1996–97 Northern Premier League

The 1996–97 Northern Premier League season was the 29th in the history of the Northern Premier League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. It was known as the Unibond League for sponsorship reasons.^[1]

Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division
Season	1996–97
Champions	Leek Town
Promoted	Leek Town
Relegated	Buxton Witton Albion
Matches played	506
Goals scored	1,466 (2.9 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

The Premier League featured three new teams:

Alfreton Town promoted as runners-up from Division One
Lancaster City promoted as champions from Division One
Runcorn relegated from the Conference

League Table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Leek Town !Leek Town (C) (P)	44	28	9	7	71	35	+36	93	Promotion to Conference
2	Bishop Auckland !Bishop Auckland	44	23	14	7	88	43	+45	83
3	Hyde United !Hyde United	44	22	16	6	93	46	+47	82
4	Emley	44	23	12	9	89	54	+35	81
5	Barrow !Barrow	44	23	11	10	71	45	+26	80
6	Boston United !Boston United	44	22	13	9	74	47	+27	79
7	Blyth Spartans !Blyth Spartans	44	22	11	11	74	49	+25	77
8	Marine !Marine	44	20	15	9	53	37	+16	75
9	Guiseley !Guiseley	44	20	11	13	63	54	+9	71
10	Gainsborough Trinity !Gainsborough Trinity	44	18	12	14	65	46	+19	66
11	Accrington Stanley !Accrington Stanley	44	18	12	14	77	70	+7	66
12	Runcorn !Runcorn	44	15	15	14	63	62	+1	60
13	Chorley !Chorley	44	16	9	19	69	66	+3	57
14	Winsford United !Winsford United	44	13	14	17	50	56	−6	53
15	Knowsley United	44	12	14	18	58	79	−21	50	Club folded at the end of the season
16	Colwyn Bay !Colwyn Bay	44	11	13	20	60	76	−16	46
17	Lancaster City !Lancaster City	44	12	9	23	48	75	−27	45
18	Frickley Athletic !Frickley Athletic	44	12	8	24	62	91	−29	44
19	Spennymoor United !Spennymoor United	44	10	10	24	52	68	−16	40
20	Bamber Bridge !Bamber Bridge	44	11	7	26	59	99	−40	40
21	Alfreton Town !Alfreton Town	44	8	13	23	45	86	−41	37
22	Witton Albion !Witton Albion (R)	44	5	14	25	49	91	−42	29	Relegation to NPL Division One
23	Buxton !Buxton (R)	44	5	12	27	33	86	−53	27	Relegation to NPL Division One

Updated to games played on 7 November 2015.
Source: Northern Premier Division.
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.

