2009–10 Northern Premier League

The 2009–10 season was the 42nd season for the Northern Premier League Premier Division, and the third season for the Northern Premier League Division One North and South.

For Sponsorship reasons, the leagues were more formally known as the Unibond Premier, Unibond 1st Division North and Unibond 1st Division South

This was the last season that the three Northern Premier League divisions were sponsored by Henkel Unibond, ending a record 17 seasons relationship.

The final allocations of teams following the 2008–09 season was released on May 29, 2009.^[1] With the restructuring of the national league system complete, all three divisions of the Northern Premier League had their full complement of twenty-two teams until the withdrawal of Newcastle Blue Star (see below).

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division

Season	2009–10
Champions	Guiseley
Promoted	Guiseley Boston United
Relegated	Durham City
Matches played	383
Goals scored	1280 (3.34 per match)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The Premier Division featured seven new clubs:

• Burscough, relegated from the Conference North
• Hucknall Town, relegated from the Conference North
• King's Lynn, demoted under stadium quality rules from the Conference North
• Durham City, promoted from NPL Division One North
• Newcastle Blue Star, promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One North
• Retford United, promoted from NPL Division One South
• Stocksbridge Park Steels, promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One South

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Guiseley (C) (P)	38	25	4	9	73	41	+32	79	Promotion to the Conference North
2	Bradford Park Avenue	38	24	6	8	94	51	+43	78	Qualification to the Playoffs
3	Boston United (P)	38	23	8	7	90	34	+56	77
4	North Ferriby United	38	22	9	7	70	38	+32	75
5	Kendal Town	38	21	8	9	75	47	+28	71
6	Retford United	38	18	11	9	73	46	+27	65
7	Matlock Town	38	17	9	12	72	49	+23	60
8	Buxton	38	16	12	10	66	43	+23	60
9	Marine	38	17	6	15	60	55	+5	57
10	Nantwich Town	38	16	6	16	64	69	−5	54
11	Stocksbridge Park Steels	38	15	7	16	80	68	+12	52
12	Ashton United	38	15	6	17	48	63	−15	51
13	F.C. United of Manchester	38	13	8	17	62	65	−3	47
14	Whitby Town	38	12	10	16	56	62	−6	46
15	Frickley Athletic	38	12	9	17	50	66	−16	45
16	Burscough	38	13	5	20	55	65	−10	44
17	Hucknall Town	38	12	8	18	65	81	−16	44
18	Worksop Town	38	7	9	22	45	68	−23	30
19	Ossett Town	38	6	7	25	46	92	−46	025†
20	Durham City (R)	38	2	0	36	27	168	−141	00*	Relegation to the NPL Division One North
21	King's Lynn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	002	Club folded, record expunged
22	Newcastle Blue Star	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	001	Resigned, club folded

Updated to games played on 17 May 2010
Source: Unibond League.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
¹Newcastle Blue Star resigned from the league prior to the season's start.
²King's Lynn folded on 9 December 2009 and their record (P18 W8 D6 L4 GF49 GA24 Pts30) was expunged on 21 December 2009
^* Durham City deducted 6 points for fielding a player under a false name whilst suspended for another club.
^† Ossett Town reprieved from relegation.
(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	Bradford Park Avenue	2
	5	Kendal Town	1
						2	Bradford Park Avenue	1
						3	Boston United	2*
	3	Boston United	2
	4	North Ferriby United	1

