2020–21 Wessex Football League

The 2020–21 Wessex Football League season (known as the Sydenhams Football League (Wessex) for sponsorship reasons) was the 35th in the history of the Wessex Football League since its establishment in 1986. The league consisted of two divisions: the Premier Division and Division One.

Wessex Football League
Season2020–21

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 largely 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 were to be ranked according to PPG (points per game), and the top four in that ranking would have also been promoted. The remaining seven runners-up would 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, and the bottom two were liable to relegation to Step 7.

Curtailment

On 24 February 2021, after fixtures had been suspended in December 2020, the FA curtailed the season for all leagues at Steps 3–6, again due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[4]

Premier Division

The Premier Division remained at 20 clubs, with the same constitution as the previous season except for the absence of Solent University, who resigned from the league in June 2020.[5]

One new team joined the division:

League table at time of curtailment

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or qualification
1 Hamworthy United 14 12 1 1 50 9 +41 37
2 Lymington Town 12 11 0 1 23 4 +19 33 Promotion to the Southern League[lower-alpha 1]
3 Horndean 13 10 1 2 32 15 +17 31
4 Fareham Town 11 8 2 1 33 12 +21 26
5 Blackfield & Langley 13 8 1 4 27 20 +7 25
6 Christchurch 11 7 2 2 23 8 +15 23
7 Fleet Town 14 6 4 4 28 20 +8 22 Transfer to the Combined Counties Premier South
8 AFC Stoneham 12 7 0 5 35 15 +20 21
9 AFC Portchester 12 6 1 5 20 15 +5 19
10 Bashley 12 6 0 6 19 22 −3 18
11 Tadley Calleva 11 5 2 4 17 18 −1 17 Transfer to the Combined Counties Premier North
12 Baffins Milton Rovers 13 3 4 6 21 25 −4 13
13 Bournemouth 14 3 3 8 15 39 −24 12
14 Hamble Club 13 2 5 6 16 23 −7 11
15 Brockenhurst 10 3 2 5 10 20 −10 11
16 Shaftesbury 12 3 1 8 19 34 −15 10
17 Cowes Sports 11 2 2 7 16 24 −8 8
18 Portland United 15 2 2 11 16 51 −35 8
19 Alresford Town 13 1 4 8 14 39 −25 7
20 Amesbury Town 12 0 1 11 5 26 −21 1
Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Lymington Town promoted based on points per game calculations from 2019–20 & 2020–21 seasons combined.

Division One

Division One was reduced from 20 clubs to 19 after Pewsey Vale resigned during the previous season.

League table at time of curtailment

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Laverstock & Ford 14 11 3 0 47 18 +29 36
2 Alton 11 9 1 1 29 14 +15 28 Promotion to the Premier Division[lower-alpha 1]
3 Folland Sports 12 7 2 3 33 17 +16 23
4 United Services Portsmouth 10 7 0 3 30 13 +17 21 Promotion to the Premier Division[lower-alpha 1]
5 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 11 6 3 2 25 18 +7 21
6 Newport (IOW) 11 6 1 4 29 19 +10 19
7 Andover Town 12 5 4 3 25 22 +3 19
8 Ringwood Town 12 5 2 5 25 30 −5 17
9 Verwood Town 11 4 4 3 20 17 +3 16
10 Hythe & Dibden 11 4 4 3 19 21 −2 16 Promotion to the Premier Division[lower-alpha 1]
11 Andover New Street 12 4 3 5 16 20 −4 15
12 Petersfield Town 10 4 2 4 15 19 −4 14
13 Downton 14 3 2 9 20 29 −9 11
14 Fawley 11 3 1 7 15 27 −12 10
15 East Cowes Victoria Athletic 12 2 4 6 13 29 −16 10
16 Romsey Town 8 3 0 5 11 13 −2 9
17 Whitchurch United 11 3 0 8 18 32 −14 9
18 New Milton Town 11 2 2 7 19 27 −8 8
19 Totton & Eling 12 1 0 11 10 34 −24 3
Source: FA Full-Time, League Official
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
  1. Promotions based on points per game calculations from 2019–20 & 2020–21 seasons combined.

References
  1. "National League System club allocations – Steps 5–6, Season 2020–21" (PDF). Non League Paper. 21 July 2020.
  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 Curtailed for Season". Wessex League. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 14 March 2021.
  5. "Solent University Resign". Wessex League. 10 June 2020. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
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