# 1968–69 Northern Premier League

The 1968–69 Northern Premier League was the inaugural season of the Northern Premier League, a regional football league in Northern England, the northern areas of the Midlands and North Wales. The season began on 10 August 1968 and concluded on 10 May 1969.

## Overview

The League featured twenty teams transferred from the Cheshire County League, the Lancashire Combination, the Midland League, the North Regional League and the West Midlands (Regional) League.

### Founding teams

Cheshire County League
* Altrincham
* Bangor City
* Hyde United
* Macclesfield Town
* Northwich Victoria
* Runcorn
* Wigan Athletic
Lancashire Combination
* Chorley
* Fleetwood
* Morecambe
* Netherfield
* South Liverpool
Midland League
* Gainsborough Trinity
* Goole Town
* Scarborough
* Worksop Town
North Regional League
* Ashington
* Gateshead
* South Shields
West Midlands (Regional) League
* Boston United

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GR | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Macclesfield Town (C) | 38 | 27 | 6 | 5 | 82 | 38 | 2.158 | 60 | |
| 2 | Wigan Athletic | 38 | 18 | 12 | 8 | 59 | 41 | 1.439 | 48 | |
| 3 | Morecambe | 38 | 16 | 14 | 8 | 64 | 37 | 1.730 | 46 | |
| 4 | Gainsborough Trinity | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 64 | 43 | 1.488 | 46 | |
| 5 | South Shields | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 78 | 56 | 1.393 | 46 | |
| 6 | Bangor City | 38 | 18 | 9 | 11 | 102 | 64 | 1.594 | 45 | |
| 7 | Hyde United | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 71 | 65 | 1.092 | 42 | |
| 8 | Goole Town | 38 | 15 | 10 | 13 | 80 | 78 | 1.026 | 40 | |
| 9 | Altrincham | 38 | 14 | 10 | 14 | 69 | 52 | 1.327 | 38 | |
| 10 | Fleetwood | 38 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 58 | 58 | 1.000 | 38 | |
| 11 | Gateshead | 38 | 14 | 9 | 15 | 42 | 48 | 0.875 | 37 | |
| 12 | South Liverpool | 38 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 56 | 66 | 0.848 | 37 | |
| 13 | Northwich Victoria | 38 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 59 | 82 | 0.720 | 37 | |
| 14 | Boston United | 38 | 14 | 8 | 16 | 59 | 65 | 0.908 | 36 | |
| 15 | Runcorn | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 59 | 63 | 0.937 | 35 | |
| 16 | Netherfield | 38 | 12 | 4 | 22 | 51 | 69 | 0.739 | 28 | |
| 17 | Scarborough | 38 | 9 | 10 | 19 | 49 | 68 | 0.721 | 28 | |
| 18 | Ashington (R) | 38 | 10 | 8 | 20 | 48 | 74 | 0.649 | 28 | Relegation to Northern Alliance |
| 19 | Chorley (R) | 38 | 8 | 9 | 21 | 46 | 75 | 0.613 | 25 | Relegation to Lancashire Combination |
| 20 | Worksop Town (R) | 38 | 6 | 8 | 24 | 34 | 88 | 0.386 | 20 | Relegation to Midland League |
The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

