The 2019–20 Combined Counties Football League season (known as the 2019–20 Cherry Red Records Combined Counties Football League for sponsorship reasons) was the 42nd in the history of the Combined Counties Football League, a football competition in England. The season was abandoned on 26 March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The constitution was announced on 19 May 2019.[1]
This season, the Premier Division champions were to be promoted to Step 4. The runners-up in this division and ten other Step 5 divisions in other leagues were to be ranked according to PPG (points per game), and the top four in that ranking would also have been promoted. The remaining seven runners-up would have competed in "winner takes all" play-offs with seven clubs finishing bottom in Step 4 leagues, the winners being placed at Step 4 and the losers at Step 5 for 2020–21.[2]
The bottom clubs in all 14 Step 5 divisions were to be ranked according to PPG, and the 12 lowest-ranked clubs were to be relegated to Step 6.
In Division One, the top four clubs were to be promoted to Step 5, with the bottom two liable to relegation to Step 7.
League suspension and season abandonment
Despite other leagues suspending all matches from 13 March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Combined Counties League continued to hold matches on 14 March, although two clubs refused to travel. The following day, the league postponed all matches until 28 March.[3] On 16 March, the FA decided to postpone all matches across all FA Competitions until 3 April, and a league statement confirmed the postponement of all matches for the foreseeable future.[4]
On 26 March 2020, the league season was formally abandoned, with all results being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to, from, or between the two divisions.[5] On 30 March 2020, sixty-six non-league clubs sent an open letter to the Football Association requesting that they reconsider their decision.[6]
Jersey Bulls had already amassed sufficient points to be promoted from Division One, but were not promoted after the abandonment.
Premier Division
Season | 2019–20 |
---|---|
Champions | none |
Promoted | none |
Relegated | none |
Matches played | 302 |
Goals scored | 988 (3.27 per match) |
← 2018–19 2020–21 → |
The Premier Division was increased from 20 to 21 clubs, and featured five new teams after the promotion of Chertsey Town to the Isthmian League, the transfer of Horley Town to the Southern Combination League, and the relegation of A.F.C. Hayes and Walton & Hersham to Division One:
- Ascot United, transferred from the Hellenic League.
- Egham Town, relegated from the Isthmian League.
- Frimley Green, promoted as runners-up in Division One.
- Molesey, also relegated from the Isthmian League South Central Division.
- Sheerwater, promoted as champions of Division One.
- Frimley Green were initially not promoted from Division One, but appealed the decision and were successful, so the division ran with 21 clubs.
League table at the time of abandonment
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Ascot United | 32 | 22 | 2 | 8 | 63 | 37 | +26 | 68 | |
2 | Spelthorne Sports | 31 | 18 | 5 | 8 | 63 | 40 | +23 | 59 | |
3 | Knaphill | 29 | 17 | 7 | 5 | 63 | 28 | +35 | 58 | |
4 | Frimley Green | 32 | 15 | 7 | 10 | 58 | 53 | +5 | 52 | |
5 | Southall | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 52 | 31 | +21 | 50 | |
6 | Molesey | 31 | 17 | 2 | 12 | 48 | 38 | +10 | 50[lower-alpha 1] | |
7 | Abbey Rangers | 30 | 14 | 7 | 9 | 50 | 34 | +16 | 49 | |
8 | Sutton Common Rovers | 25 | 13 | 4 | 8 | 68 | 45 | +23 | 43 | |
9 | Cobham | 30 | 13 | 4 | 13 | 37 | 36 | +1 | 43 | |
10 | Egham Town | 31 | 12 | 4 | 15 | 55 | 60 | −5 | 40 | |
11 | Colliers Wood United | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 40 | 40 | 0 | 38 | |
12 | Badshot Lea | 27 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 50 | 46 | +4 | 36 | |
13 | Balham | 27 | 11 | 3 | 13 | 58 | 56 | +2 | 36 | Transferred to the Southern Counties East League |
14 | Redhill | 26 | 12 | 0 | 14 | 44 | 49 | −5 | 36 | |
15 | Camberley Town | 28 | 11 | 3 | 14 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 36 | |
16 | Sheerwater | 30 | 10 | 5 | 15 | 53 | 67 | −14 | 35 | |
17 | Guildford City | 31 | 8 | 4 | 19 | 28 | 52 | −24 | 28 | |
18 | Hanworth Villa | 29 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 36 | 54 | −18 | 27 | |
19 | Raynes Park Vale | 24 | 7 | 5 | 12 | 32 | 40 | −8 | 26 | |
20 | Banstead Athletic | 24 | 7 | 4 | 13 | 27 | 47 | −20 | 24[lower-alpha 2] | |
21 | CB Hounslow United | 33 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 31 | 82 | −51 | 21 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
Results table
Division One
Season | 2019–20 |
---|---|
Champions | none |
Promoted | none |
Relegated | none |
Matches played | 264 |
Goals scored | 1,050 (3.98 per match) |
← 2018–19 2020–21 → |
Division One was increased from 19 to 20 clubs, and featured four new teams after Sheerwater and Frimley Green were promoted to the Premier Division and AC London were expelled:
- A.F.C. Hayes, relegated from the Premier Division.
