1996–97 Northern Premier League

The 1996–97 Northern Premier League season was the 29th in the history of the Northern Premier League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. It was known as the Unibond League for sponsorship reasons.[1]

Premier Division
Northern Premier League Premier Division
Season1996–97
ChampionsLeek Town
PromotedLeek Town
RelegatedBuxton
Witton Albion
Matches played506
Goals scored1,458 (2.88 per match)

The Premier League featured three new teams:

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Leek Town (C, P) 44 28 9 7 71 35 +36 93 Promotion to Football Conference
2 Bishop Auckland 44 23 14 7 88 43 +45 83
3 Hyde United 44 22 16 6 93 46 +47 82
4 Emley 44 23 12 9 89 54 +35 81
5 Barrow 44 23 11 10 71 45 +26 80
6 Boston United 44 22 13 9 74 47 +27 79
7 Blyth Spartans 44 22 11 11 74 49 +25 77
8 Marine 44 20 15 9 53 37 +16 75
9 Guiseley 44 20 11 13 63 54 +9 71
10 Gainsborough Trinity 44 18 12 14 65 46 +19 66
11 Accrington Stanley 44 18 12 14 77 70 +7 66
12 Runcorn 44 15 15 14 63 62 +1 60
13 Chorley 44 16 9 19 69 66 +3 57
14 Winsford United 44 13 14 17 50 56 −6 53
15 Knowsley United 44 12 14 18 58 79 −21 50 Club folded at the end of the season
16 Colwyn Bay 44 11 13 20 60 76 −16 46
17 Lancaster City 44 12 9 23 48 75 −27 45
18 Frickley Athletic 44 12 8 24 62 91 −29 44
19 Spennymoor United 44 10 10 24 52 68 −16 40
20 Bamber Bridge 44 11 7 26 59 99 −40 40
21 Alfreton Town 44 8 13 23 45 83 −38 37
22 Witton Albion (R) 44 5 14 25 41 91 −50 29 Relegation to NPL Division One
23 Buxton (R) 44 5 12 27 33 86 −53 27
Updated to match(es) played on 7 November 2015. Source: Northern Premier Division.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Results
Home \ Away ACC ALF BAM BRW BIS BLY BOS BUX CHO COL EML FRK GAI GUI HYD KNO LNC LEE MAR RUN SPU WNS WTN
Accrington Stanley 4–2 4–1 1–2 1–4 2–3 3–1 5–3 0–3 3–1 1–1 4–0 0–4 1–2 3–2 1–1 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 4–1
Alfreton Town 1–3 2–1 2–3 1–1 1–2 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 0–0 1–0 0–1 4–5 0–3 2–0 1–0 1–1 0–1 1–1 2–1 1–1 2–1
Bamber Bridge 1–1 2–2 1–3 1–2 0–1 0–2 2–2 0–2 2–3 0–3 5–1 1–1 6–4 1–4 1–2 0–2 0–4 1–0 0–5 1–3 1–2 4–2
Barrow 4–3 3–0 1–1 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–0 3–0 1–0 3–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 3–0 0–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 3–1
Bishop Auckland 1–1 2–2 2–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 5–0 1–3 3–1 0–1 2–2 3–3 1–0 3–0 4–1 4–2 1–1 2–2 2–0 4–1 2–0 5–0
Blyth Spartans 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 0–0 1–2 5–0 1–3 0–0 1–1 6–3 1–1 1–1 2–1 6–0 3–1 0–1 1–1 3–2 2–0 1–2 0–0
Boston United 3–1 1–1 1–1 3–5 1–1 2–1 3–0 3–0 3–2 4–1 2–3 1–1 1–1 0–0 1–0 4–2 0–2 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–0 2–1
Buxton 1–3 0–1 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 0–1 2–2 0–3 1–3 2–1 0–1 0–3 0–0 1–0 0–2 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–2 1–1
Chorley 1–1 2–1 1–3 1–3 1–1 1–3 3–4 2–2 4–0 1–2 0–1 3–4 1–0 3–3 2–2 0–2 0–0 2–1 4–0 1–0 0–1 6–1
Colwyn Bay 0–2 1–1 5–2 1–2 1–2 3–0 1–5 3–4 1–1 3–2 5–0 0–2 1–1 1–3 5–0 1–1 3–1 0–0 3–3 1–1 1–2 0–0
Emley 3–1 4–0 1–2 3–0 2–0 3–2 1–1 3–0 1–0 0–1 3–3 3–3 4–0 2–4 2–4 2–2 2–3 5–1 2–1 3–0 1–1 4–1
Frickley Athletic 0–1 7–2 1–0 0–2 0–4 2–2 2–2 3–1 2–1 3–4 1–2 2–2 0–1 0–3 0–2 3–1 2–3 0–1 1–1 5–2 3–2 1–2
Gainsborough Trinity 2–2 3–0 0–2 3–0 0–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 3–0 2–0 0–3 2–0 1–0 0–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 0–1 4–1 1–0 2–0 3–0
Guiseley 1–0 1–1 5–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–0 1–4 0–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 2–3 1–0 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 3–0
Hyde United 7–2 5–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–2 2–2 2–0 3–2 1–1 1–2 5–1 2–1 2–2 4–0 0–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 4–0 0–0 1–0
Knowsley United 1–1 1–1 5–0 0–3 0–5 0–1 0–0 4–1 4–1 3–0 0–1 0–0 0–1 2–2 3–3 3–1 3–2 3–1 1–1 2–2 0–3 2–1
Lancaster City 1–2 1–0 2–3 1–0 2–1 1–0 0–1 1–0 4–1 1–1 1–3 1–3 0–2 1–2 0–4 2–2 0–3 0–2 0–2 1–0 1–1 2–1
Leek Town 2–1 4–0 4–1 2–1 1–0 4–0 1–0 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 3–0 1–0 1–3 0–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–1 3–1 2–1
Marine 2–1 1–1 2–0 1–1 2–3 0–3 1–0 3–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 2–2 5–1 0–0 1–0 1–0 3–0 0–0
Runcorn 1–3 1–0 1–2 0–0 1–3 1–0 1–1 1–1 0–2 5–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–3 1–0 3–2 0–2 1–1 1–0 4–3 4–0
Spennymoor United 0–0 3–2 2–1 1–2 1–5 0–2 1–3 0–1 0–0 1–2 2–3 3–1 1–2 4–1 1–1 5–0 1–1 0–1 0–0 6–0 2–0 1–1
Winsford United 1–1 1–0 4–2 1–2 1–2 0–2 0–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 2–2 1–0 1–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 0–1 0–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1
Witton Albion 0–1 1–1 1–3 2–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–2 2–2 1–0 1–4 0–2 2–1 2–1 0–0 1–3 1–2 1–2 2–2 1–5 1–2 1–3
Updated to match(es) played on 3 May 1997. Source: Northern Premier Division results grid
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Division One
Northern Premier League Division One
Season1996–97
ChampionsRadcliffe Borough
PromotedLeigh RMI
Radcliffe Borough
RelegatedAtherton L.R.
Curzon Ashton
Warrington Town
Matches played462
Goals scored1,281 (2.77 per match)

