2021–22_Spartan_South_Midlands_Football_League

2021–22 Spartan South Midlands Football League

Football league season

The 2021–22 season was the 25th in the history of the Spartan South Midlands Football League, a football competition in England. The league operates three divisions, two of which are in covered in this article: the Premier Division at Step 5, and Division One at Step 6 of the English football league system.

The league constitution for this season was based on allocations for Steps 5 and 6 that were announced by The Football Association on 18 May 2021, and were subject to appeal.^[1]^[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]

Premier Division

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

Spartan South Midlands
Football League
Premier Division
Season	2021–22
Champions	New Salamis
Promoted	Hadley New Salamis
Relegated	Holmer Green
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,291 (3.4 per match)
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The Premier Division featured 13 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with seven new clubs.

Transferred from the Hellenic League:
PLus:
- Hadley, transferred from the Essex Senior League
- Milton Keynes Irish, promoted from Division One
- New Salamis, promoted from Division One

Cockfosters, initially allocated to this division from the Essex Senior League, successfully appealed and the transfer was rescinded.^[6]

League table

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	New Salamis	38	30	4	4	123	36	+87	94	Promoted to the Isthmian League
2	Risborough Rangers	38	29	6	3	101	23	+78	93	Retented at Step 5^{[lower-alpha 1]}
3	Hadley	38	25	8	5	78	33	+45	83	Promoted to the Southern League
4	Leighton Town	38	20	11	7	78	42	+36	71
5	Harpenden Town	38	20	8	10	69	45	+24	68
6	Flackwell Heath	38	21	5	12	66	42	+24	68	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
7	Ardley United	38	17	9	12	67	45	+22	60
8	Leverstock Green	38	17	5	16	63	57	+6	56
9	Dunstable Town	38	14	8	16	50	60	−10	50
10	Arlesey Town	38	13	8	17	58	77	−19	47
11	Harefield United	38	12	10	16	70	67	+3	46	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
12	Milton Keynes Irish	38	12	10	16	55	59	−4	46	Transferred to the United Counties League
13	Tring Athletic	38	12	7	19	51	61	−10	43
14	Aylesbury Vale Dynamos	38	12	7	19	57	85	−28	43
15	Oxhey Jets	38	12	6	20	60	101	−41	42	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
16	Broadfields United	38	12	1	25	55	81	−26	37	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
17	Baldock Town	38	9	8	21	51	73	−22	35
18	Crawley Green	38	8	6	24	57	92	−35	30
19	London Colney	38	9	3	26	38	99	−61	30	Reprieved from relegation^{[lower-alpha 2]}
20	Holmer Green	38	7	8	23	44	113	−69	29	Relegated to Division One

Source: The FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[9]
Notes:

Risborough Rangers failed to meet ground grading standards and were not promoted. Their appeal was unsuccessful.^[7]
Reprieved as one of 12 clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that were second-from-bottom at Step 5.^[8]

Division One

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

Spartan South Midlands
Football League
Division One
Season	2021–22
Champions	Stotfold
Promoted	Shefford Town & Campton Stotfold
Relegated	Irchester United
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,548 (4.07 per match)
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Division One featured nine clubs which competed in the division last season, along with eleven new clubs.

Transferred from the United Counties League:
Transferred from the Hellenic League:
- Kidlington reserves
- Long Crendon
- Penn & Tylers Green
Plus:
- Letchworth Garden City Eagles, promoted from the Hertfordshire Senior County League
- Thame United reserves

League table

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Stotfold	38	31	3	4	126	31	+95	96	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Ampthill Town	38	25	8	5	93	52	+41	83	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Winslow United	38	25	5	8	104	40	+64	80	Qualified for the play-offs
4	Shefford Town & Campton	38	26	2	10	115	57	+58	80	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division
5	Wellingborough Whitworth	38	24	4	10	114	63	+51	76	Qualified for the play-offs
6	Northampton Sileby Rangers	38	23	4	11	110	66	+44	73
7	Bedford	38	19	7	12	90	72	+18	63^{[lower-alpha 1]}
8	Long Crendon	38	18	5	15	99	75	+24	59	Transferred to the Hellenic League
9	Buckingham Athletic	38	18	4	16	78	57	+21	58
10	Penn & Tylers Green	38	15	9	14	85	74	+11	54	Transferred to the Combined Counties League
11	Rushden & Higham United	38	15	7	16	61	82	−21	52
12	Letchworth Garden City Eagles	38	14	7	17	62	67	−5	49
13	Amersham Town	38	13	5	20	63	83	−20	44
14	Thame United reserves	38	12	6	20	54	85	−31	42
15	Langford	38	12	1	25	49	83	−34	37
16	London Tigers	38	11	4	23	50	97	−47	37
17	Raunds Town	38	10	6	22	52	99	−47	36
18	Kidlington reserves	38	9	5	24	53	122	−69	32	Transferred to the Hellenic League
19	Burton Park Wanderers	38	5	6	27	51	128	−77	21	Reprieved from relegation^{[lower-alpha 2]}
20	Irchester United	38	4	4	30	39	115	−76	16	Relegated to the Northamptonshire Combination League

Source: The FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[9]
Notes:

Bedford deducted one point for fielding an ineligible player.
All third-from-bottom clubs at Step 6 were reprieved from relegation. The top 15 second-from-bottom sides were also reprieved on a PPG basis.^[10]

Play-offs

Semi-finals			Final

2	Ampthill Town	2

5	Wellingborough Whitworth	3
			2	Wellingborough Whitworth	1

			3	Shefford Town & Campton	4
3	Winslow United	0

4	Shefford Town & Campton	2

Division Two

Quick Facts Season, Champions ...

