# 2021–22 Northern Football League

The 2021–22 season was the 124th in the history of the Northern Football League, a football competition in England. The league operated two divisions in the English football league system, Division One at step 5, and Division Two at step 6.
The allocations for Steps 5 and 6 this season were announced by the Football Association (The FA) on 18 May 2021, and were subject to appeal.
After the abandonment of the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, numerous promotions were decided on a points per game basis over the previous two seasons.

## Division One

Division One featured 17 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs, promoted from Division Two:
* Crook Town
* Redcar Athletic
* West Allotment Celtic

### Division One table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | North Shields | 38 | 25 | 9 | 4 | 86 | 30 | +56 | 84 | Promoted to the Northern Premier League |
| 2 | Consett | 38 | 23 | 6 | 9 | 83 | 45 | +38 | 75 | Qualified for an inter-step play-off, then promoted to the Northern Premier League |
| 3 | Thornaby | 38 | 20 | 8 | 10 | 79 | 49 | +30 | 68 | |
| 4 | Newton Aycliffe | 38 | 21 | 4 | 13 | 72 | 47 | +25 | 67 | |
| 5 | Ryhope Colliery Welfare | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 72 | 48 | +24 | 65 | Resigned from the league |
| 6 | West Auckland Town | 38 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 78 | 50 | +28 | 63 | |
| 7 | Whickham | 38 | 18 | 7 | 13 | 62 | 46 | +16 | 61 | |
| 8 | Ashington | 38 | 17 | 7 | 14 | 90 | 77 | +13 | 58 | |
| 9 | Sunderland RCA | 38 | 17 | 6 | 15 | 55 | 54 | +1 | 57 | |
| 10 | Seaham Red Star | 38 | 15 | 9 | 14 | 55 | 55 | 0 | 54 | |
| 11 | West Allotment Celtic | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 67 | 80 | −13 | 52 | |
| 12 | Newcastle Benfield | 38 | 15 | 6 | 17 | 65 | 75 | −10 | 51 | |
| 13 | Guisborough Town | 38 | 13 | 9 | 16 | 52 | 54 | −2 | 48 | |
| 14 | Redcar Athletic | 38 | 15 | 2 | 21 | 56 | 83 | −27 | 47 | |
| 15 | Crook Town | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 52 | 70 | −18 | 46 | |
| 16 | Northallerton Town | 38 | 10 | 9 | 19 | 52 | 69 | −17 | 39 | |
| 17 | Whitley Bay | 38 | 11 | 6 | 21 | 51 | 87 | −36 | 39 | |
| 18 | Bishop Auckland | 38 | 9 | 8 | 21 | 42 | 69 | −27 | 35 | |
| 19 | Penrith | 38 | 10 | 5 | 23 | 47 | 89 | −42 | 35 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Billingham Town | 38 | 5 | 10 | 23 | 40 | 79 | −39 | 25 | Relegated to Division Two |
* ↑ Contested an inter-step play-off match as one of the bottom six runners-up from Step 5 with the most points per game (PPG) against a third-from-bottom club out of six from Step 4 with the fewest PPG. The winner rose to Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while the loser dropped to Step 5.
* ↑ Ryhope Colliery Welfare resigned from the Northern League post-allocations
* ↑ Reprieved as one of twelve clubs with the most PPG out of 16 that were second-from-bottom in Step 5.

### Results table

| Home \ Away | ASH | BIL | BIS | CON | CRO | GUI | NWB | NAY | NSH | NLT | PEN | RED | RCW | SEA | SUN | THO | WAC | WAT | WHC | WHB |
| Ashington | | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 4–0 | 1–6 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 |
| Billingham Town | 3–3 | | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–5 | 1–4 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 |
| Bishop Auckland | 2–5 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–7 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 2–4 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Consett | 4–4 | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 1–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–0 |
| Crook Town | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–4 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| Guisborough Town | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 0–0 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Newcastle Benfield | 0–3 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 0–2 | | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 4–2 |
| Newton Aycliffe | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 8–0 |
| North Shields | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | | 2–1 | 5–0 | 7–0 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 2–0 |
| Northallerton Town | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | | 3–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 |
| Penrith | 2–2 | 4–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 1–4 | 2–5 | 0–3 | 1–0 | | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Redcar Athletic | 1–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 2–3 |
| Ryhope Colliery Welfare | 2–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 3–1 |
| Seaham Red Star | 2–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | | 2–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 4–2 |
| Sunderland RCA | 0–1 | 4–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 |
| Thornaby | 5–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 6–2 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 3–2 | | 2–2 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 1–0 |
| West Allotment Celtic | 3–3 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 3–5 | | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| West Auckland Town | 5–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–4 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–5 | | 1–2 | 6–0 |
| Whickham | 5–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 6–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–0 | | 3–0 |
| Whitley Bay | 1–6 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 5–2 | 1–4 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | |

