The excellent “Non-League Paper” have produced a preview of the new season which contains some items applicable to the Hoops, including the introduction of “sin bins” and the new situation regarding promotion and relegation from Step 5 leagues such as the Southern Counties East League Premier Division in which Deal play.. Here is the preview in full:
By David Richardson
Here we go! Nine months of twists and turns, shocks and surprises and everything in between is about to start all over again!
It seems pre-season has raced by during this sweltering summer and we’re now set for the big season opener.
There is a few changes for the 2019-20 season as part of The FA’s National League System restructuring, working towards a ‘Pure Pyramid’ for the 2020-21 season of 1-2-4-8-16-17.
One interesting law being introduced across all levels of grassroots football is temporary dismissals also known as ‘sin bins’. Players’ dissent will result in 10-minute temporary dismissals from the pitch.
The mandatory rule change will be implemented up to Step 5 and Tier 3 and below in women’s football.
Perhaps the main headline in terms of promotion and relegation this season is there won’t be Super Play-offs at Step 3. Last season the four play-off winners faced off in two one-off finals for a place at Step 2.
This year, only the bottom two in the National League North and South with be relegated which allows for the four champions and four play-off winners at Step 3 to be promoted. This is because from the 2020-21 season, Step 2 will be increasing from 22 clubs to 24, with four teams being relegated from each division.
Relegation from Step 3 this season will see two teams go down from each division along with two third bottom clubs with the worst points-per-game ratio.
This means, at Step 4, the seven champions and seven play-off winners will all be promoted. There is an eighth Step 4 division being introduced for the 2020-21 season and that will be run by the Northern Premier League – addressing some of the travelling challenges in the north of the country.
There will be 24 clubs promoted from Step 5 to 4. The 14 champions across Step 5 will go up, with second and third place in the North West Counties, Northern League and Northern Counties East also automatically promoted.
The remaining 11 second-place clubs will then be ranked on points-per-game and the four highest will be promoted.
With the remaining seven second-placed clubs – a one-season scenario – will play-off with the seven bottom-placed clubs at Step 4 for a winner-takes-all game.
There will be 76 clubs from Step 6 promoted to Step 5 – two clubs from each of the two South West Peninsula divisions and the top four from all other Step 6 divisions. The bottom two clubs in each of the 20 divisions are liable to relegation.
From 2020-21, Step 5 will increase from 14 divisions to 16 and Step 6 will reduce from 20 to 17. The United Counties League and Combined Counties Leagues have been awarded an additional Step 5 division each.
The West Midlands Regional and East Midlands Counties are due to lose their Step 6 status. The clubs within those divisions will remain at Step 6 subject to promotion and relegation on completion of the 2019-20 season. The Hellenic League will have its current two Step 6 divisions reduced to one which avoids operating with two divisions that are undersubscribed. Step 7 is also being aligned with County FAs to become the “pinnacle of county football”.
So there you have it! Plenty of change for this season and beyond as the FA works towards a better Non-League structure.
All the best for the season ahead and enjoy!
One Response
The new sin bin idea is welcome as I have always thought that there should be an orange between yellow and red – This said I think the way it has been thought out is a little lop sided but time will – the whole question is the standard of the officials which is sometimes very poor.
I was in Deal recently and saw the 0-7 Hemel game which although the score was not really a reflection of the game was a good work out – I can remember in my playing days losing two pre season friendlies 0-6 but we still won the league that year so not much should be read into them – Hopefully I will be in Deal to see the Canterbury game later this month – Tonight I am going to see Hungerford play Slough which after the 1-4 reverse at Hemel would be nice to win – This said Slough are quite strong and beat us three times last season – I was in Southern France during the latter stages of the Women’s World Cup and to see the interest that the tournament generated was really nice – also there was a great family atmosphere which cannot be said when some of the more excitable of the French Ultras are travelling around the country . Yes the standard is light years behind mens football and the play is far too open and I will not say anything about the standard of the goalkeepers but it was great fun and that is at times sadly lacking in the mens game – Speak soon SMO