2007–08 Northern Premier League

The 2007-08 is the 40th season for the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and the first season for the Northern Premier League Division One North and South.

Created as part of non-league restructuring, the Division One leagues temporarily have 18 teams each, with a targeted number of 22 teams. To help increase the league to 20 teams for next season^[1] there will only be one relegation this year per league. Many clubs expressed their concern that a 34 game season would be too short. To remedy this, clubs will play an extra 8 games (4 home, 4 away) against teams within geographically related groups.

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division

Season	2007–08
Champions	Fleetwood Town
Promoted	Fleetwood Town Gateshead
Relegated	Leek Town Stamford Lincoln United
Matches played	423
Goals scored	1310 (3.1 per match)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

The Premier Division featured three new clubs:

• Worksop Town, relegated from the Conference North
• Buxton, promoted from NPL Division One
• Eastwood Town, promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Fleetwood Town (C) (P)	40	28	7	5	81	39	+42	91	Promotion to the Conference North
2	Witton Albion	40	27	8	5	84	28	+56	89	Qualification to the Playoffs
3	Gateshead (P)	40	26	7	7	93	42	+51	85
4	Eastwood Town	40	20	9	11	61	45	+16	69
5	Buxton	40	20	8	12	60	50	+10	68
6	Guiseley	40	19	10	11	65	43	+22	67
7	Marine	40	19	4	17	70	65	+5	61
8	Hednesford Town	40	15	8	17	62	65	−3	53
9	Worksop Town	40	13	12	15	59	62	−3	51
10	Ashton United	40	11	15	14	63	73	−10	48
11	Kendal Town	40	12	11	17	61	70	−9	47
12	Whitby Town	40	13	7	20	68	75	−7	46
13	Prescot Cables	40	13	8	19	48	62	−14	046*
14	Frickley Athletic	40	11	13	16	50	68	−18	46
15	North Ferriby United	40	13	7	20	53	76	−23	46
16	Matlock Town	40	12	9	19	55	68	−13	45
17	Ilkeston Town	40	10	14	16	64	72	−8	44
18	Ossett Town	40	12	8	20	48	60	−12	44
19	Leek Town (R)	40	11	11	18	54	68	−14	44	Relegation to the NPL Division One North & South
20	Stamford (R)	40	11	10	19	59	86	−27	43
21	Lincoln United (R)	40	7	8	25	44	85	−41	29

Updated to games played on 30 Apr 2008
Source: Unibond League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^* Deducted 1 points for fielding an ineligible player.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	3	Gateshead	4
	4	Eastwood Town	0
						3	Gateshead	2
						5	Buxton	0
	2	Witton Albion	1(5)
	5	Buxton	1(6)

Stadia and Locations

Ashton United

Buxton

Eastwood Town

Fleetwood Town

Frickley Athletic

Gateshead

Guiseley

Ilkeston Town

Kendal Town

Leek Town

Lincoln United

Marine

Matlock Town

North Ferriby

Ossett Town

Prescot Cables

Stamford

Whitby Town

Witton Albion

Worksop Town

Locations of the 2007–08 Northern Premier League teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Gateshead	Gateshead International Stadium	11,800
Buxton	The Silverlands	5,200
Ashton United	Hurst Cross	4,500
Fleetwood Town	Highbury Stadium	3,663
Leek Town	Harrison Park	3,600
Ilkeston Town	New Manor Ground	3,500
Whitby Town	Turnbull Ground	3,500
Prescot Cables	Valerie Park	3,200
Worksop Town	Sandy Lane	3,200
Burscough	Victoria Park	3,054
Guiseley	Nethermoor Park	3,000
Marine	The Arriva Stadium	2,800
North Ferriby United	Grange Lane	2,700
Eastwood Town	Coronation Park	2,500
Kendal Town	Lakeland Radio Stadium	2,400
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane	2,214
Lincoln United	Ashby Avenue	2,200
Frickley Athletic	Westfield Lane	2,087
Ossett Town	Ingfield	2,000
Stamford	Vic Couzens Stadium	2,000

Division One North

Northern Premier League Division One North

Season	2007–08
Champions	Bradford Park Avenue
Promoted	Bradford Park Avenue F.C. United of Manchester
Relegated	Bridlington Town
Matches played	381
Goals scored	1187 (3.12 per match)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

This was the first season of the Northern Premier League Division One North. It Featured six new teams:

• Mossley relegated from the Premier Division
• Radcliffe Borough relegated from the Premier Division
• Garforth Town promoted as fourth in the Northern Counties East Football League Premier Division
• Newcastle Blue Star promoted from the Northern League Division One
• F.C. United of Manchester promoted as champions of the North West Counties Division One
• Curzon Ashton promoted as runners-up of the North West Counties Division One
• Lancaster City as reformed club

Fixture increase

The following are the groups which decided the extra 8 games for all teams:

Group A	Group B
Bamber Bridge	Bradford Park Avenue
Chorley	Bridlington Town
Clitheroe	Curzon Ashton
F.C. United of Manchester	Garforth Town
Lancaster City	Harrogate Railway Athletic
Radcliffe Borough	Mossley
Rossendale United	Newcastle Blue Star
Skelmersdale United	Ossett Albion
Woodley Sports	Wakefield

