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.

Contents

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division
Season 2003–04
Champions Hucknall Town
Promoted
Relegated None
Matches played 513
Goals scored 1534 (2.99 per match)

The Premier Division featured four new teams:

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
Relegated None
Matches played 463
Goals scored 1372 (2.96 per match)

Division One featured five new teams:

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:

No teams were relegated this season.

Cup Results

Challenge Cup: Teams from both leagues.

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

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

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

External links

Premier Division
Division One North
Division One South
Seasons
 « 2002–03
2004–05 » 
FA competitions
FA Cup (Qualifying Rounds · Final) · Community Shield · FA Trophy (Final)
Premier League and
Football League
Premier League · Football League (First Division · Second Division · Third Division) · League Cup (Final) · Football League Trophy (Final) · Play-offs (First Division Final · Second Division Final · Third Division Final)
Football Conference
Lower leagues
Northern Premier League · Southern Football League · Isthmian League
European competitions
Related to national team
Club seasons
Premier League
First Division
Bradford City · Burnley · Cardiff City · Coventry City · Crewe Alexandra · Crystal Palace · Derby County · Gillingham · Ipswich Town · Millwall · Norwich City · Nottingham Forest · Preston North End · Reading · Rotherham United · Sheffield United · Stoke City · Sunderland · Walsall · Watford · West Bromwich Albion · West Ham United · Wigan Athletic · Wimbledon
Second Division
Barnsley · Blackpool · Bournemouth · Brentford · Brighton & Hove Albion · Bristol City · Chesterfield · Colchester United · Grimsby Town · Hartlepool United · Luton Town · Notts County · Oldham Athletic · Peterborough United · Plymouth Argyle · Port Vale · Queens Park Rangers · Rushden & Diamonds · Sheffield Wednesday · Stockport County · Swindon Town · Tranmere Rovers · Wrexham · Wycombe Wanderers
Third Division
Boston United · Bristol Rovers · Bury · Cambridge United · Carlisle United · Cheltenham Town · Darlington · Doncaster Rovers · Huddersfield Town · Hull City · Kidderminster Harriers · Leyton Orient · Lincoln City · Macclesfield Town · Mansfield Town · Northampton Town · Oxford United · Rochdale · Scunthorpe United · Southend United · Swansea City · Torquay United · Yeovil Town · York City
Football Conference
Accrington Stanley · Aldershot Town · Barnet · Burton Albion · Chester City · Dagenham & Redbridge · Exeter City · Farnborough Town · Forest Green Rovers · Gravesend & Northfleet · Halifax Town · Hereford United · Leigh RMI · Margate · Morecambe · Northwich Victoria · Scarborough · Shrewsbury Town · Stevenage Borough · Tamworth · Telford United · Woking
Northern Premier/Southern