1969–70 Northern Premier League

Northern Premier League
Season	1969–70
Champions	Macclesfield Town
Promoted	None
Relegated	Gateshead; Hyde United
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,158 (3.05 per match)
Biggest home win	Scarborough 8–0 Great Harwood; (14 March 1970)
Biggest away win	Gateshead 0–7 South Shields; (27 December 1969)
Highest scoring	Runcorn 4–4 Great Harwood; (1 November 1969); Runcorn 2–6 Matlock Town; (29 November 1969); Great Harwood 3–5 Gainsborough Trinity; (7 March 1970); Scarborough 8–0 Great Harwood; (14 March 1970)
Longest winning run	8 matches; Macclesfield Town; (13 September 1969 – 22 November 1969)
Longest unbeaten run	16 matches; Macclesfield Town; (8 September 1969 – 28 February 1970)
Longest winless run	26 matches; Gateshead; (30 August 1969 – 27 March 1970)
Longest losing run	7 matches; Goole Town; (27 March 1970 – 2 May 1970)
	← 1968–69 1970–71 →

The 1969–70 Northern Premier League was the second season of the Northern Premier League, a regional football league in Northern England, the northern areas of the Midlands and North Wales. The season began on 9 August 1969 and concluded on 9 May 1970.^[1]

Overview

The League featured twenty teams for the second consecutive season.

Team changes

The following three clubs left the League at the end of the previous season:

Ashington resigned, demoted to Northern Alliance
Chorley relegated to Lancashire Combination
Worksop Town relegated to Midland League (1889)

The following three clubs joined the League at the start of the season:

Stafford Rangers promoted from Cheshire County League
Great Harwood promoted from Lancashire Combination
Matlock Town promoted from Midland League (1889)

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GR	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Macclesfield Town (C)	38	22	8	8	72	41	1.756	52
2	Wigan Athletic	38	20	12	6	56	32	1.750	52
3	Boston United	38	21	8	9	65	33	1.970	50
4	Scarborough	38	20	10	8	74	39	1.897	50
5	South Shields	38	19	7	12	66	43	1.535	45
6	Gainsborough Trinity	38	16	11	11	64	49	1.306	43
7	Stafford Rangers	38	16	7	15	59	52	1.135	39
8	Bangor City	38	15	9	14	68	63	1.079	39
9	Northwich Victoria	38	15	8	15	60	66	0.909	38
10	Netherfield	38	14	9	15	56	54	1.037	37
11	Hyde United (R)	38	15	7	16	59	59	1.000	37	Relegated to Cheshire County League
12	Altrincham	38	14	8	16	62	65	0.954	36
13	Fleetwood	38	13	10	15	53	60	0.883	36
14	Runcorn	38	11	13	14	57	72	0.792	35
15	Morecambe	38	10	13	15	41	51	0.804	33
16	South Liverpool	38	11	11	16	44	55	0.800	33
17	Great Harwood	38	10	9	19	63	92	0.685	29
18	Matlock Town	38	8	12	18	52	67	0.776	28
19	Goole Town	38	10	6	22	50	71	0.704	26
20	Gateshead (R)	38	5	12	21	37	94	0.394	22	Relegated to Wearside League

Updated to match(es) played on 10 May 1969. Source: The Football Archives
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