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Bradford Park Avenue (C) (P)	42	25	7	10	91	43	+48	82	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division
2	F.C. United of Manchester (P)	42	24	9	9	91	49	+42	81	Qualification to the Playoffs
3	Skelmersdale United	42	23	9	10	94	46	+48	78
4	Curzon Ashton	42	23	9	10	78	48	+30	78
5	Bamber Bridge	42	22	8	12	70	54	+16	74
6	Ossett Albion	42	20	10	12	77	65	+12	70
7	Wakefield	42	19	7	16	58	49	+9	64
8	Newcastle Blue Star	42	17	12	13	71	58	+13	63
9	Rossendale United	42	16	11	15	66	74	−8	59
10	Garforth Town	42	16	8	18	61	62	−1	56
11	Lancaster City	42	15	9	18	54	70	−16	54
12	Harrogate Railway Athletic	42	13	12	17	51	58	−7	51
13	Clitheroe	42	13	11	18	63	77	−14	50
14	Chorley	42	10	12	20	56	80	−24	42
15	Mossley	42	12	6	24	60	100	−40	42
16	Radcliffe Borough	42	9	11	22	53	75	−22	38
17	Woodley Sports	42	7	13	22	38	65	−27	34
18	Bridlington Town (R)	42	8	8	26	42	99	−57	32	Relegation to the NCEFL Premier Division

Updated to games played on 26 Apr 2008
Source: Unibond League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	F.C. United of Manchester	3
	5	Bamber Bridge	2
						2	F.C. United of Manchester	4
						3	Skelmersdale United	1
	3	Skelmersdale United	3
	4	Curzon Ashton	0

Division One South

Northern Premier League Division One South

Season	2007–08
Champions	Retford United
Promoted	Cammell Laird Nantwich Town
Relegated	Alsager Town
Matches played	381
Goals scored	1265 (3.32 per match)
← 2006–07 2008–09 →

This was the first season of the Northern Premier League Division One South. It featured seven new teams:

• Nantwich Town promoted as third in the North West Counties Football League Premier Division
• Retford United promoted as champions of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Sheffield promoted as runners-up in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Carlton Town promoted as third in the Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Quorn promoted as third in the Midland Football Alliance
• Spalding United promoted from the United Counties League
• Grantham Town relegated from the Premier Division

Fixture increase

The following are the groups which decided the extra 8 games for all teams:

Group C	Group D
Alsager Town	Brigg Town
Belper Town	Carlton Town
Cammell Laird	Goole A.F.C.
Colwyn Bay	Grantham Town
Kidsgrove Athletic	Gresley Rovers
Nantwich Town	Quorn
Sheffield	Retford United
Stocksbridge Park Steels	Shepshed Dynamo
Warrington Town	Spalding United

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Retford United (C)	42	31	6	5	93	35	+58	0991
2	Cammell Laird (P)	42	27	5	10	82	54	+28	86	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division
3	Nantwich Town (P)	42	25	4	13	90	45	+45	79	Qualification to the Playoffs
4	Sheffield	42	22	10	10	82	53	+29	76
5	Stocksbridge Park Steels	42	21	9	12	72	61	+11	72
6	Grantham Town	42	22	4	16	74	58	+16	70
7	Colwyn Bay	42	19	8	15	86	65	+21	65
8	Belper Town	42	17	13	12	73	64	+9	64
9	Goole	42	18	10	14	77	69	+8	64
10	Carlton Town	42	16	11	15	86	82	+4	59
11	Gresley Rovers	42	18	5	19	53	69	−16	59
12	Quorn	42	15	8	19	69	76	−7	53
13	Warrington Town	42	13	8	21	51	78	−27	47
14	Alsager Town (R)	42	12	7	23	58	88	−30	0431	Relegation to the NWCFL Premier Division
15	Shepshed Dynamo	42	10	8	24	44	75	−31	38
16	Brigg Town	42	8	12	22	56	86	−30	36
17	Kidsgrove Athletic	42	7	10	25	61	90	−29	31
18	Spalding United	42	3	10	29	46	105	−59	19

Updated to games played on 26 Apr 2008
Source: Unibond League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
¹Failed to meet ground grading requirements
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Playoffs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Nantwich Town	2
	5	Grantham Town	1
						2	Nantwich Town	2(4)
						3	Sheffield	2(1)
	3	Sheffield	4
	4	Stocksbridge Park Steels	1

Cup Results

Challenge Cup: Teams from all 3 divisions.

• Eastwood Town 3-0 Skelmersdale United

President's Cup: Teams from lower 2 divisions.

• FC United of Manchester 2-0 Radcliffe Borough

Chairman's Cup: Between Champions of NPL Division One North and NPL Division One South.

• Retford United 2-0 Bradford Park Avenue

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

• Fleetwood Town bt. Bradford Park Avenue¹

^{1 Retford United qualified but its ground standards were not high enough for it to play in the shield.}

References

1. ^ Unibond Football League Official Site