The 2023–24 Western Football League season (known as the 2023–24 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 122nd 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 are divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. The constitution was announced on 15 May 2023. Starting this season, the Premier Division (step 5) promotes two clubs; one as champions and one via a four-team play-off. This replaced the previous inter-step play-off system. For this season only, there was only one club relegated from the Premier Division.

Premier Division

The Premier Division was reduced to 18 clubs from 20 after

Mousehole Mousehole () is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies about offshore fro ...

were promoted to the Southern League South Division; Sherborne Town were transferred to the

Wessex League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but clubs from adjoining co ...

;

Cadbury Heath Cadbury Heath is a residential suburb in South Gloucestershire, England. It is in Oldland parish in the eastern fringe of the Bristol Built-up Area, east of Bristol city centre, and borders the neighbourhoods of Longwell Green, Oldland Com ...

took voluntary demotion to Division One, Keynsham Town were relegated to Division One, and Ashton & Backwell United and

Bitton Bitton is a village and civil parish of South Gloucestershire in Gloucestershire, England, to the east of Bristol and on the River Boyd. The parish of Bitton had a population of 9,307, and apart from the village itself, includes Swineford, ...

resigned from the league. Mangotsfield United were initially transferred from the Hellenic League Premier Division, but were moved back after the resignation of

Shrivenham Shrivenham is a village and civil parish in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England, about south-west of Faringdon. The village is close to the county boundary with Wiltshire and about east-northeast of the centre of Swindon. The 201 ...

from that league. Four new clubs joined the division. *Promoted from Division One: ** Nailsea & Tickenham ** Oldland Abbotonians *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 East: **

Brixham Brixham is a coastal town and civil parish in the borough of Torbay in the county of Devon, in the south-west of England. As of the 2021 census, Brixham had a population of 16,825. It is one of the main three centres of the borough, along with ...

*Promoted from the

Premier Division West: **

St Blazey St Blazey () is a small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. St Blaise is the civil parishes in England, civil parish in which St Blazey is situated; the name St Blaise is also used by the town council. The village of Biscovey and the se ...

League table

Promotion playoffs

Semifinals

Final

First Division

The First Division remained at 22 clubs after Nailsea & Tickenham and Oldland Abbotonians were promoted to the Premier Division;

Bishops Lydeard Bishops Lydeard () is a village and civil parish located in Somerset, England, north-west of Taunton. The civil parish encompasses the hamlets of East Lydeard and Terhill, and had a population of 2,839 persons as recorded in the 2011 census; th ...

were transferred to the

Premier Division East, FC Bristol and Tytherington Rocks were transferred to the Hellenic League Division One, and

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 ...

were relegated. Six new clubs joined: *From the Premier Division: **

(resigned mid-season and applied to join Division One this season) **

(voluntary demotion) ** Keynsham Town (relegation) *Relegated from the Hellenic League Premier Division: ** Bradford Town *Promoted from the

Gloucestershire County League The Gloucestershire County Football League is a association football, 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 ...

: ** Cribbs Reserves *Promoted from the Somerset County League: ** Middlezoy Rovers *Reserve and development teams were not eligible for promotion to step 5, or the playoffs. Bitton were also ineligible, due to their resignation from the Premier Division last season. *Wincanton Town were promoted on a PPG (points per game) basis despite losing the play-off final.

League table

Promotion playoffs

Semifinals

Final

Les Phillips Cup

The 2023–24 Les Phillips Cup was the cup competition of the whole

. Helston Athletic were defending champions, having beaten

Shepton Mallet Shepton Mallet is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, some southwest of Bath, Somerset, Bath, south of Bristol and east of Wells, Somerset, Wells. It had an estimated population of 10,810 in 2019. ...

in the 2022–23 season.

First round

16 clubs participated in the first round.

Second round

The 8 clubs who made it through the first round were joined in the draw by 24 clubs who received a bye to the second round, making 32 clubs.

Third round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

League tables

External links

Western League Official Site
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