Non-league side AFC Whyteleafe win title after third-placed finish due to points deductions to leaders AND runners-up

The Combined Counties Premier South League delivered one of the most dramatic finishes to a season imaginable, as the league crown was ultimately decided not by goal difference or points earned on the pitch, but by administrative rulings off it. Jersey Bulls and Redhill, who were deadlocked at the summit with 96 points apiece after 38 matches, were each handed three-point penalties for fielding ineligible players — a move that saw third-placed Whyteleafe leapfrog both to claim the championship. This extraordinary conclusion means Whyteleafe, who ended the campaign on 95 points, have now officially been declared league champions and will earn automatic promotion to the Isthmian League Division One South East.

Jersey Bulls were penalized for including a suspended player in their 4-0 victory over Tooting and Mitcham United on March 20. That oversight cost them three crucial points. With Jersey’s deduction, Redhill appeared poised to take the title by default, having also ended the season on 96 points. But the Surrey club suffered a similar fate when it was revealed they too had fielded an ineligible player.

While celebrations are underway at Whyteleafe, manager and co-chairman Kelly Waters expressed his excitement about the unusual circumstances of their title win.

Speaking to BBC Radio Surrey, Waters said, “I feel great that we've been crowned champions and been promoted to Step Four, but at the same time it's a very strange way to go about it. I feel quite sorry for Jersey and Redhill in the situation that they've had, I've experienced it myself before when I was managing at Balham and it's painful. But they have to enforce the rules to make sure people don't use them inappropriately and in the end we've been a beneficiary of that and we couldn't be happier to be back in Step Four."

While Whyteleafe move on to the next tier with automatic promotion, the door remains slightly open for both Jersey and Redhill. The Bulls will compete against Fleet Town in the promotion play-offs, while Redhill are set to take on Cobham in their own post-season clash. Both teams will have to quickly shift their focus from disappointment to determination if they hope to follow Whyteleafe into the eighth tier of English football.