# 1997–98 Northern Premier League

The 1997–98 Northern Premier League season was the 30th in the history of the Northern Premier League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. It was known as the Unibond League for sponsorship reasons.

## Premier Division

The Premier League featured three new teams:
* Altrincham relegated from the Football Conference
* Leigh RMI promoted as runners up from Division One
* Radcliffe Borough promoted as champions from Division One

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Barrow (C, P) | 42 | 25 | 8 | 9 | 61 | 29 | +32 | 83 | Promotion to Football Conference |
| 2 | Boston United | 42 | 22 | 12 | 8 | 55 | 40 | +15 | 78 | Transferred to the Southern League Premier Division |
| 3 | Leigh RMI | 42 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 63 | 41 | +22 | 76 | |
| 4 | Runcorn | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 80 | 50 | +30 | 75 | |
| 5 | Gainsborough Trinity | 42 | 22 | 9 | 11 | 60 | 39 | +21 | 75 | |
| 6 | Emley | 42 | 22 | 8 | 12 | 81 | 61 | +20 | 74 | |
| 7 | Winsford United | 42 | 19 | 12 | 11 | 54 | 43 | +11 | 69 | |
| 8 | Altrincham | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 76 | 44 | +32 | 65 | |
| 9 | Guiseley | 42 | 16 | 16 | 10 | 61 | 53 | +8 | 64 | |
| 10 | Bishop Auckland | 42 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 78 | 60 | +18 | 63 | |
| 11 | Marine | 42 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 56 | 59 | −3 | 56 | |
| 12 | Hyde United | 42 | 13 | 16 | 13 | 60 | 55 | +5 | 55 | |
| 13 | Colwyn Bay | 42 | 15 | 9 | 18 | 53 | 57 | −4 | 54 | |
| 14 | Spennymoor United | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 58 | 72 | −14 | 52 | |
| 15 | Chorley | 42 | 14 | 7 | 21 | 51 | 70 | −19 | 49 | |
| 16 | Frickley Athletic | 42 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 45 | 62 | −17 | 48 | |
| 17 | Lancaster City | 42 | 13 | 8 | 21 | 55 | 74 | −19 | 47 | |
| 18 | Blyth Spartans | 42 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 52 | 63 | −11 | 39 | |
| 19 | Bamber Bridge | 42 | 9 | 12 | 21 | 51 | 74 | −23 | 39 | |
| 20 | Accrington Stanley | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 49 | 68 | −19 | 38 | |
| 21 | Radcliffe Borough (R) | 42 | 6 | 12 | 24 | 39 | 70 | −31 | 30 | Relegation to NPL Division One |
| 22 | Alfreton Town (R) | 42 | 3 | 13 | 26 | 32 | 86 | −54 | 22 | Relegation to NPL Division One |
* ↑ Spennymoor United were docked 1 point.
* ↑ Blyth Spartans were docked 10 points.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ACC | ALF | ALT | BAM | BRW | BIS | BLY | BOS | CHO | COL | EML | FRK | GAI | GUI | HYD | LNC | LEI | MAR | RAD | RUN | SPU | WNS |
| Accrington Stanley | | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 4–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 2–1 |
| Alfreton Town | 0–1 | | 0–3 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–6 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Altrincham | 1–0 | 5–0 | | 5–0 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 7–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–1 |
| Bamber Bridge | 2–1 | 4–1 | 0–3 | | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 2–3 |
| Barrow | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 |
| Bishop Auckland | 2–2 | 1–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | | 1–1 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 0–2 | 4–3 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 |
| Blyth Spartans | 2–2 | 4–2 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–4 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Boston United | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 2–2 | | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 |
| Chorley | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 0–2 | | 2–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–5 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 4–1 | 2–0 |
| Colwyn Bay | 2–1 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–3 | | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 5–2 | 2–3 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 |
| Emley | 5–3 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 6–2 | 3–0 | 0–2 |
| Frickley Athletic | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–1 | | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 3–0 |
| Gainsborough Trinity | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 0–1 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Guiseley | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 1–3 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Hyde United | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | | 4–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 3–2 | 4–3 |
| Lancaster City | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | | 0–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 1–1 |
| Leigh RMI | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | | 1–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 4–2 | 2–0 |
| Marine | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–5 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | | 1–2 | 3–2 | 0–4 | 0–0 |
| Radcliffe Borough | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 6–2 | 0–1 | 0–3 | | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 |
| Runcorn | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 6–3 | | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Spennymoor United | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | | 1–1 |
| Winsford United | 3–0 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | |

## Division One

Division One featured five new teams:
* Buxton relegated from the NPL Premier Division
* Belper Town promoted as runners-up from the NCEFL Premier Division
* Trafford promoted as champions from the NWCFL Division One
* Whitby Town promoted as champions from the Northern League Division One
* Witton Albion relegated from the NPL Premier Division

