2019–20 Western Football League

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Western Football League
Season2019–20
Championsnone
Promotednone
Relegatednone

The 2019–20 Western Football League season (known as the 2019–20 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th 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 season was abandoned on 26 March 2020, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The constitution was announced on 19 May 2019.[1]

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 were to be ranked according to PPG (points per game), and the top four in that ranking would also have been 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 2020–21.[2] Instead, alterations at Steps 4 and 5 were delayed until 2021–22.

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

League suspension and season abandonment

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On 13 March 2020, on advice from the Football Association, the league announced that all Western League matches would be suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, initially for a period of two weeks.[3] On 16 March, the FA decided to postpone all matches across all FA Competitions until 3 April.[4]

On 26 March 2020, the league season was formally abandoned, with all results being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to, from, or between the two divisions.[5] On 30 March 2020, sixty-six non-league clubs sent an open letter to the Football Association requesting that they reconsider their decision.[6]

Premier Division

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The Premier Division consisted of 21 clubs, increased from 20 last season, after Willand Rovers were promoted to Southern League Division One South, Hengrove Athletic were relegated to the Western League First Division, and Shortwood United were relegated and transferred to Hellenic League Division One West. Four new clubs joined:

League table at the time of abandonment

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Tavistock 26 20 2 4 74 29 +45 62
2 Plymouth Parkway 23 19 2 2 80 21 +59 59
3 Bradford Town 22 19 1 2 69 20 +49 58
4 Hallen 29 17 6 6 64 48 +16 57
5 Exmouth Town 25 18 2 5 64 26 +38 56
6 Shepton Mallet 27 17 4 6 66 31 +35 55
7 Bitton 26 16 2 8 69 37 +32 50
8 Bridgwater Town 27 13 7 7 65 40 +25 46
9 Clevedon Town 29 12 5 12 58 62 −4 41
10 Roman Glass St George 29 12 4 13 62 47 +15 40
11 Street 30 12 4 14 61 65 −4 40
12 Westbury United 28 12 3 13 53 42 +11 39
13 Buckland Athletic 25 12 2 11 48 48 0 38
14 Keynsham Town 29 11 4 14 50 57 −7 37
15 Brislington 27 10 5 12 42 62 −20 35
16 Cribbs 27 8 3 16 37 66 −29 27
17 Cadbury Heath 30 6 7 17 34 78 −44 25
18 Chipping Sodbury Town 28 6 1 21 33 92 −59 19
19 Bridport 27 5 2 20 35 90 −55 17
20 Wellington 30 3 3 24 24 74 −50 12
21 Odd Down 28 3 1 24 26 79 −53 10
Updated to match(es) played on 22:57, 11 March 2020 (UTC). Source: [1].
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Stadia and locations

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Club Finishing position last season Stadium[7]
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

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The First Division also remained at 20 clubs, after Keynsham Town were promoted to the Premier Division, Chard Town were demoted for failing ground grading requirements, and Chippenham Park folded. Three new clubs joined:

League table at the time of abandonment

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Calne Town 26 18 2 6 47 21 +26 56
2 Sherborne Town 25 17 2 6 58 33 +25 53
3 Longwell Green Sports 27 16 4 7 64 38 +26 52
4 Wells City 26 15 6 5 67 30 +37 51
5 Ashton & Backwell United 26 15 6 5 42 39 +3 51
6 Radstock Town 22 14 2 6 51 30 +21 44
7 Corsham Town 26 13 3 10 44 50 −6 42
8 Wincanton Town 23 13 2 8 47 46 +1 41
9 Oldland Abbotonians 22 10 6 6 30 33 −3 36
10 Cheddar 24 10 4 10 38 37 +1 34
11 Bishops Lydeard 23 10 3 10 48 38 +10 33
12 Lebeq United 26 11 0 15 50 60 −10 33
13 Portishead Town 26 9 4 13 45 46 −1 31
14 Hengrove Athletic 25 9 4 12 24 48 −24 31
15 Almondsbury 24 8 4 12 35 40 −5 28
16 Warminster Town 24 8 2 14 41 40 +1 26
17 Welton Rovers 25 7 4 14 33 44 −11 25
18 Devizes Town 26 3 7 16 34 57 −23 16
19 Bristol Telephones 25 4 2 19 34 70 −36 14
20 Bishop Sutton 25 3 3 19 27 59 −32 12
Updated to match(es) played on 23:06, 11 March 2020 (UTC). Source: [2].
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Stadia and locations

[edit]
Club Finishing position last season Stadium[7]
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

Les Phillips Cup

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Preliminary Round ties were played from 17 September until 25 September 2019. 18 clubs from the First Division and Premier Division, entered at this stage of the competition.

