2002–03 Northern Premier League

The 2002–03 Northern Premier League season was the 35th in the history of the Northern Premier League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First.

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division
Season 2002–03
Champions Accrington Stanley
Promoted Accrington Stanley
Relegated Colwyn Bay
Gateshead
Hyde United
Matches played 506
Goals scored 1536 (3.04 per match)

The Premier League featured three new teams:

League Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Accrington Stanley (C) (P) 44 30 10 4 97 44+53 100 Promotion to Conference
2 Barrow 44 24 12 8 84 52+32 84
3 Vauxhall Motors 44 22 10 12 81 46+35 76
4 Stalybridge Celtic 44 21 13 10 77 51+26 76
5 Worksop Town 44 21 9 14 82 67+15 72
6 Harrogate Town 44 21 8 15 75 63+12 71
7 Bradford Park Avenue 44 20 10 14 73 70+3 70
8 Hucknall Town 44 17 15 12 72 62+10 66
9 Droylsden 44 18 10 16 62 52+10 64
10 Whitby Town 44 17 12 15 80 69+11 63
11 Marine 44 17 10 17 63 60+3 61
12 Wakefield & Emley 44 14 18 12 46 49−3 60*
13 Runcorn F.C. Halton 44 15 15 14 69 74−5 60
14 Altrincham 44 17 9 18 58 63−5 60
15 Gainsborough Trinity 44 16 11 17 67 66+1 59
16 Ashton United 44 15 13 16 71 79−8 58
17 Lancaster City 44 16 9 19 71 75−4 57
18 Burscough 44 14 9 21 44 51−7 51
19 Blyth Spartans 44 14 9 21 67 87−20 51
20 Frickley Athletic 44 13 8 23 45 78−33 47
21 Gateshead (R) 44 10 11 23 60 81−21 41 Qualification to Division One Playoffs
22 Colwyn Bay (R) 44 5 9 30 52 99−47 24 Relegation to NPL Division One
23 Hyde United (R) 44 5 8 31 40 98−58 23

Updated to games played on 8 February 2011.
Source: .
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
* From this season onwards Emley were known as Wakefield & Emley.
(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 One

Northern Premier League Division One
Season 2002–03
Champions Alfreton Town
Promoted Alfreton Town
Radcliffe Borough
Spennymoor United
Relegated Eastwood Town
Trafford
Matches played 465
Goals scored 1407 (3.03 per match)

Division One featured four new teams:

League Table

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Alfreton Town (C) (P) 42 26 9 7 106 59+47 87 Promotion to Premier Division
2 Spennymoor United (P) 42 27 6 9 81 42+39 87
3 Radcliffe Borough (P) 42 25 10 7 90 46+44 85 Qualification to Playoffs
4 North Ferriby United 42 23 9 10 78 45+33 78
5 Chorley 42 21 10 11 80 51+29 73
6 Belper Town 42 20 13 9 53 42+11 73
7 Witton Albion 42 19 15 8 67 50+17 72
8 Matlock Town 42 20 10 12 67 48+19 70
9 Leek Town 42 20 9 13 63 46+17 69
10 Workington 42 19 10 13 73 60+13 67
11 Farsley Celtic 42 17 11 14 66 67−1 62
12 Kendal Town 42 18 7 17 68 58+10 61
13 Bamber Bridge 42 15 9 18 55 59−4 54
14 Guiseley 42 14 11 17 68 63+5 53
15 Bishop Auckland 42 13 10 19 58 83−25 49
16 Lincoln United 42 12 9 21 67 77−10 45
17 Stocksbridge Park Steels 42 11 9 22 54 81−27 42
18 Rossendale United 42 12 5 25 58 88−30 41
19 Kidsgrove Athletic 42 9 11 22 49 71−22 38
20 Ossett Town 42 8 9 25 39 80−41 33
21 Eastwood Town (R) 42 5 8 29 33 92−59 23 Relegation to NCEFL Premier Division
22 Trafford (R) 42 5 6 31 34 99−65 21 Relegation to NWCFL Division One

Updated to games played on 8 February 2011.
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 One Playoffs

The Division One playoffs saw the third to fifth placed sides in the Division and the team that finished 21st in the Premier Division compete for one place in the Premier Division.[1]

Semifinals Final
      
3 Radcliffe Borough 1
4 North Ferriby United 0
3 Radcliffe Borough 2(4)
5 Chorley 2(2)
5 Chorley 5
21 Gateshead 2

Promotion and relegation

In the thirty-fifth season of the Northern Premier League Accrington Stanley (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference. Gateshead, Colwyn Bay and Hyde United were relegated to the First Division; these three clubs were replaced by relegated Conference side Southport, First Division winners Alfreton Town, second placed Spennymoor United and third placed Radcliffe Borough (via a Playoff). In the First Division Eastwood Town and Trafford left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Bridlington Town and Prescot Cables.

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

References

  1. ↑ "UniBond League Premier Division: Fixtures 2002–03". nonleaguefooty.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-07-11.
  2. ↑ "The Official Gateshead FC Website – Fixtures/Results". Gateshead FC. Archived from the original on 2003-06-22. Retrieved 2011-07-11.