West of England Premier League

Last updated

West of England Premier League
CountriesFlag of England.svg  England
Administrator ECB
Format Limited overs cricket
First edition1999 (ECB Premier League)
Next edition2024
Tournament formatLeague
Number of teams10 (Premier One)
Current championBath CC
Most successfulBath CC (13 titles)

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]

Contents

Since its inception in 1999, the most successful club has been Bath, having won the Premier One title on thirteen occasions. The only other clubs to have won the title on more than one occasion are Frocester (2007, 2014, and 2015), Clevedon (2018 and 2021), and Taunton St Andrews (2001 and 2009).

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 & SomersetPremier 2 Gloucestershire & Wiltshire
Bristol & N.SomersetSomersetGloucestershireWiltshire

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:

Winners

1999–2006

YearFirst tierSecond tierThird tierFourth tier
Premier OnePremier TwoBristol & SomersetGlos & WiltsBristol & N. SomSomersetGlos & 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.

YearFirst tierSecond tierThird tierFourth tier
Premier OnePremier TwoBristol & SomersetGlos & WiltsBristol & N. SomSomersetGloucestershireWiltshire
2007 Frocester Downend Lansdown Warminster Winterbourne Winscombe Rockhampton Wootton Bassett
2008 Bath (6) Bristol Taunton Chippenham Bedminster Ashcott and Shapwick Stroud Lechlade
2009 Taunton St Andrews (2) Taunton Ashcott and Shapwick Westbury and District Old Bristolians Westbury Chard Hatherley and Reddings Potterne
2010 Bath (7) Downend Bristol West Indians Gloucester City Winget Bishopston Uphill Castle Dumbleton Goatacre
2011 Bath (8) Gloucester City Winget Chard Goatacre Chipping Sodbury Midsomer Norton Painswick Winsley
2012 Bridgwater Ashcott and Shapwick Minehead Cheltenham Frenchay Street Dumbleton Lechlade
2013 Bath (9) Taunton Deane Clevedon Potterne Chew Magna Wembdon Tewkesbury Swindon
2014 Frocester (2) Ilminster Taunton Lechlade Lansdown Frome Apperley Burbage and Easton Royal
2015 Frocester (3) Potterne Bedminster Rockhampton Claverham (Yatton) North Perrott Dumbleton Trowbridge

2016–2024

In 2016 Premier Two was eliminated, and there were now two divisions in the second tier and four divisions in the third tier.

YearFirst tierSecond tierThird tier
Premier OneBristol & SomersetGlos & WiltsBristol & N. SomSomersetGloucestershireWiltshire
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 (1) Lansdown Cheltenham Winterbourne North Perrott Frocester 2nd XI Chippenham
2019 Potterne Taunton Deane Chippenham Bath 2nd XI Frome Hatherley and Reddings Marshfield
2020 no competition
2021 Clevedon (2) Taunton St Andrews Thornbury Golden Hill Shapwick and Polden Corse and Staunton Warminster
2022 Bath (12) Bristol Frocester Keynsham Bridgwater 2nd XI Painswick Royal Wootton Bassett
2023 Bath (13) Bishopston Burbage and Easton Royal Congresbury Wellington Dumbleton Avebury
2024 Downend Thornbury Old Bristolians Westbury Taunton Tewkesbury Purton

Premier One performance by season from 1999

Key
GoldChampions
RedRelegated
BlueLeft League
Performance by season, from 1999
Club1999200020012002200320042005200620072008200920102011201220132014201520162017201820192021202220232024
Ashcott and Shapwick710
Bath113212114141121231122311
Bedminster773536
Bishopston
Bridgwater8862315575865644
Bristol [a] 263898876378645103
Bristol West Indians689810
Burbage and Easton Royal
Cheltenham245217671049
Chippenham439859
Clevedon25216110
Clifton Flax Bourton [a] 27
Corsham35665645584864310
Downend9610971053646853810
Frenchay310
Frocester41334282112395
Glastonbury2352710
Gloucester City Winget10
Goatacre10
Ilminster971010
Keynsham6871643899
Knowle899
Lansdown10107477
Lechlade9
Optimists [a] 710
Potterne4641222
Stroud511
Taunton7559910
Taunton Deane649397810
Taunton St Andrews517474226136548598968
Thornbury3454810710109
Trowbridge11
Weston super Mare8910352799
References [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26]
  1. 1 2 3 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.

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References

  1. List of ECB Premier Leagues
  2. "League Cricket in England and Wales in 1999". Wisden Cricketers' Almanack (2000 ed.). John Wisden & Co Ltd. p. 1022.
  3. "West of England Premier League 2000". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  4. "West of England Premier League 2001". CricketArchive. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  5. "Premier One - 2002".
  6. "Nine days to settle result of final game". Gazette and Herald . 12 September 2002. Retrieved 27 March 2014.
  7. "Premier One - 2003".
  8. "Premier One - 2004".
  9. "Premier One - 2005".
  10. "Premier One - 2006".
  11. "Premier One - 2007".
  12. "Premier One - 2008".
  13. "Premier One - 2009".
  14. "Premier One - 2010".
  15. "Premier One - 2011".
  16. "Premier One - 2012".
  17. "Premier One - 2013".
  18. "Premier One - 2014".
  19. "Premier One - 2015".
  20. "Premier One - 2016".
  21. "Premier One - 2017".
  22. "Premier One - 2018".
  23. "Premier One - 2019".
  24. "Premier One - 2021".
  25. "Premier One - 2022".
  26. "Premier One - 2023".