THE South Devon Football League returns for its 124th season and in a healthier condition than it has been for some time, writes Alastair Muirden.

In fact, you would have to go back to 2016 to find more teams in the competition and 2013 to find six divisions.

Whilst the divisions may be smaller, they will still offer competitive football and help teams to avoid the traditional end of season fixture pile up which last season caused one team to play nine games in 14 days as a result of the wettest winter on record.

It has certainly been a rollercoaster of a summer as far as ins and outs are concerned, the league saw 13 new applicants of which 11 were voted in by the member clubs at the annual general meeting and two late applications were accepted by way of an electronic special general meeting.

On the flip side, South Brent, Totnes/Dartington 2nds, Teign Village, Harbertonford, Upton Ath, Barton Ath 1sts and WBB 1sts have decided to withdraw their teams following the departure of some volunteers, and those departures may not be over either.

Losing any team is disappointing and the league management have been particularly disappointed to lose two legendary teams in Upton Ath and Harbertonford. And when you consider that WBB won Division One and the county senior cup, it is clear to see that the landscape of Saturday adult football is changing.

New teams joining the competition that all fall within the 40-mile radius include Newton Albion who will play at Long Lane, Tavistock AFC have entered a 2nd and 3rd team which will give players the opportunity to play on a step five ground and nearby Horrabridge Rangers who also have tremendous facilities will welcome visiting teams up the A386.

Also, current members Signal Box Oak Villa have entered a 2nd team who will play at Manadon 3G and a U18 team from Windmill will play at Millenium Fields. Ilsington Villa have also linked up with a U18 team to represent them as a reserve team in the competition plus Buckland Athletic’s U18s are set to step up and become their 3rd XI, playing at Decoy Park.

Lakeside Ath 2nd XI and Sunday-side Tamerton Foliot are the two late applications.

Talking of Lakeside and their 1st XI will be looking to retain their Premier Division title, but a number of clubs have made some noteworthy summer signings and will be working hard to be there or thereabouts come May.

Division One is going to be another rollercoaster of a season and I can see seven teams that will consider themselves to be championship contenders, whereas there are six who could be firmly in the mix in Division Two.

Division Three is difficult to look much further than new boys Horrabridge Rangers who are not in the division they would like to be in but sometimes you have to take a step back to take two steps forward.

Division Four is difficult to preview with five of the 10 teams being new to the competition but Lakeside 2nds could well be punching below their weight and lastly, Division Five also provides an unknown quantity in truth.

Buckland 3rds get the ball rolling in Division Four on Friday night, playing at Homers Heath against Paignton Villa 3rds.

Other games of note on the opening weekend include Horrabridge vs Newton 66 2nds and Kingskerswell vs Tavistock 2nds.