* After extra time

Stadia and Locations

Ashton United

Boston United

Bradford Park Avenue

Burscough

Buxton

Durham City

F.C. United

Frickley Athletic

Guiseley

Hucknall Town

Kendal Town

King's Lynn

Marine

Matlock Town

Nantwich Town

Newcastle Blue Star

North Ferriby

Ossett Town

Retford United

Stocksbridge PS

Whitby Town

Worksop Town

Locations of the 2009–10 Northern Premier League teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
F.C. United of Manchester	Gigg Lane (Bury ground share)	11,840
Newcastle Blue Star	Kingston Park	10,200
Boston United	York Street	6,643
King's Lynn	The Walks	5,733
Buxton	The Silverlands	5,200
Bradford Park Avenue	Horsfall Stadium	5,000
Hucknall Town	Watnall Road	5,000
Ashton United	Hurst Cross	4,500
Nantwich Town	The Weaver Stadium	3,500
Stocksbridge Park Steels	Look Local Stadium	3,500
Whitby Town	Turnbull Ground	3,500
Worksop Town	New Manor Ground (Ilkeston ground share)	3,500
Burscough	Victoria Park	3,054
Durham City	The Arnott Stadium	3,000
Guiseley	Nethermoor Park	3,000
Marine	The Arriva Stadium	2,800
North Ferriby United	Grange Lane	2,700
Kendal Town	Lakeland Radio Stadium	2,400
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane	2,214
Frickley Athletic	Westfield Lane	2,087
Ossett Town	Ingfield	2,000
Retford United	Cannon Park	2,000

Division One North

Northern Premier League Division One North

Season	2009–10
Champions	F.C. Halifax Town
Promoted	F.C. Halifax Town Colwyn Bay
Relegated	Rossendale United
Matches played	463
Goals scored	1503 (3.25 per match)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The Division One North featured three new clubs:

• AFC Fylde, promoted as champions from the NWCFL Premier Division
• Leigh Genesis, relegated from the NPL Premier Division
• Prescot Cables, relegated from the NPL Premier Division

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	F.C. Halifax Town (C) (P)	42	30	10	2	108	38	+70	100	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division
2	Lancaster City	42	31	3	8	95	45	+50	96	Qualification to the Playoffs
3	Curzon Ashton	42	23	12	7	93	50	+43	075‡
4	Colwyn Bay (P)	42	23	6	13	77	57	+20	75
5	Skelmersdale United	42	22	8	12	80	56	+24	74
6	Leigh Genesis	42	21	8	13	81	51	+30	71
7	Mossley	42	18	11	13	73	67	+6	65
8	Clitheroe	42	18	8	16	72	66	+6	62
9	Warrington Town	42	18	6	18	65	69	−4	60
10	Radcliffe Borough	42	17	6	19	65	78	−13	57
11	Salford City	42	16	8	18	63	74	−11	56
12	Trafford	42	15	8	19	79	73	+6	53
13	AFC Fylde	42	15	8	19	67	79	−12	53
14	Bamber Bridge	42	14	10	18	58	67	−9	52
15	Prescot Cables	42	13	11	18	51	68	−17	50
16	Chorley	42	13	10	19	56	76	−20	49
17	Harrogate Railway Athletic	42	15	7	20	58	79	−21	049*
18	Wakefield	42	12	12	18	49	58	−9	48
19	Woodley Sports	42	10	15	17	53	67	−14	45
20	Garforth Town	42	11	7	24	64	94	−30	40
21	Ossett Albion	42	7	7	28	52	91	−39	028†
22	Rossendale United (R)	42	6	7	29	38	94	−56	25	Relegation to the NWCFL Premier Division

Updated to games played on 17 May 2010
Source: Unibond League.
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^* Harrogate Railway Athletic deducted three points for fielding an ineligible player.
^‡ Curzon Ashton deducted six points; three for fielding an ineligible player and three for a financial irregularity. Initially Curzon Ashton were docked ten points for the financial irregularity, with five points suspended, but on appeal this was reduced to six points with three suspended.
^† Ossett Albion reprieved from relegation.
(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	Lancaster City	2
	5	Skelmersdale United	0
						2	Lancaster City	0
						4	Colwyn Bay	1
	3	Curzon Ashton	1
	4	Colwyn Bay	2

Division One South

Northern Premier League Division One South

Season	2009–10
Champions	Mickleover Sports
Promoted	Mickleover Sports Chasetown
Relegated	Willenhall Town
Matches played	463
Goals scored	1459 (3.15 per match)
← 2008–09 2010–11 →

The Division One South featured five new clubs:

• Witton Albion, relegated from the NPL Premier Division
• Cammell Laird, demoted under stadium quality rules from the NPL Premier Division
• Chasetown, moved from the SFL Division One Midland
• Mickleover Sports, promoted as champions from the NCEL Premier Division
• Market Drayton, promoted as champions from the Midland Football Alliance