Spartan South Midlands
Football League
Division Two
Season	2021–22
Champions	Old Bradwell United
Matches played	210
Goals scored	821 (3.91 per match)
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

Division Two featured 13 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new club:

Milton Keynes College Football Academy
Eynesbury United, joined from the Cambridgeshire County League
Risborough Rangers development, transferred from the Hellenic League Division Two North

League table

More information Pos, Team ...

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Old Bradwell United	28	21	3	4	102	19	+83	66
2	Aston Clinton	28	22	0	6	72	34	+38	66
3	Pitstone & Ivinghoe	28	18	6	4	97	47	+50	60
4	Bovingdon	28	18	5	5	63	24	+39	59
5	Milton Keynes College Football Academy	28	17	4	7	72	44	+28	55
6	Eynesbury United	28	17	3	8	66	36	+30	54
7	Totternhoe	28	15	3	10	47	50	−3	48
8	New Bradwell St Peter	28	11	4	13	42	49	−7	37
9	Sarratt	28	9	3	16	43	66	−23	30
10	Codicote	28	9	2	17	45	64	−19	29
11	Risborough Rangers development	28	8	1	19	35	57	−22	25
12	Berkhamsted Raiders	28	6	6	16	37	74	−37	24
13	Buckingham United	28	7	1	20	44	105	−61	22
14	The 61	28	5	2	21	26	78	−52	17
15	Tring Corinthians	28	3	5	20	30	74	−44	14
16	Berkhamsted Comrades	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Club folded, record expunged

Source: FA Full-Time
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Step 5 rankings

The 10 runners-up with the most points per game (PPG) at Step 5 were automatically promoted after the 2021–22 season. The remaining six played one-off inter-step play-off matches with the six third-from-bottom clubs with the fewest PPG from the eight divisions at Step 4. The winner of each match was promoted to Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while each loser was relegated to Step 5.^[11]

The final points-per-game ranking of the second-placed teams was as follows:

More information Pos, Team, division ...

Pos	Team, division	Pld	Pts	PPG	Promotion or qualification
10	Exmouth Town, Western League Premier	36	77	2.139	Promotion to Step 4
11	Newhaven, Southern Combination League Premier	38	80	2.105	Qualification for the inter-step play-offs
12	Eccleshill United, Northern Counties East League Premier	38	79	2.079
13	Saffron Walden Town, Essex Senior League	40	83	2.075
14	Boldmere St Michaels, Midland League Premier	36	74	2.056
15	Skelmersdale United, North West Counties League Premier	40	79	1.975
16	Consett, Northern League One	38	75	1.974

Source: ^[11]

The 12 best second-from-bottom clubs on a PPG basis out of 16 that were at Step 5 were reprieved from relegation. The four worst teams were relegated.^[8]

The final points-per-game ranking of the second-from-bottom-placed teams was also as follows:

More information Pos, Team, division ...

Pos	Team, division	Pld	Pts	PPG	Qualification or relegation
12	Lordswood, Southern Counties East League Premier	38	24	0.632	Retention at Step 5
13	St Margaretsbury, Essex Senior League	40	25	0.625	Relegation to Step 6
14	Northampton ON Chenecks, United Counties League Premier South	38	20	0.526
15	Calne Town, Hellenic League Premier	38	19	0.500
16	Athersley Recreation, Northern Counties East League Premier	38	10	0.263

Source: ^[11]

References

[1]
"We have provided an update on NLS allocations at Steps 3-6 for the 2021-22 season". The Football Association. 18 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[2]
"Provisional constitution for 2021-22 season". 23 May 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[3]
"Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". BBC Sport. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[4]
"FA provides update on NLS Steps 3-6". The Football Association. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[5]
"EXPLAINED: The 2021-22 Non-League restructure". The Non-League Paper. 12 April 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[6]
"Revised Premier Division Constitution As Cockfosters Win Appeal". Essex Senior Football League. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
[7]
"FA deny Risborough Rangers promotion over stadium facilities". Bucks Free Press. 25 April 2022. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
[8]
"Promotion / Relegation – 2021/22 Season". Southern Counties East Football League. November 2021. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
[9]
"The FA Handbook 2020/2021 Part 29 Standardised Rules Section 12.2". The FA.
[10]
Miller, Pete. "Non League 21/22 Promotion and Relegation: Step 6 Relegation". Google Docs.
[11]
Miller, Pete. "Non League 21/22 Promotion and Relegation: Step 5 Promotion". Google Docs.

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