1981–82 Western Football League

The 1981–82 season was the 80th in the history of the Western Football League.

Western Football League
Season1981–82
ChampionsBideford (Premier Division)
Shepton Mallet Town (Division One)

The league champions for the fourth time in their history were Bideford. The champions of Division One were Shepton Mallet Town.[1]

Premier Division

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The Premier Division remained at twenty clubs after Paulton Rovers and Tiverton Town were relegated to the First Division, and two clubs joined:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Relegation
1 Bideford (C) 38 26 10 2 88 20 +68 62
2 Barnstaple Town 38 26 8 4 78 31 +47 59[a]
3 Bridgwater Town 38 16 16 6 70 46 +24 48 Joined the Southern League
4 Clandown 38 17 12 9 49 37 +12 46
5 Melksham Town 38 17 11 10 58 50 +8 45
6 Frome Town 38 16 9 13 67 58 +9 41
7 Weston-super-Mare 38 15 11 12 47 42 +5 41
8 Saltash United 38 15 7 16 47 53 −6 37
9 Devizes Town 38 14 7 17 53 60 −7 35
10 Dawlish Town 38 11 13 14 45 53 −8 35
11 Liskeard Athletic 38 11 12 15 39 48 −9 34
12 Bridport 38 12 10 16 43 54 −11 34
13 Clevedon Town 38 11 12 15 58 60 −2 33[a]
14 Chippenham Town 38 12 9 17 33 39 −6 33
15 Falmouth Town 38 12 9 17 46 55 −9 33
16 Portway Bristol 38 9 13 16 40 47 −7 31
17 Wellington 38 10 11 17 50 62 −12 31
18 Keynsham Town 38 9 13 16 39 55 −16 31
19 Mangotsfield United (R) 38 11 6 21 30 59 −29 28 Relegated to Division One
20 Welton Rovers (R) 38 7 7 24 37 88 −51 21
Source: [citation needed]
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. ^ a b Barnstaple Town and Clevedon Town each had one point deducted for fielding ineligible players.

First Division

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The First Division remained at nineteen clubs after Brixham United left the league, and Chippenham Town and Wellington were promoted to the Premier Division. Three new clubs joined:

League table

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Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Shepton Mallet Town (C, P) 36 25 8 3 88 30 +58 58 Promoted to the Premier Division
2 Exmouth Town (P) 36 24 8 4 74 31 +43 56
3 Swanage Town & Herston 36 21 5 10 90 47 +43 47
4 Wimborne Town 36 19 9 8 67 35 +32 47
5 Bath City Reserves 36 19 6 11 72 46 +26 44
6 Elmore 36 19 6 11 58 45 +13 44
7 Paulton Rovers 36 17 6 13 54 48 +6 40
8 Bristol Manor Farm 36 15 9 12 58 50 +8 39
9 Torquay United Reserves 36 15 9 12 50 44 +6 39 Left at the end of the season
10 Tiverton Town 36 13 8 15 62 63 −1 34
11 Chard Town 36 12 10 14 43 55 −12 34
12 Odd Down 36 14 5 17 51 57 −6 33
13 Radstock Town 36 10 11 15 44 67 −23 31
14 Glastonbury 36 12 6 18 63 69 −6 30
15 Heavitree United 36 11 7 18 39 69 −30 29
16 Yeovil Town Reserves 36 10 8 18 40 53 −13 28
17 Larkhall Athletic 36 10 5 21 42 85 −43 25
18 Ottery St Mary 36 6 3 27 28 79 −51 15
19 Ilminster Town 36 3 5 28 20 70 −50 11 Left at the end of the season
Source: [citation needed]
Rules for classification: The system of using goal difference to separate two teams tied on points was used. The points system: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

References

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  1. ^ Robinson, Michael (ed.), Non-League Football Tables 1889–2006, Soccer Books, 2006