The points system up until the 1982–83 season: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away	ALT	BAN	BOS	FLE	GAI	GAT	GOO	GHA	HYD	MAC	MAT	MOR	NET	NOR	RUN	SCA	SLI	SSH	STA	WIG
Altrincham		1–1	1–0	3–2	1–2	3–1	4–2	2–1	4–1	2–4	3–3	0–3	4–1	1–2	2–1	0–2	2–2	3–1	1–2	1–3
Bangor City	3–4		1–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	5–2	3–0	5–0	2–0	4–0	2–0	1–2	3–2	4–1	0–2	1–0	3–0	1–0	2–1
Boston United	1–0	0–0		3–0	1–2	7–0	1–0	3–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	4–0	5–0	1–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	2–0	0–0
Fleetwood	1–1	4–2	3–1		1–3	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–0	3–2	1–0	0–0	2–0	3–0	5–0	0–0	0–6	3–0	2–1	1–0
Gainsborough Trinity	3–0	2–1	1–3	1–1		2–1	5–0	6–1	0–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	3–2	2–2	1–1	2–1	4–2	1–3	2–3	1–1
Gateshead	1–2	2–1	0–0	3–2	2–2		2–2	2–1	3–1	1–0	3–3	1–1	1–2	1–2	1–3	0–4	1–1	0–7	0–1	0–0
Goole Town	3–3	2–3	0–0	2–0	3–1	6–1		1–2	3–1	1–3	1–0	2–1	2–1	0–3	0–0	0–3	1–0	0–1	0–2	0–1
Great Harwood	1–2	4–1	5–1	2–0	3–5	1–1	2–4		1–7	2–3	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–2	2–2	1–5	1–1	2–1	4–1	2–1
Hyde United	2–1	3–1	2–1	5–2	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1		4–0	1–1	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–0	3–3	0–0	0–1	1–0	2–3
Macclesfield Town	1–1	4–0	2–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	2–0	5–2	2–1		3–1	5–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	2–3	1–1	0–0	4–1	0–0
Matlock Town	2–1	0–0	1–4	1–1	2–4	4–1	2–2	1–1	1–2	0–2		3–0	0–3	4–0	1–0	0–3	1–1	1–1	4–1	5–0
Morecambe	1–4	5–1	0–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	1–3	3–0		0–0	2–0	1–1	1–3	2–0	1–1	2–2	2–1
Netherfield	2–0	2–3	1–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	2–1	3–3	3–0	2–3	2–1	2–0		2–1	4–0	2–2	3–1	0–0	3–2	1–0
Northwich Victoria	2–0	2–0	3–2	1–0	2–1	5–1	4–2	1–0	3–0	2–2	2–2	1–1	2–1		3–4	1–2	1–0	0–2	1–1	1–2
Runcorn	2–0	3–3	2–4	4–1	2–1	1–1	2–1	4–4	1–1	2–2	2–6	1–1	1–0	2–2		1–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	0–4
Scarborough	2–1	1–1	1–1	3–1	1–0	1–1	2–1	8–0	3–1	0–1	5–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	2–0		0–0	0–1	1–1	1–1
South Liverpool	0–0	1–0	0–2	1–2	0–0	2–0	1–1	3–2	1–5	0–1	1–0	3–0	0–3	3–4	2–0	3–2		3–1	2–1	0–2
South Shields	2–1	4–1	0–1	3–0	0–1	5–1	2–0	4–1	4–1	3–1	3–1	1–1	3–1	5–1	1–4	3–2	0–1		0–0	1–1
Stafford Rangers	0–1	3–2	3–2	2–1	2–0	5–0	3–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–0	1–1	1–1	4–1	1–2	4–1	4–0	1–0		1–2
Wigan Athletic	2–2	2–2	4–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–1	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–0	3–2	2–0	5–1	2–0	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 9 May 1970. Source: The Football Archives
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and locations

Locations of the 1969–70 Northern Premier League teams

Team	Stadium
Altrincham	Moss Lane
Bangor City	Farrar Road
Boston United	York Street
Fleetwood	Highbury
Gainsborough Trinity	The Northolme
Gateshead	Redheugh Park
Goole Town	Victoria Pleasure Ground
Great Harwood	The Showground
Hyde United	Ewen Fields
Macclesfield Town	Moss Rose
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane
Morecambe	Christie Park
Netherfield	Parkside
Northwich Victoria	Drill Field
Runcorn	Canal Street
Scarborough	Athletic Ground
South Liverpool	Holly Park
South Shields	Simonside Hall
Stafford Rangers	Marston Road
Wigan Athletic	Springfield Park

Cup results

Challenge Cup

Stage	Home Team	Score	Away Team
1st Leg	Altrincham	?–?	Macclesfield Town
2nd Leg	Macclesfield Town	?–?	Altrincham
Aggregate	Altrincham	4–3	Macclesfield Town

FA Cup

Out of the twenty clubs from the Northern Premier League only South Shields reached for the second round:

Second Round

Home Team	Score	Away Team
South Shields	0–0	Oldham Athletic
Oldham Athletic	1–2	South Shields	Replay

Third Round

Home Team	Score	Away Team
Queens Park Rangers	4–1	South Shields

FA Trophy

Out of the twenty clubs from the Northern Premier League only Macclesfield Town reached for the fourth round:

Fourth Round

Home Team	Score	Away Team
Burton Albion	1–1	Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town	4–2	Burton Albion	Replay

Semi-finals

Home Team	Score	Away Team
Macclesfield Town	1–0	Barnet

Final

Home Team	Score	Away Team
Macclesfield Town	2–0	Telford United

End of the season

At the end of the second season of the Northern Premier League none of the teams put forward, for election, received enough votes to be promoted to the Football League. Hyde United resigned the league, due to financial difficulties and Gateshead was relegated.

Football League elections

Alongside the four Football League teams facing re-election, a total of thirteen non-League teams applied for election, three of which were from the Northern Premier League. Three out of the four Football League teams were re-elected. Cambridge United from the Southern League replaced Bradford Park Avenue from the Football League as they didn't receive enough votes. Bradford Park Avenue was subsequently relegated to the Northern Premier League.^[2]

Team	League	Votes
Darlington	Football League	47
Hartlepool	Football League	42
Cambridge United	Southern League	31
Newport County	Football League	31
Bradford Park Avenue	Football League	17
Wigan Athletic	Northern Premier League	3
Cambridge City	Southern League	2
Yeovil Town	Southern League	1
Bedford Town	Southern League	1
Hereford United	Southern League	1
Morecambe	Northern Premier League	1
Romford	Southern League	1
Boston United	Northern Premier League	0
Chelmsford City	Southern League	0
Hillingdon Borough	Southern League	0
Telford United	Southern League	0
Wimbledon	Southern League	0