Date Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att.
17/09/2019 Almondsbury (10) 1–4 Exmouth Town (9) 48
17/09/2019 Brislington (9) 1–0 Bishop Sutton (10) 69
17/09/2019 Odd Down (Bath) (9) 3–0 Lebeq United (10) 45
17/09/2019 Wincanton Town (10) 0-2 Street (9) 89
18/09/2019 Cadbury Heath (9) 1–2 Tavistock (9) 48
18/09/2019 Hengrove Athletic (10) 5-1 Bristol Telephones (10) 48
18/09/2019 Oldland Abbotonians (10) 1-2 Portishead Town (10) 30
18/09/2019 Wellington (9) 0-3 Roman Glass St George (9) 65
25/09/2019 Sherborne Town (10) 2-4 Radstock Town (10) 114

First Round ties were played from 29 October until 4 November 2019. All remaining clubs from the First Division and Premier Division, entered at this stage of the competition.

Date Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att.
29/10/2019 Ashton & Backwell United (10) 3-3 (p) Bitton (9) 64
29/10/2019 Devizes Town (10) 0-3 Hallen (9) 50
29/10/2019 Radstock Town (10) 0-3 Street (9) 66
29/10/2019 Cribbs (9) 1-0 Welton Rovers (10) 52
30/10/2019 Clevedon Town (9) 4-2 Chipping Sodbury Town (9) 72
30/10/2019 Hengrove Athletic (10) 0-4 Shepton Mallet (9) 62
30/10/2019 Roman Glass St George (9) 2-1 Bridport (9) TBC
30/10/2019 Westbury United (9) 0-1 Longwell Green Sports (10) 44
30/10/2019 Bridgwater Town (9) 5-2 Odd Down (Bath)] (9) 72
30/10/2019 Corsham Town (10) 0-4 Wells City] (10) 41
30/10/2019 Warminster Town (10) 5-0 Portishead Town (10) 68
06/11/2019 Bishops Lydeard (10) 0-4 Keynsham Town (9) TBC
09/11/2019 Tavistock (9) 4-0 Calne Town (10) 60
19/11/2019 Brislington (9) 1-4 Bradford Town (9) 68
19/11/2019 Buckland Athletic (9) 0-2 Cheddar (10) 64
04/12/2019 Exmouth Town (9) 4-1 Plymouth Parkway (9) 147

Second Round ties were played from 26 November 2019 until 22 January 2020.

Date Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att.
26/11/2019 Hallen (9) 2-1 Street (9) 61
26/11/2019 Longwell Green Sports (10) 2-2 (p) Warminster Town (10) 40
04/12/2019 Cheddar (10) 2-1 Cribbs (9) TBC
10/12/2019 Wells City (10) 1-3 Bridgwater Town (9) 30
21/12/2019 Roman Glass St George (9) (p) 2-2 Keynsham Town (9) 90
07/01/2020 Shepton Mallet (9) 1-2 Exmouth Town (9) 82
22/01/2020 Tavistock (9) 3-1 Clevedon Town (9) 86
22/01/2020 Bradford Town (9) 2-1 Bitton (9) 101

Quarter Final ties were played from 18 February 2019. Only three of the four scheduled ties took place due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Date Home team (tier) Score Away team (tier) Att.
04/02/2020 Bridgwater Town (9) 3-1 Exmouth Town (9) 85
18/02/2020 Hallen (9) (p) 1-1 Cheddar (10) 55
19/02/2020 Roman Glass St George (9) 1-2 Bradford Town (9) 85
N/A Tavistock (9) P-P Warminster Town (10) N/A

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "REVEALED: The provisional Step 1 to 6 Club Allocations for 2019-20". Non-League Football Paper. 19 May 2019.
  2. ^ "EXCLUSIVE: FA outline second phase of Non-League restructuring". The Non-League Football paper. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
  3. ^ "League suspension". Toolstation Western League. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  4. ^ "FA Competitions". Toolstation Western League. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  5. ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
  6. ^ "Sixty-six non-league clubs send open letter to FA over expunging season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Western League - Western League Premier Division". NonLeagueMatters. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
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Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 | Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019–20_Western_Football_League
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