2021–22 United Counties League

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United Counties League
Season2021–22

The United Counties League operated three divisions in the English football league system for the first time in the 2021-22 season. These were the Premier Divisions North and South at Step 5 and Division One at Step 6.

The allocations for Steps 5 and 6 were announced by The Football Association on 18 May 2021,[1] and were subject to appeal.

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.[2][3][4] As part of the National League System's restructure, the FA's Alliance and Leagues Committees recommended the league's expansion to gain another Step 5 division.[5] At the end of the past season, Shepshed Dynamo left the league through promotion to the new Northern Premier League Division One Midlands, the only former Premier Division club to do so.

Premier Division North[]

The remaining nine teams from the old Premier Division, together with the following, formed the Premier Division North for 2021–22:

Premier Division 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 Long Eaton United 23 20 3 0 72 12 +60 63 Promotion to Step 4
2 Gresley Rovers 21 17 3 1 60 18 +42 57[a] Promotion to Step 4 or qualification to inter-step play-offs[b]
3 Anstey Nomads 21 16 3 2 65 19 +46 51
4 Loughborough University 22 14 3 5 54 25 +29 45
5 Boston Town 22 12 4 6 46 39 +7 40
6 Skegness Town 24 11 3 10 41 34 +7 36
7 Melton Town 23 10 5 8 45 39 +6 35
8 Heather St John's 22 10 4 8 43 44 −1 34
9 Deeping Rangers 23 10 3 10 29 39 −10 33
10 Leicester Nirvana 24 10 2 12 51 51 0 32
11 Sleaford Town 25 10 2 13 43 46 −3 32
12 Quorn 26 8 5 13 45 51 −6 29
13 Heanor Town 24 8 4 12 38 39 −1 28
14 Eastwood Community 23 8 3 12 41 50 −9 27
15 Newark 23 6 3 14 36 61 −25 18[c]
16 Selston 21 4 3 14 24 54 −30 15
17 Pinchbeck United 25 3 4 18 23 71 −48 13 Possible relegation to Step 6[d]
18 Holbeach United 22 0 3 19 9 73 −64 3 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. ^ Gresley Rovers were awarded 3 points due to non-fulfilment of fixture by Boston Town 10 December 2021.
  2. ^ 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 third-from-bottom clubs with the fewest 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 in Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser will drop to or remains in Step 5.[6]
  3. ^ Newark were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player against Deeping Rangers on 2 October 2021.
  4. ^ Twelve clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that are second-from-bottom at Step 5 will be reprieved.[6]

Stadia and locations[]

Location of the clubs in the 2021–22 United Counties League Premier Division North
Club Location Stadium Capacity
Anstey Nomads Anstey Cropston Road
Boston Town Boston Tattershall Road 6,000
Deeping Rangers Market Deeping Haydon Whitham Stadium 2,000
Eastwood Eastwood Coronation Park
Gresley Rovers Church Gresley Moat Ground 2,400
Heather St John's Heather St John's Park
Heanor Town Heanor Town Ground
Holbeach United Holbeach Carters Park 4,000
Leicester Nirvana Leicester Hamilton Park
Long Eaton United Long Eaton Grange Park 3,000
Loughborough University Loughborough Loughborough University Stadium 3,000
Melton Town Melton Mowbray Melton Sports Village
Newark Newark-on-Trent Hawton Lane
Pinchbeck United Spalding Sir Halley Stewart Field 2,700
Quorn Quorn Farley Way Stadium 1,400
Selston Selston Mansfield Road
Skegness Town Skegness Vertigo Stadium
Sleaford Town Sleaford Eslaforde Park 1,000

Premier Division South[]

The remaining 10 teams from the old Premier Division, together with the following, formed the Premier Division South for 2021–22:

