2020–21 Western Football League

Western Football League
Season2020–21

The 2020–21 Western Football League season (known as the 2020–21 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 119th in the history of the Western Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First.

The constitution was announced on 21 July 2020.[1]

After the abandonment of the previous season due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] the league's constitution remained unchanged, with the planned structural changes being put back to this season.

This season, the Premier Division champions were to be promoted to Step 4. The runners-up in this division and ten other Step 5 divisions in other leagues would be ranked according to PPG (points per game), and the top four in that ranking would also be promoted. The remaining seven runners-up were to compete in "winner takes all" play-offs with seven clubs finishing bottom in Step 4 leagues, the winners being placed at Step 4 and the losers at Step 5 for 2021–22.[3]

The bottom clubs in all 14 Step 5 divisions were to be ranked according to PPG, with the 12 lowest-ranked clubs relegated to Step 6.

In Division One, the top four clubs were to be promoted to Step 5, with the bottom two liable to relegation to Step 7.

Suspension and curtailment

Fixtures were temporarily suspended on 30 December 2020, again due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but were suspended until further notice on 14 January 2021.[4] The FA curtailed the season on 24 February, with no further league fixtures to be played.[5]

Premier Division

The Premier Division remained unchanged, with 21 clubs.

League table at time of curtailment

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Plymouth Parkway 13 11 2 0 50 10 +40 35 Promotion to the Southern League[a]
2 Tavistock 11 8 1 2 34 18 +16 25
3 Exmouth Town 11 8 0 3 32 16 +16 24
4 Clevedon Town 13 7 3 3 26 18 +8 24
5 Cribbs 12 7 2 3 24 16 +8 23 Transfer to the Hellenic League
6 Westbury United 12 7 2 3 22 17 +5 23
7 Street 13 7 1 5 33 26 +7 22
8 Roman Glass St George 12 7 0 5 19 15 +4 21 Transfer to the Hellenic League
9 Buckland Athletic 15 6 3 6 23 22 +1 21
10 Bitton 8 6 0 2 29 13 +16 18
11 Bradford Town 14 5 3 6 28 29 −1 18 Transfer to the Hellenic League
12 Shepton Mallet 11 4 4 3 20 19 +1 16
13 Bridgwater Town 11 5 1 5 18 20 −2 16
14 Keynsham Town 13 4 3 6 18 21 −3 15
15 Brislington 12 4 2 6 22 29 −7 14
16 Cadbury Heath 10 4 0 6 18 23 −5 12
17 Wellington 14 3 3 8 15 29 −14 12
18 Odd Down 13 3 1 9 15 38 −23 10 Voluntary relegation to Division One
19 Hallen 14 2 3 9 25 37 −12 9 Transfer to the Hellenic League
20 Bridport 10 1 0 9 6 31 −25 3
21 Chipping Sodbury Town 12 0 2 10 9 39 −30 2 Transfer to the Hellenic League
Source: Western League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ Plymouth Parkway promoted based on points per game calculations from 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons combined.

Stadia and locations

Club Finishing position in 2018–19 Stadium
Bitton 3rd Rapid Solicitors Stadium
Bradford Town 7th Bradford on Avon Sports Club
Bridgwater Town 4th Fairfax Park
Bridport 13th St Mary's Field
Brislington 18th Brislington Stadium
Buckland Athletic 9th Kingskerswell Road
Cadbury Heath 14th Springfield
Chipping Sodbury Town 10th The Ridings
Clevedon Town 6th The Hand Stadium
Cribbs 8th The Lawns
Exmouth Town 2nd South West Peninsula League Premier Division (promotion) King George V Ground
Hallen 12th The Hallen Centre
Keynsham Town 1st Western League Division One (promotion) Crown Fields
Odd Down 15th Lew Hill Memorial Ground
Plymouth Parkway 2nd Bolitho Park
Roman Glass St George 17th Oaklands Park
Shepton Mallet 11th Playing Fields (Shepton)
Street 8th Southern League Division One South (voluntary relegation) The Tannery Ground
Tavistock 1st South West Peninsula League Premier Division (promotion) Langsford Park
Wellington 16th The Playing Field (Wellington)
Westbury United 5th Meadow Lane

First Division

The First Division also remained unchanged, with 20 clubs.

League table at time of curtailment

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Corsham Town 10 9 1 0 35 13 +22 28 Promotion and transfer to Hellenic League[a]
2 Welton Rovers 11 8 2 1 29 12 +17 26
3 Calne Town 9 8 0 1 23 6 +17 24 Promotion and transfer to Hellenic League[a]
4 Ashton & Backwell United 10 7 2 1 26 14 +12 23 Promotion to Premier Division[a]
5 Wincanton Town 12 6 2 4 26 20 +6 20
6 Warminster Town 11 6 1 4 27 16 +11 19
7 Radstock Town 10 6 0 4 23 19 +4 18
8 Wells City 10 5 1 4 19 17 +2 16
9 Bishop Sutton 10 5 1 4 17 18 −1 16
10 Almondsbury 11 5 1 5 18 24 −6 16
11 Lebeq United 9 4 2 3 20 17 +3 14
12 Portishead Town 10 4 2 4 16 14 +2 14
13 Sherborne Town 11 4 1 6 17 19 −2 13
14 Bristol Telephones 9 4 0 5 20 21 −1 12
15 Hengrove Athletic 9 3 3 3 10 12 −2 12
16 Cheddar 10 4 0 6 21 24 −3 12
17 Bishops Lydeard 11 1 1 9 12 28 −16 4
18 Oldland Abbotonians 9 1 0 8 8 23 −15 3
19 Longwell Green Sports 10 0 1 9 11 34 −23 1
20 Devizes Town 10 0 1 9 11 38 −27 1
Source: Western League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. ^ a b c Promotions based on points per game calculations from 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons combined.

Stadia and locations

Club Finishing position in 2018–19 Stadium
Almondsbury 6th Hellenic Football League Division One West (transferred) Almondsbury Sports & Social Club
Ashton & Backwell United 4th Lancer Scott Stadium
Bishop Sutton 17th Lakeview
Bishops Lydeard 12th Cothelstone Road
Bristol Telephones 20th BTRA Sports Ground
Calne Town 8th Bremhill Road
Cheddar 2nd Bowdens Park
Corsham Town 3rd Southbank Ground
Devizes Town 11th Nursteed Road Ground
Hengrove Athletic 19th Western Football League Premier Division (relegated) Paprika Park
Lebeq United 1st Gloucestershire County League (promoted) Oaklands Park
Longwell Green Sports 5th Longwell Green Community Centre
Oldland Abbotonians 18th Aitchinson Playing Fields
Portishead Town 16th Bristol Road
Radstock Town 15th Southfields Recreation Ground
Sherborne Town 13th Raleigh Grove
Warminster Town 6th Weymouth Street
Wells City 10th Athletic Ground (Wells)
Welton Rovers 9th West Clewes
Wincanton Town 14th Wincanton Sports Ground

References

  1. ^ "National League System club allocations – Steps 5–6, Season 2020–21" (PDF). The FA. 21 July 2020 – via The Non-League Paper.
  2. ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: FA outline second phase of Non-League restructuring". The Non-League Paper. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  4. ^ "League suspend fixtures". Western League. 14 January 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. ^ "An update on Steps 3-6 of the NLS". Western League. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.