# 2016–17 Eastern Counties Football League

The 2016–17 season was the 74th in the history of the Eastern Counties Football League, a football competition in England.
Mildenhall Town were champions, winning their first Eastern Counties Football League title and were promoted to the Isthmian League for the first time in their history.

## Premier Division

The Premier Division featured 18 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs, promoted from the Division One:
* Ely City
* Great Yarmouth Town
* Wivenhoe Town
The following five clubs applied for promotion to Step 4: Felixstowe & Walton United, Mildenhall Town, Newmarket Town, Stanway Rovers.

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Mildenhall Town | 40 | 32 | 3 | 5 | 97 | 29 | +68 | 99 | Promoted to the Isthmian League |
| 2 | Felixstowe & Walton United | 40 | 29 | 3 | 8 | 94 | 31 | +63 | 90 | |
| 3 | Newmarket Town | 40 | 26 | 6 | 8 | 122 | 70 | +52 | 84 | |
| 4 | Gorleston | 40 | 24 | 6 | 10 | 88 | 51 | +37 | 78 | |
| 5 | Great Yarmouth Town | 40 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 61 | 47 | +14 | 68 | |
| 6 | Stanway Rovers | 40 | 19 | 9 | 12 | 67 | 47 | +20 | 66 | |
| 7 | Thetford Town | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 75 | 46 | +29 | 65 | |
| 8 | Brantham Athletic | 40 | 17 | 9 | 14 | 67 | 57 | +10 | 60 | |
| 9 | Saffron Walden Town | 40 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 62 | 67 | −5 | 55 | |
| 10 | Ipswich Wanderers | 40 | 17 | 4 | 19 | 67 | 75 | −8 | 55 | |
| 11 | Kirkley & Pakefield | 40 | 15 | 9 | 16 | 73 | 61 | +12 | 54 | |
| 12 | Godmanchester Rovers | 40 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 69 | 74 | −5 | 53 | |
| 13 | Ely City | 40 | 12 | 11 | 17 | 63 | 73 | −10 | 47 | |
| 14 | Walsham-le-Willows | 40 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 67 | 87 | −20 | 47 | |
| 15 | Fakenham Town | 40 | 13 | 7 | 20 | 60 | 73 | −13 | 46 | |
| 16 | Haverhill Rovers | 40 | 11 | 11 | 18 | 57 | 72 | −15 | 44 | |
| 17 | Long Melford | 40 | 11 | 7 | 22 | 42 | 74 | −32 | 40 | |
| 18 | Hadleigh United | 40 | 10 | 8 | 22 | 51 | 82 | −31 | 38 | |
| 19 | Wivenhoe Town | 40 | 7 | 12 | 21 | 51 | 99 | −48 | 33 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Clacton | 40 | 9 | 4 | 27 | 52 | 114 | −62 | 31 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 21 | Swaffham Town | 40 | 6 | 8 | 26 | 45 | 101 | −56 | 26 | Relegated to Division One |
* ↑ Wivenhoe Town and Clacton were reprieved from relegation.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| Brantham Athletic | Brantham Leisure Centre | 1,200 |
| Clacton | The Rush Green Bowl | 3,000 |
| Ely City | Unwin Sports Ground | 1,500 |
| Fakenham Town | Clipbush Park | 2,000 |
| Felixstowe & Walton United | Dellwood Avenue | 2,000 |
| Godmanchester Rovers | Bearscroft Lane | 1,050 |
| Gorleston | Emerald Park | 3,000 |
| Great Yarmouth Town | Wellesley Recreation Ground | 3,600 |
| Hadleigh United | Millfield | 3,000 |
| Haverhill Rovers | New Croft | 3,000 |
| Ipswich Wanderers | Humber Doucy Lane | 1,000 |
| Kirkley & Pakefield | Walmer Road | 2,000 |
| Long Melford | Stoneylands | |
| Mildenhall Town | Recreation Way | 2,000 |
| Newmarket Town | Cricket Field Road | 2,750 |
| Saffron Walden Town | Catons Lane | 2,000 |
| Stanway Rovers | Hawthorns | 1,500 |
| Swaffham Town | Shoemakers Lane | |
| Thetford Town | Mundford Road | 1,500 |
| Walsham-le-Willows | Summer Road | 1,000 |
| Wivenhoe Town | Broad Lane | 2,876 |

