1970–71 Northern Premier League

Northern Premier League
Season1970–71
ChampionsWigan Athletic
PromotedNone
RelegatedNone
Matches played462
Goals scored1,466 (3.17 per match)
Biggest home winWigan Athletic 7–0 Goole Town[1]
(22 August 1970)
Biggest away winFleetwood 1–6 Great Harwood[1]
(30 January 1971)
Great Harwood 0–5 Fleetwood[1]
(8 March 1971)
Highest scoringGreat Harwood 5–7 Stafford Rangers[1]
(31 October 1970)
Longest winning run9 matches
Northwich Victoria
(13 February 1971 – 9 April 1971)
Longest unbeaten run16 matches
Wigan Athletic
(9 October 1970 – 20 February 1971)
Longest winless run14 matches
Kirkby Town
(13 February 1971 – 28 April 1971)
Longest losing run6 matches
Runcorn
(15 August 1970 – 5 September 1970)

Netherfield
(23 September 1970 – 23 October 1970)

Goole Town
(28 December 1970 – 20 February 1971)

The 1970–71 Northern Premier League was the third 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 15 August 1970 and concluded on 8 May 1971.[1]

Overview

The League was expanded this season, for the first time, from twenty teams to twenty-two teams.

Team changes

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

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

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts
1 Wigan Athletic (C) 42 27 13 2 91 32 2.844 67
2 Stafford Rangers 42 27 7 8 87 51 1.706 61
3 Scarborough 42 23 12 7 83 40 2.075 58
4 Boston United 42 22 12 8 69 31 2.226 56
5 Macclesfield Town 42 23 10 9 84 45 1.867 56
6 Northwich Victoria 42 22 5 15 71 55 1.291 49
7 Bangor City 42 19 10 13 72 61 1.180 48
8 Altrincham 42 19 10 13 80 76 1.053 48
9 South Liverpool 42 15 15 12 67 57 1.175 45
10 Chorley 42 14 14 14 58 61 0.951 42
11 Gainsborough Trinity 42 15 11 16 65 63 1.032 41
12 Morecambe 42 14 11 17 67 79 0.848 39
13 South Shields 42 12 14 16 67 66 1.015 38
14 Bradford Park Avenue 42 15 8 19 54 73 0.740 38
15 Lancaster City 42 12 12 18 53 76 0.697 36
16 Netherfield 42 13 9 20 59 57 1.035 35
17 Matlock Town 42 10 13 19 58 80 0.725 33
18 Fleetwood 42 10 11 21 56 90 0.622 31
19 Great Harwood 42 8 13 21 66 98 0.673 29
20 Runcorn 42 10 5 27 58 84 0.690 25
21 Kirkby Town 42 6 13 23 57 93 0.613 25
22 Goole Town 42 10 4 28 44 98 0.449 24
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 1971. 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

