We are halfway through an intriguing season in the Scott Richards Solicitors Devon Football League North & East Division, and it could not be tighter at the top. 

Exwick Villa entered the Christmas break as league leaders, but only on goal difference from the University of Exeter, and the students do have a game in hand.  

Although they are eight points behind the top two, Braunton will start 2022 with a hope that an impeccable run could see the North Devon outfit enter the title race. 

The next chasing group are separated by just one point, with Alphington, Budleigh Salterton and the tight defence of Topsham Town all fighting hard for supremacy. Topsham do also have the advantage of games in hand.  

Feniton are seventh and have made a strong start to life at this level. It is then a scrap between the likes of Newtown, Liverton United, North Molton Sports Club and Exmouth Town Reserves. 

While Clyst Valley are five points adrift at the bottom, just converting some of the battling draws into wins could transform their season. 

The story in the South & West Division is not quite so tight but leaders Teignmouth will still have to maintain their excellent form to protect the current four-point lead over an impressive Mount Gould, who are unbeaten so far and have a game in hand. 

Lakeside Athletic and Plymstock United are only separated by goal difference and lead the chasing pack, with the mid-table section looking incredibly close. 

Bere Alston United, Plympton Athletic and Paignton Saints are the teams in the middle, but this does not tell the full story, as Bere Alston have a number of games in hand. 

The youngsters from Plymouth Argyle Development have fared well over the first half of the season and hold a four-point advantage over ninth-place Buckland Athletic Reserves.  

Local rivals Ipplepen Athletic and Newton Abbot Spurs Reserves occupy places 10 and 11, while the English Riviera duo of Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police Reserves and Watcombe Wanderers have both shown enough promise to pull away from the bottom places. 

Picture: Stoke Gabriel and Torbay Police Reserves and Ipplepen Athletic make their DFL debuts in 2021/22. ©Al MacPhee/MiraclePR.com

The provisional DFL constitution for the 2021/22 season has been announced, as follows:

NORTH & EAST		SOUTH & WEST
Alphington		Bere Alston Utd
Braunton		Buckland Ath Reserves
Budleigh Salterton		Ipplepen
Chudleigh Athletic		Kingstiegnton Athletic
Clyst Valley		Lakeside Athletic
Exeter University		Mount Gould
Exmouth Town Reserves		Newton Abbot Reserves
Exwick Villa		Paignton Saints
Feniton		Plymouth Argyle Development
Heavitree United		Plympton Athletic
Liverton United		Plymstock United
Newtown		Roselands
North Molton		Torbay Police
St Martins		Totnes & Dartington
Teignmouth		Watcombe Wanderers
Topsham Town		Windmill

Please find below the latest advice from the FA concerning the restart of football from 29th March

There is a lot of information to read, digest & implement measures.

The main points are – No Dressing Rooms to be opened, No Spectators & No Hospitality until after 12th April.

The League’s Min-Tournament will be run on the lines of the existing League & Cup Rules with 2 amendments.

 1.  Sanction has been granted to Teams using 5‘Rolling Subs’ from 5 nominated to the Referee before a game starts.

 1.  From Group Winners Rounds to Final Tie,  players (apart from an emergency Goalkeeper) must have played 50% of the Group Qualifying games

Finally, a reminder that no Player Registrations (Apart from emergency Goalkeeper) is allowed after 31st March 2021.

We note the UK Government’s announcement on Monday 4 January with regards to the new national COVID-19 restrictions and lockdown.

As a result, the impact on ‘non-elite’ football in England will include the suspension of fixtures and training across the following with immediate effect:

·         Steps three to six of the National League System

·         Tiers three to seven of the Women’s Football Pyramid

·         Regional NLS feeder leagues

·         Barclays FA WSL Academy League (unless under elite status)

·         FA Girls Regional Talent Clubs (unless under elite status)

·         All indoor and outdoor youth and adult grassroots football, including under-18s (except organised outdoor football for disabled people, which is allowed to continue)

·         Vitality Women’s FA Cup (which is currently classified as ‘non-elite’ at this stage in the competition)

It is extremely important that clubs, players, coaches, match officials, league officials, volunteers, parents, carers and facility providers adhere to the Government’s new national COVID-19 lockdown restrictions and we implore everyone to follow these. 

