2016–17 Eastern Counties Football League

The 2016–17 season was the 74th in the history of the Eastern Counties Football League, a football competition in England.[1]

Mildenhall Town were champions, winning their first Eastern Counties Football League title and were promoted to the Isthmian League for the first time in their history.

Premier Division

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Eastern Counties
Football League
Premier Division
Season2016–17
ChampionsMildenhall Town
PromotedMildenhall Town
RelegatedSwaffham Town
Matches played420
Goals scored1,430 (3.4 per match)

The Premier Division featured 18 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs, promoted from the Division One:

The following five clubs applied for promotion to Step 4:[2] Felixstowe & Walton United, Mildenhall Town, Newmarket Town, Stanway Rovers.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Mildenhall Town 40 32 3 5 97 29 +68 99 Promoted to the Isthmian League
2 Felixstowe & Walton United 40 29 3 8 94 31 +63 90
3 Newmarket Town 40 26 6 8 122 70 +52 84
4 Gorleston 40 24 6 10 88 51 +37 78
5 Great Yarmouth Town 40 20 8 12 61 47 +14 68
6 Stanway Rovers 40 19 9 12 67 47 +20 66
7 Thetford Town 40 18 11 11 75 46 +29 65
8 Brantham Athletic 40 17 9 14 67 57 +10 60
9 Saffron Walden Town 40 15 10 15 62 67 −5 55
10 Ipswich Wanderers 40 17 4 19 67 75 −8 55
11 Kirkley & Pakefield 40 15 9 16 73 61 +12 54
12 Godmanchester Rovers 40 15 8 17 69 74 −5 53
13 Ely City 40 12 11 17 63 73 −10 47
14 Walsham-le-Willows 40 13 8 19 67 87 −20 47
15 Fakenham Town 40 13 7 20 60 73 −13 46
16 Haverhill Rovers 40 11 11 18 57 72 −15 44
17 Long Melford 40 11 7 22 42 74 −32 40
18 Hadleigh United 40 10 8 22 51 82 −31 38
19 Wivenhoe Town 40 7 12 21 51 99 −48 33 Reprieved from relegation[a]
20 Clacton 40 9 4 27 52 114 −62 31
21 Swaffham Town 40 6 8 26 45 101 −56 26 Relegated to Division One
Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results [4]
Notes:
  1. ^ Wivenhoe Town and Clacton were reprieved from relegation.[3]

Stadia and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
Brantham Athletic Brantham Leisure Centre 1,200
Clacton The Rush Green Bowl 3,000
Ely City Unwin Sports Ground 1,500
Fakenham Town Clipbush Park 2,000
Felixstowe & Walton United Dellwood Avenue 2,000
Godmanchester Rovers Bearscroft Lane 1,050
Gorleston Emerald Park 3,000
Great Yarmouth Town Wellesley Recreation Ground 3,600
Hadleigh United Millfield 3,000
Haverhill Rovers New Croft 3,000
Ipswich Wanderers Humber Doucy Lane 1,000
Kirkley & Pakefield Walmer Road 2,000
Long Melford Stoneylands
Mildenhall Town Recreation Way 2,000
Newmarket Town Cricket Field Road 2,750
Saffron Walden Town Catons Lane 2,000
Stanway Rovers Hawthorns 1,500
Swaffham Town Shoemakers Lane
Thetford Town Mundford Road 1,500
Walsham-le-Willows Summer Road 1,000
Wivenhoe Town Broad Lane 2,876

Division One

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Eastern Counties
Football League
Division One
Season2016–17
ChampionsStowmarket Town
PromotedCoggeshall Town
Haverhill Borough
Stowmarket Town
Matches played420
Goals scored1,596 (3.8 per match)

Division One featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with five new clubs:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Stowmarket Town 40 28 10 2 108 22 +86 93[a] Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Coggeshall Town 40 27 9 4 127 34 +93 90
3 Haverhill Borough 40 27 7 6 116 41 +75 88
4 Woodbridge Town 40 26 5 9 126 46 +80 83
5 Holland 40 23 8 9 105 48 +57 77
6 Diss Town 40 21 8 11 88 60 +28 71
7 Framlingham Town 40 20 10 10 82 62 +20 70
8 Braintree Town reserves 40 22 3 15 72 59 +13 69
9 Halstead Town 40 18 11 11 72 64 +8 65
10 King's Lynn Town reserves 40 19 6 15 69 55 +14 63
11 Whitton United 40 17 3 20 73 90 −17 54
12 Debenham LC 40 15 8 17 58 69 −11 53
13 Wisbech St Mary 40 15 7 18 68 76 −8 52
14 Downham Town 40 13 12 15 74 70 +4 51
15 Cornard United 40 13 8 19 63 72 −9 47
16 March Town United 40 9 10 21 49 91 −42 37
17 Team Bury 40 11 3 26 56 104 −48 36
18 AFC Sudbury reserves 40 10 5 25 63 92 −29 35
19 Needham Market reserves 40 6 4 30 54 151 −97 22
20 Dereham Town reserves 40 5 4 31 36 136 −100 19 Resigned from the league
21 Leiston reserves 40 3 3 34 37 154 −117 12
Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results [4]
Notes:
  1. ^ Stowmarket Town were deducted one point on 21 December for a contravention of league rules.

Stadia and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
AFC Sudbury reserves King's Marsh 2,500
Braintree Town reserves Cressing Road 4,202
Coggeshall Town West Street
Cornard United Blackhouse Lane 2,000
Debenham LC Maitlands 1,000
Dereham Town reserves Aldiss Park 3,000
Diss Town Brewers Green Lane 2,500
Downham Town Memorial Field 1,000
Framlingham Town Badingham Road
Halstead Town Rosemary Lane 1,000
Haverhill Borough New Croft (groundshare with Haverhill Rovers) 3,000
Holland Rush Green Bowl (groundshare with FC Clacton) 3,000
King's Lynn Town reserves The Walks 5,733
Leiston reserves Victory Road 2,500
March Town United The GER Sports Ground
Needham Market reserves Bloomfields 4,000
Stowmarket Town Greens Meadow 1,000
Team Bury Ram Meadow (groundshare with Bury Town) 3,500
Whitton United King George V Playing Fields 1,000
Wisbech St Mary Beechings Close
Woodbridge Town Notcutts Park 3,000

References

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  1. ^ "Eastern Counties League 2016–17". Non League Matters.
  2. ^ "Step 4 Applications". FA. 12 Dec 2016. Retrieved 15 Dec 2016.
  3. ^ Plummer, Matt (2017). "Clacton and Wivenhoe are granted a reprieve from relegation". Daily Gazette. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b "The FA Handbook 2016-17 (page 545, section 13.2)". The FA. Retrieved 17 March 2017.
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