- Jersey Bulls, a new club from Jersey.
- Walton & Hersham, relegated from the Premier Division.
- Westside, promoted from the Surrey Elite Intermediate League.
- Reserve sides were not eligible for promotion to Step 5.
- Cove were initially relegated at the end of last season, but were reprieved on appeal.
- Kensington Borough changed their name to Kensington & Ealing Borough.
League table at the time of abandonment
Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Jersey Bulls | 27 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 99 | 7 | +92 | 81 |
2 | Farnham Town | 28 | 19 | 4 | 5 | 48 | 26 | +22 | 61 |
3 | Walton & Hersham | 28 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 79 | 54 | +25 | 51 |
4 | Tooting Bec | 29 | 14 | 7 | 8 | 64 | 42 | +22 | 49 |
5 | Fleet Spurs | 29 | 15 | 2 | 12 | 56 | 41 | +15 | 47 |
6 | Bedfont & Feltham | 26 | 13 | 5 | 8 | 58 | 39 | +19 | 44 |
7 | Sandhurst Town | 25 | 12 | 8 | 5 | 56 | 39 | +17 | 44 |
8 | Kensington & Ealing Borough | 24 | 13 | 1 | 10 | 51 | 49 | +2 | 40 |
9 | Epsom & Ewell | 26 | 11 | 5 | 10 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 38 |
10 | Bagshot | 28 | 9 | 6 | 13 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 33 |
11 | A.F.C. Hayes | 22 | 9 | 4 | 9 | 51 | 50 | +1 | 31 |
12 | Cove | 26 | 9 | 4 | 13 | 42 | 72 | −30 | 31 |
13 | Dorking Wanderers Reserves | 27 | 8 | 6 | 13 | 57 | 68 | −11 | 30 |
14 | FC Deportivo Galicia | 30 | 8 | 6 | 16 | 50 | 90 | −40 | 30 |
15 | Westside | 22 | 8 | 4 | 10 | 49 | 38 | +11 | 28 |
16 | Ash United | 26 | 9 | 0 | 17 | 41 | 68 | −27 | 27 |
17 | British Airways | 29 | 7 | 5 | 17 | 42 | 77 | −35 | 26 |
18 | Eversley & California | 26 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 31 | 53 | −22 | 20 |
19 | Chessington & Hook United | 23 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 17[lower-alpha 1] |
20 | Godalming Town | 27 | 3 | 6 | 18 | 42 | 75 | −33 | 15 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:
- ↑ Chessington & Hook United had three points deducted.
Results table
References
- ↑ "REVEALED: The provisional Step 1 to 6 Club Allocations for 2019-20". Non League Paper. 19 May 2019.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: FA outline second phase of Non-League restructuring". The Non-League Football paper. 17 April 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2019.
- ↑ "Shut down". Combined Counties League. 15 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ↑ "All football now off". Combined Counties League. 16 March 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
- ↑ "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 March 2020.
- ↑ "Sixty-six non-league clubs send open letter to FA over expunging season". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
External links
- Combined Counties League Official Site Archived 2013-10-30 at the Wayback Machine