Dialogue will continue with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport, leagues, competitions and County Football Associations and we will provide further updates for the 2020-21 Vitality Women’s FA Cup, Buildbase FA Vase and ‘non-elite’ football when relevant.

We would like to thank the football community once again for its hard work, resilience and understanding during such an incredibly challenging period for both the game and wider society

FA Staff

Picture ©MiraclePR.com

Applications are invited from Clubs wishing to join the Devon Football League in Season 2021-22.

Contact League Secretary, David Richardson – davidrich43@hotmail.com or 07962457444 for further details and an application form.

Closing date for return of forms – 31^st January 2021.

Further to the Government’s announcement placing Devon in Tier 3, the Scott Richards Devon Football League have decided to postpone all League games scheduled for the 2nd & 9th January 2021.

The position will be reviewed in time for a decision prior to the 16th January games.

The Football Association has provided an update for ‘non-elite’ football in England following the UK Government’s announcement on new national Covid-19 restrictions that will be in place from Thursday 5 November 2020 until Wednesday 2 December 2020.

As a result of the UK Government’s new national Covid-19 restrictions, and subject to Members of Parliament voting tomorrow [Wednesday 4 November 2020] and the publication of bespoke guidance from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport [DCMS], the impact on ‘non elite’ football in England will include the suspension of the following during this period:

· All fixtures and training for Steps 3-6 of the National League System [NLS];

· All fixtures and training for Tiers 3-7 of the Women’s Football Pyramid [WFP];

· All fixtures and training for the Regional NLS Feeder Leagues;

· All fixtures and training for The Barclays FA WSL Academy League;

· All fixtures and training for FA Girls Regional Talent Clubs;

· All fixtures and training for indoor and outdoor youth and adult grassroots football.

The FA’s aim is to ensure that the 2020/21 season is completed at these levels and will liaise with the relevant leagues in the NLS and WFP and the County Football Associations [CFAs] to provide support and establish appropriate options to do so if required.

The UK Government has confirmed that school sport can continue as an exemption during this period.

In addition, the UK Government has confirmed that all Emirates FA Cup First Round fixtures will go ahead as planned this weekend between Friday 6 and Monday 9 November 2020. The ten ‘non-elite’ clubs that remain in the competition will be able to play their fixtures under ‘elite’ protocols. In line with the new national Covid-19 restrictions, these ‘non-elite’ teams are only permitted to train together until Wednesday 4 November 2020.

Further updates on fixtures and dates for the 2020/21 Vitality Women’s FA Cup, The FA Youth Cup, Buildbase FA Trophy and Buildbase FA Vase will follow in due course.

Re-starting football at these levels has taken substantial determination and commitment from stakeholders across the game and The FA would like to thank everyone for their vital contributions. However, health and wellbeing remain the priority, so it is extremely important that clubs, players, coaches, match officials, league officials, volunteers, parents, carers and facility providers adhere to the UK Government’s new national Covid-19 restrictions during this period.

After a gruelling start to the season that saw Watcombe Wanderers suffer six straight defeats in the Scott Richards Solicitors Devon Football League, the Torbay outfit recorded their first win in superb style last weekend.

Drawing 0-0 with visitors Lakeside Athletic at the interval, Watcombe produced a stunning second-half to run out 5-1 winners, with a double from Chalmers-Wood and further goals from Constantinou, Nolan and Warde.

Okehampton Argyle and Buckland Athletic Reserves were also powerful winners in the South & West Division. New signing Rob Knight got off the mark in Okehampton’s 5-0 defeat of Kingsteignton Athletic, while there were goals from Dan Rankin, Cliff Walters, Callum Livingstone and Ryan Stanbridge in Buckland’s 4-0 victory over Bere Alston.

