2019–20 Western Football League
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The 2019–20 Western Football League season (known as the 2019–20 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 118th in the history of the
Western Football League The Western Football League is a association football, football league in South West England, covering Bristol, Cornwall, Devon, Somerset, western Dorset, parts of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire. The league's current main sponsor is Jewson, so it ...
, a
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. The season was abandoned on 26 March 2020, due to the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. The constitution was announced on 19 May 2019. 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 also have been promoted. The remaining seven runners-up were to 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 2020–21. Instead, alterations at Steps 4 and 5 were delayed until 2021–22. The bottom clubs in all 14 Step 5 divisions were to be ranked according to PPG, and the 12 lowest-ranked clubs were to be relegated to Step 6. In Division One, the top four clubs were to be promoted to Step 5, with the bottom two liable to relegation to Step 7.


League suspension and season abandonment

On 13 March 2020, on advice from the
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
, the league announced that all Western League matches would be suspended due to the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, initially for a period of two weeks. On 16 March, the FA decided to postpone all matches across all FA Competitions until 3 April. On 26 March 2020, the league season was formally abandoned, with all results being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to, from, or between the two divisions. On 30 March 2020, sixty-six non-league clubs sent an
open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
to the
Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...
requesting that they reconsider their decision.


Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 21 clubs, increased from 20 last season, after Willand Rovers were promoted to Southern League Division One South, Hengrove Athletic were relegated to the Western League First Division, and Shortwood United were relegated and transferred to Hellenic League Division One West. Four new clubs joined: * Exmouth Town, promoted from the
South West Peninsula League The South West Peninsula League (SWPL) is a football competition in England, which was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Devon County League and the South Western League. The league covers Cornwall, Devon, western Somerset and western Dors ...
Premier Division. * Keynsham Town, champions of the First Division. *
Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a city, town or village, typically lined with Building, buildings on one or both sides. Streets often include pavements (sidewalks), pedestrian crossings, and sometimes amenities like Street light, streetligh ...
, resigned from the Southern League Division One South. *
Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...
, promoted from the South West Peninsula League Premier Division. *Initially, Chipping Sodbury Town were transferred to the Hellenic League Premier Division, but were reinstated after an appeal. The division therefore ran with 21 clubs.


League table at the time of abandonment


Stadia and locations


First Division

The First Division also remained at 20 clubs, after Keynsham Town were promoted to the Premier Division, Chard Town were demoted for failing ground grading requirements, and Chippenham Park folded. Three new clubs joined: *
Almondsbury Almondsbury () is a large village and civil parish in South Gloucestershire, England. It is situated on the A38 road in the Avon Green Belt north of Bristol city centre. It is adjacent to junction 16 of the M5 motorway and Almondsbury Interc ...
, transferred from Hellenic League Division One West. * Hengrove Athletic, relegated from the Premier Division. * Lebeq United, promoted from the
Gloucestershire County Football League The Gloucestershire County Football League is a football league in England, founded in 1968. The league is affiliated to the Gloucestershire County FA. It sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System and is a feeder to Divisions ...
.


League table at the time of abandonment


Stadia and locations


Les Phillips Cup

Preliminary Round ties were played from 17 September until 25 September 2019. 18 clubs from the First Division and Premier Division, entered at this stage of the competition. First Round ties were played from 29 October until 4 November 2019. All remaining clubs from the First Division and Premier Division, entered at this stage of the competition. Second Round ties were played from 26 November 2019 until 22 January 2020. Quarter Final ties were played from 18 February 2019. Only three of the four scheduled ties took place due to the
coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.


References


League tables


External links


Western League Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Western Football League 2019-20 2019–20 9 Association football events curtailed and voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic