# 1986–87 North West Counties Football League

The 1986–87 North West Counties Football League was the fifth in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into three divisions.

## Division One

Division One featured 2 new teams:
* Kirkby Town promoted as champions from Division Two
* Rossendale United promoted as runners-up from Division Two

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Stalybridge Celtic (C, P) | 38 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 74 | 39 | +35 | 58 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 2 | Accrington Stanley (P) | 38 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 63 | 32 | +31 | 53 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 3 | Clitheroe | 38 | 20 | 12 | 6 | 76 | 47 | +29 | 52 | |
| 4 | Kirkby Town | 38 | 22 | 4 | 12 | 71 | 48 | +23 | 48 | |
| 5 | Bootle | 38 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 52 | 38 | +14 | 48 | |
| 6 | St Helens Town | 38 | 19 | 9 | 10 | 65 | 37 | +28 | 47 | |
| 7 | Winsford United (P) | 38 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 55 | 39 | +16 | 46 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 8 | Fleetwood Town (P) | 38 | 16 | 13 | 9 | 61 | 49 | +12 | 45 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 9 | Penrith (P) | 38 | 16 | 10 | 12 | 62 | 59 | +3 | 42 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 10 | Rossendale United | 38 | 14 | 11 | 13 | 66 | 59 | +7 | 39 | |
| 11 | Congleton Town (P) | 38 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 38 | 39 | −1 | 37 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 12 | Burscough | 38 | 11 | 11 | 16 | 58 | 54 | +4 | 33 | |
| 13 | Leyland Motors | 38 | 13 | 7 | 18 | 52 | 56 | −4 | 33 | |
| 14 | Eastwood Hanley (P) | 38 | 10 | 11 | 17 | 40 | 50 | −10 | 31 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 15 | Radcliffe Borough (P) | 38 | 11 | 8 | 19 | 46 | 57 | −11 | 30 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 16 | Leek Town (P) | 38 | 9 | 12 | 17 | 42 | 55 | −13 | 30 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 17 | Netherfield (P) | 38 | 12 | 5 | 21 | 45 | 73 | −28 | 29 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 18 | Irlam Town (P) | 38 | 4 | 13 | 21 | 36 | 74 | −38 | 21 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 19 | Curzon Ashton (P) | 38 | 4 | 12 | 22 | 35 | 78 | −43 | 20 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 20 | Glossop | 38 | 5 | 8 | 25 | 33 | 87 | −54 | 18 | |

## Division Two

Division Two featured 4 new teams:
* Prescot Cables, relegated from Division One
* Formby, relegated from Division One
* Blackpool Mechanics promoted as champions from Division Three
* Oldham Town promoted as runners-up from Division Three

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Droylsden (C, P) | 34 | 20 | 8 | 6 | 79 | 42 | +37 | 48 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 2 | Warrington Town (P) | 34 | 16 | 13 | 5 | 48 | 34 | +14 | 45 | Promotion to Division One |
| 3 | Ashton United | 34 | 19 | 6 | 9 | 73 | 45 | +28 | 44 | |
| 4 | Wren Rovers | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 65 | 39 | +26 | 44 | |
| 5 | Colwyn Bay (P) | 34 | 17 | 9 | 8 | 61 | 43 | +18 | 43 | Promotion to Division One |
| 6 | Darwen (P) | 34 | 15 | 8 | 11 | 45 | 47 | −2 | 38 | Promotion to Division One |
| 7 | Chadderton | 34 | 14 | 9 | 11 | 52 | 47 | +5 | 37 | |
| 8 | Colne Dynamoes (P) | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 57 | 44 | +13 | 36 | Promotion to Division One |
| 9 | Skelmersdale United (P) | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 52 | 53 | −1 | 36 | Promotion to Division One |
| 10 | Ellesmere Port & Neston (P) | 34 | 15 | 5 | 14 | 68 | 54 | +14 | 35 | Promotion to Division One |
| 11 | Formby (P) | 34 | 13 | 7 | 14 | 54 | 55 | −1 | 33 | Promotion to Division One |
| 12 | Blackpool Mechanics | 34 | 12 | 8 | 14 | 56 | 64 | −8 | 32 | |
| 13 | Lancaster City (P) | 34 | 12 | 7 | 15 | 55 | 53 | +2 | 31 | Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One |
| 14 | Prescot Cables (P) | 34 | 12 | 6 | 16 | 46 | 48 | −2 | 28 | Promotion to Division One |
| 15 | Great Harwood Town | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 36 | 59 | −23 | 24 | |
| 16 | Oldham Town | 34 | 7 | 9 | 18 | 38 | 57 | −19 | 23 | |
| 17 | Atherton Laburnum Rovers (P) | 34 | 8 | 5 | 21 | 32 | 61 | −29 | 21 | Promotion to Division One |
| 18 | Salford (P) | 34 | 1 | 8 | 25 | 17 | 89 | −72 | 10 | Promotion to Division One |
* 1 2 Prescot Cables and Great Harwood Town had 2 points deducted.

## Division Three

Division Three featured 4 new teams:
* Ford Motors, relegated from Division Two
* Nantwich Town, relegated from Division Two
* Flixton, joined from the Manchester League
* Ashton Town, joined from the Manchester League

### League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Promotion |
| 1 | Atherton Collieries (C, P) | 24 | 16 | 4 | 4 | 46 | 22 | +24 | 36 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 2 | Flixton (P) | 24 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 58 | 29 | +29 | 35 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 3 | Maghull (P) | 24 | 14 | 2 | 8 | 44 | 29 | +15 | 30 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 4 | Nelson (P) | 24 | 12 | 6 | 6 | 37 | 29 | +8 | 30 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 5 | Newton (P) | 24 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 42 | 36 | +6 | 27 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 6 | Ford Motors (P) | 24 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 38 | 27 | +11 | 26 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 7 | Bacup Borough (P) | 24 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 27 | 27 | 0 | 26 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 8 | Cheadle Town (P) | 24 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 33 | 44 | −11 | 23 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 9 | Daisy Hill (P) | 24 | 6 | 7 | 11 | 21 | 42 | −21 | 17 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 10 | Padiham (P) | 24 | 4 | 8 | 12 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 16 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 11 | Nantwich Town (P) | 24 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 26 | 42 | −16 | 16 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 12 | Ashton Town (P) | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 29 | 39 | −10 | 15 | Promotion to Division Two |
| 13 | Whitworth Valley (P) | 24 | 3 | 5 | 16 | 17 | 48 | −31 | 11 | Promotion to Division Two |
* 1 2 Daisy Hill and Ashton Town had 2 points deducted.

## Promotion and relegation
### Division One

12 sides (highlighted in the table in green) were promoted to the Northern Premier League First Division. No teams were relegated.

### Division two

Droylsden and Lancaster City moved to the Northern Premier League First Division while 10 teams (highlighted in the table in lightgreen) were promoted to the Division One. Newcastle Town, Maine Road and Vauxhall Motors joined the Division as newly admitted teams. No teams were relegated.

### Division Three

All sides were promoted to Division Two as Division Three was disbanded at the end of the season.