Results

Home ╲ Away	Accrington Stanley !ACC	Alfreton Town !ALF	Bamber Bridge !BAM	Barrow !BRW	Bishop Auckland !BIS	Blyth Spartans !BLY	Boston United !BOS	Buxton !BUX	Chorley !CHO	Colwyn Bay !COL	Emley	Frickley Athletic !FRK	Gainsborough Trinity !GAI	Guiseley !GUI	Hyde United !HYD	Knowsley United	Lancaster City !LNC	Leek Town !LEE	Marine !MAR	Runcorn !RUN	Spennymoor United !SPU	Winsford United !WNS	Witton Albion !WTN
Accrington Stanley !Accrington Stanley		4–2	4–1	1–2	1–4	2–3	3–1	5–3	0–3	3–1	1–1	4–0	0–4	1–2	3–2	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	2–0	0–0	4–1
Alfreton Town !Alfreton Town	1–3		2–1	2–3	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–2	0–3	2–1	0–0	1–0	0–1	4–5	0–3	2–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–1	1–1	2–1
Bamber Bridge !Bamber Bridge	1–1	2–2		1–3	1–2	0–1	0–2	2–2	0–2	2–3	0–3	5–1	1–1	6–4	1–4	1–2	0–2	0–4	1–0	0–5	1–3	1–2	4–2
Barrow !Barrow	4–3	3–0	1–1		0–1	2–2	0–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–0	2–1	3–1
Bishop Auckland !Bishop Auckland	1–1	2–2	2–0	0–1		1–3	1–0	5–0	1–3	3–1	0–1	2–2	3–3	1–0	3–0	4–1	4–2	1–1	2–2	2–0	4–1	2–0	5–0
Blyth Spartans !Blyth Spartans	1–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	0–0		1–2	5–0	1–3	0–0	1–1	6–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	6–0	3–1	0–1	1–1	3–2	2–0	1–2	0–0
Boston United !Boston United	3–1	1–1	1–1	3–5	1–1	2–1		3–0	3–0	3–2	4–1	2–3	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–0	4–2	0–2	2–0	2–2	2–0	2–0	2–1
Buxton !Buxton	1–3	0–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	0–2		0–1	2–2	0–3	1–3	2–1	0–1	0–3	0–0	1–0	0–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	1–2	1–1
Chorley !Chorley	1–1	2–1	1–3	1–3	1–1	1–3	3–4	2–2		4–0	1–2	0–1	3–4	1–0	3–3	2–2	0–2	0–0	2–1	4–0	1–0	0–1	6–1
Colwyn Bay !Colwyn Bay	0–2	1–1	5–2	1–2	1–2	3–0	1–5	3–4	1–1		3–2	5–0	0–2	1–1	1–3	5–0	1–1	3–1	0–0	3–3	1–1	1–2	0–0
Emley	3–1	4–0	1–2	3–0	2–0	3–2	1–1	3–0	1–0	0–1		3–3	3–3	4–0	2–4	2–4	2–2	2–3	5–1	2–1	3–0	1–1	4–1
Frickley Athletic !Frickley Athletic	0–1	7–2	1–0	0–2	0–4	2–2	2–2	3–1	2–1	3–4	1–2		2–2	0–1	0–3	0–2	3–1	2–3	0–1	1–1	5–2	3–2	1–2
Gainsborough Trinity !Gainsborough Trinity	2–2	3–0	0–2	3–0	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	0–3	2–0		1–0	0–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	4–1	1–0	2–0	3–0
Guiseley !Guiseley	1–0	1–1	5–0	3–1	0–0	2–1	1–0	2–0	1–4	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–0		2–3	1–0	1–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	2–1	1–1	3–0
Hyde United !Hyde United	7–2	5–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–2	2–0	3–2	1–1	1–2	5–1	2–1	2–2		4–0	0–0	3–1	1–1	2–0	4–0	0–0	1–0
Knowsley United	1–1	1–1	5–0	0–3	0–5	0–1	0–0	4–1	4–1	3–0	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–2	3–3		3–1	3–2	3–1	1–1	2–2	0–3	2–1
Lancaster City !Lancaster City	1–2	1–0	2–3	1–0	2–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	4–1	1–1	1–3	1–3	0–2	1–2	0–4	2–2		0–3	0–2	0–2	1–0	1–1	2–1
Leek Town !Leek Town	2–1	4–0	4–1	2–1	1–0	4–0	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–0	1–3	0–0	2–0	2–1		0–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	2–1
Marine !Marine	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	2–3	0–3	1–0	3–0	1–0	0–0	0–0	3–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–2	5–1	0–0		1–0	1–0	3–0	0–0
Runcorn !Runcorn	1–3	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–3	1–0	1–1	1–1	0–2	5–0	1–1	0–0	2–1	2–0	1–3	1–0	3–2	0–2	1–1		1–0	4–3	4–0
Spennymoor United !Spennymoor United	0–0	3–2	2–1	1–2	1–5	0–2	1–3	0–1	0–0	1–2	2–3	3–1	1–2	4–1	1–1	5–0	1–1	0–1	0–0	6–0		2–0	1–1
Winsford United !Winsford United	1–1	1–0	4–2	1–2	1–2	0–2	0–1	1–1	0–1	3–0	2–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–0	1–1		1–1
Witton Albion !Witton Albion	0–1	1–1	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	2–2	2–2	1–0	1–4	0–2	2–1	2–1	0–0	1–3	1–2	1–2	2–2	1–5	1–2	1–3

Updated to games played on 3 May 1997.
Source: Northern Premier Division results grid
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Division One

Northern Premier League Division One
Season	1996–97
Champions	Radcliffe Borough
Promoted	Leigh RMI Radcliffe Borough
Relegated	Atherton L.R. Curzon Ashton Warrington Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,281 (2.77 per match)
← 1995–96 1997–98 →

Division One featured four new teams:

Droylsden relegated from the Premier Division
Flixton promoted as champions from the NWCFL Division One
Matlock Town relegated from the Premier Division
Stocksbridge Park Steels promoted as runners-up from the NCEFL Premier Division

League Table


Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Radcliffe Borough !Radcliffe Borough (C) (P)	42	26	7	9	77	33	+44	85	Promotion to Premier Division
2	Leigh RMI !Leigh RMI (P)	42	24	11	7	65	33	+32	83	Promotion to Premier Division
3	Lincoln United !Lincoln United	42	25	8	9	78	47	+31	83
4	Farsley Celtic !Farsley Celtic	42	23	8	11	75	48	+27	77
5	Worksop Town !Worksop Town	42	20	12	10	68	38	+30	72
6	Stocksbridge Park Steels !Stocksbridge Park Steels	42	19	11	12	66	54	+12	68
7	Bradford Park Avenue !Bradford Park Avenue	42	20	8	14	58	50	+8	68
8	Ashton United !Ashton United	42	17	14	11	73	52	+21	65
9	Great Harwood Town !Great Harwood Town	42	16	12	14	56	46	+10	60
10	Droylsden !Droylsden	42	15	14	13	69	67	+2	59
11	Matlock Town !Matlock Town	42	16	9	17	60	69	−9	57
12	Whitley Bay !Whitley Bay	42	14	12	16	47	54	−7	54
13	Flixton !Flixton	42	15	7	20	57	72	−15	52
14	Netherfield !Netherfield	42	12	14	16	54	56	−2	50
15	Eastwood Town !Eastwood Town	42	12	14	16	42	49	−7	50
16	Gretna !Gretna	42	11	17	14	55	67	−12	50
17	Harrogate Town !Harrogate Town	42	13	8	21	54	76	−22	47
18	Congleton Town !Congleton Town	42	12	9	21	47	64	−17	45
19	Workington !Workington	42	10	12	20	45	63	−18	42
20	Curzon Ashton !Curzon Ashton (R)	42	8	10	24	48	79	−31	34	Relegation to NCEFL Premier Division
21	Warrington Town !Warrington Town (R)	42	5	18	19	42	79	−37	033^*	Relegation to NWCFL Division One
22	Atherton Laburnum Rovers !Atherton Laburnum Rovers (R)	42	7	9	26	45	85	−40	30	Relegation to NWCFL Division One