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| Ashington | Woodhorn Lane | |
| Billingham Town | Bedford Terrace | 3,000 |
| Bishop Auckland | Heritage Park | 1,950 |
| Consett | Belle View Stadium | |
| Crook Town | The Sir Tom Cowie Millfield Ground | 1,500 |
| Guisborough Town | King George V Ground | |
| Newcastle Benfield | Sam Smith’s Park | 2,000 |
| Newton Aycliffe | Moore Lane Park | |
| Northallerton Town | Calvert Stadium | |
| North Shields | Ralph Gardner Park | 1,500 |
| Penrith | Frenchfield Stadium | 1,500 |
| Redcar Athletic | Green Lane | |
| Ryhope Colliery Welfare | Ryhope Recreation Ground | |
| Seaham Red Star | Seaham Town Park | |
| Sunderland RCA | Meadow Park | 1,500 |
| Thornaby | Teesdale Park | 5,000 |
| West Allotment Celtic | East Palmersville Sports Pavilion | 1,500 |
| West Auckland Town | Darlington Road | 2,000 |
| Whickham | Glebe Sports Ground | 4,000 |
| Whitley Bay | Hillheads Park | 4,500 |

## Division Two

Division Two featured 17 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with for new clubs:
* Blyth Town, promoted from the Northern Football Alliance
* Boldon Community Association, promoted from the Wearside League after appeal
* Horden Community Welfare, promoted from the Wearside League
* Redcar Town, promoted from the North Riding League

### Division Two table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion, qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Carlisle City | 40 | 26 | 4 | 10 | 115 | 49 | +66 | 82 | Promoted to Division One |
| 2 | Heaton Stannington | 40 | 25 | 7 | 8 | 103 | 47 | +56 | 82 | Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to Division One |
| 3 | Boldon Community Association | 40 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 123 | 79 | +44 | 77 | Qualified for the play-offs |
| 4 | Tow Law Town | 40 | 23 | 8 | 9 | 71 | 41 | +30 | 77 | Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to Division One |
| 5 | Easington Colliery | 40 | 23 | 7 | 10 | 88 | 54 | +34 | 76 | Qualified for the play-offs |
| 6 | Ryton & Crawcrook Albion | 40 | 23 | 5 | 12 | 87 | 60 | +27 | 74 | |
| 7 | Horden Community Welfare | 40 | 22 | 6 | 12 | 94 | 65 | +29 | 72 | |
| 8 | Billingham Synthonia | 40 | 21 | 7 | 12 | 87 | 54 | +33 | 70 | |
| 9 | Sunderland West End | 40 | 22 | 3 | 15 | 84 | 69 | +15 | 69 | |
| 10 | Redcar Town | 40 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 76 | 54 | +22 | 68 | |
| 11 | Newcastle University | 40 | 20 | 6 | 14 | 97 | 71 | +26 | 66 | |
| 12 | Jarrow | 40 | 16 | 8 | 16 | 89 | 74 | +15 | 56 | |
| 13 | Birtley Town | 40 | 15 | 5 | 20 | 76 | 83 | −7 | 50 | |
| 14 | Willington | 40 | 14 | 4 | 22 | 74 | 78 | −4 | 46 | |
| 15 | Blyth Town | 40 | 14 | 3 | 23 | 65 | 83 | −18 | 45 | |
| 16 | Brandon United | 40 | 13 | 6 | 21 | 63 | 84 | −21 | 45 | |
| 17 | Chester-le-Street Town | 40 | 12 | 4 | 24 | 60 | 78 | −18 | 40 | |
| 18 | Bedlington Terriers | 40 | 9 | 9 | 22 | 62 | 95 | −33 | 36 | |
| 19 | Washington | 40 | 11 | 2 | 27 | 55 | 113 | −58 | 35 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 20 | Esh Winning | 40 | 10 | 2 | 28 | 48 | 113 | −65 | 32 | Reprieved from relegation |
| 21 | Durham City | 40 | 1 | 2 | 37 | 23 | 196 | −173 | 5 | Relegated to the Wearside League |
* 1 2 Both play-off finalists were promoted after Ryhope Colliery Welfare's resignation from Division One.
* ↑ All third-from-bottom clubs at Step 6 were reprieved from relegation. The top 12 second-from-bottom sides were also reprieved on a PPG basis.

