2019–20 Essex Senior Football League

Essex Senior Football League
Season	2019–20
Top goalscorer	Dwade James (27 goals)
Highest attendance	395; Hoddesdon Town 2–6 Hashtag United (12 October 2019)
Lowest attendance	12; Sawbridgeworth Town 2–3 Sporting Bengal United (20 August 2019); 12; Southend Manor 1–0 Clapton (2 November 2019)
Average attendance	68
	← 2018–19 2020–21 →

The 2019–20 Essex Senior Football League season was the 49th in the history of Essex Senior Football League, a football competition in England.

The provisional club allocations for steps 5 and 6 were announced by the FA on 19 May 2019.^[1] The constitution was ratified by the league at its AGM.

League suspension and season abandonment[]

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, and in line with directives from The FA, the Essex Senior League issued a statement on 16 March confirming the postponement of forthcoming matches.^[2]

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this season's competition was formally abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to, from, or within the competition.^[3] On 30 March 2020, sixty-six non-league clubs sent an open letter to the Football Association requesting that they reconsider their decision.^[4]

Essex Senior League[]

At the end of the 2018–19 season, the following teams left the league:

Promoted to Step 4
- Hullbridge Sports, to the Isthmian League North Division
Relegated to Step 6
- Barkingside, to the Eastern Senior League
- Leyton Athletic, to the Eastern Senior League
Transferred within Step 5
- Stanway Rovers, to the Eastern Counties League Premier Division

The remaining 16 teams, together with the following, form the Essex Senior League for season 2019–20:

Promoted from Step 6
- Hashtag United, from the Eastern Senior League
Transferred within Step 5
- Cockfosters, from the Spartan South Midlands League
- Hadley, from the Spartan South Midlands League

League table[]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Saffron Walden Town	29	20	6	3	69	28	+41	66
2	Hashtag United	26	21	2	3	90	27	+63	65
3	Walthamstow	26	20	3	3	73	17	+56	63
4	Hadley	26	17	6	3	80	24	+56	57
5	Stansted	27	16	2	9	55	36	+19	50
6	Takeley	24	13	4	7	46	34	+12	43
7	Hoddesdon Town	27	11	8	8	50	35	+15	41
8	Redbridge	25	12	2	11	57	56	+1	38
9	Woodford Town	28	10	4	14	43	48	−5	34
10	Cockfosters	26	10	4	12	42	47	−5	34
11	West Essex	24	9	4	11	51	51	0	31
12	Clapton	27	9	4	14	40	59	−19	31
13	Ilford	28	8	6	14	31	50	−19	30
14	St Margaretsbury	28	6	8	14	36	48	−12	26
15	Sporting Bengal United	26	8	4	14	44	62	−18	25^[a]
16	Enfield	26	6	6	14	36	66	−30	24
17	Southend Manor	26	6	5	15	28	61	−33	23
18	Tower Hamlets	27	6	4	17	36	65	−29	22
19	Sawbridgeworth Town	28	2	2	24	30	99	−69	8

Updated to match(es) played on 11 March 2020. Source: Essex Senior League
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:

^ Sporting Bengal United penalised by three points on 6 Nov for contravention of league rules

Results table[]

Home \ Away	CLA	COC	ENF	HAD	HAS	HOD	ILF	RED	SAF	SAW	SBU	SOU	STM	STS	TAK	TOW	WAL	WSX	WOD
Clapton	—								1–4	2–0			1–0				2–6		1–1
Cockfosters	7–2	—						1–3	0–2	1–0	5–4	0–1
Enfield	0–0		—			0–1				5–2					1–2		1–7		3–1
Hadley				—	2–1		7–0		0–0				3–1	3–1		3–2
Hashtag United	3–1	3–2	5–2		—			4–1		4–2		0–2				6–0			3–0
Hoddesdon Town	1–0		3–3		2–6	—	1–1		4–1	5–0		1–0	4–4				0–2
Ilford		0–1			1–2	0–3	—			2–1							2–2	2–1
Redbridge			6–0	3–2	0–2		2–2	—
Saffron Walden Town							3–0		—		3–0		1–0		3–2		1–2		4–0
Sawbridgeworth Town					2–3	0–6				—				1–2				0–3
Sporting Bengal United	1–1		2–1		2–1	1–1		3–3			—		1–2				0–2	2–4
Southend Manor				2–2			2–1	0–2		1–1		—	2–1	2–3		1–4	1–4
St Margaretsbury			3–3		0–2				0–2	1–1			—	0–1	0–0		0–3		2–1
Stansted	3–0				0–2					5–1				—					1–2
Takeley	2–0			0–2	0–1					3–2		3–3			—		0–3
Tower Hamlets		0–1			1–2				2–3					2–3	2–4	—	0–4		1–1
Walthamstow	2–1	3–0		1–1	0–1	2–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	4–0		7–0		1–0	0–1	7–0	—		2–0
West Essex	1–2		7–0		0–3			0–1						4–1			2–4	—
Woodford Town	1–0				1–3	0–2	1–1				1–2								—

Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: The FA FULLTIME
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

References[]

^ "Provisional Step 5 and 6 club allocations confirmed" (PDF). The Non League Football Paper. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
^ "ESL suspend all fixtures". Essex Senior League. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
^ "Sixty-six non-league clubs send open letter to FA over expunging season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
^ "The FA Handbook 2019/20 (part 30 Standardised Rules section 12.2)". The FA. Retrieved 8 July 2019.

[table_hth_SBU0.026796407078764-5] Sporting Bengal United penalised by three points on 6 Nov for contravention of league rules

[1] "Provisional Step 5 and 6 club allocations confirmed" (PDF). The Non League Football Paper. 19 May 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.

[2] "ESL suspend all fixtures". Essex Senior League. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.

[3] "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2020.

[4] "Sixty-six non-league clubs send open letter to FA over expunging season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2020.

[Standardised_rules_2019–20-6] "The FA Handbook 2019/20 (part 30 Standardised Rules section 12.2)". The FA. Retrieved 8 July 2019.

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