1997–98 Wessex Football League

The 1997–98 Wessex Football League was the 12th season of the Wessex Football League. The league champions for the second consecutive season and the third time in their history were AFC Lymington, before their merger with New Milton Town of the Hampshire League. Runners-up Andover were promoted to the Southern League as Lymington's ground was not of the required standard for promotion. Romsey Town finished bottom and were relegated, and Ryde Sports resigned during the season.[1]

Wessex Football League
Season1997–98
ChampionsAFC Lymington
RelegatedRomsey Town

For sponsorship reasons, the league was known as the Jewson Wessex League.[2]

League table

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The league consisted of one division of 21 clubs, the same as the previous season, after Petersfield Town were relegated and one new club joined:[2]

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 AFC Lymington (C) 38 29 5 4 94 27 +67 92 Merged with New Milton Town at the end of the season
2 Andover (P) 38 24 9 5 99 46 +53 81 Joined the Southern League
3 A.F.C. Newbury 38 22 7 9 72 35 +37 73
4 Eastleigh 38 20 11 7 74 31 +43 71
5 Bemerton Heath Harlequins 38 19 11 8 69 38 +31 68
6 Cowes Sports 38 20 6 12 67 51 +16 66
7 Wimborne Town 38 18 9 11 89 63 +26 63
8 A.F.C. Totton 38 15 10 13 58 41 +17 55
9 Bournemouth 38 16 7 15 64 68 −4 55
10 Thatcham Town 38 16 6 16 64 54 +10 54
11 Christchurch 38 15 6 17 55 69 −14 51
12 East Cowes Victoria Athletic 38 13 11 14 46 42 +4 50
13 Portsmouth Royal Navy 38 13 7 18 64 79 −15 46
14 B.A.T. Sports 38 12 7 19 60 82 −22 43
15 Gosport Borough 38 9 10 19 48 65 −17 37
16 Aerostructures Sports & Social 38 9 10 19 50 77 −27 37
17 Brockenhurst 38 9 9 20 43 83 −40 36
18 Downton 38 7 10 21 36 66 −30 31
19 Whitchurch United 38 7 8 23 37 78 −41 29
20 Romsey Town (R) 38 5 5 28 40 134 −94 20 Relegated to the Hampshire League
21 Ryde Sports 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Resigned during the season, record expunged[a]
Source: [citation needed]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ Ryde Sports resigned in December 1997 after 17 matches and their record was expunged. The club later folded.

References

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  1. ^ "Wessex League 1986–2011". Non League Matters. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b "1997–98 Wessex League". FCHD. Retrieved 18 January 2014.