The promotion of Wellington into the Birmingham League, plus the sad demise of Trysull & Seisdon, has opened the door for a series of bonus promotions throughout the SCCL for next year.
Six third-placed teams and a further four fourth-placed sides have been promoted along with the usual winners and runners-up, with the entire mini-D8 being amalgamated into D7 after the further loss of Beacon 3, who have switched to the Sunday section.
It all leaves 97 teams in the Saturday section, and in turn enables the league committee to make different choices to last year, when the addition of three good-quality new arrivals meant a surfeit of relegation.
Frankton and Allscott are back in the Premier Division to replace Wellington and winless Newport, while 11th-placed Madeley survive. Not playing Newport at all owing to rain helped their cause, as did the historical gap in strength between the Premier and Division One. Newtown, third in D1, were seriously considered after the committee heard they were making ongoing plans for eventual life in the Premier.
Wellington 2 and Bridgnorth 2 have lost their places in D1, and are replaced by Chelmarsh, Ellesmere and Forton from the top of D2.
Because no two sides from the same club are allowed in the same division, Wellington 2's relegation means their 3rd XI have to go down as well, from D2 along with Pontesbury. The outstanding top D3 trio of Broseley, Column and Quatt 2 go up, while Trysull & Seisdon's withdrawal means a happy result for Montgomery, who are also promoted after finishing fourth and are keen to show their worth in a higher division.
Continuing the pattern of rewarding success rather than failure, four sides are also promoted from D4 – Wheaton Aston, Guilsfield, Whitchurch 2 and Newport 2. They replace Wem 2 and Madeley 2.
It's the same story in the links between D4 and D5. Church Stretton, Newtown 2, Priorslee and Llanidloes – their second fourth-placed promotion in three seasons – go up, with Bishops Castle and Bridgnorth 3 coming down.
Press repeat for D5-D6. Allscott 2, Lilleshall 2, Cound 2 and Wroxeter 2 step up, with Cae Glas and Calverhall going the other way.
The pattern alters slightly for D6-D7. Here the top three go up in Alberbury 2, Forton 2 and Condover 2. Bottom team Acton Reynald are relegated but Ludlow 3 narrowly survive. Their 185 points was better than most 11th-placed sides and deemed worthy to stay up in a three-way fight alongside Corvedale's 50-50 record in fourth place of the 10-team D7, and D8 champions Guilsfield 2 who were worthy winners of a topsy-turvy bottom section and came close to a place in D6.
D7 will contain 13 teams. Not an ideal number for the committee to administer but thanks to some hard work behind the scenes a 20-match grid will be in place. It will mean that each side will play eight others twice, and four others once. Fixtures will be random but should mean long-distance travelling is kept to a minimum.
Beacon CC are now known as Frankwell CC.
Premier Division to start on 20/04/24 with all other Saturday divisions on 27/04/24
Sunday Divisions are still being worked on and will be released in due course.
Nick Broadbent - SCCL Membership and Structure Sub Committee Chairman
