1979–80 Alliance Premier League

The 1979–80 Alliance Premier League was the inaugural season of the Alliance Premier League – the first league outside the Football League to cover the whole of England.

Alliance Premier League
Season1979–80[1]
ChampionsAltrincham
Promoted to the Football LeagueNone
Runners-upWeymouth
Relegated to
Level 6		Redditch United
Promoted for next seasonFrickley Athletic
Matches played380
Goals scored972 (2.56 per match)
Top goalscorerG. J. Smith Northwich Victoria (29 goals)[notes2 1]
Biggest home winMaidstone United 6–0 Bath City
Biggest away winRedditch United 1–5 Bangor City
Stafford Rangers 1–5 Weymouth
Highest scoringNorthwich Victoria 6–3 Barrow
Kettering Town 3–6 Stafford Rangers

Overview

Between 1979 and 2004 the single-division Alliance Premier League formed Level 5 of the English football league system. Since 2004 two regional divisions were added at Level 6.

The founder members of the Alliance Premier League were drawn from the Southern League and Northern Premier League, covering the country from Yeovil Town in the South West to Barrow in the far North. One club from Wales – Bangor City – also participated.

Teams
From the Northern Premier League
From the Southern League

League table
Pos Team Pld HW HD HL HGF HGA AW AD AL AGF AGA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Altrincham 38 16 3 0 45 9 8 5 6 34 26 +44 56 Alliance Premier League champions, no promotion
2 Weymouth 38 13 3 3 40 14 9 7 3 33 23 +36 54
3 Worcester City 38 12 6 1 29 15 7 5 7 24 21 +17 49
4 Boston United 38 11 7 1 40 20 5 6 8 12 23 +9 45
5 Gravesend & Northfleet 38 12 4 3 36 18 5 6 8 13 26 +5 44
6 Maidstone United 38 11 4 4 38 15 5 7 7 16 22 +17 43
7 Kettering Town 38 9 5 5 29 26 6 8 5 26 24 +5 43
8 Northwich Victoria 38 11 5 3 31 14 5 5 9 19 24 +12 42 Alliance Premier League Cup winners
9 Bangor City 38 9 6 4 21 18 5 8 6 20 28 −5 42
10 Nuneaton Borough 38 12 5 2 41 16 1 8 10 17 28 +14 39
11 Scarborough 38 8 8 3 32 14 4 7 8 15 24 +9 39
12 Yeovil Town 38 8 6 5 26 17 5 4 10 20 32 −3 36
13 Telford United 38 9 3 7 31 27 4 5 10 21 33 −8 34
14 Barrow 38 10 3 6 27 18 4 3 12 20 37 −8 34
15 Wealdstone 38 5 9 5 26 25 4 6 9 16 29 −12 33
16 Bath City 38 7 9 3 26 21 3 3 13 17 48 −26 32
17 Barnet 38 7 6 6 18 18 3 4 12 14 30 −16 30
18 AP Leamington 38 5 5 9 16 27 2 6 11 16 36 −31 25
19 Stafford Rangers 38 4 7 8 20 21 2 3 14 21 36 −16 22
20 Redditch United 38 4 5 10 18 29 1 3 15 8 40 −43 18 Relegated to the Southern League Midland Division
Source: [1]

Note: FA Trophy winners (Dagenham, Isthmian League Premier Division)

