The 2017–18 Western Football League season (known as the 2017–18 Toolstation Western Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 116th in the history of the Western Football League, a football competition in England. Teams are divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First.
| Season | 2017–18 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Street |
| Promoted | Street, Melksham Town |
← 2016–17 2018–19 → | |
The constitution was announced on 26 May 2017.[1]
Premier Division
editThe Premier Division consisted of 20 clubs, the same as last season, and featured three new clubs after Bristol Manor Farm were promoted to Southern League Division One South & West, Gillingham Town resigned from the league, and Sherborne Town were relegated to the Division One.
- Bridgwater Town, relegated from the Southern League Division One South & West.
- Hengrove Athletic, runners-up in the Division One.
- Wellington, champions of the Division One.
With the suspension of ground grading Grade E for this season and the creation of a new league at Steps 3 and 4, the champions of all Step 5 leagues were compulsorily promoted to Step 4. Of the fourteen runners-up, the twelve clubs with the best PPG (points per game ratio) were also to be compulsorily promoted, but with resignations and mergers in leagues above, all runners-up were promoted.
Teams at Step 5 without ground grading Grade F were to be relegated to Step 6, but no club in this division failed the ground grading process. All Step 5 leagues were fixed at 20 clubs for 2018–19, but in this case there were no further relegations or reprieves.
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Street (C, P) | 38 | 32 | 3 | 3 | 100 | 31 | +69 | 99 | Promotion to Southern League Division One South |
| 2 | Melksham Town (P) | 38 | 26 | 6 | 6 | 99 | 39 | +60 | 84 | |
| 3 | Willand Rovers | 38 | 24 | 6 | 8 | 93 | 37 | +56 | 78 | |
| 4 | Bradford Town | 38 | 23 | 9 | 6 | 88 | 47 | +41 | 78 | |
| 5 | Buckland Athletic | 38 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 84 | 54 | +30 | 78 | |
| 6 | Shepton Mallet | 38 | 20 | 2 | 16 | 63 | 52 | +11 | 62 | |
| 7 | Bridport | 38 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 82 | 62 | +20 | 58 | |
| 8 | Bridgwater Town | 38 | 18 | 4 | 16 | 61 | 51 | +10 | 58 | |
| 9 | Hengrove Athletic | 38 | 16 | 8 | 14 | 73 | 60 | +13 | 56 | |
| 10 | Bitton | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 58 | 66 | −8 | 53 | |
| 11 | Cribbs | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 75 | 62 | +13 | 50 | |
| 12 | Clevedon Town | 38 | 13 | 8 | 17 | 56 | 63 | −7 | 47 | |
| 13 | Chipping Sodbury Town | 38 | 13 | 6 | 19 | 65 | 76 | −11 | 45 | |
| 14 | Odd Down | 38 | 12 | 8 | 18 | 55 | 62 | −7 | 44 | |
| 15 | Wellington | 38 | 12 | 6 | 20 | 52 | 73 | −21 | 42 | |
| 16 | Brislington | 38 | 10 | 10 | 18 | 51 | 71 | −20 | 40 | |
| 17 | Hallen | 38 | 8 | 10 | 20 | 44 | 80 | −36 | 34 | |
| 18 | Cadbury Heath | 38 | 8 | 8 | 22 | 62 | 115 | −53 | 32 | |
| 19 | Longwell Green Sports (R) | 38 | 5 | 5 | 28 | 33 | 111 | −78 | 20 | Relegation to the Division One |
| 20 | Wells City (R) | 38 | 3 | 7 | 28 | 33 | 115 | −82 | 12[a] |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:
- ^ Wells City had four points deducted for fielding an ineligible player.
Stadia and locations
edit| Club | Finishing position last season | Stadium[2] |
|---|---|---|
| Bitton A.F.C | 19th | Rapid Solicitors Stadium |
| Bradford Town | 5th | Bradford on Avon Sports Club |
| Bridgwater Town | 22nd Southern League Division One South & West (relegated) | Fairfax Park |
| Bridport | 16th | St Mary's Field |
| Brislington | 10th | Brislington Stadium |
| Buckland Athletic | 4th | Kingskerswell Road |
| Cadbury Heath | 11th | Springfield |
| Chipping Sodbury Town | 13th | The Ridings |
| Clevedon Town | 14th | The Hand Stadium |
| Cribbs | 8th | The Lawns |
| Hallen | 18th | The Hallen Centre |
| Hengrove Athletic | 2nd First Division (promoted) | Norton Lane |
| Longwell Green Sports | 17th | Shellards Road |
| Melksham Town | 3rd | Eastern Way |
| Odd Down | 7th | Lew Hill Memorial Ground |
| Shepton Mallet | 12th | Playing Fields |
| Street | 2nd | The Tannery Ground |
| Wellington | 1st First Division (promoted) | The Playing Field |
| Wells City | 15th | Athletic Ground |
| Willand Rovers | 6th | Silver Street |
First Division
editThe First Division consisted of 22 clubs, the same as the previous season, and featured two new clubs after the promotion of Hengrove Athletic and Wellington to the Premier Division:
- Bristol Telephones, promoted from the Gloucestershire County League.
