Sunday 21st June 2015

The Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division landscape will be a much changed one for the 2015/16 season, with five changes from last season when Wootton Bassett Town finished 11th, their highest ever placing in the division.

The division's constitution was confirmed at the league AGM on Sunday afternoon. And the new campaign will see Longlevens, Wokingham and Emmbrook, Brackley Town Saints, Lydney Town and Tuffley Rovers taking to the field in its top tier.

That quintet replaces Reading Town, Newbury, Shrivenham and Cheltenham Saracens, who were all relegated by virtue of finishing in the bottom four last season, and Holyport, who took voluntary demotion.

Following their decision not to take promotion after being shifted to Southern League's Division One South and West Division, champions Flackwell Heath remain in the Hellenic Premier.

Among the division's newcomers – three of which are based in Gloucestershire – are an intriguing mix of old and new opponents. All are expected to add quality and depth to what is already a competitive league.

Longlevens continued their impressive march through the divisions by claiming the Division One West crown in their first year at step six after promotion from the Gloucestershire County League. Their league encounters with Bassett will therefore be the first between the teams. Longlevens did meet Bassett in the Challenge Cup in 2014/15, defeating Paul Braithwaite's 3-2 after extra time in an entertaining clash.

There's much more history between Bassett and the other two promoted sides from Gloucestershire though.

In the case of Lydney – up to the Premier for only the second time after finishing third in Division One West – that history is rather recent, and not particularly memorable for Bassett. In ten league meetings between Lydney's first venture in the Hellenic League in 2006/07 and 2012/13, there were three Bassett victories, two draws and five triumphs for the Severnsiders. The most recent clash came in the Challenge Cup in 2013/14, with Lydney romping to a 5-2 win.

It's been much longer since Bassett and Tuffley came up against one another however. There have been 14 league contests in all between the teams, with just two wins for Bassett, six draws and six Tuffley triumphs. The last of these contests came back in 2004/05 though, when Bassett were relegated from the Premier Division.

Rovers resigned from the Hellenic League the following season and, after re-grouping in the Gloucestershire Northern Senior League, worked their way through the divisions before eventually gaining promotion to Division One West in 2013/14. After a sixth place finish in their first season back, they finished runners-up last season to restore their Premier Division place after a decade away.

The only new boy from the East Bassett have any previous with is Wokingham and Emmbrook, the Division's champions who will be based at Henley Town's ground. Promoted together to the Premier Division for the 2010/11 season, the two meetings that year ended in a 2-1 home victory for Bassett and a goalless draw in the return fixture played at Wokingham's previous landlords Bracknell Town. Despite finishing 11th and then 10th a season later, the ending of their groundshare led to a return to Division One East.

However, they have been able to agree a deal with new landlords, meaning they can ply their trade at step five while continuing to work towards securing a suitable facility of their own in Wokingham.

Bassett's first meeting with Brackley Town Saints will be the inaugural clash between the teams. The Development team of Conference North outfit and ex-Hellenic foes Brackley Town, they finished runners-up in One East last season. While their parent team were Hellenic members, Bassett met them four times in the league, winning and drawing once and losing on the other two occasions.

The full constitution is:

Abingdon United
Ardley United
Ascot United
Binfield
Brackley Town Saints
Bracknell Town
Brimscombe and Thrupp
Flackwell Heath
Highmoor Ibis
Highworth Town
Kidlington
Longlevens
Lydney Town
Milton United
Oxford City Nomads
Royal Wootton Bassett Town
Thame United
Thatcham Town
Tuffley Rovers
Wokingham and Emmbrook

The map below shows the location of all teams, with details of Bassett's Hellenic League record against each available when clicking on the markers: