Level 9 Complications

I started checking the Level 9 leagues and realised that the F.A. has achieved their aim of having 16 leagues at this level. They do not, however, match up with the leagues at level 8 so I was interested to see the match-ups for the playoff games. The one that hit my attention was Great Wakering Rovers (Essex) versus Quorn (Midlands) which seemed to be the playoff for the Isthmian League North Division. Are they really going to extend the Isthmian League into the Midlands?

With Skelmersdale United being ejected from the Northern Premier League Division One West and North Shields being ejected from the Northern Premier League Division One East (I thought it was hard enough to get Northern League teams to join the system without throwing them out once they DO join), I can only find one team joining each league from Level 9 so I am going to be watching with interest to see how they manage this situation. We now need two new teams for each of these leagues (or reprieves for relegated sides).

I have assumed where two of the automatically promoted teams fit. I have put Rugby Town into the Northern Premier League Midlands Division and I have put Bemerton Heath Harlequins into the Southern League One South Division. This leaves Badshot Lea from the Combined Counties League Premier South Division with nowhere to go. There has to be some fiddling ... There always is!

Armed with this information I publish the Level 9 tables with playoff results. League by League.