Northern Premier League Premier Division

Northern Premier League Premier Division
Country	England
Other club(s) from	Wales
Founded	1968
Number of teams	24
Level on pyramid	7
Promotion to	National League North
Relegation to	NPL Division One North NPL Division One South
Domestic cup(s)	FA Cup FA Trophy Challenge Cup Peter Swales Shield
Current champions	Darlington 1883 (2015–16)
Most championships	Boston United (4 times)
Website	Official website
2016–17

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 Premier League. For sponsorship reasons, it is often referred to as the Evo-Stik 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 National League 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 from the Premier Division also compete in the NPL Challenge Cup and the Peter Swales Shield knockout competition, but not in the other two NPL cup competitions (the President's Cup and the Chairman's Cup). Before 2007–08 Premier Division teams did compete in the Chairman's Cup.

Current clubs 2016–17

Club	Home Ground	Finishing position 2015–16
Ashton United	Michael Jefferson Memorial Arena, Hurst Cross	4th
Barwell	Kirkby Road	9th
Blyth Spartans	Croft Park	2nd
Buxton	The Silverlands	11th
Coalville Town	Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium	Promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One South, 3rd
Corby Town	Steel Park	Relegated from National League North, 22nd
Frickley Athletic	Westfield Lane	7th
Grantham Town	South Kesteven Sports Stadium	18th
Halesowen Town	The Grove	13th
Hednesford Town	Keys Park	Relegated from National League North, 21st
Ilkeston	New Manor Ground	14th
Marine	Marine Travel Arena	15th
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane	17th
Mickleover Sports	Raygar Stadium	20th
Nantwich Town	Weaver Stadium	8th
Rushall Olympic	Dales Lane	10th
Skelmersdale United	West Lancashire College Stadium	16th
Spennymoor Town	The Brewery Field	Promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One North, 2nd
Stafford Rangers	Marston Road	Promoted as champions of NPL Division One South, 1st
Stourbridge	War Memorial Athletic Ground	6th
Sutton Coldfield	Central Ground	12th
Warrington Town	Cantilever Park	Promoted as champions of NPL Division One North, 1st
Whitby Town	Turnbull Ground	19th
Workington	Borough Park	5th

Past winners

References

External links

Official Website

Northern Premier League

Premier Division	Ashton United Barwell Blyth Spartans Buxton Coalville Town Corby Town Frickley Athletic Grantham Town Halesowen Town Hednesford Town Ilkeston Marine Matlock Town Mickleover Sports Nantwich Town Rushall Olympic Skelmersdale United Spennymoor Town Stafford Rangers Stourbridge Sutton Coldfield Town Warrington Town Whitby Town Workington

Division One North	Bamber Bridge Brighouse Town Burscough Clitheroe Colne Colwyn Bay Droylsden Farsley Celtic Glossop North End Goole Hyde United Kendal Town Lancaster City Mossley Ossett Albion Ossett Town Prescot Cables Radcliffe Borough Ramsbottom United Scarborough Athletic Tadcaster Albion Trafford

Division One South	AFC Rushden & Diamonds Basford United Bedworth United Belper Town Carlton Town Chasetown Gresley Kidsgrove Athletic Leek Town Lincoln United Loughborough Dynamo Market Drayton Town Newcastle Town Northwich Victoria Romulus Rugby Town Shaw Lane Sheffield Spalding United Stamford Stocksbridge Park Steels Witton Albion

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

See also: Northern Premier League Challenge Cup, Northern Premier League President's Cup, Northern Premier League Chairman's Cup, Peter Swales Shield

Men's football in England

National teams

League competitions

Level 1	Premier League

Levels 2-4	Football League

Levels 5-6	National League

Levels 7-8	Isthmian League Northern Premier League Southern League

Levels 9-10	Combined Counties League East Midlands Counties League (level 10 only) Eastern Counties League Essex Senior League (level 9 only) Hellenic League Midland League Northern Counties East League Northern League North West Counties League Southern Counties East League South West Peninsula League (level 10 only) Spartan South Midlands League Southern Combination League United Counties League Wessex League Western League West Midlands (Regional) League (level 10 only)

Cup competitions

FA cups	FA Cup FA Community Shield FA Trophy FA Vase FA Inter-League Cup

League cups	EFL Cup EFL Trophy Northern Premier League Cup Isthmian League Cup Southern League Cup

County cups	List of County Cups

Others

Reserve and youth football
Defunct leagues
Defunct cups

Lists

Venues
Competitions
Trophies and awards
History
Records

Darlington 1883 2016 Champions

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