Updated to games played on May 1997.
Source: .
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
^* Warrington Town were relegated an extra level due to ground standards issues.
(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.

Promotion and relegation

In the twenty-ninth season of the Northern Premier League Leek Town (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference. Witton Albion and Buxton were relegated to the First Division while Knowsley United left the League at the end of the season. Boston United moved to the Southern League. These clubs were replaced by relegated Conference side Altrincham, First Division winners Radcliffe Borough and second placed Leigh RMI. In the First Division Curzon Ashton, Warrington Town and Atherton Laburnum Rovers left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Whitby Town, Belper Town and Trafford.

Cup Results

Challenge Cup: Teams from both leagues.

Gainsborough Trinity bt. Boston United

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

Blyth Spartans bt. Runcorn

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

Gainsborough Trinity bt. Leek Town

References

↑ Unibond League

External links

Northern Premier League Tables at RSSSF

Northern Premier League
Premier Division	Altrincham Ashton United Barwell Buxton Coalville Town Farsley Celtic Grantham Town Halesowen Town Hednesford Town Lancaster City Marine Matlock Town Mickleover Sports Nantwich Town Rushall Olympic Shaw Lane Stafford Rangers Stalybridge Celtic Stourbridge Sutton Coldfield Town Warrington Town Whitby Town Witton Albion Workington
Division One North	Atherton Collieries Bamber Bridge Brighouse Town Clitheroe Colne Colwyn Bay Droylsden Glossop North End Goole Hyde United Kendal Town Mossley Ossett Albion Ossett Town Prescot Cables Radcliffe Borough Ramsbottom United Scarborough Athletic Skelmersdale United South Shields Tadcaster Albion Trafford
Division One South	Alvechurch Basford United Bedworth United Belper Town Carlton Town Chasetown Cleethorpes Town Corby Town Frickley Athletic Gresley Kidsgrove Athletic Leek Town Lincoln United Loughborough Dynamo Market Drayton Town Newcastle Town Peterborough Sports Romulus Sheffield Spalding United Stamford Stocksbridge Park Steels
Seasons	1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–00 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18

1996–97 in English football

« 1995–96

1997–98 »

FA competitions

Premier League and
Football League

Football Conference

Football Conference
Conference League Cup

Lower leagues

European competitions

Related to national team

1998 FIFA World Cup (UEFA Qualification Group 2)

Glenn Hoddle

Club seasons
Premier League	Arsenal Aston Villa Blackburn Rovers Chelsea Coventry City Derby County Everton Leeds United Leicester City Liverpool Manchester United Middlesbrough Newcastle United Nottingham Forest Sheffield Wednesday Southampton Sunderland Tottenham Hotspur West Ham United Wimbledon
First Division	Barnsley Birmingham City Bolton Wanderers Bradford City Charlton Athletic Crystal Palace Grimsby Town Huddersfield Town Ipswich Town Manchester City Norwich City Oldham Athletic Oxford United Portsmouth Port Vale Queens Park Rangers Reading Sheffield United Southend United Stoke City Swindon Town Tranmere Rovers West Bromwich Albion Wolverhampton Wanderers
Second Division	Blackpool Bournemouth Brentford Bristol City Bristol Rovers Burnley Bury Chesterfield Crewe Alexandra Gillingham Luton Town Millwall Notts County Peterborough United Plymouth Argyle Preston North End Rotherham United Shrewsbury Town Stockport County Walsall Watford Wrexham Wycombe Wanderers York City
Third Division	Barnet Brighton & Hove Albion Cambridge United Cardiff City Carlisle United Chester City Colchester United Darlington Doncaster Rovers Exeter City Fulham Hartlepool United Hereford United Hull City Leyton Orient Lincoln City Mansfield Town Northampton Town Rochdale Scarborough Scunthorpe United Swansea City Torquay United Wigan Athletic
Others	Newport

Summer 1996 transfers
Winter 1996–97 transfers

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