1976–77 Western Football League
# 1976–77 Western Football League

The 1976–77 season was the 75th in the history of the Western Football League. The league was split into two divisions for the first time since 1959–60.

The league champions for the third time in their history, and the third season in succession, were Falmouth Town. The champions of the new Division One were newcomers Saltash United.

This season was the last in which goal average decided places for teams which were level on points.

## Final tables

### Premier Division

The new Premier Division was created from the top eighteen clubs in the old single division of the previous season.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Falmouth Town | 34 | 26 | 2 | 6 | 69 | 24 | 2.875 | 80 | |
| 2 | Weston-super-Mare | 34 | 18 | 12 | 4 | 57 | 31 | 1.839 | 66 | |
| 3 | Clevedon | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 58 | 31 | 1.871 | 64 | |
| 4 | Bridgwater Town | 34 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 51 | 36 | 1.417 | 61 | |
| 5 | Barnstaple Town | 34 | 16 | 9 | 9 | 64 | 48 | 1.333 | 57 | |
| 6 | Bideford | 34 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 70 | 38 | 1.842 | 56 | |
| 7 | Bridport | 34 | 16 | 8 | 10 | 53 | 35 | 1.514 | 56 | |
| 8 | Paulton Rovers | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 52 | 46 | 1.130 | 49 | |
| 9 | Taunton Town | 34 | 14 | 6 | 14 | 49 | 46 | 1.065 | 48 | Joined the Southern League |
| 10 | Dawlish | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 36 | 41 | 0.878 | 43 | |
| 11 | Glastonbury | 34 | 11 | 8 | 15 | 56 | 58 | 0.966 | 41 | |
| 12 | Frome Town | 34 | 10 | 11 | 13 | 45 | 52 | 0.865 | 41 | |
| 13 | Tiverton Town | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 35 | 61 | 0.574 | 40 | |
| 14 | Welton Rovers | 34 | 9 | 9 | 16 | 35 | 46 | 0.761 | 36 | |
| 15 | Mangotsfield United | 34 | 10 | 4 | 20 | 36 | 66 | 0.545 | 34 | |
| 16 | St Luke's College | 34 | 7 | 6 | 21 | 32 | 61 | 0.525 | 27 | |
| 17 | Exeter City Reserves | 34 | 7 | 3 | 24 | 36 | 76 | 0.474 | 23 | |
| 18 | Westland-Yeovil (R) | 34 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 31 | 69 | 0.449 | 22 | Relegated to Division One |

* ↑ Exeter City Reserves had one point deducted for fielding an ineligible player.

### First Division

The new First Division consisted of the bottom five clubs from the previous season, plus thirteen new clubs:

* Brixham United, from the Plymouth & District League.
* Chard Town, from the Somerset Senior League.
* Clandown, rejoining after leaving in 1960.
* Heavitree United
* Ilminster Town
* Larkhall Athletic
* Ottery St Mary, from the South Western League.
* Portway Bristol
* Saltash United, from the South Western League.
* Shepton Mallet Town, from the Somerset Senior League.
* Swanage Town & Herston
* Torquay United Reserves, rejoining after leaving in 1973.
* Yeovil Town Reserves, rejoining after leaving in 1970.

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Promotion |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Saltash United (P) | 34 | 24 | 6 | 4 | 81 | 29 | 2.793 | 78 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Shepton Mallet Town (P) | 34 | 23 | 7 | 4 | 84 | 39 | 2.154 | 76 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Keynsham Town | 34 | 23 | 2 | 9 | 87 | 38 | 2.289 | 71 | |
| 4 | Melksham Town | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 69 | 36 | 1.917 | 67 | |
| 5 | Chippenham Town | 34 | 17 | 6 | 11 | 53 | 43 | 1.233 | 57 | |
| 6 | Devizes Town | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 58 | 44 | 1.318 | 52 | |
| 7 | Torquay United Reserves | 34 | 15 | 3 | 16 | 61 | 59 | 1.034 | 48 | |
| 8 | Portway Bristol | 34 | 13 | 9 | 12 | 57 | 58 | 0.983 | 48 | |
| 9 | Larkhall Athletic | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 59 | 69 | 0.855 | 46 | |
| 10 | Clandown | 34 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 54 | 58 | 0.931 | 42 | |
| 11 | Yeovil Town Reserves | 34 | 11 | 7 | 16 | 52 | 55 | 0.945 | 40 | |
| 12 | Brixham United | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 45 | 77 | 0.584 | 35 | |
| 13 | Ottery St Mary | 34 | 8 | 10 | 16 | 41 | 61 | 0.672 | 34 | |
| 14 | Exmouth Town | 34 | 9 | 7 | 18 | 40 | 68 | 0.588 | 34 | |
| 15 | Chard Town | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 43 | 63 | 0.683 | 33 | |
| 16 | Swanage Town & Herston | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 48 | 72 | 0.667 | 33 | |
| 17 | Ilminster Town | 34 | 8 | 9 | 17 | 39 | 69 | 0.565 | 33 | |
| 18 | Heavitree United | 34 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 23 | 56 | 0.411 | 22 | |

* ↑ Devizes Town had one point deducted for fielding an ineligible player.
