West of England Premier League
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The West of England Premier League (WEPL) is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in the West of England and is a designated ECB Premier League.[1]
Since its inception in 1999, the most successful club has been Bath, having won the Premier One title on eleven occasions. The only other clubs to have won the title on more than one occasion are Frocester (2007, 2014 and 2015) and Taunton St Andrews (2001 and 2009).
The Premier Division One clubs for 2019 are: Bath, Bedminster, Bridgwater, Bristol, Cheltenham, Clevedon, Downend, Lansdown, Potterne, and Taunton St Andrews.
Structure
The WEPL covers the counties of Bristol, Somerset, Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, and is the top tier of the pyramid structure of leagues in the area. The league has seven divisions, with the top league, Premier One covering the entire region, and the remainder covering more localised areas. The seven divisions each have ten teams, and are split into three distinct 'tiers':
| Premier One | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Premier 2 Bristol & Somerset | Premier 2 Gloucestershire & Wiltshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bristol & N.Somerset | Somerset | Gloucestershire | Wiltshire | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The structure changed after the 2015 season by eliminating Premier Division Two, so that the winners of the Bristol and Somerset Division and the Gloucestershire and Wiltshire Division are now promoted directly into Premier Division One.
There are four feeder leagues serving the WEPL, each having a direct link with one of the lower divisions as follows:
- Bristol and North Somerset - Bristol & District Cricket Association
- Somerset - Somerset Cricket League
- Gloucestershire - Gloucestershire County Cricket League
- Wiltshire - Wiltshire County Cricket League
Winners
1999–2006
| Year | First tier | Second tier | Third tier | Fourth tier | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier One | Premier Two | Bristol & Somerset | Glos & Wilts | Bristol & N. Som | Somerset | Glos & Wilts Two | |
| 1999 | Bath (1) | ||||||
| 2000 | Bath (2) | ||||||
| 2001 | Taunton St Andrews (1) | ||||||
| 2002 | Keynsham | Taunton | Westlands Sports | Frocester | Hanham | Glastonbury | Trowbridge |
| 2003 | Bath (3) | Frenchay | Glastonbury | Winget | Claverham | Taunton Deane | Lydney |
| 2004 | Cheltenham | Glastonbury | Taunton Deane | Stroud | Winterbourne | Uphill Castle | Swindon |
| 2005 | Bath (4) | Frocester | Bridgwater | Trowbridge | Westbury and District | Winscombe | Gloucester City Winget |
| 2006 | Bath (5) | Weston-super-Mare | Knowle | Westbury and District | Timsbury | Minehead | Marshfield |
2007–2015
In 2007 Gloucestershire/Wiltshire Two was replaced by separate divisions for Gloucestershire and Wiltshire.
2016 to date
In 2016 Premier Two was eliminated, and there were now two divisions in the second tier and four divisions in the third tier.
| Year | First tier | Second tier | Third tier | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Premier One | Bristol & Somerset | Glos & Wilts | Bristol & N. Som | Somerset | Gloucestershire | Wiltshire | |
| 2016 | Bath (10) | Bedminster | Lechlade | Claverham (Yatton) | Glastonbury | Hatherley and Reddings | Westbury and District |
| 2017 | Bath (11) | Taunton St Andrews | Goatacre | Midsomer Norton | Weston super Mare | Dumbleton | Trowbridge |
| 2018 | Clevedon | Lansdown | Cheltenham | Winterbourne | North Perrott | Frocester II | Chippenham |
| 2019 | Potterne | ||||||
Performance by season from 1999
| Key | |
|---|---|
| Gold | Champions |
| Red | Relegated |
| Blue | Left League |
| 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashcott and Shapwick | 7 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bath | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | - | 3 | ||
| Bedminster | 7 | 7 | 3 | - | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Bridgwater | 8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | - | 6 | ||||||||||
| Bristol 1 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 10 | |||||||||
| Bristol West Indians | 6 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Cheltenham | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 4 | - | 9 | |||||||||||||
| Chippenham | ? | 3 | 9 | - | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Clevedon | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6 | - | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Clifton Flax Bourton 1 | ? | 7 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Corsham | 2 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 10 | |||||||||
| Downend | ? | 6 | 10 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 8 | - | 10 | ||||||||
| Frenchay | 3 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Frocester | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | ||||||||||||
| Glastonbury | 2 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Gloucester City Winget | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Goatacre | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ilminster | 9 | 7 | 10 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Keynsham | ? | 8 | 7 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||
| Knowle | 8 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Lansdown | ? | 10 | 7 | - | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Lechlade | 9 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Optimists 1 | ? | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Potterne | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | - | 2 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Stroud | ? | 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taunton | 7 | 5 | 5 | 9 | 9 | 10 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Taunton Deane | 6 | 4 | 9 | 3 | 9 | - | 7 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Taunton St Andrews | 5 | 1 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | ||||||
| Thornbury | ? | 4 | 5 | 4 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 10 | 10 | ||||||||||||||||
| Trowbridge | ? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weston super Mare | 9 | 10 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 7 | 9 | 9 | |||||||||||||||||
| [2] | [3] | [4][5] | [6] | [7] | [8] | [9] | [10] | [11] | [12] | [13] | [14] | [15] | [16] | [17] | [18] | [19] | [20] | [21] | [22] | [23][a] | [24] | ||||
- ^ Due to the Coronavirus pandemic an ad-hoc interim league was set up during the late summer of 2020.
- ^1 Clifton Flax Bourton went out of existence after the 2001 season; many of their players then joined Optimists (originally an offshoot of Clifton) who adopted the name Optimists and Clifton, and changed their name to Bristol in 2005.
References
- ^ List of ECB Premier Leagues
- ^ "West of England Premier League 2000". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ "West of England Premier League 2001". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ "Premier One - 2002".
- ^ "Nine days to settle result of final game". Gazette and Herald. 12 September 2002. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
- ^ "Premier One - 2003".
- ^ "Premier One - 2004".
- ^ "Premier One - 2005".
- ^ "Premier One - 2006".
- ^ "Premier One - 2007".
- ^ "Premier One - 2008".
- ^ "Premier One - 2009".
- ^ "Premier One - 2010".
- ^ "Premier One - 2011".
- ^ "Premier One - 2012".
- ^ "Premier One - 2013".
- ^ "Premier One - 2014".
- ^ "Premier One - 2015".
- ^ "Premier One - 2016".
- ^ "Premier One - 2017".
- ^ "Premier One - 2018".
- ^ "Premier One - 2019".
- ^ "Premier One - 2020".
- ^ "Premier One - 2021".