Northern Premier League


The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has three divisions –the Premier Division, Division One North West and Division One South East.
Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England and the northern/central areas of the Midlands. Originally a single-division competition, a second division was added in 1987: Division One, and in 2007 a third was added when Division One split into two geographic sections - Division One North and Division One South. In 2018 Division One was re-aligned as East and West Divisions, then North West and South East in 2019.
Successful teams at the top of the NPL Premier Division are promoted to level 6 of the pyramid, and at the bottom end of the competition, teams are relegated down to level 9, where several regional feeder leagues promote clubs into the league.

History

The Northern Premier League was founded in 1968, as the northern equivalent of the Southern League, decades after the other two leagues at what is now the seventh tier of the English football league system, the Isthmian League and the Southern League. At that time they were the highest level non-League division below the English Football League, the same level as the other league in Northern England, the Northern League.
Over the next two decades, the NPL successfully displaced its older rival to become the pre-eminent regional competition in Northern England, with the Northern League eventually forced to accept status as feeder league to the NPL. In 1979, upon the creation of the Alliance Premier League, the NPL became a feeder league and fell down one level in the English football league system, and with the then-Conference's addition of regional divisions in 2004 the NPL was demoted by a further tier and there are now two levels between it and the English Football League.
From 1992–93 to 1994–95 the league's Division One included two non-English clubs, Caernarfon Town from Wales and Gretna from Scotland, who have later joined their countries' league systems. Colwyn Bay, Bangor City, Newtown, and Rhyl have also played in the league.
In 2018, the NPL's member clubs voted 37–27, with one abstention and three clubs' absence, to split Step 4 divisions from east to west starting from the 2018–19 season, and in 2019, the league published its successful bid to add another division at Step 4 initially in 2020, further altering Division One into northwest and southeast for travel reasons. After the Football Association deferred its implementation of changes to the NLS, the NPL's additional division will start play in 2021 instead.
Owing to title sponsorship deals, the league has been billed under various names, including a sixteen-year spell as the Unibond League, the longest such deal in world football.
When this deal ended in 2010, a new deal was announced which saw the competition billed as the Evo-Stik League until the 2017–18 season.
The League announced on 8 July 2019 that a two-year deal for seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 had been agreed with new sponsor BetVictor. This sponsorship agreement with BetVictor was subsequently terminated early in April 2020 with a replacement yet to be announced.

Structure

Since 2019, the NPL has had three divisions: the Premier Division, Division One North West and Division One South East. Prior to 2007 there was just a single Division One, and prior to 2018 Division One was arranged on an north-south, then east-west basis.
The Premier Division has 22 clubs, with the champions promoted to the National League along with the winners of a playoff between the second to fifth place clubs. Theoretically, clubs from the NPL could be promoted into either of the National League's two regional divisions, however, the geographical footprint of the NPL has never overlapped with that of the National League South, therefore all promoted NPL clubs have been placed in the National League North. The bottom three teams are usually relegated to Division One North West or South East, however NPL Premier Division clubs in the most southerly locales could be placed in the Southern League Division One Central in the event of relegation.
From the 2019–20 season, Division One North West and South East have 20 clubs each. In each division, the champions are promoted to the Premier Division, along with the winners of a divisional playoff. The bottom two clubs in each division are relegated to one of the feeder leagues below provided there are enough suitable promotion candidates from those leagues. The champions of the three feeder leagues covering the NPL area are promoted each season. These are the Northern League, the Northern Counties East League, and the North West Counties League. Clubs in the northern extremities of the Midland League and the United Counties League may also be promoted to the Northern Premier League.
Should there be an unusually large or small number of clubs relegated to and/or promoted to the level of the NPL from Northern England, the National League System Committee can order one or more of the NPL's southernmost clubs to transfer to the Southern League to maintain numerical balance between the leagues.
Division One North West and South East teams receive a bye to the Preliminary Round of FA Cup Qualification. Premier Division teams receive a bye to the First Round of Qualification.
The league currently runs one cup competition, with all member clubs competing in the League Challenge Cup. In the past, the league has run other competitions, such as the Chairman's Cup, the President's Cup and the Peter Swales Shield.

