Northern Premier League Premier Division

Countries	England
Founded	1968
Number of teams	21
Promotion to	Conference North
Relegation to	NPL Division One North NPL Division One South
Levels on pyramid	Level 7
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy Challenge Cup
Current champions	Eastwood Town (2008–09)

The Premier Division is the top division of the Northern Premier League. It is at Step 3 (or level 7) of the National League System, placing it six divisions below the FA Premier League. For sponsorship reasons, it is often referred to as the UniBond League Premier Division.

The league was founded in 1968, as the northern equivalent of the Southern League, being the highest level non-League division below The Football League. In 1979, upon the creation of the Alliance Premier League, it became a feeder league and fell down one 'level' in the English football league system. Since then, its prestige has fallen further: there are now two levels between it and the Football League.

The division is at the same level as the Premier Divisions of the Southern League and the Isthmian League. At the end of each season two clubs are promoted to the Conference North: the league champions, and the winners of a play-off competition held between the 2nd through 5th placed clubs. The four lowest placed teams are relegated to the Northern Premier League Division One North or Northern Premier League Division One South, to be replaced by four promoted teams.

All clubs in the Premier Division also compete in the Challenge Cup knockout competition, but not in the other two NPL cup competitions (the President's Cup and the Chairman's Cup) which in 2007–2008 were only open to teams in the lower divisions.

Contents 1 Current clubs 2009-10 2 Past winners 3 References 4 External links

[edit] Current clubs 2009-10

Club	Home Ground	Finishing position 2008-09
Ashton United	Hurst Cross	9th
Boston United	Staffsmart Stadium	16th
Bradford Park Avenue	Horsfall Stadium	7th
Burscough	Victoria Park	21st in Conference North
Buxton	The Silverlands	14th
Durham City	The Arnott Stadium	1st in NPL 1st Division North
FC United of Manchester	Gigg Lane	6th
Frickley Athletic	Westfield Lane	11th
Guiseley	Nethermoor Park	4th (Losing Playoff Semi Finalist)
Hucknall Town	Wattnall Road	22nd in Conference North
Kendal Town	Lakeland Radio Stadium	5th (Losing Playoff Semi Finalist)
Kings Lynn	The Walks Stadium	17th in Conference North
Marine	Arriva Stadium	13th
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane	15th
Nantwich Town	The Weaver Stadium	3rd (Losing Playoff Finalist)
North Ferriby United	Church Road	10th
Ossett Town	Ingfield	12th
Retford United	Cannon Park	1st in NPL 1st Division South
Stocksbridge Park Steels	Bracken Moor	3rd in NPL 1st Division South(Playoff Winners)
Whitby Town	Turnbull Ground	19th (reprieved from relegation)
Worksop Town	New Manor Ground	17th

^[1]

[edit] Past winners

1968-69 Macclesfield Town 1969-70 Macclesfield Town 1970-71 Wigan Athletic 1971-72 Stafford Rangers 1972-73 Boston United 1973-74 Boston United 1974-75 Wigan Athletic 1975-76 Runcorn 1976-77 Boston United 1977-78 Boston United 1978-79 Mossley

1979-80 Mossley 1980-81 Runcorn 1981-82 Bangor City 1982-83 Gateshead 1983-84 Barrow 1984-85 Stafford Rangers 1985-86 Gateshead 1986-87 Macclesfield Town 1987-88 Chorley 1988-89 Barrow 1989-90 Colne Dynamoes

1990-91 Witton Albion 1991-92 Stalybridge Celtic 1992-93 Southport 1993-94 Marine 1994-95 Marine 1995-96 Bamber Bridge 1996-97 Leek Town 1997-98 Barrow 1998-99 Altrincham 1999-00 Leigh RMI 2000-01 Stalybridge Celtic

2001-02 Burton Albion 2002-03 Accrington Stanley 2003-04 Hucknall Town 2004-05 Hyde United 2005-06 Blyth Spartans 2006-07 Burscough 2007-08 Fleetwood Town 2008-09 Eastwood Town

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Current league tables

Northern Premier League seasons v • d • e
1960–61 | 1961–62 | 1962–63 | 1963–64 | 1964–65 | 1965–66 | 1966–67 | 1967–68 | 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 001990–91 | 1991–92 | 1992–93 | 1993–94 | 1994–95 | 1995–96 | 1996–97 | 1997–98 | 1998–99 | 1999–2000 2000–01 | 2001–02 | 2002–03 | 2003–04 | 2004–05 | 2005–06 | 2006–07 | 2007–08 | 2008–09 | 2009–10
v • d • e 2009–10 Northern Premier League Premier Division Ashton United · Boston United · Bradford Park Avenue · Burscough · Buxton · Durham City · FC United of Manchester · Frickley Athletic · Guiseley · Hucknall Town · Kendal Town · King's Lynn · Marine · Matlock Town · Nantwich Town · North Ferriby United · Ossett Town · Retford United · Stocksbridge Park Steels · Whitby Town · Worksop Town
English football league system – Level 7 Promotion to: Conference North Relegation to: Northern Premier League First Division
v • d • e Football in England The Football Association National teams England · B · C · U-21 · U-20 · U-19 · U-18 · U-17 · U-16 League system Premier League · The Football League (Championship • League One • League Two) · Football Conference (National • North • South) · Northern Premier (Premier Division • Division One North • Division One South) · Southern League (Premier Division • Division One Midlands • Division One South & West) · Isthmian League (Premier Division • Division One North • Division One South) Domestic cups FA Cup · Football League Cup · FA Community Shield · Football League Trophy · FA Trophy · Conference League Cup · FA Vase · FA NLS Cup List of clubs · Venues (Listed by capacity) · Competitions · Trophies and Awards · Records