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

Season	1996–97
Champions	Leek Town
Promoted	Leek Town
Relegated	Buxton Witton Albion
Matches played	506
Goals scored	1466 (2.9 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The Premier League featured three new teams:

• Alfreton Town promoted as runners-up from Division One
• Lancaster City promoted as champions from Division One
• Runcorn relegated from the Conference

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Leek Town (C) (P)	44	28	9	7	71	35	+36	93	Promotion to the 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	86	−41	37
22	Witton Albion (R)	44	5	14	25	49	91	−42	29	Relegation to the NPL Division One
23	Buxton (R)	44	5	12	27	33	86	−53	27

Updated to games played on 3 March 2011
Source: [1].
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.

Division One

Northern Premier League Division One

Season	1996–97
Champions	Radcliffe Borough
Promoted	Leigh RMI Radcliffe Borough
Relegated	Atherton L.R. Curzon Ashton Warrington Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1281 (2.77 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division One featured four new teams:

• Droylsden relegated from the Premier Division
• Flixton promoted as champions from the NWCFL Division One
• Matlock Town relegated from the Premier Division
• Stocksbridge Park Steels promoted as runners-up from the NCEFL Premier Division

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Radcliffe Borough (C) (P)	42	26	7	9	77	33	+44	85	Promotion to the 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 the NCEFL Premier Division
21	Warrington Town (R)	42	5	18	19	42	79	−37	033*	Relegation to the NWCFL Division Two
22	Atherton Laburnum Rovers (R)	42	7	9	26	45	85	−40	30	Relegation to the NWCFL Division One

Updated to games played on May 1997
Source: [2].
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^* Warrington Town were relegated an extra level due to ground standards issues.
(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.

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

External links

• Northern Premier League Tables at RSSSF