Current members

Premier Division

ClubHome groundGround Capacity
Ashton UnitedHurst Cross4,500
Atherton CollieriesAlder House2,500
Bamber BridgeSir Tom Finney Stadium3,000
Basford UnitedGreenwich Avenue1,600
BuxtonThe Silverlands4,000
FC United of ManchesterBroadhurst Park4,400
Gainsborough TrinityThe Northolme4,340
Grantham TownSouth Kesteven Sports Stadium7,500
Hyde UnitedEwen Fields4,250
Lancaster CityGiant Axe3,513
Matlock TownCauseway Lane2,400
Mickleover SportsStation Road1,500
Morpeth TownCraik Park1,000
Nantwich TownThe Weaver Stadium3,500
RadcliffeNeuven Stadium4,000
Scarborough AthleticFlamingo Land Stadium2,833
South ShieldsMariners Park3,000
Stafford RangersMarston Road4,000
Stalybridge CelticBower Fold6,500
Warrington TownCantilever Park2,550
Whitby TownTurnbull Ground3,500
Witton AlbionWincham Park4,813

Division One North West

ClubHome groundGround Capacity
Brighouse TownSt Giles Road1,000
City of LiverpoolTDP Solicitors Stadium1,750
ClitheroeShawbridge2,000
ColneHolt House1,800
DroylsdenButcher's Arms Ground3,000
Dunston UTSWellington Road2,500
Kendal TownParkside Road2,400
MarineRossett Park3,185
Marske UnitedMount Pleasant2,500
MossleySeel Park4,500
Ossett UnitedIngfield1,950
Pickering TownMill Lane2,000
Pontefract CollieriesThe Football Family Stadium1,200
Prescot CablesIP Truck Parts Stadium3,000
Ramsbottom UnitedHarry Williams Riverside Stadium2,000
Runcorn LinnetsMillbank Linnets Stadium1,600
Tadcaster AlbionIngs Lane2,000
TraffordShawe View1,500
WidnesSelect Security Stadium13,350
WorkingtonBorough Park3,101

Division One South East

ClubHome groundGround Capacity
Belper TownChristchurch Meadow2,650
Carlton TownBill Stokeld Stadium1,968
ChasetownThe Scholars Ground2,000
Cleethorpes TownLinden Club1,000
Frickley AthleticWestfield Lane2,087
Glossop North EndArthur Goldthorpe Stadium1,350
Ilkeston TownNew Manor Ground3,029
Kidsgrove AthleticHollinwood Road2,000
Leek TownHarrison Park3,600
Lincoln UnitedAshby Avenue2,714
Loughborough DynamoNanpantan Sports Ground1,500
Market Drayton TownGreenfields Sports Ground1,000
Newcastle TownLyme Valley Stadium4,000
SheffieldHome of Football Ground2,089
Spalding UnitedSir Halley Stewart Field3,500
StamfordZeeco Stadium2,000
Stocksbridge Park SteelsBracken Moor3,500
Sutton Coldfield TownCentral Ground2,000
Wisbech TownFenland Stadium1,118
Worksop TownSandy Lane 2,500

Honours

Champions

SeasonPremier DivisionDivision One
1987–88ChorleyFleetwood Town
1988–89BarrowColne Dynamoes
1989–90Colne DynamoesLeek Town
1990–91Witton AlbionWhitley Bay
1991–92Stalybridge CelticColwyn Bay
1992–93SouthportBridlington Town
1993–94MarineGuiseley
1994–95MarineBlyth Spartans
1995–96Bamber BridgeLancaster City
1996–97Leek TownRadcliffe Borough
1997–98BarrowWhitby Town
1998–99AltrinchamDroylsden
1999–00Leigh RMIAccrington Stanley
2000–01Stalybridge CelticBradford Park Avenue
2001–02Burton AlbionHarrogate Town
2002–03Accrington StanleyAlfreton Town
2003–04Hucknall TownHyde United
2004–05Hyde UnitedNorth Ferriby United
2005–06Blyth SpartansMossley
2006–07BurscoughBuxton

SeasonPremier DivisionDivision One EastDivision One West
2018–19Farsley CelticMorpeth TownAtherton Collieries
2019–201South ShieldsWorkingtonLeek Town

Promoted

Since the league's formation in 1968, the following clubs have won promotion to higher levels of the English football league system -
Asterisk indicates club was promoted via play-offs

Cup competitions

League Challenge Cup

The league currently runs one cup competition, the League Challenge Cup, which is contested by every club in the league.

Finals

Defunct competitions

In the past the league has run three other cup competitions - the President's Cup, Chairman's Cup and Peter Swales Shield.

Winners