2021–22 Spartan South Midlands Football League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2021–22 Spartan South Midlands Football League season is the 25th in the history of the Spartan South Midlands Football League, a football competition in England. The league operates three divisions, two of which are in covered in this article, the Premier Division, at Step 5 and Division One at Step 6 of the English football league system.

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

Spartan South Midlands
Football League
Premier Division
Season2021–22

At the end of the previous season, eight teams left the Premier Division:

The remaining 13 teams, together with the following, formed the Premier Division for 2021–22:

Cockfosters, initially allocated to this division from the Essex Senior League, successfully appealed and the transfer was rescinded.[6]

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 Risborough Rangers 22 18 3 1 63 13 +50 57 Promotion to Step 4
2 New Salamis 23 18 1 4 68 27 +41 55 Promotion to Step 4 or qualification for inter-step play-offs[a]
3 Hadley 23 16 3 4 50 22 +28 51
4 Leighton Town 26 14 7 5 60 28 +32 49
5 Leverstock Green 26 14 2 10 52 37 +15 44
6 Harpenden Town 25 13 4 8 43 36 +7 43
7 Flackwell Heath 24 12 3 9 43 27 +16 39
8 Arlesey Town 25 10 6 9 49 51 −2 36
9 Ardley United 23 10 5 8 38 26 +12 35
10 Aylesbury Vale Dynamos 23 10 4 9 43 42 +1 34
11 Oxhey Jets 24 10 4 10 48 65 −17 34
12 Milton Keynes Irish 25 9 5 11 37 39 −2 32
13 Dunstable Town 25 8 6 11 31 45 −14 30
14 Harefield United 23 7 5 11 45 42 +3 26
15 Broadfields United 23 8 1 14 35 48 −13 25
16 London Colney 25 7 3 15 26 63 −37 24
17 Baldock Town 23 5 4 14 32 44 −12 19
18 Tring Athletic 24 5 4 15 27 48 −21 19
19 Holmer Green 24 5 2 17 28 79 −51 17 Possible relegation to Step 6[b]
20 Crawley Green 24 3 4 17 32 67 −35 13 Relegation to Step 6
Updated to match(es) played on 29 January 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[8]
Notes:
  1. ^ The 10 runners-up from Step 5 with the most points per game (PPG) will be automatically promoted. The remaining six runners-up will contest one-off inter-step play-off matches with six next-to-bottom clubs with the lowest PPG from the eight divisions at Step 4 at the end of the 2021–22 season. The winner of each match will rise to or stays at Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser will drop to or remains at Step 5.[7]
  2. ^ Twelve clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that are second-from-bottom at Step 5 will be reprieved.[7]

Division One[]

Spartan South Midlands
Football League
Division One
Season2021–22

At the end of the previous season, eight teams left Division One:

The remaining nine teams, together with the following, will form Division One for 2021–22:

Division One 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 Stotfold 25 19 3 3 85 22 +63 60 Promotion to Step 5
2 Winslow United 22 19 1 2 77 17 +60 58 Qualification for the play-offs
3 Ampthill Town 24 15 5 4 62 37 +25 50
4 Northampton Sileby Rangers 25 14 3 8 69 46 +23 45
5 Bedford 26 13 6 7 67 52 +15 44
6 Long Crendon 24 13 3 8 69 40 +29 42
7 Wellingborough Whitworth 24 13 3 8 64 45 +19 42
8 Buckingham Athletic 23 13 2 8 48 31 +17 41
9 Thame Rangers 28 10 6 12 45 63 −18 36
10 Shefford Town & Campton 19 11 2 6 57 32 +25 35
11 Rushden & Higham United 25 10 5 10 41 52 −11 35
12 Penn & Tylers Green 23 8 8 7 59 43 +16 32
13 Langford 24 10 1 13 41 50 −9 31
14 Letchworth Garden City Eagles 24 8 4 12 35 47 −12 28
15 Kidlington Development 23 7 3 13 36 70 −34 24
16 Raunds Town 26 6 5 15 38 76 −38 23
17 Amersham Town 24 6 4 14 39 58 −19 22
18 London Tigers 25 7 1 17 33 75 −42 22 Possible relegation to feeder leagues
19 Burton Park Wanderers 22 2 4 16 28 72 −44 10
20 Irchester United 26 1 3 22 22 87 −65 6
Updated to match(es) played on 29 January 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[8]

Step 5 rankings[]

The 10 runners-up with the most points per game (PPG) at Step 5 will be automatically promoted after the 2021–22 season. The remaining six are to play one-off 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 play at Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser will also play at Step 5.[7]

The current points-per-game ranking of the second-placed teams is as follows:

Pos Team, division Pld Pts PPG Promotion or qualification
10 Newhaven, Southern Combination League Premier 28 59 2.107 Promotion to Step 4
11 Stansted, Essex Senior League 27 56 2.074 Qualification for the
inter-step play-offs
12 Bradford Town, Hellenic League Premier 28 58 2.071
13 Skelmersdale United, North West Counties League Premier 29 60 2.069
14 North Greenford United, Combined Counties League Premier North 21 43 2.048
15 Exmouth Town, Western League Premier 22 44 2.000
16 AFC Wulfrunians, Midland League Premier 25 45 1.800
Updated to match(es) played on 29 January 2022. Source: The FA

The 12 best second-from-bottom clubs on a PPG basis out of 16 that are at Step 5 will be reprieved from relegation. The four other teams will be relegated.[7]

The current points-per-game ranking of the second-from-bottom-placed teams is also as follows:

Pos Team, division Pld Pts PPG Qualification or relegation
12 Southend Manor, Essex Senior League 26 14 0.538 Retention at Step 5
13 Tower Hamlets, Southern Counties East League Premier 25 12 0.480 Relegation to Step 6
14 AFC Varndeanians, Southern Combination League Premier 26 12 0.462
15 Hythe & Dibden, Wessex League Premier 28 8 0.286
16 Northampton ON Chenecks, United Counties League Premier South 27 7 0.259
Updated to match(es) played on 29 January 2022. Source: The FA

References[]

  1. ^ "We have provided an update on NLS allocations at Steps 3-6 for the 2021-22 season". The Football Association. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  2. ^ "Provisional constitution for 2021-22 season". 23 May 2021. Retrieved 4 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. ^ "Revised Premier Division Constitution As Cockfosters Win Appeal". Essex Senior Football League. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  7. ^ a b c d "Changes to promotion and relegation at Step 5". North East Counties Football League. 2 November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  8. ^ a b "The FA Handbook 2020/2021 Part 29 Standardised Rules Section 12.2". The FA.
Retrieved from ""