Division One featured four new teams:

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion or relegation
1 Radcliffe Borough (C, P) 42 26 7 9 77 33 +44 85 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Leigh RMI (P) 42 24 11 7 65 33 +32 83
3 Lincoln United 42 25 8 9 78 47 +31 83
4 Farsley Celtic 42 23 8 11 75 48 +27 77
5 Worksop Town 42 20 12 10 68 38 +30 72
6 Stocksbridge Park Steels 42 19 11 12 66 54 +12 68
7 Bradford Park Avenue 42 20 8 14 58 50 +8 68
8 Ashton United 42 17 14 11 73 52 +21 65
9 Great Harwood Town 42 16 12 14 56 46 +10 60
10 Droylsden 42 15 14 13 69 67 +2 59
11 Matlock Town 42 16 9 17 60 69 −9 57
12 Whitley Bay 42 14 12 16 47 54 −7 54
13 Flixton 42 15 7 20 57 72 −15 52
14 Netherfield 42 12 14 16 54 56 −2 50
15 Eastwood Town 42 12 14 16 42 49 −7 50
16 Gretna 42 11 17 14 55 67 −12 50
17 Harrogate Town 42 13 8 21 54 76 −22 47
18 Congleton Town 42 12 9 21 47 64 −17 45
19 Workington 42 10 12 20 45 63 −18 42
20 Curzon Ashton (R) 42 8 10 24 48 79 −31 34 Relegation to NCEFL Premier Division
21 Warrington Town (R) 42 5 18 19 42 79 −37 33 Relegation to NWCFL Division One
22 Atherton Laburnum Rovers (R) 42 7 9 26 45 85 −40 30
Updated to match(es) played on May 1997. Source: .
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promotion and relegation

In the twenty-ninth season of the Northern Premier League Leek Town (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference. Witton Albion and Buxton were relegated to the First Division while Knowsley United left the League at the end of the season. Boston United moved to the Southern League. These clubs were replaced by relegated Conference side Altrincham, First Division winners Radcliffe Borough and second placed Leigh RMI. In the First Division Curzon Ashton, Warrington Town and Atherton Laburnum Rovers left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Whitby Town, Belper Town and Trafford.

Cup Results

Challenge Cup: Teams from both leagues.

  • Gainsborough Trinity bt. Boston United

President's Cup: 'Plate' competition for losing teams in the NPL Cup.

  • Blyth Spartans bt. Runcorn

Peter Swales Shield: Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.

  • Gainsborough Trinity bt. Leek Town

References
  1. Unibond League
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