Plympton Athletic kept up the high-scoring theme with a 5-2 triumph over Waldon Athletic, Sam Davey scored twice in a 3-1 win for Plymstock at home to Totnes & Dartington, and Newton Abbot Spurs Reserves won 2-1 at Roselands.

In the North & East Division, there was a shock defeat for leaders Teignmouth at Liverton. In a terrific game of football that saw Teigns twice draw back on level terms, Neil Last lived up to his name with a last-minute winner for Livvy.

A Mark Saunders goal and Nathan May’s brace cemented third place for Exwick Villa, as they won 3-0 at Heavitree United, and Topsham Town were equally efficient in a 4-1 win over Chudleigh that included a double from Ethan Phillips.

Ryan Moody was simply sensational for Alphington, scoring all four goals in their 4-1 win over Budleigh Salterton, and birthday boy Kevin Pike was the star man for St Martins in a 2-1 triumph against Exmouth Town Reserves.

Braunton were brilliant in our final game from the weekend, with special mention to Ben Aiken, who notched four goals in the 6-1 win at Clyst Valley.

A stunning 10-0 victory for Teignmouth over Heavitree United was enough to lift the Teigns above University of Exeter to reach the summit of the North & East Division in the Scott Richards Solicitors Devon Football League.

While the students were without a game, third-placed Newtown were held to a tight 1-1 draw at home to St Martins. Scott Chambers scored for Newtown and man of the match went to Lee Bailey.

Braunton and Chudleigh shared an entertaining 3-3 draw, while there was another cracker at Liverton. Nick Edmunds and Neil Last gave Livvy a 2-0 lead over Budleigh Salterton but the visitors fought back to 2-2 before Last pinched the win in the second half.

It was the same scoreline at Topsham Town, where the hosts just edged out Exwick Villa in a tremendous local derby. Louis Cane, Lee Radford and Ben Watson scored for Topsham and Ash Hudd and Nathan May on target for Villa.

In the South & West Division, the form of Buckland Athletic Reserves is looking ominous for all rivals, as they moved into second place behind Ottery St Mary after a 9-0 thumping of Waldon Athletic, with Simon Revell grabbing a hat-trick.

Ottery were almost as impressive in their 5-0 victory at Lakeside Athletic, with Matt Webb notching a treble and goals from Jack Hobday and Luka Nickles. There was also a solid win for Roselands at Bere Alston.

Totnes & Dartington continued their resurgence with a 3-2 success at home to Newton Abbot Spurs Reserves and Paignton Saints produced an excellent fightback to defeat high-flying Okehampton Argyle 2-1, thanks to goals from Jamie Micklewright and Sam Alfieri.

The brilliant early-season form of Okehampton Argyle continued with a 5-2 win over Lakeside Athletic in the Scott Richards Solicitors Devon Football League S&W Division.

Ottery St Mary are the only side above Oke in the table following their 3-0 success over Paignton Villa, with Pete Grover grabbing a brace. Sam Davey scored an incredible five goals for Plymstock United in their 6-0 defeat of Bere Alston.

Roselands were also big winners, overcoming Waldon with a 5-1 victory, while ten-man Paignton Saints won 3-1 at Plympton. Totnes & Dartington recorded their first win of the campaign, defeating Watcombe 2-0, and the final game in S&W ended in a 2-2 draw between Plymouth Argyle Development and Newton Abbot Spurs Reserves.

In the N&E Division, Teignmouth are hot on the heels of leaders Exeter University after the Teigns won 5-2 at Chudleigh. Three penalties and a red card demonstrated a feisty affair at Clyst Valley, where Newtown triumphed 4-2 to cement third position.

A fine goal from James Marsh gave Braunton a 2-1 win at Alphington and St Martins were ruthlessly efficient in their 3-0 home win against Liverton.

The final two games ended in draws, as Budleigh Salterton battled to a 2-2 at Exwick Villa and Heavitree United shared a 1-1 stalemate with Topsham Town.