Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system.
| Founded | 1968 |
|---|---|
| Country | England |
| Number of teams | 82
|
| Level on pyramid | 7 and 8 |
| Promotion to | National League North |
| Relegation to | |
| Domestic cup(s) | National FA Cup FA Trophy League League Challenge Cup |
| Current champions | South Shields (Premier Division) Macclesfield (Division One West) Worksop Town (Division One East) Stamford (Division One Midlands) |
| Website | thenpl.co.uk |
| Current: 2023–24 | |
Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England and the northern, central areas of the Midlands, and western parts of East Anglia. 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. In 2021, the FA restructured the non-League football pyramid and created Division One East, West, and Midlands.
Successful teams at the top of the NPL Premier Division are promoted to level 6 of the pyramid (either National League North or National League South), 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 (NPL) 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.[1]
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 (which later became the Conference and is now the National 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 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 (level 8) divisions from east to west starting from the 2018–19 season,[2] and one year later, 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.[3][4] After the Football Association (FA) deferred its implementation of changes to the NLS, the NPL's additional division was created in 2021 instead.[5]
- 1968–69 to 1986–87: Premier Division
- 1987–88 to 2006–07: Premier Division, Division One
- 2007–08 to 2017–18: Premier Division, Division One North, Division One South
- 2018–19: Premier Division, Division One East, Division One West
- 2019–20 to 2020–21: Premier Division, Division One North West, Division One South East
- 2021–22 onwards: Premier Division, Division One West, Division One East, Division One Midlands
Sponsorship
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.[6] When this deal ended in 2010, a new deal was announced which saw the competition billed as the Evo-Stik League[7][8][9] until the 2017–18 season.[10] 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.[11] This sponsorship agreement with BetVictor was subsequently terminated early in April 2020 with a replacement, Entain's Pitching In, announced as the next sponsor for 2020–21. At the time of announcement, Entain went by its former name GVC Holdings. Under this partnership, the NPL is marketed as one of the three Trident Leagues, alongside its Isthmian and Southern counterparts.[12]
Structure
Since 2021, the NPL has had four divisions: the Premier Division, Division One Midlands, Division One West and Division One East. Prior to 2007 there was just a single Division One,[1] and from 2018 to 2021 Division One was arranged on a 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, but the geographical footprint of the NPL has never overlapped with that of the National League South, so (as of 2015) 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, but NPL Premier Division clubs in the most southerly locales could be relegated to the Southern League Division One Central.
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 (NLS) Committee can order one or more of the NPL's southernmost clubs to transfer to the Southern League (or vice versa) 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
|
  Ashton United Atherton Collieries Bamber Bridge Bradford (Park Avenue) FC United of Manchester Gainsborough Trinity Guiseley Hyde United Ilkeston Town Lancaster City Macclesfield Marine Marske United Matlock Town Radcliffe Morpeth Town Stafford Rangers Warrington Rylands Basford United Whitby Town Workington Worksop Town Locations of the Northern Premier League clubs by division – Premier Division
|
Division One West
|
 1874 Northwich Avro Bootle Chasetown City of Liverpool Clitheroe Hanley Town Hednesford Town Kidsgrove Athletic Leek Town Mossley Newcastle Town Nantwich Town Stalybridge Celtic Prescot Cables Runcorn Linnets Vauxhall Motors Trafford Widnes Witton Albion Locations of the Northern Premier League clubs by division – Division One West
|
Division One East
|
 Ashington Belper Town Bridlington Town Brighouse Town Carlton Town Cleethorpes Town & Grimsby Borough Consett Dunston UTS Grantham Town Hebburn Town Liversedge Newton Aycliffe North Ferriby Ossett United Pontefract Collieries Sheffield Stocksbridge Park Steels Stockton Town Winterton Rangers Locations of the Northern Premier League clubs by division – Division One East
|
Division One Midlands
|
 AFC Rushden & Diamonds Anstey Nomads Bedworth Boldmere St. Michaels Cambridge City Coleshill Town Corby Town Coventry Sphinx Gresley Rovers Harborough Town Hinckley LRFC Loughborough Dynamo Lye Town Quorn Rugby Town Shepshed Dynamo Spalding United Sporting Khalsa Sutton Coldfield Town Walsall Wood Locations of the Northern Premier League clubs by division – Division One Midlands
|
Champions
| Season | Premier Division | Division One East | Division One West |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018–19 | Farsley Celtic | Morpeth Town | Atherton Collieries |
| 2019–201 | South Shields | Leek Town | Workington |
| 2020–212 | Mickleover | Colne | Leek Town |
| Season | Premier Division | Division One West | Division One East | Division One Midlands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021–22 | Buxton | Warrington Rylands 1906 | Liversedge | Ilkeston Town |
| 2022–23 | South Shields | Macclesfield | Worksop Town | Stamford |
1 The 2019–20 season was terminated on 26 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions.
2 The 2020–21 season was also terminated on 24 February 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic; the teams listed here were in first place in the standings at the time of the termination, but were not recognised as champions.
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.[13]
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.[14]
Winners
See also
References
- "The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier History". The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier. Pitch Hero Ltd. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- "Evo-Stik Northern Premier League Vote For East/West Split". Pitchero.com. 9 March 2018.
- "NPL to expand with additional division at Step 4". The Evo-Stik League. Pitch Hero Ltd. 24 April 2019.
- "2019/20 Club Allocations Confirmed". The Evo-Stik League. Pitch Hero Ltd. 19 May 2019.
- "Update on non-League, women's & grassroots football seasons". The Football Association. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
- Allcock, Alan (2 May 2010). "Evo-Stik New Sponsors From 2010–2011". The Evo-Stik League Website. Pitch Hero Ltd. Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- Kirkbride, Philip (1 May 2010). "Northern Premier League secures new sponsor". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
- Watters, David (18 May 2012). "Sponsor commits to three more years on night of national honours and celebration". The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier. Pitch Hero Ltd. Archived from the original on 22 June 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
- Watters, David (22 December 2013). "Christmas comes early for League!". The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier. Pitch Hero Ltd. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
- "Evo-Stik Continue Northern Premier League Backing". Pitchero.com. 17 June 2017.
- "New League sponsor". BetVictor Northern Premier. NPL. Retrieved 8 July 2019.
- "Introducing 'Pitching In' - the new partner of the Northern Premier League". Whitby Town FC. 3 September 2020. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
- "CUP WINNERS CHALLENGE CUP". The UniBond League. Archived from the original on 23 July 2004. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
- Snee, Tom (22 June 2011). "League Statement: President's Cup". The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier. Pitch Hero. Archived from the original on 27 June 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2014.