Table One detailed below, shows the most recent and up to date standings in the NCEL Premier Division, while Table Two shows where the clubs would finish if (a word with just two letters but many connotations) the season had to end right now, without any further games being played and it was decided to deliberate the final placings by calculating a points per game average total for each team.
Table Three and Four work along exactly the same lines as One and Two, but cover the NCEL Division 1 placings instead.
Where clubs have both had the same PPG totals, I have used goal difference to separate them in their respective divisions.
I must stress, this is purely an hypothetical number-crunching exercise on my part... and to that end I have no inside information as regards any official NCEL business, nor am I privy to anything that might already have been discussed behind closed doors.
For the record, I don't personally favour any particular method or option as regards either the deciding of league positions, or the nulling and voiding yet another season.
To that end, I will gladly leave that kind of stuff to all of you experts out there... and going by the huge amount of theories and opinions being posted out there on various social media platforms, there are an awful lot of you (and a lot of you are awful) who seem to think that they have all of the answers to this multi-layered and complex matter.
Table One:
PD PTS GD
1 Yorkshire Amateur 11 29 27
2 Bridlington Town 9 21 24
3 Liversedge 7 21 22
4 Garforth Town 9 21 10
5 Maltby Main 10 18 6
6 AFC Mansfield 9 17 17
7 Handsworth 12 17 -3
8 Grimsby Borough 10 16 6
9 Barton Town 11 14 -9
10 Albion Sports 9 13 0
11 Eccleshill United 11 13 -4
12 Penistone Church 7 12 6
13 Hemsworth MW 7 12 3
14 Goole AFC 11 11 -21
15 Silsden AFC 10 10 -6
16 Thackley 11 8 -11
17 Staveley MW 6 7 -1
18 Knaresborough T 9 7 -9
19 Bottesford Town 11 4 -24
20 Athersley Rec 10 3 -33
Table Two:
PPG
1 Liversedge 3.000
2 Yorkshire Amateur 2,6363r
3 Bridlington Town 2.3333
4 Garforth Town 2.3333
5 AFC Mansfield 1.888r
6 Maltby Main 1.8000
7 Penistone Church 1.7142
8 Hemsworth MW 1.7142
9 Grimsby Borough 1.6000
10 Albion Sports 1.4444
11 Handsworth 1.4166
12 Barton Town 1.2727
13 Eccleshill United 1.1818
14 Staveley MW 1.1666
15 Silsden AFC 1.000
16 Goole AFC 1.0000
17 Knaresborough T 0.7777
18 Thackley 0.7272
19 Bottesford Town 0.3636
20 Athersley Rec 0.3000
Table Three:
PD PTS GD
1 Emley AFC 10 26 18
2 Campion 11 24 17
3 Winterton Rangers 9 22 23
4 North Ferriby 10 22 11
5 Retford FC 13 21 6
6 Brigg Town 11 20 13
7 Rossington Main 12 18 5
8 Skegness Town 8 16 5
9 Parkgate 10 16 -2
10 Hall Road Rangers 10 14 -3
11 Hallam 8 13 4
12 Nostell MW 12 12 -8
13 Glasshoughton Wel 12 11 1
14 Armthorpe Wel 12 11 -14
15 Swallownest 8 10 -1
16 Dronfield Town 11 10 -11
17 Harrogate RA 8 9 -9
18 East Hull 10 7 -23
19 Worsbrough BA 13 6 -21
20 Selby Town 6 3 -11
Table Four:
PPG
1 Emley AFC 2.6000
2 Winterton Rangers 2.4444
3 North Ferriby 2.2000
4 Campion 2.1818
5 Skegness Town 2.0000
6 Brigg Town 1.8181
8 Hallam 1.6250
7 Retford FC 1.6153
9 Parkgate 1.6000
10 Rossington Main 1.5000
11 Hall Road Rangers 1.4000
12 Swallownest 1.2500
13 Harrogate RA 1.1250
14 Nostell MW 1.0000
15 Glasshoughton Wel 0.9166
16 Armthorpe Wel 0.9166
17 Dronfield Town 0.9090
18 East Hull 0.7000
19 Selby Town 0.5000
20 Worsbrough BA 0.4615
Feb 14th 2021 - Footnote:
For the benefit of those of you who have gotten all stroppy and taken umbrage with me pertaining to the vagaries of the above topic, might I politely point you in the general direction of the title of this blog post: The NCEL... a purely hypothetical scenario.
I'm neither condoning nor condemning any kind of mathematical equation for determining the NCEL's final league tables placings when the current campaign ends prematurely (and it will).
In actual fact, my pert buttocks are full of splinters from sitting on the fence as regards any of the above.
My swingometer isn't pointing in any particular direction, because there isn't a one-size fits all solution to the complexities of this situation... which side are you dressing to?
Footnote #2:
And it came to pass that the elders of the NCEL eventually reached the decision that they would combine the above totals with those of the previous season to work out the final league placings on an average points per game ratio... and we all lived happily ever after.
