The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system.
Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England and the northern, central areas of the Midlands, and western parts of East Anglia. Originally a single-division competition, a second division was added in 1987: Division One, and in 2007, a third was added when Division One split into two geographic sections - Division One North and Division One South. In 2018, Division One was re-aligned as East and West Divisions, then North West and South East in 2019. In 2021, the FA restructured the non-League football pyramid and created Division One East, West, and Midlands.
Successful teams at the top of the NPL Premier Division are promoted to level six of the pyramid (either National League North or National League South), and at the bottom end of the competition, teams are relegated down to level nine, where several regional feeder leagues promote clubs into the league.
History The Northern Premier League (NPL) was founded in 1968, as the northern equivalent of the Southern League, decades after the other two leagues at what is now the seventh tier of the English football league system, the Isthmian League and the Southern League. At that time they were the highest level non-League division below the English Football League, the same level as the other league in Northern England, the Cheshire League.
Over the next two decades, the NPL displaced its older rival to become the pre-eminent regional competition in Northern England, with the Cheshire League eventually forced to accept status as feeder league to the NPL. In 1979, upon the creation of the Alliance Premier League (which later became the Conference and is now the National League), the NPL became a feeder league and fell down one level in the English football league system, and with the then-Conference's addition of regional divisions in 2004 the NPL was demoted by a further tier and there are now two levels between it and the English Football League.
From 1992–93 to 1994–95 the league's Division One included two non-English clubs, Caernarfon Town from Wales and Gretna from Scotland, who later joined their countries' league systems. Colwyn Bay, Bangor City, Newtown, and Rhyl have also played in the league.
In 2018, the NPL's member clubs voted 37–27, with one abstention and three clubs' absence, to split Step 4 (level 8) divisions from east to west starting from the 2018–19 season, and one year later, the league published its successful bid to add another division at Step 4 initially in 2020, further altering Division One into northwest and southeast for travel reasons. After the Football Association (FA) deferred its implementation of changes to the NLS, the NPL's additional division was created in 2021 instead.
1968–69 to 1986–87: Premier Division 1987–88 to 2006–07: Premier Division, Division One 2007–08 to 2017–18: Premier Division, Division One North, Division One South 2018–19: Premier Division, Division One East, Division One West 2019–20 to 2020–21: Premier Division, Division One North West, Division One South East 2021–22 onwards: Premier Division, Division One West, Division One East, Division One Midlands
Sponsorship Owing to title sponsorship deals, the league has been billed under various names, including a sixteen-year spell as the Unibond League, the longest such deal in world football. When this deal ended in 2010, a new deal was announced which saw the competition billed as the Evo-Stik League until the 2017–18 season. The League announced on 8 July 2019 that a two-year deal for seasons 2019-20 and 2020-21 had been agreed with new sponsor BetVictor. This sponsorship agreement with BetVictor was subsequently terminated early in April 2020 with a replacement, Entain's Pitching In, announced as the next sponsor for 2020–21. At the time of announcement, Entain went by its former name GVC Holdings. Under this partnership, the NPL is marketed as one of the three Trident Leagues, alongside its Isthmian and Southern counterparts.
Structure Since 2021, the NPL has had four divisions: the Premier Division, Division One Midlands, Division One West and Division One East. Prior to 2007 there was just a single Division One, and from 2018 to 2021 Division One was arranged on a north-south, then east-west basis.
The Premier Division has 22 clubs, with the champions promoted to the National League along with the winners of a playoff between the second to fifth place clubs. Theoretically, clubs from the NPL could be promoted into either of the National League's two regional divisions, but the geographical footprint of the NPL has never overlapped with that of the National League South, so (as of 2015) all promoted NPL clubs have been placed in the National League North. The bottom three teams are usually relegated to Division One North West or South East, but NPL Premier Division clubs in the most southerly locales could be relegated to the Southern League Division One Central.
From the 2019–20 season, Division One North West and South East have 20 clubs each. In each division, the champions are promoted to the Premier Division, along with the winners of a divisional playoff. The bottom two clubs in each division are relegated to one of the feeder leagues below provided there are enough suitable promotion candidates from those leagues. The champions of the three feeder leagues covering the NPL area are promoted each season. These are the Northern League, the Northern Counties East League, and the North West Counties League. Clubs in the northern extremities of the Midland League and the United Counties League may also be promoted to the Northern Premier League.
Should there be an unusually large or small number of clubs relegated to and/or promoted to the level of the NPL from Northern England, the National League System (NLS) Committee can order one or more of the NPL's southernmost clubs to transfer to the Southern League (or vice versa) to maintain numerical balance between the leagues.
Division One North West and South East teams receive a bye to the preliminary round of FA Cup Qualification. Premier Division teams receive a bye to the first round of Qualification.
The league formerly ran one cup competition, with all member clubs competing in the League Challenge Cup. In the past, the league has run other competitions, such as the Chairman's Cup, the President's Cup and the Peter Swales Shield.
2025–26 members Premier Division IdClubHome groundGround capacity1Ashton UnitedHurst Cross4,250 (250 seated)2Bamber BridgeSir Tom Finney Stadium3,000 (554 seated)3Cleethorpes TownClee Road 1,0004FC United of ManchesterBroadhurst Park4,9005Gainsborough TrinityThe Northolme4,340 (504 seated)6GuiseleyNethermoor Park4,2007Hebburn TownThe Green Energy Sports Ground1,5008Hednesford Town Keys Park6,0399Hyde UnitedEwen Fields4,250 (530 seated)10Ilkeston TownNew Manor Ground3,02911Lancaster CityGiant Axe3,513 (513 seated)12Leek TownHarrison Park3,60013Morpeth TownCraik Park1,950 (300 seated)14Prescot CablesValerie Park3,20015Rushall OlympicDales Lane1,40016Stocksbridge Park SteelsBracken Moor3,50017Stockton TownBishopton Road West1,80018Warrington Rylands 1906Gorsey Lane1,34519Warrington TownCantilever Park2,50020Whitby TownTurnbull Ground3,500 (505 seated)21WorkingtonBorough Park3,100 (500 seated)
Division One West Team Location Stadium Capacity Atherton Collieries Atherton Alder Street 2,500 Avro Oldham Whitebank Stadium 1,500 Bootle Bootle New Bucks Park 2,500 Bury Bury Gigg Lane 12,500 Chasetown Burntwood The Scholars Ground 3,000 Clitheroe Clitheroe EcoGiants Stadium 2,000 Congleton Town Congleton Cleric Stadium 1,500 Darlaston Town 1874 Walsall The Paycare Ground 1,000 Kidsgrove Athletic Kidsgrove The Autonet Insurance Stadium 2,000 Lower Breck Liverpool (Anfield) Anfield Sports and Community Centre 1,000 Mossley Mossley Seel Park 4,000 Nantwich Town Nantwich The Weaver Stadium 3,500 Newcastle Town Newcastle-under-Lyme Lyme Valley Stadium 4,000 Runcorn Linnets Runcorn APEC Taxis Stadium 1,600 Shifnal Town Shifnal Acoustafoam Stadium 1,500 Sporting Khalsa Willenhall Aspray Arena 5,000 Stafford Rangers Stafford Marston Road 4,150 Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Bower Fold 6,500 Trafford Flixton Shawe View 2,500 Vauxhall Motors Ellesmere Port Rivacre Park 3,300 Witton Albion Northwich Wincham Park 4,813 Wythenshawe Town Wythenshawe Ericstan Stadium 1,320 Division One East ClubHome groundGround capacityAshingtonWoodhorn Lane2,000 (250 seated)Bishop AucklandHeritage Park1,950 (500 seated)Blyth Spartans Croft Park4,435Blyth TownSouth Newsham Playing Fields1,000Bradford (Park Avenue)Horsfall Stadium3,500 (1,800 seated)Bridlington TownQueensgate 3,000 (542 seated)Brighouse TownSt Giles Road1,350 (150 seated)ConsettBelle View Stadium3,770 (250 seated)Dunston UTSWellington Road2,500 (150 seated)EmleyWelfare Ground (Emley)2,000 (305 seated)Garforth TownWheatley Park3,000 (278 seated)Grimsby BoroughBradley Football Centre1,300 (180 seated)HallamSandygate1,665Heaton StanningtonGrounsell Park2,000Lincoln UnitedAshby Avenue2,714Matlock TownCauseway Lane2,214Newton Aycliffe Moore Lane Park 1,300 (100 seated)North FerribyThe Dransfield Stadium3,000 (504 seated)Ossett UnitedIngfield1,950 (360 seated)Pontefract CollieriesBeechnut Lane1,500 (300 seated)Redcar AthleticGreen Lane1,000SilsdenKeighley Road Stadium1,500
Division One Midlands ClubHome groundGround capacityAFC Rushden & DiamondsHayden Road2,000 (257 seated)Anstey NomadsCropston Road 1,500 (150 seated)Basford UnitedGreenwich Avenue 1,950 (300 seated)Bedworth UnitedThe Oval3,000 (300 seated)Belper TownChristchurch Meadow2,650Boldmere St MichaelsTrevor Brown Memorial Ground 2,000 (230 seated)Bourne TownAbbey Lawn2,000Carlton TownBill Stokeld Stadium1,968Coleshill TownPack Meadow2,000Corby TownSteel Park3,893 (577 seated)Coventry SphinxSphinx Drive1,000Lichfield CityCity Ground1,500Long Eaton UnitedGrange Park1,500 (450 seated)Loughborough StudentsLoughborough University Stadium3,300MickleoverStation Road1,500Racing Club WarwickTownsend Meadow2,000 (200 seated)Rugby BoroughKilsby Lane1,000Rugby Town Butlin Road6,000 (740 seated)Shepshed DynamoThe Dovecote Stadium2,500 (500 seated)St Neots TownNew Rowley Park3,500Sutton Coldfield TownCentral Ground2,000Wellingborough TownLondon Road5,000 (350 seated)
Champions +1968–87Season Northern Premier League1968–69 Macclesfield Town1969–70 Macclesfield Town1970–71 Wigan Athletic1971–72 Stafford Rangers1972–73 Boston United1973–74 Boston United1974–75 Wigan Athletic1975–76 Runcorn1976–77 Boston United1977–78 Boston United1978–79 Mossley1979–80 Mossley1980–81 Runcorn1981–82 Bangor City1982–83 Gateshead1983–84 Barrow1984–85 Stafford Rangers1985–86 Gateshead1986–87 Macclesfield Town
+1987–2007Season Premier DivisionDivision One1987–88 ChorleyFleetwood Town1988–89 BarrowColne Dynamoes1989–90 Colne DynamoesLeek Town1990–91 Witton AlbionWhitley Bay1991–92 Stalybridge CelticColwyn Bay1992–93 SouthportBridlington Town1993–94 MarineGuiseley1994–95 MarineBlyth Spartans1995–96 Bamber BridgeLancaster City1996–97 Leek TownRadcliffe Borough1997–98 BarrowWhitby Town1998–99 AltrinchamDroylsden1999–2000 Leigh RMIAccrington Stanley2000–01 Stalybridge CelticBradford Park Avenue2001–02 Burton AlbionHarrogate Town2002–03 Accrington StanleyAlfreton Town2003–04 Hucknall TownHyde United2004–05 Hyde UnitedNorth Ferriby United2005–06 Blyth SpartansMossley2006–07 BurscoughBuxton