2021–22 Eastern Counties Football League

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Eastern Counties Football League
Season2021–22
2022–23 →

The 2021–22 Eastern Counties Football League, also known as the Thurlow Nunn League for sponsorship reasons, is the 79th season in the history of the Eastern Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams are divided into three divisions, the Premier Division at Step 5, and the geographically separated Division One North and Division One South (Eastern Senior League), both at Step 6 of the English football league system.

The allocations for Steps 5 and 6 this season were announced by the Football Association on 18 May 2021,[1] and were subject to appeal. The league constitution was published on 27 June.[2]

After the abandonment of the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, numerous promotions were decided on a points per game basis over the previous two seasons.[3][4][5]

Premier Division[]

The Premier Division featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season. Four arrivals are:

Four departures were:

Eastern Counties League Premier Division
Season2021–22

Premier Division table[]

Prior to the first match(es) being played the Pos column shows alphabetic sequence of teams rather than league position.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Gorleston 25 19 3 3 67 26 +41 60 Promotion to Step 4
2 Mildenhall Town 28 18 6 4 69 32 +37 60 Promotion to Step 4 or qualification for inter-step play-offs[a]
3 Wroxham 23 19 1 3 75 16 +59 58
4 Mulbarton Wanderers 25 15 4 6 49 35 +14 49
5 Walsham-le-Willows 28 14 6 8 49 36 +13 48
6 March Town United 28 14 4 10 60 48 +12 46
7 Norwich United 27 13 7 7 44 32 +12 46
8 Woodbridge Town 30 11 7 12 55 54 +1 40
9 Newmarket Town 26 11 5 10 45 46 −1 38
10 Ely City 29 10 6 13 47 54 −7 36
11 Lakenheath 25 9 8 8 46 38 +8 35
12 Fakenham Town 24 10 4 10 45 43 +2 34
13 Kirkley & Pakefield 26 9 6 11 33 37 −4 33
14 Whitton United 24 9 6 9 32 43 −11 33
15 Hadleigh United 25 6 8 11 31 40 −9 26
16 Thetford Town 27 6 5 16 37 55 −18 23
17 Brantham Athletic 28 6 5 17 23 49 −26 23
18 Haverhill Rovers 28 6 4 18 33 56 −23 22
19 Long Melford 26 4 9 13 34 52 −18 21 Possible relegation to Step 6[b]
20 Swaffham Town 26 2 2 22 14 96 −82 8 Relegation to Step 6
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2022. Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results[7]
Notes:
  1. ^ The 10 runners-up from Step 5 with the most points per game (PPG) will be automatically promoted at the end of the 2021–22 season. The remaining six runners-up will contest inter-step play-off matches with the six third-from-bottom clubs with the fewest PPG from the eight divisions at Step 4. The winner of each match will rise to or stay at Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser will drop to or remain at Step 5.[6]
  2. ^ Twelve clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that are second-from-bottom at Step 5 will be reprieved.[6]

Division One North[]

Division One North comprises 16 teams, three fewer than those competing at the time the previous season was aborted. Six arrivals are:

Nine departures were:

  • King's Lynn Town withdrew their reserve team before the constitution was ratified.

Blackstones and Bourne Town were initially moved to this division from the United Counties League but they successfully appealed and their transfers were rescinded.

Eastern Counties League Division One North
Season2021–22

Division One North table[]

Prior to the first match(es) being played the Pos column shows alphabetic sequence of teams rather than league position.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Harleston Town 20 15 2 3 38 16 +22 47 Promotion to Step 5
2 Downham Town 21 14 4 3 41 19 +22 46 Qualification for the play-offs
3 Sheringham 18 13 2 3 43 18 +25 41
4 Norwich CBS 20 11 3 6 47 29 +18 36
5 Whittlesey Athletic 18 10 3 5 43 31 +12 33
6 Diss Town 22 8 5 9 42 39 +3 29
7 University of East Anglia 20 8 3 9 32 25 +7 27
8 Framlingham Town 19 8 3 8 31 28 +3 27
9 Peterborough North End Sports 21 7 5 9 32 34 −2 26
10 Huntingdon Town 21 7 6 8 29 33 −4 27
11 Leiston Reserves 20 7 4 9 33 34 −1 25
12 Great Yarmouth Town 18 6 5 7 26 22 +4 23
13 FC Parson Drove 22 6 5 11 22 40 −18 23
14 Debenham LC 19 5 5 9 26 39 −13 20 Possible relegation to level 11
15 Needham Market Reserves 20 5 3 12 35 41 −6 18
16 Wisbech St Mary 21 0 2 19 12 84 −72 2
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2022. Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results[7]

Division One South (Eastern Senior League)[]

Division One South comprises 20 teams, three more than those competing at the time the previous season was aborted. Six arrivals are:

Three departures were:

Eastern Counties League Division One South
(Eastern Senior League)
Season2021–22

Division One South table[]

Prior to the first match(es) being played the Pos column shows alphabetic sequence of teams rather than league position.

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Ipswich Wanderers 26 21 4 1 99 14 +85 67 Promotion to Step 5
2 Buckhurst Hill 25 20 4 1 95 18 +77 64 Qualification for the play-offs
3 Halstead Town 31 19 2 10 85 61 +24 59
4 Benfleet 24 16 3 5 51 29 +22 51
5 Wivenhoe Town 29 15 6 8 60 46 +14 51
6 Burnham Ramblers 28 15 4 9 68 50 +18 49
7 Wormley Rovers 29 13 5 11 51 56 −5 44
8 May & Baker 27 10 9 8 46 42 +4 39
9 Coggeshall United 26 11 6 9 41 42 −1 39
10 Frenford 29 10 7 12 66 61 +5 37
11 Hackney Wick 27 10 7 10 52 47 +5 37
12 Holland 27 11 4 12 51 62 −11 37
13 Barkingside 25 11 3 11 39 52 −13 36
14 Park View 28 7 6 15 50 73 −23 27
15 Cornard United 27 6 5 16 35 63 −28 23
16 Newbury Forest 23 7 1 15 50 79 −29 22
17 AFC Sudbury Reserves 22 6 3 13 36 62 −26 21
18 Harwich & Parkeston 24 3 11 10 27 39 −12 20 Possible relegation to level 11
19 Brimsdown 26 2 5 19 27 84 −57 11
20 Haverhill Borough 25 1 5 19 25 74 −49 8
Updated to match(es) played on 5 February 2022. Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results[7]

References[]

  1. ^ "League Allocations Announced". Thurlow Nunn League. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  2. ^ "League Constitution for Season 2021/22". Thurlow Nunn League. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  3. ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ "FA provides update on NLS Steps 3-6". The Football Association. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ "EXPLAINED: The 2021-22 Non-League restructure". The Non-League Paper. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Changes to promotion and relegation at Step 5". North East Counties Football League. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "The FA Handbook 2020/2021 Part 29 Standardised Rules Section 12.2". The FA.
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