2017–18 Eastern Counties Football League

The 2017–18 season was the 75th in the history of Eastern Counties Football League, a football competition in England.[1] It was also the last season to have a single division at Step 6.

The constitution for Step 5 and Step 6 divisions for 2017–18 was announced on 26 May 2017,[2] and the Eastern Counties divisions constitutions were ratified at the league's AGM on 17 June 2017.[3]

Coggeshall 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. Felixstove & Walton United finished second and were promoted due to expansion of step 4 up to seven divisions.

Premier Division

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Eastern Counties
Football League
Premier Division
Season2017–18
ChampionsCoggeshall Town
PromotedCoggeshall Town
Felixstowe & Walton United
RelegatedFakenham Town
Ipswich Wanderers
Wivenhoe Town
Matches played550
Goals scored1,896 (3.45 per match)

The Premier Division featured 19 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 or relegation
1 Coggeshall Town 46 37 4 5 145 26 +119 115 Promoted to the Isthmian League[a]
2 Felixstowe & Walton United 46 35 4 7 129 41 +88 109
3 Stowmarket Town 46 33 4 9 126 51 +75 103
4 Godmanchester Rovers 45 31 2 12 103 50 +53 95
5 Brantham Athletic 46 26 9 11 93 62 +31 87
6 Histon 46 25 8 13 100 62 +38 83
7 Gorleston 46 21 11 14 99 77 +22 74
8 Stanway Rovers 46 22 8 16 80 58 +22 74 Transferred to the Essex Senior League
9 Newmarket Town 46 22 7 17 107 74 +33 73
10 Kirkley & Pakefield 45 19 11 15 80 69 +11 68
11 Saffron Walden Town 46 20 7 19 82 80 +2 67 Transferred to the Essex Senior League
12 Thetford Town 46 19 9 18 84 78 +6 66
13 Wroxham 46 18 12 16 74 70 +4 66
14 Ely City 46 18 10 18 71 79 −8 63[b]
15 Great Yarmouth Town 46 15 14 17 64 69 −5 59
16 Long Melford 46 17 8 21 54 79 −25 59
17 Walsham-le-Willows 46 16 7 23 82 100 −18 55
18 FC Clacton 46 14 9 23 52 96 −44 51
19 Haverhill Rovers 46 12 13 21 59 79 −20 49
20 Haverhill Borough 46 12 4 30 66 120 −54 40[c] Demoted to Division One North
21 Hadleigh United 46 10 4 32 50 106 −56 34
22 Fakenham Town 44 7 4 33 28 124 −96 25 Relegated to Division One North
23 Ipswich Wanderers 45 4 9 32 33 108 −75 21
24 Wivenhoe Town 45 4 6 35 35 138 −103 17[d] Relegated to Division One South
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[5]
Notes:
  1. ^ 12 of the 14 runners-up at Step 5 were to have been promoted to Step 4.
    However, with resignations and mergers in leagues above, all fourteen runners-up were promoted.
  2. ^ Ely City were deducted one point on 11 October for a contravention of league rules.
  3. ^ Haverhill Borough were demoted due to ground grading issues.[4]
  4. ^ Wivenhoe Town were deducted one point on 7 October for a contravention of league rules.

Stadia and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
Brantham Athletic Brantham Leisure Centre 1,200
Coggeshall Town West Street
Ely City Unwin Sports Ground 1,500
Fakenham Town Clipbush Park 2,000
Clacton The Rush Green Bowl 3,000
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 Borough New Croft (artificial, groundshare with Haverhill Rovers) 3,000
Haverhill Rovers New Croft 3,000
Histon Bridge Road 4,300
Ipswich Wanderers Humber Doucy Lane 1,000
Kirkley & Pakefield Walmer Road 2,000
Long Melford Stoneylands
Newmarket Town Cricket Field Road 2,750
Saffron Walden Town Catons Lane 2,000
Stanway Rovers Hawthorns 1,500
Stowmarket Town Greens Meadow 1,000
Thetford Town Mundford Road 1,500
Walsham-le-Willows Summer Road 1,000
Wivenhoe Town Broad Lane 2,876
Wroxham Trafford Park 2,000

Division One

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Eastern Counties
Football League
Division One
Season2017–18
ChampionsWoodbridge Town
PromotedFramlingham Town
Whitton United
Woodbridge Town
Matches played416
Goals scored1,673 (4.02 per match)

Division One featured 17 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with four new clubs:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Woodbridge Town 40 32 5 3 136 41 +95 101 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Framlingham Town 40 29 7 4 115 36 +79 94
3 Whitton United 40 29 2 9 132 46 +86 89
4 Swaffham Town 40 26 7 7 138 53 +85 85 Placed in Division One North
5 Braintree Town reserves 40 24 6 10 99 61 +38 78 Placed in Division One South
6 King's Lynn Town reserves 40 22 6 12 99 64 +35 72 Placed in Division One North
7 Debenham LC 39 20 7 12 69 53 +16 67
8 Norwich CBS 39 20 5 14 93 60 +33 65
9 Downham Town 40 15 10 15 67 63 +4 55
10 Halstead Town 40 14 13 13 77 75 +2 55 Placed in Division One South
11 AFC Sudbury reserves 40 14 7 19 69 78 −9 49 Placed in Division One North
12 Leiston reserves 38 13 7 18 70 96 −26 46
13 Diss Town 40 13 6 21 62 96 −34 45
14 Holland 40 13 4 23 68 82 −14 43 Placed in Division One South
15 Little Oakley 39 11 10 18 69 97 −28 43
16 Cornard United 40 12 5 23 58 96 −38 41 Placed in Division One North
17 March Town United 40 9 12 19 54 77 −23 39
18 Wisbech St Mary 38 11 5 22 61 105 −44 38
19 Norwich United reserves 39 10 7 22 46 106 −60 37 Resigned to the Anglian Combination
20 Needham Market reserves 40 6 3 31 52 149 −97 21 Placed in Division One North
21 Team Bury 40 5 2 33 39 139 −100 17 Club folded
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[5]

Stadia and locations

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Team Stadium Capacity
A.F.C. Sudbury reserves King's Marsh 2,500
Braintree Town reserves Cressing Road 4,202
Cornard United Blackhouse Lane 2,000
Debenham LC Maitlands 1,000
Diss Town Brewers Green Lane 2,500
Downham Town Memorial Field 1,000
Framlingham Town Badingham Road
Halstead Town Rosemary Lane 1,000
Holland Rush Green Bowl (groundshare with F.C. Clacton) 3,000
King's Lynn Town reserves The Walks 5,733
Leiston reserves Victory Road 2,500
Little Oakley Memorial Ground
March Town United The GER Sports Ground
Needham Market reserves Bloomfields 4,000
Norwich CBS the FDC
Norwich United reserves Plantation Park 3,000
Swaffham Town Shoemakers Lane
Team Bury Ram Meadow 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 2017–18". Non League Matters.
  2. ^ "Club Allocations for Step 5–6" (PDF). FA. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ "Constitution ratified". Eastern Counties League. 18 June 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2017.[permanent dead link]
  4. ^ Cambridge News (4 May 2018). "Haverhill Borough down but not out following harsh demotion". Retrieved 8 May 2018.
  5. ^ a b "The FA Handbook Standardised Rules 2017-2018 (page 539, section 12.2)". The FA. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
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