1980–81 Western Football League

The 1980–81 season was the 79th in the history of the Western Football League.

Western Football League
Season1980–81
ChampionsBridgwater Town (Premier Division)
Chippenham Town (Division One)

The league champions for the second time in their history were Bridgwater Town. The champions of Division One were Chippenham Town.[1]

Premier Division

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The Premier Division remained at twenty clubs after Ilminster Town were relegated to the First Division, and A.F.C. Bournemouth Reserves and Exeter City Reserves left the league. Three clubs joined:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
1 Bridgwater Town 38 25 6 7 54 25 +29 56
2 Barnstaple Town 38 22 6 10 58 40 +18 50
3 Frome Town 38 21 6 11 74 51 +23 48
4 Falmouth Town 38 18 9 11 71 53 +18 45
5 Bideford 38 18 8 12 58 42 +16 44
6 Saltash United 38 17 9 12 73 47 +26 43
7 Portway Bristol 38 16 11 11 55 45 +10 43
8 Clevedon Town 38 15 11 12 65 52 +13 41
9 Clandown 38 16 9 13 60 53 +7 41
10 Devizes Town 38 14 13 11 61 56 +5 41
11 Bridport 38 12 15 11 56 52 +4 39
12 Keynsham Town 38 12 15 11 33 34 −1 39
13 Melksham Town 38 13 11 14 45 49 −4 37
14 Liskeard Athletic 38 11 11 16 58 70 −12 33
15 Mangotsfield United 38 8 15 15 43 66 −23 31
16 Dawlish Town 38 7 16 15 40 50 −10 30
17 Welton Rovers 38 9 11 18 50 69 −19 29
18 Weston-super-Mare 38 11 7 20 42 61 −19 29
19 Paulton Rovers (R) 38 9 11 18 45 72 −27 29 Relegated to Division One
20 Tiverton Town (R) 38 1 10 27 23 77 −54 12
Source: [citation needed]
(R) Relegated

First Division

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The First Division was reduced from twenty-two to nineteen clubs after Westland-Yeovil left the league, and Devizes Town, Liskeard Athletic and Melksham Town were promoted to the Premier Division. One new club joined:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion
1 Chippenham Town (P) 36 25 8 3 76 24 +52 58 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Wellington (P) 36 22 8 6 80 36 +44 52
3 Exmouth Town 36 22 7 7 74 37 +37 51
4 Bath City Reserves 36 19 11 6 79 44 +35 49
5 Odd Down 36 20 8 8 59 41 +18 47[a]
6 Yeovil Town Reserves 36 18 9 9 58 38 +20 45
7 Torquay United Reserves 36 16 11 9 60 35 +25 43
8 Swanage Town & Herston 36 13 11 12 58 55 +3 37
9 Chard Town 36 11 14 11 42 38 +4 36
10 Bristol Manor Farm 36 14 8 14 53 57 −4 36
11 Shepton Mallet Town 36 13 8 15 68 75 −7 34
12 Elmore 36 12 10 14 44 53 −9 34
13 Glastonbury 36 9 10 17 44 60 −16 28
14 Brixham United 36 11 5 20 50 70 −20 27 Left at the end of the season
15 Larkhall Athletic 36 5 12 19 44 76 −32 22
16 Ottery St Mary 36 7 8 21 37 77 −40 22
17 Heavitree United 36 7 8 21 40 86 −46 22
18 Ilminster Town 36 7 6 23 39 70 −31 20
19 Radstock Town 36 8 4 24 47 80 −33 20
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: The system of using goal difference to separate two teams tied on points was used. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(P) Promoted
Notes:
  1. ^ Odd Down had one point deducted for fielding an ineligible player.

References

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  1. ^ Robinson, Michael (ed.), Non-League Football Tables 1889–2006, Soccer Books, 2006