Results
Home \ Away ALT APL BAN BAR BRW BAT BOS GRN KET MDS NOR NUN RED SCA STA TEL WEA WEY WRC YEO
Altrincham 3–0 5–0 1–0 3–1 4–0 3–0 4–1 0–0 1–0 0–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 2–1 3–2 3–1 1–1
AP Leamington 1–4 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–2 2–0 0–1 1–3 0–2 2–2 0–0 0–2 1–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 0–2 1–0 0–4
Bangor City 1–1 3–2 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–2 1–1 1–0 0–3 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 0–2 1–0
Barnet 2–0 1–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 0–0 3–0 0–2 0–1 0–2 2–1 0–0 0–0 2–1 4–1 1–3 0–2 0–0 0–3
Barrow 1–3 6–2 1–1 3–1 2–1 0–1 1–1 1–2 0–2 1–0 1–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 1–2 2–0
Bath City 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–2 1–0 0–1 2–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 4–4 4–2 0–4 1–1
Boston United 2–5 2–0 3–1 1–1 3–0 3–2 4–0 1–0 1–1 2–0 2–2 2–0 2–2 3–2 3–1 0–0 2–2 1–1 3–0
Gravesend & Northfleet 0–2 3–2 1–1 1–0 5–1 2–0 0–0 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–2 1–0 3–0 2–0 1–2 3–0 2–3 3–2 2–0
Kettering Town 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–0 0–4 1–2 3–1 0–0 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 3–6 3–2 2–0 3–1 0–0 5–3
Maidstone United 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–0 2–0 6–0 1–0 3–0 1–3 3–4 1–1 4–1 2–0 2–0 3–0 3–0 1–1 2–1 0–1
Northwich Victoria 1–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 6–3 6–1 0–1 0–0 2–2 0–2 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 0–0 0–0 1–0 0–1
Nuneaton Borough 2–0 1–1 2–2 2–1 3–0 1–1 2–0 3–1 2–2 4–0 2–1 5–1 3–1 3–1 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–0 3–0
Redditch United 0–1 3–1 1–5 1–0 1–3 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–2 0–2 2–2 4–1 0–2 1–1 2–2
Scarborough 1–1 5–0 0–0 0–0 2–0 6–1 2–4 1–1 2–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 3–0 0–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 4–1 0–0
Stafford Rangers 1–2 1–1 0–1 1–2 1–1 4–0 0–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 4–1 0–1 1–1 3–1 0–1 0–1 1–5 0–0 2–1
Telford United 3–2 0–1 2–0 1–2 3–2 3–1 4–1 1–2 1–0 3–1 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 2–2 1–3 3–3 0–1 0–3
Wealdstone 1–4 1–2 0–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–0 0–1 2–2 2–0 2–4 2–1 0–0 1–1 2–4 5–0
Weymouth 0–0 2–1 4–2 1–1 1–0 1–2 3–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 6–0 0–1 2–1 3–2 4–0 1–2 3–0
Worcester City 3–2 1–1 0–0 2–1 2–0 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–4 3–1 2–1 1–1 3–0 0–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–1 2–0
Yeovil Town 3–2 1–0 1–2 5–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 1–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 3–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 0–2
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. Queen Anne Press, Macdonald Futura Publishers, London & Sydney, 1981.[1]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.
Locations of the 1979–80 Alliance Premier League clubs
Locations of the 1979–80 Alliance Premier League London clubs

Promotion and relegation

Relegated

Top scorers
Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total[1][notes2 2]
1 G. J. Smith Northwich Victoria 29
2Tommy PatersonWeymouth28
3John RogersAltrincham24
4Aniello IannoneWeymouth22
5J. P. DaubneyMaidstone United21
6Barry WhitbreadAltrincham20
7Bobby BrownBoston United19
8R. O. GaudenScarborough16
=David MatherTelford United16
10Roy ClaytonKettering Town14
11M. J. NealeNuneaton Borough13
=M. C. WheelerBath City13
13Colin CowperthwaiteBarrow12
=J. N. EvansKettering Town12
=D. GardnerAP Leamington12
=Gerry O'HaraWorcester City12
17Neil CordiceWealdstone11
=Barry HowardAltrincham11
=N. B. JohnsonWealdstone11
=M. D. PhelpsWorcester City11
=P. PhippsKettering Town11
=P. T. WilkeyTelford United11
  1. G. J. Smith's goals include also goals scored in the League Cup.
  2. The number of goals is the sum of league and league cup goals.

Election to the Football League

As winners of the Alliance Premier League, Altrincham won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom teams in the 1979–80 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:

Club Final Position Votes
Darlington22nd (Fourth Division)49
Crewe Alexandra23rd (Fourth Division)48
Hereford United21st (Fourth Division)48
Rochdale24th (Fourth Division)26
Altrincham1st (Alliance Premier League)25

As a result of this, Altrincham failed to be elected to membership of the Football League, falling just one point behind Fourth Division's bottom club Rochdale.

References
  1. Rollin, Jack (ed.): Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81, p. 939–947. Queen Anne Press, Queen Anne Press, London & Sydney, 1980.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.