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
2015–16

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 2015–16

Club	Home Ground	Finishing position 2014–15
Ashton United	Michael Jefferson Memorial Arena, Hurst Cross	3rd
Barwell	Kirkby Road	8th
Blyth Spartans	Croft Park	6th
Buxton	The Silverlands	10th
Colwyn Bay	Llanelian Road	Relegated from Conference North, 20th
Darlington 1883	Heritage Park	Promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One North, 2nd
Frickley Athletic	Westfield Lane	19th
Grantham Town	South Kesteven Sports Stadium	12th
Halesowen Town	The Grove	11th
Hyde United	Ewen Fields	Relegated from Conference North, 22nd
Ilkeston	New Manor Ground	5th
Marine	Arriva Stadium	Reprieved from relegation, 21st
Matlock Town	Causeway Lane	14th
Mickleover Sports	Raygar Stadium	Promoted as champions of NPL Division One South, 1st
Nantwich Town	Weaver Stadium	15th
Ramsbottom United	Harry Williams Riverside Stadium	17th
Rushall Olympic	Dales Lane	9th
Salford City	Moor Lane	Promoted as champions of NPL Division One North, 1st
Skelmersdale United	West Lancashire College Stadium	7th
Stamford	Kettering Road	20th
Stourbridge	War Memorial Athletic Ground	16th
Sutton Coldfield	Central Ground	Promoted via play-offs from NPL Division One South, 4th
Whitby Town	Turnbull Ground	13th
Workington	Borough Park	2nd

Past winners

References

External links

Official Website

Northern Premier League

Premier Division	Ashton United Barwell Blyth Spartans Buxton Colwyn Bay Darlington 1883 Frickley Athletic Grantham Town Halesowen Town Hyde United Ilkeston Marine Matlock Town Mickleover Sports Nantwich Town Ramsbottom United Rushall Olympic Salford City Skelmersdale United Stamford Stourbridge Sutton Coldfield Town Whitby Town Workington

Division One North	Bamber Bridge Brighouse Town Burscough Clitheroe Droylsden Farsley Celtic Glossop North End Harrogate Railway Athletic Kendal Town Lancaster City Mossley New Mills Northwich Victoria Ossett Albion Ossett Town Prescot Cables Radcliffe Borough Scarborough Athletic Spennymoor Town Trafford Warrington Town Witton Albion

Division One South	Basford United Belper Town Carlton Town Chasetown Coalville Town Daventry Town Goole Gresley Kidsgrove Athletic Leek Town Lincoln United Loughborough Dynamo Market Drayton Town Newcastle Town Romulus Rugby Town Shaw Lane Aquaforce Sheffield Spalding United Stafford Rangers Stocksbridge Park Steels Tividale

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 1999–2000 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	Football League Cup Football League Trophy Northern Premier League Cup Isthmian League Cup Southern League Cup

County cups	List of County Cups

Others

Reserve and youth football
Defunct competitions

Lists

Venues
Competitions
Trophies and awards
History
Records

Darlington 1883 2016 Champions

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