.org.uk. Archived from the original on 7 April 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2019.
  21. ^ "Licensed Clubs - July 2019" (PDF). Retrieved 30 August 2020.