2021–22 Wessex Football League

Wessex Football League
Season2021–22
ChampionsHamworthy United
RelegatedInfinity (resigned)

The 2021–22 Wessex Football League season (known as the Sydenhams Football League (Wessex) for sponsorship reasons) was the 36th in the history of the Wessex Football League since its establishment in 1986. The league consists of two divisions: the Premier Division and Division One.

The constitution was announced on 18 May 2021.[1]

After the abandonment of the previous two seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2][3] a number of promotions were decided on a points per game basis over the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons.

Premier Division

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The Premier Division was increased from 20 clubs to 21, after Lymington Town were promoted to the Southern League, and Fleet Town and Tadley Calleva were transferred to the Combined Counties League.

Four new teams joined the division:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Hamworthy United (C, P) 40 30 9 1 102 29 +73 99 Promoted to Southern League South Division
2 Bashley[a] (P) 40 28 6 6 105 44 +61 90
3 Shaftesbury 40 26 7 7 126 51 +75 85
4 Horndean 40 26 5 9 116 43 +73 83
5 AFC Stoneham 40 22 12 6 96 51 +45 78
6 Brockenhurst 40 24 6 10 91 47 +44 78
7 AFC Portchester 40 21 9 10 99 51 +48 72
8 Baffins Milton Rovers 40 20 6 14 87 62 +25 66
9 Moneyfields 40 18 10 12 92 62 +30 64
10 Alton 40 18 8 14 74 80 −6 62 Transferred to the Combined Counties League
11 Hamble Club 40 14 7 19 63 79 −16 49
12 Fareham Town 40 13 8 19 113 98 +15 47
13 Blackfield & Langley[b] 39 14 5 20 75 72 +3 47
14 Alresford Town 40 12 9 19 71 81 −10 45
15 Portland United 40 9 11 20 65 91 −26 38
16 Cowes Sports 40 9 8 23 49 112 −63 35
17 United Services Portsmouth 40 10 7 23 50 97 −47 34[c]
18 Bournemouth 40 8 8 24 67 104 −37 32
19 Christchurch 39 8 7 24 43 118 −75 31
20 Hythe & Dibden 40 9 2 29 38 123 −85 29 Reprieved from relegation[d]
21 Amesbury Town (R) 40 3 4 33 30 157 −127 13 Relegated to Division One
Source: Wessex League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Bashley were promoted as they were one of ten runners-up at Step 5 promoted on a PPG (points per game) basis.
  2. ^ The match between Blackfield & Langley and Christchurch on 26 February 2022 was abandoned by the referee, with Blackfield leading 3–0, after an incident involving players and spectators. The match remained unplayed at the end of the season.[4]
  3. ^ United Services Portsmouth had three points deducted.
  4. ^ Hythe & Dibden were one of the twelve clubs with the most PPG (points per game) out of 16 second-bottom clubs at Step 5, and were reprieved from relegation.[5]

Division One

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Division One was increased from 19 clubs to 20 after Alton, Hythe & Dibden and US Portsmouth were promoted to the Premier Division.

Four new teams joined the division:

Infinity withdrew from the league on 6 February 2022 after their groundshare agreement with Hythe & Dibden was terminated by Hythe. This followed an incident in which an Infinity player was sent off during a match for using racist language. Subsequent attempts to find another ground at which Infinity could play were unsuccessful.[6] Infinity's playing record was later expunged from the league table.

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Bemerton Heath Harlequins (C, P) 36 26 7 3 110 27 +83 85 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Andover New Street 36 26 6 4 120 41 +79 84 Qualification for the play-offs
3 Newport (IOW) 36 26 4 6 113 50 +63 82
4 Folland Sports 36 25 6 5 115 45 +70 81
5 Laverstock & Ford (O, P) 36 24 6 6 91 51 +40 78
6 Andover Town 36 22 6 8 99 53 +46 72
7 Downton 36 19 8 9 87 53 +34 65
8 Romsey Town 36 19 3 14 78 61 +17 60
9 New Milton Town 36 17 5 14 72 59 +13 56
10 Verwood Town 36 14 4 18 69 87 −18 46
11 Millbrook 36 14 3 19 72 111 −39 45
12 Petersfield Town 36 10 6 20 49 71 −22 36
13 Whitchurch United 36 10 5 21 44 73 −29 35
14 Ringwood Town 36 9 6 21 49 91 −42 33
15 Ash United 36 9 3 24 43 98 −55 30
16 Fawley 36 7 7 22 48 76 −28 28
17 East Cowes Victoria Athletic 36 7 6 23 49 101 −52 27
18 Fleet Spurs 36 5 6 25 36 98 −62 21 Reprieved from relegation[a]
19 Totton & Eling 36 2 5 29 33 131 −98 11
20 Infinity[b] 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Resigned from the league
Source: Wessex League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ All third-from-bottom sides at Step 6 were reprieved from relegation, and a number of second-from-bottom sides, including Totton & Eling, were reprieved on a PPG (points per game) basis.[7]
  2. ^ Infinity resigned from the league in February 2022, and their record of P23 W5 D1 L17 GF34 GA77 Pts16 was subsequently expunged.

Promotion playoffs

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Semi-finals Final
      
2 Andover New Street 0
5 Laverstock & Ford 3
3 Newport (IOW) 2
5 Laverstock & Ford (a.e.t.) 3
3 Newport (IOW) 2 (5)
4 Folland Sports 2 (4)

References

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  1. ^ "National League System club allocations – Steps 5–6, Season 2021–22". The Football Association. 18 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  3. ^ "FA provides update on NLS Steps 3-6". The Football Association. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ "Referee abandons match between Blackfield & Langley and Christchurch after incident between spectators and players". New Milton Advertiser & Lymington Times. 1 March 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  5. ^ "Changes to promotion and relegation at Step 5". North East Counties Football League. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 15 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Infinity forced to withdraw from the Wessex League after losing home ground following racist language". Portsmouth News. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Promotion / Relegation – 2021/22 Season". Southern Counties East Football League. November 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2022.
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