2003–04 Northern Premier League

The 2003-04 Northern Premier League season was the 36th in the history of the Northern Premier League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. This season was the last before the formation of the Conference North and the Conference South, so most of the Premier Division teams were promoted to the Conference North for next season. Subsequently, the First Division had most of its teams promoted to the Premier Division, with new teams admitted from the leagues just below the Northern Premier in the English football league system. During this season, Radcliffe Borough's Jody Banim broke the English Record for the most Consecutive games where a player has scored at least 1 goal, which ran from 9th September to 4th November.

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division

Season	2003–04
Champions	Hucknall Town
Promoted	Team List Hucknall Town Droylsden Barrow Alfreton Town Harrogate Town Southport Worksop Town Lancaster City Vauxhall Motors Gainsborough Trinity Stalybridge Celtic Altrincham Runcorn F.C. Halton Ashton United Bradford Park Avenue
Relegated	None
Matches played	513
Goals scored	1534 (2.99 per match)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

The Premier Division featured four new teams:

• Southport relegated from the Football Conference
• Alfreton Town promoted as champions of Division One
• Spennymoor United promoted as runner-up of Division One
• Radcliffe Borough promoted as via playoff from Division One

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hucknall Town (C) (P)	44	29	8	7	83	38	+45	95	Promotion to the Conference North
2	Droylsden (P)	44	26	8	10	96	64	+32	86
3	Barrow (P)	44	22	14	8	82	52	+30	80
4	Alfreton Town (P)	44	23	9	12	73	43	+30	78
5	Harrogate Town (P)	44	24	5	15	79	63	+16	77
6	Southport (P)	44	20	10	14	71	52	+19	70
7	Worksop Town (P)	44	19	13	12	64	50	+14	70
8	Lancaster City (P)	44	20	9	15	62	49	+13	69
9	Vauxhall Motors (P)	44	19	10	15	78	75	+3	67
10	Gainsborough Trinity (P)	44	17	13	14	70	52	+18	64
11	Stalybridge Celtic (P)	44	18	10	16	72	66	+6	64
12	Altrincham (P)	44	16	15	13	66	51	+15	63
13	Runcorn F.C. Halton (P)	44	16	13	15	67	63	+4	61
14	Ashton United (P)	44	17	8	19	59	79	−20	059*	Qualification to the Playoffs
15	Whitby Town	44	14	11	19	55	70	−15	53
16	Marine	44	13	12	19	62	74	−12	51
17	Bradford Park Avenue (P)	44	12	14	18	48	62	−14	50
18	Spennymoor United	44	14	6	24	55	93	−38	48
19	Burscough	44	10	15	19	47	67	−20	45
20	Radcliffe Borough	44	12	6	26	74	99	−25	42
21	Blyth Spartans	44	10	10	24	54	74	−20	40
22	Frickley Athletic	44	11	7	26	51	83	−32	40
23	Wakefield & Emley	44	8	6	30	45	99	−54	30

Updated to games played on 8 February 2011
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^* Although Ashton United did not progress through the playoffs, they were promoted nonetheless.
(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

Eight teams competed for the final Conference North place; including Hyde United, champions of Division One.

	Quarter-finals					Semi-finals					Final
	1	Ashton United	2
	8	Hyde United	1
						1	Ashton United	1
						4	Bradford Park Avenue	2
	4	Bradford Park Avenue	3
	5	Spennymoor United	1
											4	Bradford Park Avenue	2
											6	Burscough	0
	2	Whitby Town	2(2)
	7	Radcliffe Borough	2(4)
						7	Radcliffe Borough	0
						6	Burscough	2
	3	Marine	1
	6	Burscough	3

Division One

Northern Premier League Division One

Season	2003–04
Champions	Hyde United
Promoted	Team List Hyde United Matlock Town Farsley Celtic Lincoln United Witton Albion Gateshead Workington Leek Town Guiseley Bamber Bridge Bridlington Town Prescot Cables Bishop Auckland Ossett Town
Relegated	None
Matches played	463
Goals scored	1372 (2.96 per match)
← 2002–03 2004–05 →

Division One featured five new teams:

• Colwyn Bay relegated from the Premier Division
• Gateshead relegated from the Premier Division
• Hyde United relegated from the Premier Division
• Bridlington Town as runners-up of the Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Prescot Cables as champions of the North West Counties Division One

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Hyde United (C) (P)	42	24	8	10	79	49	+30	80	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division and Playoffs
2	Matlock Town (P)	42	23	7	12	78	51	+27	76	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division
3	Farsley Celtic (P)	42	20	14	8	78	56	+22	74
4	Lincoln United (P)	42	20	11	11	73	53	+20	71
5	Witton Albion (P)	42	17	12	13	61	56	+5	63
6	Gateshead (P)	42	21	4	17	64	68	−4	064*
7	Workington (P)	42	17	11	14	70	58	+12	62
8	Leek Town (P)	42	16	13	13	56	47	+9	61
9	Guiseley (P)	42	16	12	14	66	44	+22	60
10	Bamber Bridge (P)	42	16	12	14	64	53	+11	60
11	Bridlington Town (P)	42	16	10	16	70	68	+2	58
12	Prescot Cables (P)	42	16	10	16	63	65	−2	58
13	Bishop Auckland (P)	42	14	13	15	61	64	−3	55
14	Ossett Town (P)	42	15	10	17	62	73	−11	054*
15	Rossendale United	42	13	12	17	53	62	−9	51
16	Colwyn Bay	42	14	9	19	56	82	−26	51
17	North Ferriby United	42	13	11	18	64	70	−6	50
18	Chorley	42	13	10	19	54	70	−16	49
19	Stocksbridge Park Steels	42	12	12	18	57	69	−12	48
20	Belper Town	42	9	15	18	44	58	−14	42
21	Kendal Town	42	11	7	24	53	79	−26	40
22	Kidsgrove Athletic	42	10	9	23	45	67	−22	39

Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^*Gateshead and Ossett Town were deduced 3 points.
(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 thirty-sixth season of the Northern Premier League the top fourteen teams of the Premier Division plus Bradford Park Avenue were promoted to the newly-formed Conference North. They were replaced by the top fourteen teams of the First Division, who in turn were replaced by the following fourteen teams:

• Gresley Rovers (from the Southern League Western Division)
• Shepshed Dynamo (from the Southern League Western Division)
• Ilkeston Town (from the Southern League Western Division)
• Willenhall Town
• Eastwood Town
• Mossley
• Rocester
• A.F.C. Telford United
• Brigg Town
• Warrington Town
• Ossett Albion
• Clitheroe
• Woodley Sports
• Spalding United

No teams were relegated this season.

Cup Results

Challenge Cup: Teams from both leagues.

• Droylsden bt. Hucknall Town
  

President's Cup: 'Plate' competition for losing teams in the NPL Cup.

• Barrow bt. Workington
  

Chairman's Cup: 'Plate' competition for losing teams in the NPL Cup.

• Hyde United bt. Leek Town
  

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

• Droylsden bt. Hucknall Town

External links

• Northern Premier League Tables at RSSSF