### Play-offs

| Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Final | Final | Final |
| 2 | Heaton Stannington | 2 | | | |
| 5 | Easington Colliery | 0 | | | |
| 5 | Easington Colliery | 0 | 2 | Heaton Stannington | 2 |
| | | | 4 | Tow Law Town | 1 |
| 3 | Boldon Community Association | 0 | 4 | Tow Law Town | 1 |
| 4 | Tow Law Town | 2 | | | |

### Results table

| Home \ Away | BED | BIL | BIR | BLY | BOL | BRA | CAR | CST | DUR | EAS | ESH | HEA | HOR | JAR | NEW | RED | RCA | SUN | TLT | WAS | WIL |
| Bedlington Terriers | | 3–3 | 1–4 | 3–2 | 3–6 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–5 | 5–0 | 2–1 | 3–4 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 0–4 | 3–3 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 5–0 |
| Billingham Synthonia | 3–3 | | 2–0 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 7–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 6–1 | 2–0 |
| Birtley Town | 1–0 | 0–3 | | 1–2 | 3–3 | 6–1 | 2–5 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–4 |
| Blyth Town | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–5 | 1–2 | 9–0 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 1–6 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 0–5 |
| Boldon Community Association | 2–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | | 3–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 10–0 | 1–3 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 6–4 |
| Brandon United | 0–4 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 3–4 | | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 0–3 | 6–1 | 1–4 |
| Carlisle City | 0–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | | 4–2 | 16–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 5–1 | 4–1 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 6–0 | 5–1 |
| Chester-le-Street Town | 0–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 3–4 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 |
| Durham City | 2–2 | 2–6 | 1–4 | 1–3 | 2–6 | 0–4 | 1–2 | 0–9 | | 0–0 | 2–5 | 1–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–4 | 0–3 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–3 |
| Easington Colliery | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 4–0 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–7 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| Esh Winning | 0–1 | 2–4 | 0–5 | 0–4 | 0–6 | 1–2 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | | 1–3 | 1–3 | 3–3 | 0–7 | 0–2 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
| Heaton Stannington | 7–0 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 9–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 5–2 | 3–2 | 3–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 8–3 | 4–2 |
| Horden Community Welfare | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–6 | 0–3 | 8–1 | 3–3 | 3–0 | 3–1 | | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–3 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 3–2 |
| Jarrow | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 10–0 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | 2–3 | | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 6–3 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–6 |
| Newcastle University | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 3–5 | 2–1 | 1–5 | 1–2 | 5–0 | 0–4 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 1–4 | 7–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 |
| Redcar Town | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 6–2 |
| Ryton & Crawcrook Albion | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 2–3 | 7–1 | 0–3 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–2 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 1–4 |
| Sunderland West End | 6–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 4–0 | 4–2 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 10–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–5 | 2–1 | 0–2 | | 3–0 | 7–0 | 2–1 |
| Tow Law Town | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 7–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | | 0–0 | 3–0 |
| Washington | 2–1 | 2–1 | 5–4 | 1–0 | 1–7 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 9–1 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 0–3 | 0–2 | 1–6 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–7 | 5–2 | 0–1 | | 2–1 |
| Willington | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 0–4 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–4 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 5–2 | |

### Stadia and locations

| Club | Stadium | Capacity |
| Bedlington Terriers | Welfare Park | 3,000 |
| Billingham Synthonia | Norton Sports Complex | 1,970 |
| Birtley Town | Birtley Sports Complex | |
| Blyth Town | South Newsham Playing Fields | |
| Boldon Comm Assn | Boldon Colliery Welfare | |
| Brandon United | Welfare Ground | |
| Carlisle City | Gillford Park | |
| Chester-le-Street Town | Moor Park | |
| Durham City | Hall Lane (groundshare with Willington) | |
| Easington Colliery | Welfare Park | |
| Esh Winning | West Terrace | 3,500 |
| Heaton Stannington | Grounsell Park | |
| Horden Community Welfare | Welfare Park | |
| Jarrow | Perth Green | |
| Newcastle University | Kimberley Park | |
| Redcar Town | Mo Mowlam Memorial Park | |
| Ryton & Crawcrook Albion | Kingsley Park | 1,500 |
| Sunderland West End | Nissan Sports Complex | 1,000 |
| Tow Law Town | Ironworks Road | 3,000 |
| Washington | New Ferens Park | |
| Willington | Hall Lane | |