Results

Home \ Away ALT BAN BOS BPA CHO FLE GAI GOO GHA KIR LNC MAC MAT MOR NET NOR RUN SCA SLI SSH STA WIG
Altrincham 3–1 0–0 1–0 4–4 1–0 2–0 3–0 4–2 5–0 2–2 0–3 2–0 3–2 5–0 0–3 3–1 0–1 3–2 2–3 3–2 1–1
Bangor City 2–0 1–0 2–1 4–2 4–0 2–1 3–0 0–0 4–1 1–3 0–1 2–2 6–0 1–0 3–1 3–2 1–1 1–0 1–3 0–1 2–5
Boston United 1–1 2–2 0–0 0–1 4–0 1–1 2–0 0–0 5–2 5–1 2–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 4–0 2–0 3–1 2–0 0–0 1–0 2–1
Bradford Park Avenue 4–1 2–2 1–2 0–1 2–2 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–1 1–4 0–1 4–1 4–0 0–2 0–2 3–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 1–2 1–1
Chorley 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–3 3–1 4–1 2–0 2–1 2–1 3–2 1–1 2–3 0–0 2–1 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 1–1
Fleetwood 2–3 0–1 0–3 5–0 2–0 0–1 1–3 1–6 1–0 0–1 3–1 4–1 1–1 1–1 1–0 1–1 2–3 2–2 1–1 2–3 1–1
Gainsborough Trinity 4–1 1–0 0–1 2–2 1–1 5–1 2–2 5–0 2–3 1–2 1–4 2–0 2–3 0–0 1–2 1–0 1–1 2–1 1–1 0–3 2–2
Goole Town 1–2 1–1 0–2 0–1 1–0 4–1 1–2 3–1 0–1 1–2 0–2 1–2 1–0 2–1 2–0 2–0 0–4 0–0 1–0 1–5 0–1
Great Harwood 1–1 3–4 0–4 2–3 2–3 0–5 2–1 6–2 2–2 2–1 1–2 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–4 2–2 1–1 2–2 1–3 5–7 2–2
Kirkby Town 4–5 0–1 0–3 1–3 1–3 2–2 1–1 5–2 1–1 1–2 2–2 1–1 1–2 1–3 2–2 1–0 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–3 1–3
Lancaster City 1–3 1–1 0–3 0–1 2–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 0–1 2–2 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–1 2–6 1–0 1–2 1–3 4–1 1–0 0–0
Macclesfield Town 2–3 3–0 1–1 4–0 2–0 6–0 2–2 4–1 2–3 0–1 2–2 1–0 1–0 3–1 4–4 3–1 4–0 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–3
Matlock Town 1–1 2–2 0–1 1–1 1–1 0–0 3–2 4–1 3–1 2–2 5–1 0–2 2–2 0–0 1–2 3–2 3–1 3–1 3–2 1–2 0–4
Morecambe 2–1 4–1 1–0 0–2 0–3 6–2 1–2 4–3 2–0 5–0 1–1 2–2 3–2 3–3 0–2 2–2 1–3 0–1 1–1 1–3 0–0
Netherfield 4–2 2–3 0–0 1–3 0–0 1–3 0–2 4–0 4–1 2–1 5–2 0–2 6–0 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–2 0–2 2–1 0–1 1–2
Northwich Victoria 3–0 2–1 1–0 3–0 1–1 1–2 3–1 3–0 1–2 2–1 3–2 1–4 4–0 0–0 3–2 1–0 0–2 2–1 2–0 0–1 1–2
Runcorn 1–3 3–4 2–3 2–1 5–0 2–0 2–2 5–1 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–1 2–5 0–3 1–0 0–1 3–2 0–2 1–1 0–1 1–4
Scarborough 1–1 2–0 2–1 4–0 2–0 6–0 1–2 3–1 4–0 3–1 2–1 1–0 4–0 5–0 0–0 2–0 3–2 6–0 1–1 0–0 0–2
South Liverpool 6–0 1–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 4–1 0–1 2–0 4–4 2–1 2–2 1–1 3–1 1–3 0–2 2–0 4–2 1–1 3–0 1–1 0–1
South Shields 5–2 1–2 3–1 5–1 4–0 0–0 3–2 1–2 2–1 3–4 0–0 1–1 1–0 2–3 1–3 2–2 5–2 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–2
Stafford Rangers 2–1 3–2 1–1 4–0 3–1 2–1 0–3 4–1 1–1 3–2 4–1 1–1 2–1 2–2 2–1 4–1 1–0 2–1 3–2 5–0 0–1
Wigan Athletic 1–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–0 4–1 5–0 7–0 3–1 3–3 4–0 0–1 2–1 4–1 1–0 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 4–1
Updated to match(es) played on 8 May 1971. Source: The Football Archives
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and locations

class=notpageimage|
Locations of the 1970–71 Northern Premier League teams
Team Stadium
Altrincham Moss Lane
Bangor City Farrar Road
Boston United York Street
Bradford Park Avenue Park Avenue
Chorley Victory Park
Fleetwood Highbury
Gainsborough Trinity The Northolme
Goole Town Victoria Pleasure Ground
Great Harwood The Showground
Kirkby Town Simonswood Lane
Lancaster City Great Axe
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

Main article: Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
Stage Home Team Score Away Team Venue Notes
1st Leg Fleetwood Town 2-2 Macclesfield Town Highbury scorers for Fleetwood Armstrong and Morley
2nd Leg Macclesfield Town 0-0 Fleetwood Town Moss Rose
Replay Fleetwood Town 1–0 Macclesfield Town Springfield Park (Wigan Athletic) scorer Tony Hallam assist Derek Armstrong

FA Cup

Main article: 1970–71 FA Cup

Out of the twenty-two clubs from the Northern Premier League, only Wigan Athletic reached for the second round:

Second Round

Home Team Score Away Team
Wigan Athletic 2–1 Peterborough United

Third Round

Home Team Score Away Team
Manchester City 1–0 Wigan Athletic

FA Trophy

Main article: 1970–71 FA Trophy

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

Fourth Round

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

End of the season

At the end of the third season of the Northern Premier League none of the teams put forward, for election, received enough votes to be promoted to the Football League. Conversely, none of the sides were relegated.

Football League elections

Alongside the four Football League clubs facing re-election, a total of twelve non-League clubs applied for election, three of which were from the Northern Premier League. All four Football League teams were re-elected.[2]

Club League Votes
Lincoln City Football League 47
Barrow Football League 38
Hartlepool Football League 33
Newport County Football League 33
Wigan Athletic Northern Premier League 14
Cambridge City Southern League 2
Telford United Southern League 2
Yeovil Town Southern League 2
Boston United Northern Premier League 1
Romford Southern League 1
Bradford Park Avenue Northern Premier League 1
Gateshead Wearside League 1
Bedford Town Southern League 0
Chelmsford City Southern League 0
Hillingdon Borough Southern League 0
Kettering Town Southern League 0

Promotion and relegation

The League expanding from twenty-two clubs to twenty-four clubs for the following season.

The following two clubs joined the League the following season:

References

  1. ^ a b c d e "The Football Archives 70–71". The Football Archives.
  2. ^ A history of admission to the Football League