2025–26 Southern Counties East Football League
The 2025–26 Southern Counties East Football League season is the 60th in the history of the Southern Counties East Football League, and the tenth year the competition will have two divisions, the Premier Division and Division One, at levels 9 and 10 of the English football league system. For the second consecutive season, the league will be known as Presence & Co. Southern Counties East League for sponsorship reasons.[1]
The provisional club allocations for steps 5 and 6 were announced by The Football Association on 15 May 2025.[2]
Premier Division
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
The Premier Division comprises sixteen teams from the previous season, along with three new clubs after Faversham Town and VCD Athletic were promoted to the Isthmian League South East Division and Lydd Town and Lordswood were relegated to Division One.
The three clubs joining the division were:
- Faversham Strike Force – Promoted from Division One
- Hythe Town – Relegated from Isthmian League South East Division
- Phoenix Sports – Relegated from Isthmian League South East Division
Premier Division table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hythe Town | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 3 | +7 | 7 | Promotion to the Isthmian League |
| 2 | Faversham Strike Force | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 7 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 3 | Bearsted | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | |
| 4 | Fisher | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 7 | |
| 5 | Kennington | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 6 | |
| 6 | Whitstable Town | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | +1 | 4 | |
| 7 | Erith & Belvedere | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 8 | Phoenix Sports | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 4 | |
| 9 | Sutton Athletic | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | |
| 10 | Stansfeld | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 5 | +1 | 3 | |
| 11 | Larkfield & New Hythe Wanderers | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 | |
| 12 | Hollands & Blair | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | |
| 13 | Tunbridge Wells | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 3 | |
| 14 | Holmesdale | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | |
| 15 | Snodland Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | −4 | 3 | |
| 16 | Rusthall | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 2 | |
| 17 | Chislehurst Glebe | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | −2 | 1 | |
| 18 | Punjab United | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 9 | −4 | 1 | |
| 19 | Corinthian | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | −6 | 1 | Relegation to Division One |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results
Results table
Stadia and locations
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bearsted | Otham | Honey Lane | 1,000 |
| Chislehurst Glebe | Chislehurst | Foxbury Avenue | 1,200 |
| Corinthian | Longfield | Gay Dawn Farm | 2,000 |
| Erith & Belvedere | Welling | Park View Road (groundshare with Welling United) | 4,000 |
| Faversham Strike Force | Faversham | The Belmont Ground (groundshare with Whitstable Town) | 3,000 |
| Fisher | Rotherhithe | St Paul's Sports Ground | 2,500 |
| Hollands & Blair | Gillingham | Star Meadow | 1,000 |
| Holmesdale | Bromley | Oakley Road | |
| Hythe Town | Hythe | Reachfields Stadium | 3,000 |
| Kennington | Kennington | The Homelands (groundshare with Ashford United) | 3,200 |
| Larkfield & New Hythe Wanderers | Larkfield | Larkfield & New Hythe Sports Club | 3,000 |
| Phoenix Sports | Barnehurst | Phoenix Sports Ground | 2,000 |
| Punjab United | Gravesend | Elite Venue | 600 |
| Rusthall | Rusthall | The Jockey Farm Stadium | 1,500 |
| Snodland Town | Snodland | Potyns Sports Ground | 1,000 |
| Stansfeld | Eltham | Badgers Sports Ground (groundshare with Cray Valley Paper Mills) | 1,550 |
| Sutton Athletic | Hextable | Lower Road | |
| Tunbridge Wells | Royal Tunbridge Wells | Culverden Stadium | 3,750 |
| Whitstable Town | Whitstable | The Belmont Ground | 3,000 |
Division One
| Season | 2025–26 |
|---|---|
← 2024–25 2026–27 → | |
Division One will consist of eighteen teams. Teams that left Division One from the previous season were Faversham Strike Force and Soul Tower Hamlets who were promoted to the Premier Division and the Essex Senior Football League respectively. Meridian VP and Canterbury City, who requested voluntary relegation, were both relegated to the Kent County League.
The five new teams who joined the division were:
- AFC Greenwich Borough – New club
- Banstead Athletic – Transferred from Southern Combination Division One
- Chessington & Hook United – Transferred from Southern Combination Division One
- Lordswood – Relegated from Premier Division
- Lydd Town – Relegated from Premier Division
Clapton Community were initially allocated to remain in Division One, however successfully won their appeal to be transferred back to the Eastern Counties League Division One South.[3]
Division One table
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AFC Greenwich Borough | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 2 | +4 | 7 | Promotion to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Lordswood | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 4 | +2 | 7 | Qualification for the play-offs |
| 3 | FC Elmstead | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 6 | |
| 4 | SE Dons | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | +4 | 6 | |
| 5 | Rochester United | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | +4 | 6 | |
| 6 | Greenways | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | +3 | 6 | |
| 7 | Staplehurst Monarchs | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 5 | |
| 8 | Halls Athletic | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3 | +1 | 3 | |
| 9 | Croydon | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
| 10 | Lydd Town | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 3 | |
| 11 | Welling Town | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 6 | −3 | 3 | |
| 12 | Chessington & Hook United | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 13 | Sporting Club Thamesmead | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 6 | −1 | 2 | |
| 14 | Bridon Ropes | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | −1 | 1 | |
| 15 | Tooting Bec | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | −2 | 1 | |
| 16 | Sheppey Sports | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 | Possible relegation to the Kent County League |
| 17 | Lewisham Borough | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 9 | −6 | 0 | |
| 18 | Banstead Athletic | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | −7 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results
Results table
Stadia and locations
| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC Greenwich Borough | Greenwich | Oakley Road (groundshare with Holmesdale) | |
| Banstead Athletic | Tadworth | Merland Rise | 1,500 |
| Bridon Ropes | Charlton | Meridian Sports & Social Club | |
| Chessington & Hook United | Chessington | Chalky Lane | 3,000 |
| Croydon | Croydon | Croydon Arena | 8,000 |
| FC Elmstead | Hextable | Lower Road (groundshare with Sutton Athletic) | |
| Greenways | Gravesend | Rochester United Sports Ground (groundshare with Rochester United) | 1,000 |
| Halls Athletic | Dartford | Princes Park (groundshare with Dartford) | 4,100 |
| Lewisham Borough | Catford | Ladywell Arena | |
| Lordswood | Lordswoood | Martyn Grove | 600 |
| Lydd Town | Lydd | The Lindsey Field | 1,000 |
| Rochester United | Strood | Rochester United Sports Ground | 1,000 |
| SE Dons | Chatham | The Bauvill Stadium (groundshare with Chatham Town) | 5,000 |
| Sheppey Sports | Isle of Sheppey | Holm Park (groundshare with Sheppey United) | 1,530 |
| Sporting Club Thamesmead | Thamesmead | Bayliss Avenue (groundshare with Erith Town) | 800 |
| Staplehurst Monarchs | Staplehurst | Jubilee Sports Ground | 1,000 |
| Tooting Bec | Tooting Bec | High Road (groundshare with Chipstead) | 2,000 |
| Welling Town | Welling | Erith Leisure Center |
References
- ^ "Southern Counties East Football League agrees two-year sponsorship deal with Tunbridge Wells-based Presence & Co". Kent Online. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 18 May 2025.
- ^ "The FA releases National League System club allocations for Steps 2-6 in 2025-26 term". www.thefa.com. 15 May 2025. Retrieved 17 May 2025.
- ^ "Clapton CFC Men's First Team's lateral move appeal is successful". www.claptoncfc.co.uk. 12 June 2025. Retrieved 15 June 2025.