2021–22 Essex Senior Football League
The 2021–22 season was the 51st in the history of the Essex Senior Football League, a football competition in England.
The proposed constitution for this season was published on 22 May 2021,[1] based on allocations for Steps 5 and 6 announced by the FA five days earlier, and it was subject to appeal. The constitution was ratified at the league's annual general meeting (AGM) on 24 June.[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]
The league featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with five new clubs.
- Promoted from the Eastern Counties League Division One South:
- Transferred from the Eastern Counties League Premier Division:
Cockfosters were initially moved to the Spartan South Midlands League, but they won their appeal and the transfer was reversed.[2]
Walthamstow were champions, winning their first Essex Senior League title and were promoted to the Southern League. Runners-up Saffron Walden Town lost interstep playoff match.
League table
[edit]Season | 2021–22 |
---|---|
Champions | Walthamstow |
Promoted | Walthamstow |
Relegated | Sporting Bengal United St Margaretsbury |
Matches played | 420 |
Goals scored | 1,405 (3.35 per match) |
Top goalscorer | Richard Kone (31 goals) |
← 2020–21 2022–23 → |
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Walthamstow | 40 | 28 | 8 | 4 | 92 | 30 | +62 | 92 | Promoted to the Southern League |
2 | Saffron Walden Town | 40 | 26 | 5 | 9 | 101 | 48 | +53 | 83 | Qualified for an inter-step play-off[a] |
3 | Redbridge | 40 | 24 | 9 | 7 | 89 | 50 | +39 | 81 | |
4 | Stansted | 40 | 22 | 9 | 9 | 81 | 45 | +36 | 75 | |
5 | Enfield | 40 | 22 | 7 | 11 | 82 | 40 | +42 | 73 | |
6 | Little Oakley | 40 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 83 | 53 | +30 | 70 | |
7 | FC Clacton | 40 | 20 | 7 | 13 | 71 | 61 | +10 | 67 | |
8 | Athletic Newham | 40 | 18 | 12 | 10 | 78 | 55 | +23 | 66 | |
9 | Cockfosters | 40 | 17 | 9 | 14 | 78 | 65 | +13 | 60 | Transferred to the Spartan South Midlands League |
10 | Takeley | 40 | 18 | 6 | 16 | 73 | 73 | 0 | 60 | |
11 | White Ensign | 40 | 16 | 11 | 13 | 85 | 67 | +18 | 59 | |
12 | Stanway Rovers | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 67 | 52 | +15 | 57 | |
13 | West Essex | 40 | 16 | 9 | 15 | 68 | 67 | +1 | 57 | |
14 | Woodford Town | 40 | 16 | 7 | 17 | 68 | 64 | +4 | 55 | |
15 | Hoddesdon Town | 40 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 54 | 63 | −9 | 54 | Transferred to the Spartan South Midlands League |
16 | Ilford | 40 | 11 | 8 | 21 | 43 | 72 | −29 | 41 | |
17 | Southend Manor | 40 | 9 | 7 | 24 | 39 | 87 | −48 | 34 | |
18 | Clapton | 40 | 6 | 9 | 25 | 45 | 90 | −45 | 27 | |
19 | Sawbridgeworth Town | 40 | 7 | 6 | 27 | 37 | 94 | −57 | 27 | |
20 | St Margaretsbury[b] | 40 | 6 | 7 | 27 | 40 | 89 | −49 | 25 | Relegated to the Eastern Counties League |
21 | Sporting Bengal United | 40 | 3 | 4 | 33 | 31 | 140 | −109 | 13 |
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:
- ^ Contested an inter-step play-off match as one of the six runners-up from Step 5 with the fewest points per game (PPG) at the end of the 2021–22 season against one of the six third-from-bottom clubs also with the fewest PPG from the eight divisions at Step 4. The winner stayed at Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while the loser remained at Step 5.[6]
- ^ Relegated as one of four clubs with the fewest PPG out of 16 that were second-from-bottom at Step 5.[6]
Inter-step play-off
[edit]30 April 2022 | Witham Town | 3–0 | Saffron Walden Town | Witham |
15:00 BST | McLean 41' Osude 56' Wallace 63' |
Stadium: Spa Road Attendance: 697 |
Results
[edit]Stadia and locations
[edit]Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Athletic Newham | Plaistow | Terence McMillan Stadium | 2,000 |
Clapton | |||
Cockfosters | Cockfosters | Chalk Lane | 1,000 |
Enfield | Bishop's Stortford | Woodside Park (groundshare with Bishop's Stortford) | 4,525 (525 seated) |
FC Clacton | Clacton-on-Sea | Austin Arena | 3,000 (200 seated) |
Hoddesdon Town | Hoddesdon | Lowfield | 3,000 (100 seated) |
Ilford | Ilford | Cricklefield Stadium | 3,500 (216 seated) |
Little Oakley | Little Oakley | Memorial Ground | |
Redbridge | Barkingside | Oakside Stadium | 3,000 (316 seated) |
Saffron Walden Town | Saffron Walden | Catons Lane | 2,000 |
Sawbridgeworth Town | Sawbridgeworth | Crofters End | 2,500 (175 seated) |
Sporting Bengal United | Mile End | Mile End Stadium | 2,000 (439 seated) |
Southend Manor | Southend-on-Sea | Southchurch Park | 2,000 (500 seated) |
St Margaretsbury | Stanstead Abbotts | Recreation Ground | 1,000 (60 seated) |
Stansted | Stansted Mountfitchet | Hargrave Park | 2,000 (200 seated) |
Stanway Rovers | Stanway | Hawthorns | 1,500 (100 seated) |
Takeley | Takeley | Station Road | 2,000 |
Walthamstow | Walthamstow | Wadham Lodge | 3,500 |
West Essex | |||
White Ensign | Great Wakering | Burroughs Park (groundshare with Great Wakering Rovers) | 3,000 (250 seated) |
Woodford Town | Woodford | Ashton Playing Fields |
References
[edit]- ^ "Proposed ESL Constitution 2021/22". Essex Senior Football League. 22 May 2021.
- ^ a b "Revised Premier Division Constitution As Cockfosters Win Appeal". Essex Senior Football League. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
- ^ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "FA provides update on NLS Steps 3-6". The Football Association. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ "EXPLAINED: The 2021-22 Non-League restructure". The Non-League Paper. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
- ^ a b Miller, Pete. "Non League 21/22 Promotion and Relegation". Google Docs.
- ^ "The FA Handbook 2020/2021 Part 29 Standardised Rules Section 12.2". The FA. Retrieved 23 August 2020.