### Results

| Home \ Away | ALT | ASH | BAN | BOS | CHO | FLE | GAI | GAT | GOO | HYD | MAC | MOR | NET | NOR | RUN | SCA | SLI | SSH | WIG | WOK |
| Altrincham | | 6–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 6–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 8–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 0–3 | 3–2 |
| Ashington | 1–2 | | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–6 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–3 | 0–2 | 5–2 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 |
| Bangor City | 4–3 | 7–3 | | 5–2 | 5–0 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–3 | 3–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 6–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 6–1 |
| Boston United | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–6 | | 0–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 6–0 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 5–3 | 1–2 | 0–1 |
| Chorley | 0–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | | 1–3 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–5 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–0 |
| Fleetwood | 2–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–3 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–3 | 1–2 | 6–2 |
| Gainsborough Trinity | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 1–2 | | 5–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 1–2 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 2–1 | 4–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 |
| Gateshead | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 1–1 | | 6–2 | 3–0 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 |
| Goole Town | 3–3 | 5–2 | 1–7 | 3–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | | 4–0 | 5–2 | 0–5 | 3–1 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 4–2 |
| Hyde United | 2–0 | 5–1 | 2–7 | 4–0 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–3 | | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 5–1 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 3–0 |
| Macclesfield Town | 2–1 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 4–0 | | 2–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 5–0 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 |
| Morecambe | 3–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 2–0 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–2 | | 3–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–0 |
| Netherfield | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 0–2 | | 4–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 3–0 |
| Northwich Victoria | 3–1 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | | 1–4 | 3–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 |
| Runcorn | 0–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 1–3 | 4–5 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 5–0 | 2–2 | | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–0 |
| Scarborough | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 5–2 | 2–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–5 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–0 | | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| South Liverpool | 0–0 | 6–0 | 1–7 | 3–0 | 5–3 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–4 | 2–2 | 4–1 | | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 |
| South Shields | 4–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 6–2 | 8–2 | 2–2 | 5–0 | | 1–0 | 5–0 |
| Wigan Athletic | 3–2 | 1–1 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | | 3–1 |
| Worksop Town | 2–1 | 0–3 | 0–5 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–6 | 1–3 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–4 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |

### Stadia and locations

| Team | Stadium |
| Altrincham | Moss Lane |
| Ashington | Portland Park |
| Boston United | York Street |
| Bangor City | Farrar Road |
| Chorley | Victory Park |
| Fleetwood | Highbury |
| Gainsborough Trinity | The Northolme |
| Gateshead | Redheugh Park |
| Goole Town | Victoria Pleasure Ground |
| Hyde United | Ewen Fields |
| Macclesfield Town | Moss Rose |
| Morecambe | Christie Park |
| Netherfield | Parkside |
| Northwich Victoria | Drill Field |
| Runcorn | Canal Street |
| Scarborough | Athletic Ground |
| South Liverpool | Holly Park |
| South Shields | Simonside Hall |
| Wigan Athletic | Springfield Park |
| Worksop Town | Central Avenue |

## Cup results
### Challenge Cup

| Stage | Home Team | Score | Away Team | Attendance |
| 1st Leg | Bangor City | 3–1 | Runcorn | |
| 2nd Leg | Runcorn | 1–2 | Bangor City | 2260 |
| Aggregate | Bangor City | 5–2 | Runcorn |

### FA Cup

Out of the twenty clubs from the Northern Premier League only Morecambe reached for the second round:
Second Round
| Home Team | Score | Away Team |
| York City | 2–0 | Morecambe |

## End of the season

At the end of the first season of the Northern Premier League none of the clubs decided to put their teams forward to be promoted to the Football League. Chorley and Worksop Town were both relegated. Ashington resigned the League, due to financial difficulties.

### Football League elections

Alongside the four Football League teams facing re-election, a total of ten non-League teams applied for election, none of which were from the Northern Premier League. All four Football League teams were re-elected.
| Team | League | Votes |
| Grimsby Town | Football League | 47 |
| York City | Football League | 45 |
| Bradford Park Avenue | Football League | 38 |
| Newport County | Football League | 27 |
| Cambridge United | Southern League | 16 |
| Kettering Town | Southern League | 3 |
| Cambridge City | Southern League | 2 |
| Hereford United | Southern League | 2 |
| Romford | Southern League | 2 |
| Bedford Town | Southern League | 1 |
| Chelmsford City | Southern League | 1 |
| Worcester City | Southern League | 1 |
| Nuneaton Borough | Southern League | 0 |
| Wimbledon | Southern League | 0 |

### Promotion and relegation

The following three clubs left the League at the end of the season:
* Ashington resigned, demoted to Northern Alliance
* Chorley relegated to Lancashire Combination
* Worksop Town relegated to Midland League (1889)
The following three clubs joined the League the following season:
* Stafford Rangers promoted from Cheshire County League
* Great Harwood promoted from Lancashire Combination
* Matlock Town promoted from Midland League (1889)