- Sherborne Town, relegated from the Premier Division.
Step 6 clubs without ground grading Grade G were to be relegated to Step 7, but no club in this division failed the ground grading process. All Step 6 leagues were fixed at a maximum of 20 clubs for 2018–19, but in this case there were no further relegations or reprieves.
League table
edit| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Westbury United (C, P) | 42 | 28 | 11 | 3 | 97 | 29 | +68 | 95 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Roman Glass St George (P) | 42 | 28 | 9 | 5 | 120 | 49 | +71 | 93 | |
| 3 | Keynsham Town | 42 | 27 | 8 | 7 | 120 | 62 | +58 | 89 | |
| 4 | Cheddar | 42 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 90 | 61 | +29 | 72 | |
| 5 | Devizes Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 90 | 65 | +25 | 70 | |
| 6 | Radstock Town | 42 | 19 | 10 | 13 | 86 | 67 | +19 | 67 | |
| 7 | Oldland Abbotonians | 42 | 19 | 7 | 16 | 82 | 74 | +8 | 64 | |
| 8 | Welton Rovers | 42 | 18 | 9 | 15 | 80 | 65 | +15 | 63 | |
| 9 | Chard Town | 42 | 17 | 11 | 14 | 70 | 59 | +11 | 62 | |
| 10 | Wincanton Town | 42 | 17 | 10 | 15 | 63 | 71 | −8 | 61 | |
| 11 | Chippenham Park | 42 | 13 | 15 | 14 | 57 | 69 | −12 | 54 | |
| 12 | Bishop Sutton | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 70 | 91 | −21 | 54 | |
| 13 | Almondsbury | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 60 | 64 | −4 | 53 | Transferred to Hellenic League Division One West |
| 14 | Bishops Lydeard | 42 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 74 | 96 | −22 | 53 | |
| 15 | Malmesbury Victoria | 42 | 14 | 9 | 19 | 69 | 97 | −28 | 51 | Transferred to Hellenic League Division One West |
| 16 | Bristol Telephones | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 74 | 98 | −24 | 50 | |
| 17 | Calne Town | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 66 | 94 | −28 | 49 | |
| 18 | Ashton & Backwell United | 42 | 12 | 10 | 20 | 42 | 61 | −19 | 46 | |
| 19 | Sherborne Town | 42 | 13 | 6 | 23 | 78 | 95 | −17 | 45 | |
| 20 | Corsham Town | 42 | 10 | 9 | 23 | 43 | 71 | −28 | 39 | |
| 21 | Portishead Town | 42 | 8 | 8 | 26 | 45 | 89 | −44 | 31[a] | |
| 22 | Warminster Town | 42 | 6 | 9 | 27 | 54 | 103 | −49 | 27 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:
- ^ Portishead Town had one point deducted.
Stadia and locations
edit| Club | Finishing position last season | Stadium[3] |
|---|---|---|
| Almondsbury | 22nd | Almondsbury Sports & Social Club |
| Ashton & Backwell United | 7th | Lancer Scott Stadium |
| Bishop Sutton | 16th | Lakeview |
| Bishops Lydeard | 6th | Cothelstone Road |
| Bristol Telephones | 1st Gloucestershire County Football League (promoted) | BTRA Sports Ground |
| Calne Town | 21st | Bremhill Road |
| Chard Town | 10th | Denning Sports Field |
| Cheddar | 3rd | Bowdens Park |
| Chippenham Park | 8th | Hardenhuish Park |
| Corsham Town | 19th | Southbank Ground |
| Devizes Town | 11th | Nursteed Road Ground |
| Keynsham Town | 4th | Crown Fields |
| Malmesbury Victoria | 9th | Flying Monk Road |
| Oldland Abbotonians | 17th | Aitchinson Playing Fields |
| Portishead Town | 14th | Bristol Road |
| Radstock Town | 5th | Southfields Recreation Ground |
| Roman Glass St George | 15th | Oaklands Park |
| Sherborne Town | 20th Western Football League Premier Division (relegated) | Raleigh Grove |
| Warminster Town | 18th | Weymouth Street |
| Welton Rovers | 20th | West Clewes |
| Westbury United | 12th | Meadow Lane |
| Wincanton Town | 13th | Wincanton Sports Ground |