The 2019–20

Southern Combination Football League The Southern Combination Football League (named Premier Sports Southern Combination Football League) is a association football, football league broadly covering the counties of East Sussex, West Sussex, Surrey and London, South West London, Engl ...

season was the 95th in the history of the competition, which lies at levels 9 and 10 of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. The provisional club allocations for steps 5 and 6 were first announced by the FA on 19 May 2019. This season was also the first season the

sin bin The penalty box or sin bin (sometimes called the bad box, or simply bin or box) is the area in ice hockey, rugby union, rugby league, roller derby and some other sports where a player sits to serve the time of a given penalty, for an offence not ...

rule applied to this level of football.

League suspension and season abandonment

On 16 March 2020, both

the Football Association The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...

and the

Sussex County Football Association The Sussex County Football Association, also simply known as ''Sussex County FA'' or ''Sussex FA'', is the governing body of football in the county of Sussex, England. The Sussex County FA was founded on 23 September 1882 and run a number of Coun ...

announced that all football competitions for

Non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

would be put on hold until further notice due to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. A video conference between the FA and other leagues at levels 9 and 10 was held on 24 March with a view to start proceedings whether to cancel null the league or to award promotion or relegation based on points per game. As a result of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

pandemic A pandemic ( ) is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic (epi ...

, this season's competition was formally abandoned on 26 March 2020, with all results from the season being expunged, and no promotion or relegation taking place to, from, or within the competition. On 30 March 2020, sixty-six non-league clubs sent an

open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...

to the

Football Association A football association, also known as a football federation, soccer federation, or soccer association, is a governing body for association football. Many of them are members of the sport's regional bodies such as UEFA and CONMEBOL and the world gov ...

requesting that they reconsider their decision.

Premier Division

The Premier Division consists of 20 clubs, the same as last season, after

Arundel Arundel ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the Arun District of the South Downs, West Sussex, England. The much-conserved town has a medieval castle and Roman Catholic cathedral. Arundel has a museum and comes second behind much la ...

and Shoreham were relegated to Division One, and Chichester City were promoted to

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Division One South. Three clubs joined the division: *

Alfold Alfold is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England on the West Sussex border. Alfold is a dispersed or polyfocal village in the Green Belt, which is buffered from all other settlements. The Greensand Way runs north of the village along ...

– promoted from Division One * Steyning Town Community – promoted from Division One * Horley Town – transferred from

Combined Counties Football League The Combined Counties Football League is a regional men's Association football, football league in south-eastern England with members in Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Middlesex, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and the wester ...

Premier Division

Premier Division table at time of abandonment

Final table standing before the league was abandoned and expunged

Results table

Top scorers

''Correct as of 26 March 2020''

Stadia and locations

Broadbridge Heath moved to their new ground, called High Wood Hill, after playing at Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre between 1987 and 2019.

Division One

Division One remains at 18 clubs after

and Steyning Town were promoted to the Premier Division. One new club joined: *

– relegated from the Premier Division *

Roffey Horsham () is a market town on the upper reaches of the River Arun on the fringe of the Weald in West Sussex, England. The town is south south-west of London, north-west of Brighton and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Nearby ...

– promoted from Division Two * Shoreham – relegated from the Premier Division

Division One table at time of abandonment

Final table standing before the league was abandoned and expunged

Results table

Top scorers

''Correct as of 26 March 2020''

Stadia and locations

Division Two

Division Two remained at 15 teams and features two new clubs after

were promoted to Division One: * St Francis Rangers – who withdrew from Division One during the 2018–19 season, re-entered as an intermediate team. * TD Shipley – promoted from the

West Sussex Football League The West Sussex Football League is a football competition in England, formed in 1896. It comprises 78 teams across eight divisions, of which the highest - the Premier Division - sits at level 12 of the English football league system. It is a fee ...

*Angmering Seniors changed their name to Angmering Village Promotion from this division depends on ground grading as well as league position.

League table at time of abandonment

Final table standing before the league was abandoned and expunged

Results table

Top scorers

''Correct as of 26 March 2020''

Stadia and locations

Peter Bentley League Challenge Cup

Sourc
2019-20 Peter Bentley Challenge Cup
/small>

First round

Second round

Third round

Quarter-final

Semi-final

Final

Division One Challenge Cup

Sourc

First round

Second round

Quarter-final

References

External links

Southern Combination Football League
{{DEFAULTSORT:Southern Combination Football League 2019-20 9 Association football events curtailed and voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic 2019-20