- 1979–80 Alliance Premier League
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The Alliance Premier League season of 1979–80 was the inaugural season of the Alliance Premier League — the first league outside the Football League to cover the whole of England.
Contents
Overview
Between 1979–2004 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
- AP Leamington
- Altrincham
- Bangor City
- Barnet
- Barrow
- Northwich Victoria
- Nuneaton Borough
- Redditch United
- Scarborough
- Stafford Rangers
Final table[1]
Alliance Premier League Season 1979–80 [1] Champions Altrincham Promoted to the Football League None Runners-up Weymouth Relegated to
Level 6Redditch United Promoted for next season Frickley Athletic Matches played 380 Goals scored 972 (2.56 per match) Top goalscorer G. J. Smith (Northwich Victoria), 29 [notes 1] Biggest home win Maidstone United – Bath City 6–0 Biggest away win Redditch United – Bangor City 1–5
Stafford Rangers – Weymouth 1–5Highest scoring Northwich Victoria – Barrow 6–3
Kettering Town – Stafford Rangers 3–6Longest winning run ? Longest unbeaten run ? Longest losing run ? Highest attendance ? Lowest attendance ? Average attendance ? 1980–81 →
BarrowNuneatonLocations of the Alliance Premier League 1979–1980 teamsLocations of the Alliance Premier League 1979–1980 London teamsPos Team Pld W D L F A W D L F A F A GD Pts Notes 1 Altrincham 38 16 3 0 45 9 8 5 6 34 26 79 35 + 44 56 2 Weymouth 38 13 3 3 40 14 9 7 3 33 23 73 37 + 36 54 3 Worcester City 38 12 6 1 29 15 6 5 8 24 21 53 36 + 17 49 4 Boston United 38 11 7 1 40 20 5 6 8 12 23 52 43 + 9 45 5 Gravesend & Northfleet 38 12 4 3 36 18 5 6 8 13 26 49 44 + 5 44 6 Maidstone United 38 11 4 4 38 15 5 7 7 16 22 54 37 + 17 43 7 Kettering Town 38 9 5 5 29 26 6 8 5 26 24 55 50 + 5 43 8 Northwich Victoria 38 11 5 3 31 14 5 5 9 19 24 50 38 + 12 42 9 Bangor City 38 9 6 4 21 18 5 8 6 20 28 41 46 – 5 42 10 Nuneaton 38 12 4 2 41 16 1 8 10 17 28 58 44 + 14 39 11 Scarborough 38 8 8 3 32 14 4 7 8 15 24 47 38 + 9 39 12 Yeovil Town 38 8 6 5 26 17 5 4 10 20 32 46 49 – 3 36 13 Telford United 38 9 3 7 31 27 4 5 10 21 33 52 60 – 8 34 14 Barrow 38 10 3 6 27 18 4 3 12 20 37 47 55 – 8 34 15 Wealdstone 38 5 9 5 26 25 4 6 9 16 29 42 54 – 12 33 16 Bath City 38 7 9 3 26 21 3 3 13 17 48 43 69 – 26 32 17 Barnet 38 7 6 6 18 18 3 4 12 14 30 32 48 – 16 30 18 AP Leamington 38 5 5 9 16 27 2 6 11 16 36 32 63 – 31 25 19 Stafford Rangers 38 4 7 8 20 21 2 3 14 21 36 41 57 – 16 22 20 Redditch United 38 4 5 10 18 29 1 3 15 8 40 26 69 – 43 18 Relegated to the Southern League Midland Division - Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; F = Goals for; A = Goals against; GA = Goal average; GD = Goal difference; Pts = Points
- Points were scored until the 1981–82 season as follows: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw.
- ^ G. J. Smith’s goals include also goals scored in the League Cup.
Key Alliance Premier League Champions, no promotion FA Trophy winners (Dagenham, Isthmian League Premier Division) Alliance Premier League Cup winners Relegated to Level 6 Results[1]
Home \ Away1 ALT APL BAN BRN BRW BAT BOS GRN KET MAI NOR NUN RED SCA STF 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 Source: Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81. Queen Anne Press, Macdonald Futura Publishers, London & Sydney, 1981.
1The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.Promotion and relegation
Promoted
- Frickley Athletic (from the Northern Premier League)
Relegated
- Redditch United (to the Southern League Midland Division)
Top scorers[1] [notes2 1]
Rank Player Club League FA Cup FA Trophy League Cup Total 1 G. J. Smith Northwich Victoria 29 2 T. Paterson Weymouth 28 3 
John RogersAltrincham 24 4 A. Iannone Weymouth 22 5 J. P. Daubney Maidstone United 21 6 Barry WhitbreadAltrincham 20 7 Bobby BrownBoston United 19 8 R. O. Gauden Scarborough 16 = D. A. Mather Telford United 16 10 R. Clayton Kettering Town 14 11 M. J. Neale Nuneaton Borough 13 = M. C. Wheeler Bath City 13 13 Colin CowperthwaiteBarrow 12 = J. N. Evans Kettering Town 12 = D. Gardner AP Leamington 12 = G. J. O'Hara Worcester City 12 17 N. A. Cordice Wealdstone 11 = B. P. Howard Altrincham 11 = N. B. Johnson Wealdstone 11 = M. D. Phelps Worcester City 11 = P. Phipps Kettering Town 11 = P. T. Wilkey Telford United 11 - ^ 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 Division Four. The vote went as follows:
Club Final Position Votes Darlington 22nd (Division Four) 49 Crewe Alexandra 23rd (Division Four) 48 Hereford United 21st (Division Four) 48 Rochdale 24th (Division Four) 26 Altrincham 1st (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
- ^ a b c d Rollin, Jack (ed.): Rothmans Football Yearbook 1980–81, p. 939–947. Queen Anne Press, Queen Anne Press, London & Sydney, 1980.
External links
1979–80 in English football FA competitions Football League Football League (First Division • Second Division • Third Division • Fourth Division) • League Cup (Final)Lower leagues European competitions Related to national team Club seasonsFirst Division Arsenal · Aston Villa · Bolton Wanderers · Brighton & Hove Albion · Bristol City · Coventry City · Crystal Palace · Derby County · Everton · Ipswich Town · Leeds United · Liverpool · Manchester City · Manchester United · Middlesbrough · Norwich City · Nottingham Forest · Southampton · Stoke City · Tottenham Hotspur · West Bromwich Albion · Wolverhampton WanderersSecond Division Birmingham City · Bristol Rovers · Burnley · Cambridge United · Cardiff City · Charlton Athletic · Chelsea · Fulham · Leicester City · Leyton Orient · Luton Town · Newcastle United · Notts County · Oldham Athletic · Preston North End · Queens Park Rangers · Shrewsbury Town · Sunderland · Swansea City · Watford · West Ham United · WrexhamThird Division Barnsley · Blackburn Rovers · Blackpool · Brentford · Bury · Carlisle United · Chester · Chesterfield · Colchester United · Exeter City · Gillingham · Grimsby Town · Hull City · Mansfield Town · Millwall · Oxford United · Plymouth Argyle · Reading · Rotherham United · Sheffield United · Sheffield Wednesday · Southend United · Swindon Town · WimbledonFourth Division Aldershot · Bournemouth · Bradford City · Crewe Alexandra · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Halifax Town · Hartlepool United · Hereford United · Huddersfield Town · Lincoln City · Newport County · Northampton Town · Peterborough United · Port Vale · Portsmouth · Rochdale · Scunthorpe United · Southport · Stockport County · Torquay United · Tranmere Rovers · Walsall · York CityCategories:- Football Conference seasons
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