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion or relegation |
| 1 | Whitby Town (C, P) | 42 | 30 | 8 | 4 | 99 | 48 | +51 | 98 | Promotion to Premier Division |
| 2 | Worksop Town (P) | 42 | 28 | 7 | 7 | 93 | 44 | +49 | 91 | Promotion to Premier Division |
| 3 | Ashton United | 42 | 26 | 9 | 7 | 93 | 43 | +50 | 87 | |
| 4 | Droylsden | 42 | 24 | 8 | 10 | 70 | 49 | +21 | 80 | |
| 5 | Lincoln United | 42 | 20 | 11 | 11 | 76 | 62 | +14 | 71 | |
| 6 | Farsley Celtic | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 72 | 66 | +6 | 70 | |
| 7 | Witton Albion | 42 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 77 | 55 | +22 | 66 | |
| 8 | Eastwood Town | 42 | 18 | 12 | 12 | 68 | 51 | +17 | 66 | |
| 9 | Bradford Park Avenue | 42 | 18 | 11 | 13 | 62 | 46 | +16 | 65 | |
| 10 | Belper Town | 42 | 18 | 7 | 17 | 68 | 66 | +2 | 61 | |
| 11 | Stocksbridge Park Steels | 42 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 68 | 63 | +5 | 60 | |
| 12 | Trafford | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 59 | 61 | −2 | 54 | |
| 13 | Whitley Bay | 42 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 60 | 63 | −3 | 54 | |
| 14 | Matlock Town | 42 | 14 | 11 | 17 | 68 | 54 | +14 | 53 | |
| 15 | Gretna | 42 | 13 | 9 | 20 | 58 | 64 | −6 | 48 | |
| 16 | Netherfield | 42 | 12 | 11 | 19 | 55 | 75 | −20 | 47 | |
| 17 | Flixton | 42 | 10 | 12 | 20 | 45 | 73 | −28 | 42 | |
| 18 | Congleton Town | 42 | 11 | 8 | 23 | 65 | 101 | −36 | 41 | |
| 19 | Harrogate Town | 42 | 8 | 14 | 20 | 57 | 80 | −23 | 38 | |
| 20 | Great Harwood Town | 42 | 8 | 12 | 22 | 41 | 88 | −47 | 36 | |
| 21 | Workington (R) | 42 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 38 | 84 | −46 | 31 | Relegation to NWCFL Division One |
| 22 | Buxton (R) | 42 | 7 | 3 | 32 | 41 | 87 | −46 | 24 | Relegation to NCEFL Premier Division |
* ↑ From the next season Netherfield were renamed as Netherfield Kendal.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ASH | BLP | BPA | BUX | CNG | DRO | EAS | FAR | FLX | GHT | GRT | HAR | KEN | LIN | MAT | STO | TRA | WTB | WHI | WTN | WRK | WKS |
| Ashton United | | 3–4 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 5–1 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 |
| Belper Town | 0–7 | | 0–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 4–0 | 1–2 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 5–0 | 0–4 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | 0–0 | 0–0 | | 4–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 2–3 |
| Buxton | 1–4 | 0–2 | 0–1 | | 4–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 1–3 | 2–3 | 0–1 |
| Congleton Town | 0–3 | 0–4 | 2–1 | 3–1 | | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 3–3 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–3 | 0–1 |
| Droylsden | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | | 0–2 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 3–0 | 1–0 |
| Eastwood Town | 1–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 2–2 | | 3–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 4–4 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–2 |
| Farsley Celtic | 2–1 | 5–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | | 1–0 | 6–1 | 3–2 | 3–3 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 |
| Flixton | 2–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | | 1–0 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 6–0 | 1–1 |
| Great Harwood Town | 0–1 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 3–3 | 1–5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 0–7 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–3 |
| Gretna | 1–1 | 4–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 |
| Harrogate Town | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | | 2–4 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 |
| Kendal Town | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–4 | | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–6 |
| Lincoln United | 0–2 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | | 4–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–0 |
| Matlock Town | 1–4 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 6–0 | 2–3 | 2–3 | | 1–0 | 2–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Stocksbridge Park Steels | 1–4 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 2–2 | | 2–1 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 |
| Trafford | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–4 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Whitby Town | 1–1 | 2–2 | 5–2 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 6–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 2–1 | | 3–2 | 4–1 | 2–3 | 2–3 |
| Whitley Bay | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–4 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 0–0 | 1–3 | | 0–3 | 3–0 | 1–3 |
| Witton Albion | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 5–3 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 5–0 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 0–2 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–0 | | 2–1 | 1–2 |
| Workington | 0–3 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 4–0 | 0–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–4 | | 0–4 |
| Worksop Town | 1–2 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 3–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |

## Promotion and relegation

In the thirtieth season of the Northern Premier League Barrow (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference. Radcliffe Borough and Alfreton Town were relegated to the First Division; these two clubs were replaced by relegated Conference sides Gateshead and Stalybridge Celtic, First Division winners Whitby Town and second placed Worksop Town. In the First Division Workington and Buxton left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly admitted Hucknall Town and Burscough.

## Cup results

Challenge Cup: Teams from both leagues.
* Altrincham bt. Gainsborough Trinity
President's Cup: 'Plate' competition for losing teams in the NPL Cup.
* Runcorn bt. Guiseley
Peter Swales Shield: Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.
* Altrincham bt. Barrow