## Division One

Division One featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with five new clubs:
* Coggeshall Town, promoted from Essex and Suffolk Border League
* Framlingham Town, promoted from the Suffolk and Ipswich League
* Holland, promoted from the Essex and Suffolk Border League
* Whitton United, relegated from the Premier Division
* Wisbech St Mary, promoted from the Cambridgeshire County League

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Stowmarket Town | 40 | 28 | 10 | 2 | 108 | 22 | +86 | 93 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 2 | Coggeshall Town | 40 | 27 | 9 | 4 | 127 | 34 | +93 | 90 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 3 | Haverhill Borough | 40 | 27 | 7 | 6 | 116 | 41 | +75 | 88 | Promoted to the Premier Division |
| 4 | Woodbridge Town | 40 | 26 | 5 | 9 | 126 | 46 | +80 | 83 | |
| 5 | Holland | 40 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 105 | 48 | +57 | 77 | |
| 6 | Diss Town | 40 | 21 | 8 | 11 | 88 | 60 | +28 | 71 | |
| 7 | Framlingham Town | 40 | 20 | 10 | 10 | 82 | 62 | +20 | 70 | |
| 8 | Braintree Town reserves | 40 | 22 | 3 | 15 | 72 | 59 | +13 | 69 | |
| 9 | Halstead Town | 40 | 18 | 11 | 11 | 72 | 64 | +8 | 65 | |
| 10 | King's Lynn Town reserves | 40 | 19 | 6 | 15 | 69 | 55 | +14 | 63 | |
| 11 | Whitton United | 40 | 17 | 3 | 20 | 73 | 90 | −17 | 54 | |
| 12 | Debenham LC | 40 | 15 | 8 | 17 | 58 | 69 | −11 | 53 | |
| 13 | Wisbech St Mary | 40 | 15 | 7 | 18 | 68 | 76 | −8 | 52 | |
| 14 | Downham Town | 40 | 13 | 12 | 15 | 74 | 70 | +4 | 51 | |
| 15 | Cornard United | 40 | 13 | 8 | 19 | 63 | 72 | −9 | 47 | |
| 16 | March Town United | 40 | 9 | 10 | 21 | 49 | 91 | −42 | 37 | |
| 17 | Team Bury | 40 | 11 | 3 | 26 | 56 | 104 | −48 | 36 | |
| 18 | AFC Sudbury reserves | 40 | 10 | 5 | 25 | 63 | 92 | −29 | 35 | |
| 19 | Needham Market reserves | 40 | 6 | 4 | 30 | 54 | 151 | −97 | 22 | |
| 20 | Dereham Town reserves | 40 | 5 | 4 | 31 | 36 | 136 | −100 | 19 | Resigned from the league |
| 21 | Leiston reserves | 40 | 3 | 3 | 34 | 37 | 154 | −117 | 12 | |
* ↑ Stowmarket Town were deducted one point on 21 December for a contravention of league rules.

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Stadium | Capacity |
| AFC Sudbury reserves | King's Marsh | 2,500 |
| Braintree Town reserves | Cressing Road | 4,202 |
| Coggeshall Town | West Street | |
| Cornard United | Blackhouse Lane | 2,000 |
| Debenham LC | Maitlands | 1,000 |
| Dereham Town reserves | Aldiss Park | 3,000 |
| Diss Town | Brewers Green Lane | 2,500 |
| Downham Town | Memorial Field | 1,000 |
| Framlingham Town | Badingham Road | |
| Halstead Town | Rosemary Lane | 1,000 |
| Haverhill Borough | New Croft (groundshare with Haverhill Rovers) | 3,000 |
| Holland | Rush Green Bowl (groundshare with FC Clacton) | 3,000 |
| King's Lynn Town reserves | The Walks | 5,733 |
| Leiston reserves | Victory Road | 2,500 |
| March Town United | The GER Sports Ground | |
| Needham Market reserves | Bloomfields | 4,000 |
| Stowmarket Town | Greens Meadow | 1,000 |
| Team Bury | Ram Meadow (groundshare with Bury Town) | 3,500 |
| Whitton United | King George V Playing Fields | 1,000 |
| Wisbech St Mary | Beechings Close | |
| Woodbridge Town | Notcutts Park | 3,000 |