2017–18 Western Football League

The 2017–18 Western Football League season (known as the 2017–18 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th in the history of the Western Football League, a football competition in England. Teams are divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First.

Western Football League
Season2017–18
ChampionsStreet
PromotedStreet, Melksham Town

The constitution was announced on 26 May 2017.[1]

Premier Division

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The Premier Division consisted of 20 clubs, the same as last season, and featured three new clubs after Bristol Manor Farm were promoted to Southern League Division One South & West, Gillingham Town resigned from the league, and Sherborne Town were relegated to the Division One.

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, all 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

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Street (C, P) 38 32 3 3 100 31 +69 99 Promotion to Southern League Division One South
2 Melksham Town (P) 38 26 6 6 99 39 +60 84
3 Willand Rovers 38 24 6 8 93 37 +56 78
4 Bradford Town 38 23 9 6 88 47 +41 78
5 Buckland Athletic 38 25 3 10 84 54 +30 78
6 Shepton Mallet 38 20 2 16 63 52 +11 62
7 Bridport 38 18 4 16 82 62 +20 58
8 Bridgwater Town 38 18 4 16 61 51 +10 58
9 Hengrove Athletic 38 16 8 14 73 60 +13 56
10 Bitton 38 14 11 13 58 66 −8 53
11 Cribbs 38 14 8 16 75 62 +13 50
12 Clevedon Town 38 13 8 17 56 63 −7 47
13 Chipping Sodbury Town 38 13 6 19 65 76 −11 45
14 Odd Down 38 12 8 18 55 62 −7 44
15 Wellington 38 12 6 20 52 73 −21 42
16 Brislington 38 10 10 18 51 71 −20 40
17 Hallen 38 8 10 20 44 80 −36 34
18 Cadbury Heath 38 8 8 22 62 115 −53 32
19 Longwell Green Sports (R) 38 5 5 28 33 111 −78 20 Relegation to the Division One
20 Wells City (R) 38 3 7 28 33 115 −82 12[a]
Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2018. Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Wells City had four points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.

Stadia and locations

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Club Finishing position last season Stadium[2]
Bitton A.F.C 19th Rapid Solicitors Stadium
Bradford Town 5th Bradford on Avon Sports Club
Bridgwater Town 22nd Southern League Division One South & West (relegated) Fairfax Park
Bridport 16th St Mary's Field
Brislington 10th Brislington Stadium
Buckland Athletic 4th Kingskerswell Road
Cadbury Heath 11th Springfield
Chipping Sodbury Town 13th The Ridings
Clevedon Town 14th The Hand Stadium
Cribbs 8th The Lawns
Hallen 18th The Hallen Centre
Hengrove Athletic 2nd First Division (promoted) Norton Lane
Longwell Green Sports 17th Shellards Road
Melksham Town 3rd Eastern Way
Odd Down 7th Lew Hill Memorial Ground
Shepton Mallet 12th Playing Fields
Street 2nd The Tannery Ground
Wellington 1st First Division (promoted) The Playing Field
Wells City 15th Athletic Ground
Willand Rovers 6th Silver Street

First Division

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The First Division consisted of 22 clubs, the same as the previous season, and featured two new clubs after the promotion of Hengrove Athletic and Wellington to the Premier Division:

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

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Westbury United (C, P) 42 28 11 3 97 29 +68 95 Promotion to the Premier Division
2 Roman Glass St George (P) 42 28 9 5 120 49 +71 93
3 Keynsham Town 42 27 8 7 120 62 +58 89
4 Cheddar 42 21 9 12 90 61 +29 72
5 Devizes Town 42 20 10 12 90 65 +25 70
6 Radstock Town 42 19 10 13 86 67 +19 67
7 Oldland Abbotonians 42 19 7 16 82 74 +8 64
8 Welton Rovers 42 18 9 15 80 65 +15 63
9 Chard Town 42 17 11 14 70 59 +11 62
10 Wincanton Town 42 17 10 15 63 71 −8 61
11 Chippenham Park 42 13 15 14 57 69 −12 54
12 Bishop Sutton 42 16 6 20 70 91 −21 54
13 Almondsbury 42 15 8 19 60 64 −4 53 Transferred to Hellenic League Division One West
14 Bishops Lydeard 42 16 5 21 74 96 −22 53
15 Malmesbury Victoria 42 14 9 19 69 97 −28 51 Transferred to Hellenic League Division One West
16 Bristol Telephones 42 14 8 20 74 98 −24 50
17 Calne Town 42 14 7 21 66 94 −28 49
18 Ashton & Backwell United 42 12 10 20 42 61 −19 46
19 Sherborne Town 42 13 6 23 78 95 −17 45
20 Corsham Town 42 10 9 23 43 71 −28 39
21 Portishead Town 42 8 8 26 45 89 −44 31[a]
22 Warminster Town 42 6 9 27 54 103 −49 27
Updated to match(es) played on 10 May 2018. Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Portishead Town had one point deducted.

Stadia and locations

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Club Finishing position last season Stadium[3]
Almondsbury 22nd Almondsbury Sports & Social Club
Ashton & Backwell United 7th Lancer Scott Stadium
Bishop Sutton 16th Lakeview
Bishops Lydeard 6th Cothelstone Road
Bristol Telephones 1st Gloucestershire County Football League (promoted) BTRA Sports Ground
Calne Town 21st Bremhill Road
Chard Town 10th Denning Sports Field
Cheddar 3rd Bowdens Park
Chippenham Park 8th Hardenhuish Park
Corsham Town 19th Southbank Ground
Devizes Town 11th Nursteed Road Ground
Keynsham Town 4th Crown Fields
Malmesbury Victoria 9th Flying Monk Road
Oldland Abbotonians 17th Aitchinson Playing Fields
Portishead Town 14th Bristol Road
Radstock Town 5th Southfields Recreation Ground
Roman Glass St George 15th Oaklands Park
Sherborne Town 20th Western Football League Premier Division (relegated) Raleigh Grove
Warminster Town 18th Weymouth Street
Welton Rovers 20th West Clewes
Westbury United 12th Meadow Lane
Wincanton Town 13th Wincanton Sports Ground

References

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  1. ^ "Club Allocations for Step 5–6" (PDF). FA. 26 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Western League Premier Division - NonLeagueMatters".
  3. ^ "Western League Premier Division - NonLeagueMatters".
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