1996–97 North West Counties Football League

The 1996–97 North West Counties Football League season was the 15th in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; Division One and Division Two.

Division One

North West Counties Football League Division One
Season 1996–97
Champions Trafford
Promoted Trafford
Relegated Bootle
Matches played 462
Goals scored 1422 (3.08 per match)

Division One featured two new teams:

League Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Trafford (C) (P) 42 29 7 6 99 38+61 94 Promotion to NPL Division One
2 Newcastle Town 42 27 7 8 71 31+40 88
3 Clitheroe 42 23 14 5 75 36+39 83
4 Penrith 42 23 10 9 75 49+26 79 Transferred to the Northern League Division One
5 Burscough 42 22 9 11 68 48+20 75
6 Eastwood Hanley 42 20 10 12 64 51+13 70 Club folded
7 Mossley 42 20 8 14 79 57+22 68
8 Blackpool Rovers 42 17 16 9 70 47+23 67
9 Prescot Cables 42 17 11 14 68 60+8 62
10 Vauxhall GM 42 14 15 13 70 69+1 57
11 Nantwich Town 42 14 11 17 74 740 53
12 Glossop North End 42 14 11 17 56 67−11 53
13 Bootle (R) 42 15 8 19 61 73−12 53 Relegation to NWCFL Division Two
14 St Helens Town 42 14 6 22 65 79−14 48
15 Atherton Collieries 42 12 9 21 63 85−22 45
16 Kidsgrove Athletic 42 10 14 18 53 73−20 44
17 Rossendale United 42 11 9 22 51 76−25 42
18 Chadderton 42 10 11 21 49 80−31 41
19 Holker Old Boys 42 10 9 23 60 80−20 39
20 Maine Road 42 9 11 22 49 85−36 38
21 Darwen 42 9 10 23 49 81−32 37
22 Salford City 42 8 12 22 53 82−29 36

Updated to games played on May 1997.
Source: .
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (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; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Division Two

North West Counties Football League Division Two
Season 1996–97
Champions Ramsbottom United
Promoted Haslingden
Ramsbottom United
Relegated None
Matches played 380
Goals scored 1299 (3.42 per match)

Division Two featured four new teams:

League Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Ramsbottom United (C) (P) 38 27 6 5 100 34+66 87 Promotion to NWCFL Division One
2 Haslingden (P) 38 27 6 5 90 32+58 87
3 Garswood United 38 26 5 7 90 38+52 83
4 Tetley Walker 38 24 5 9 105 58+47 77
5 Castleton Gabriels 38 22 8 8 78 39+39 74
6 Leek County School Old Boys 38 22 7 9 67 49+18 73
7 Formby 38 21 6 11 86 57+29 69
8 Maghull 38 17 7 14 52 50+2 58
9 Cheadle Town 38 15 8 15 59 63−4 53
10 Skelmersdale United 38 14 10 14 72 66+6 52
11 Nelson 38 14 10 14 64 72−8 52
12 Stantondale 38 11 12 15 59 69−10 45
13 Middlewich Athletic 38 13 6 19 54 65−11 45
14 Squires Gate 38 12 4 22 44 79−35 40
15 Daisy Hill 38 10 5 23 47 76−29 35
16 Bacup Borough 38 9 6 23 48 83−35 33
17 Ashton Town 38 6 14 18 53 77−24 32
18 Blackpool Mechanics 38 7 5 26 48 88−40 26
19 Oldham Town 38 6 7 25 48 113−65 25
20 Colne 38 6 5 27 35 91−56 23

Updated to games played on 2 May 1997.
Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (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; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

References

    External links