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Mickleover Sports (C) (P)	42	28	5	9	93	51	+42	89	Promotion to the NPL Premier Division
2	Chasetown (P)	42	24	10	8	78	42	+36	82	Qualification to the Playoffs
3	Glapwell	42	23	12	7	73	42	+31	81
4	Kidsgrove Athletic	42	22	12	8	93	50	+43	78
5	Sheffield	42	21	10	11	75	51	+24	73
6	Belper Town	42	21	8	13	83	55	+28	71
7	Witton Albion	42	20	7	15	76	53	+23	67
8	Leek Town	42	18	13	11	68	61	+7	67
9	Carlton Town	42	19	9	14	74	68	+6	66
10	Stamford	42	18	10	14	77	54	+23	64
11	Grantham Town	42	17	11	14	62	56	+6	62
12	Rushall Olympic	42	16	11	15	68	61	+7	59
13	Market Drayton Town	42	16	5	21	71	81	−10	53
14	Loughborough Dynamo	42	15	8	19	70	80	−10	53
15	Brigg Town	42	15	7	20	60	77	−17	52
16	Cammell Laird	42	13	11	18	51	66	−15	50	Transferred to the NPL Division One North
17	Shepshed Dynamo	42	10	18	14	44	55	−11	48
18	Goole	42	12	10	20	70	84	−14	46
19	Lincoln United	42	13	5	24	57	67	−10	44
20	Quorn	42	9	13	20	55	78	−23	40
21	Spalding United	42	5	5	32	33	111	−78	020†
22	Willenhall Town (R)	42	5	4	33	21	109	−88	09*	Relegation to the Midland Alliance

Updated to games played on 17 May 2010
Source: Unibond League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
^* Willenhall Town deducted 10 points for entering administration
^† Spalding United reprieved from relegation.
(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	Chasetown	3
	5	Sheffield	2
						2	Chasetown	1
						3	Glapwell	0
	3	Glapwell	1
	4	Kidsgrove Athletic	0

Resignations and their effects

On 20 June 2009, three days following the league's AGM which confirmed the 2009-10 allocation, Newcastle Blue Star resigned from the league.^[2] As division placements had been confirmed be then, no replacement team could be entered and the Premier Division was reduced to twenty one teams for the season.

On 9 December 2009, King's Lynn were officially wound up by the High Court in London over debts and an overdue tax bill, and they will play no further games in the season. The League released a table on 21 December with King's Lynn's playing record expunged from it, and leaving the Premier Division with twenty clubs and only two relegation spots.^[3] Then, in March 2010 Chester City F.C. and Farsley Celtic A.F.C. were removed from the Conference National and Conference North respectively.

Promotion from the First Divisions to the Premier Division took place as planned. Relegation from the First Divisions to the county level was reduced from the planned two per division to one. Relegation from the Premier Division was reduced from two to one on account of developments in the Conference. The final decision on relegations were made during the close season by the FA's National League System Committee which left this method completely redundant as Chester City, Farsley Celtic (now Farsley A.F.C.), King's Lynn, Grays Athletic (lost their ground), Merthyr Tydfil (expelled), VCD Athletic (ground grade fail) and Rothwell Town (resigned) were all demoted to Level 8.

Cup results

Challenge Cup: Teams from all 3 divisions.

• Boston United 2–0 Retford United

President's Cup: Teams from lower 2 divisions.

• Belper Town 3–1 Stamford

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

• Halifax 2–2 Mickleover, Mickleover win 3-1 on Pens

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

• Guiseley 1–1 Mickleover Sports, Guiseley win 5-3 on Pens

References

1. ^ NLS club allocations released FA.com. 29/05/09. Accessed 08.07.09
2. ^ UniBond League Response to Newcastle Blue Star's Resignation 25 June 2009. Accessed 08/07/09
3. ^ Kings Lynn Wound up by the High Court -http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/eng_conf/8402159.stm

External links

• Official website
• Official Northern Premier League Match Photo Gallery