Promoted from Division One

Promoted from the Midland League

Transferred from the Eastern Counties League

Transferred from the Hellenic League

Transferred from the Midland League

Transferred from the Spartan South Midlands League

Premier Division 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 Hinckley LRFC 25 22 2 1 72 19 +53 68 Promotion to Step 4
2 Harborough Town 24 22 1 1 72 13 +59 67 Promotion to Step 4 or qualification to inter-step play-offs[a]
3 Newport Pagnell Town 26 19 2 5 64 28 +36 59
4 Rugby Town 27 19 2 6 60 36 +24 59
5 Coventry United 28 16 3 9 65 39 +26 51
6 Lutterworth Town 28 15 5 8 60 37 +23 50
7 Wellingborough Town 28 14 5 9 45 38 +7 47
8 Coventry Sphinx 26 15 1 10 58 34 +24 46
9 Cogenhoe United 28 10 6 12 40 46 −6 36
10 Bugbrooke St Michaels 28 12 3 13 49 53 −4 36[b]
11 Godmanchester Rovers 25 10 2 13 46 48 −2 32
12 Easington Sports 26 9 4 13 43 44 −1 31
13 Potton United 26 8 7 11 37 46 −9 31
14 Eynesbury Rovers 28 9 4 15 38 52 −14 31
15 Long Buckby 29 9 3 17 48 75 −27 30
16 GNG Oadby Town 26 8 5 13 40 49 −9 29
17 Desborough Town 25 6 5 14 35 44 −9 20[c]
18 Rothwell Corinthians 26 3 6 17 26 56 −30 15
19 Northampton ON Chenecks 28 2 4 22 19 82 −63 10
20 Biggleswade United 25 3 0 22 21 99 −78 9 Possible relegation to Step 6[d]
21 Peterborough Northern Star 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Folded midway through the season, record expunged
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. The remaining six runners-up will contest one-off inter-step play-off matches with six third-from-bottom clubs with the fewest 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 in Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser will drop to or remains in Step 5.[6]
  2. ^ Bugbrooke St Michaels were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player against Rothwell Corinthians on 3 August 2021.
  3. ^ Desborough Town were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player against Long Buckby on 9 October 2021.
  4. ^ Twelve clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that are second-from-bottom at Step 5 will be reprieved.[6]

Stadia and locations[]

Location of the clubs in the 2021–22 United Counties League Premier Division South
Club Location Stadium Capacity
Biggleswade United Biggleswade Second Meadow 2,000
Bugbrooke St. Michaels Bugbrooke Birds Close 2,500
Cogenhoe United Cogenhoe Compton Park 5,000
Coventry Sphinx Coventry Sphinx Drive
Coventry United Butts Park Arena[a] 4,000
Desborough Town Desborough Waterworks Field
Easington Sports Banbury Addison Road
Eynesbury Rovers Eynesbury Alfred Hall Memorial Ground
GNG Oadby Town Oadby Wigston Road 3,000
Godmanchester Rovers Godmanchester Bearscroft Lane
Harborough Town Market Harborough Bowden Park
Hinckley LRFC Hinckley Leicester Road Stadium 4,329
Long Buckby Long Buckby Station Road 1,000
Lutterworth Town Lutterworth Dunley Way
Newport Pagnell Town Newport Pagnell Willen Road 2,000
Northampton ON Chenecks Northampton The Old Northamptonians Sports Ground 1,000
Peterborough Northern Star Peterborough Branch Bros Stadium 600
Potton United Potton The Hollow
Rothwell Corinthians Rothwell Sergeants Lawn
Rugby Town Rugby Butlin Road 6,000
Wellingborough Town Wellingborough London Road 2,500
  1. ^ home of Coventry Rugby Club (groundshare)

Division One[]

At the end of the 2020–21 season, the following teams left the division:

The remaining nine teams, together with the following, formed 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 Hinckley 31 23 4 4 103 35 +68 76[a] Promotion to Step 5
2 Kimberley Miners Welfare 29 21 4 4 79 24 +55 70[b] Qualification for the play-offs
3 Belper United 31 22 3 6 86 39 +47 69
4 Radford 32 23 0 9 70 35 +35 69
5 Aylestone Park 31 20 4 7 110 39 +71 64
6 Hucknall Town 30 19 6 5 88 41 +47 63
7 Dunkirk 31 17 6 8 71 48 +23 57
8 Harrowby United 31 14 6 11 71 53 +18 48
9 Birstall United 32 14 6 12 56 52 +4 48
10 Barrow Town 31 13 8 10 55 53 +2 47
11 Kirby Muxloe 32 14 4 14 72 72 0 46
12 Saffron Dynamo 30 11 8 11 56 66 −10 41
13 Clifton All Whites 31 12 4 15 62 68 −6 40
14 Gedling Miners Welfare 31 12 3 16 62 79 −17 39
15 St Andrews 31 11 3 17 55 60 −5 38[c]
16 West Bridgford 31 12 2 17 57 63 −6 38
17 Lutterworth Athletic 30 10 5 15 48 65 −17 35
18 Bourne Town 30 8 7 15 41 78 −37 31
19 Holwell Sports 31 9 3 19 51 77 −26 30
20 Ingles 30 6 3 21 35 73 −38 24[d]
21 Blackstones 31 5 5 21 35 112 −77 20 Possible relegation to feeder leagues
22 Graham Street Prims 30 5 4 21 41 85 −44 19
23 Borrowash Victoria 31 3 2 26 20 107 −87 11
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. ^ Hinckley were awarded 3 points due to non-fulfilment of fixture by St Andrews on 17 December 2021.
  2. ^ Kimberley Miners Welfare were awarded 3 points due to non-fulfilment of fixture by Aylestone Park on 18 December 2021.
  3. ^ St Andrews were awarded 3 points due to abandoned fixture against Bourne Town on October 19 2021. They were then deducted 1 point due to fielding an ineligible player against Aylestone Park on 28 December 2021.
  4. ^ Ingles were awarded 3 points due to non-fulfiment of fixture by Holwell Sports on 4 January 2022.

Stadia and locations[]

Location of the clubs in the 2021–22 United Counties League Division One
Club Location Stadium Capacity
Aylestone Park Leicester Saffron Lane 1,128
Barrow Town Barrow upon Soar Barrow Road
Belper United Belper Christchurch Meadow[a]
Birstall United Birstall Meadow Lane
Blackstones Stamford Lincoln Road 1,000
Borrowash Victoria Spondon Borrowash Road[b]
Bourne Town Bourne Abbey Lawn 2,000
Clifton All Whites Nottingham (Clifton) Green Lane
Dunkirk Nottingham (Dunkirk) Lenton Lane
Gedling Miners Welfare Gedling Plains Road
Graham Street Prims Spondon Borrowash Road[c]
Harrowby United Grantham Dickens Road
Hinckley AFC Heather St. John's Park[d]
Holwell Sports Asfordby Hill Welby Road 1,000
Hucknall Town Hucknall Watnall Road
Ingles Shepshed The Dovecote Stadium[e]
Kimberley Miners Welfare Kimberley Stag Ground
Kirby Muxloe Kirby Muxloe Ratby Lane 3,000
Lutterworth Athletic Lutterworth Hall Park
Radford Nottingham (Radford) Selhurst Street
Saffron Dynamo Cosby Cambridge Road
St Andrews Leicester Canal Street 1,000
West Bridgford West Bridgford Regatta Way
  1. ^ home of Belper Town (groundshare)
  2. ^ part of the same complex as Graham Street Prims
  3. ^ part of the same complex as Borrowash Victoria
  4. ^ Groundshare with Heather St John's
  5. ^ home of Shepshed Albion (groundshare)

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. ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  3. ^ "FA provides update on NLS Steps 3-6". The Football Association. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  4. ^ "EXPLAINED: The 2021-22 Non-League restructure". The Non-League Paper. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  5. ^ "UCL to expand". Uhlsport United Counties Football League. 13 April 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d "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.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""