League allocations expected

The Football Association are expected to release the league allocations for the 2026-27 season on Friday 15 May.

This process takes into account non-league teams from the National League Premier, to step 5 of the National League System. In our area, step 5 includes the Essex Senior League and Spartan South Midlands League.

Walthamstow’s first team are expected to remain in the Isthmian North for a fourth season.

Joining the league should be Hashtag United, Canvey Island and AFC Sudbury, who were relegated from step 3 at the end of the season. Coming up should be Little Oakley and Buckhurst Hill from the Essex Senior, and Mulbarton Wanderers and Fakenham Town from the Eastern Counties League.

Leaving the 1 North will be Maldon & Tiptree and Stanway Rovers, who are both promoted, and four relegated teams: Mildenhall Town, Downham Town, Brantham Athletic and Heybridge Swifts. For Swifts, it will be a return to the Essex Senior for the first time in over 40 years.

One possible surprise could be the lateral transfer of Waltham Abbey to the Southern League Central Division, where they spent six seasons before the last two in the Isthmian North. That Division runs from Cambridgeshire to Oxfordshire, with Abbey being the most easternly club.

These predictions have a certain amount of guesswork at this stage, but no surprises are expected come Friday.