1972–73 Northern Premier League

Northern Premier League
Season1972–73
ChampionsBoston United
PromotedNone
RelegatedEllesmere Port Town
Matches played552
Goals scored1,503 (2.72 per match)
Biggest home winStafford Rangers 7–0 Barrow[1]
(16 September 1972)
Biggest away winSouth Shields (2) 1–5 Lancaster City[1]
(30 December 1972)
Barrow 0–4 Bradford Park Avenue
(17 March 1973)
Highest scoringGreat Harwood 6–3 Fleetwood[1]
(9 October 1972)
Longest winning run7 matches
Boston United
(27 September 1972 – 21 October 1972)
Longest unbeaten run32 matches
Boston United
(12 August 1972 – 24 February 1973)
Longest winless run13 matches
Lancaster City
(27 December 1971 – 25 September 1972)
Fleetwood
(10 February 1973 – 4 May 1973)
Longest losing run8 matches
Matlock Town
(2 September 1972 – 7 October 1972)

The 1972–73 Northern Premier League was the fifth 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 12 August 1972 and concluded on 4 May 1973.[1]

Overview

The League featured twenty-four teams for the second consecutive season.

Team changes

The following two clubs left the League at the end of the previous season:

The following two clubs joined the League at the start of the season:

League table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GR Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Boston United (C) 46 27 16 3 88 34 2.588 70
2 Scarborough 46 26 9 11 72 39 1.846 61
3 Wigan Athletic 46 23 14 9 69 38 1.816 60
4 Altrincham 46 22 16 8 75 55 1.364 60
5 Bradford Park Avenue 46 19 17 10 63 50 1.260 55
6 Stafford Rangers 46 20 11 15 63 46 1.370 51
7 Gainsborough Trinity 46 18 13 15 70 50 1.400 49
8 Northwich Victoria 46 17 15 14 74 62 1.194 49
9 Netherfield 46 20 9 17 68 65 1.046 49
10 Macclesfield Town 46 16 16 14 58 47 1.234 48
11 Ellesmere Port Town (R) 46 18 11 17 52 56 0.929 47 Relegated to Lancashire Combination
12 Skelmersdale United 46 15 16 15 58 59 0.983 46
13 Bangor City 46 16 13 17 70 60 1.167 45
14 Mossley 46 17 11 18 70 73 0.959 45
15 Morecambe 46 17 11 18 62 70 0.886 45
16 Great Harwood 46 14 15 17 63 74 0.851 43
17 South Liverpool 46 12 19 15 47 57 0.825 43
18 Runcorn 46 15 12 19 75 78 0.962 42
19 Goole Town 46 13 13 20 64 73 0.877 39
20 South Shields 46 17 4 25 64 81 0.790 38
21 Matlock Town 46 11 11 24 42 80 0.525 33
22 Lancaster City 46 10 11 25 53 78 0.679 31
23 Barrow 46 12 6 28 52 101 0.515 30
24 Fleetwood 46 5 15 26 31 77 0.403 25
Updated to match(es) played on 4 May 1973. Source: The Football Archives
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average; 3) number of goals scored.

The system of using goal average to separate two teams tied on points was used up until the 1976–77 season.

The points system up until the 1982–83 season: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (R) Relegated

Results

Home \ Away ALT BAN BRW BOS BPA EPT FLE GAI GOO GHA LNC MAC MAT MOR MOS NET NOR RUN SCA SKU SLI SSH STA WIG
Altrincham 2–2 1–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 3–0 2–0 4–1 0–0 4–2 1–1 1–0 3–0 3–1 1–2 0–0 2–0 1–0 0–0 2–1 3–2 0–1 2–0
Bangor City 4–0 3–0 1–3 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–2 1–1 1–1 4–2 2–1 1–1 0–2 3–2 4–2 3–1 0–0 1–2 4–0 1–1 3–0 4–2 0–0
Barrow 1–2 2–0 1–1 0–4 1–2 3–2 1–1 2–4 0–3 3–1 0–2 4–1 0–1 1–0 0–1 3–0 0–0 2–3 3–0 2–1 1–2 2–0 0–1
Boston United 4–1 4–3 5–1 3–0 2–2 4–0 1–1 3–0 5–1 2–2 2–0 2–0 4–0 4–0 2–1 2–0 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–0 2–1 1–1 0–0
Bradford Park Avenue 2–3 0–1 4–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 2–2 1–1 4–0 1–1 2–2 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–1 0–1 2–1 1–1 2–1
Ellesmere Port Town 2–2 2–0 4–0 1–2 0–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 3–0 0–2 0–0 0–0 3–0 1–2 2–0 1–0 1–4 0–1 2–1 0–0 1–0 1–2 0–1
Fleetwood Town 1–1 2–0 0–1 0–0 0–0 0–2 1–2 1–4 1–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–0 0–3 0–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1
Gainsborough Trinity 0–0 1–1 5–0 1–2 0–2 1–1 3–0 2–1 4–0 0–0 2–1 3–0 4–0 5–1 2–0 1–0 2–1 2–1 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 3–3
Goole Town 0–2 2–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–1 4–1 3–3 0–1 1–0 2–2 2–0 0–0 2–3 1–1 1–2 1–1 4–0
Great Harwood 1–3 2–0 3–1 2–2 2–3 0–2 6–3 4–2 0–0 3–0 2–0 1–1 4–2 0–3 3–1 3–3 2–1 0–1 2–2 2–1 1–4 0–0 0–0
Lancaster City 2–1 1–0 3–0 0–2 0–2 0–1 1–2 0–3 3–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 0–2 2–2 2–2 0–2 1–2 1–1 2–2 4–3 1–2 0–1
Macclesfield Town 2–3 2–1 1–0 0–1 2–2 4–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–0 0–0 3–0 4–1 1–1 0–0 3–1 1–0 1–0 0–0 4–0 4–1 0–2 0–1
Matlock Town 0–1 0–0 5–0 0–3 1–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–2 0–3 0–2 1–3 2–1 1–2 1–0 2–1 1–2 2–1 1–2 3–4 1–4
Morecambe 4–1 0–2 3–1 0–1 1–1 0–1 3–0 2–1 4–3 2–1 1–1 1–2 3–0 1–1 2–2 1–1 4–0 0–3 2–1 3–1 1–0 0–2 1–0
Mossley 2–3 1–4 3–3 3–1 4–2 1–0 5–0 1–1 4–1 1–0 1–2 2–2 2–2 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 3–2 3–1 1–3
Netherfield 2–2 2–1 0–3 2–1 5–0 1–1 0–2 2–1 2–0 2–1 4–1 2–0 1–0 6–2 2–1 1–1 4–3 0–2 0–1 0–1 1–0 2–0 2–2
Northwich Victoria 3–3 3–2 4–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 2–2 3–0 2–2 3–0 3–0 3–2 6–1 2–2 2–0 1–1 2–1 2–1 2–2 3–0 2–0 1–0 1–0
Runcorn 2–2 2–1 2–0 1–4 1–4 2–4 2–2 1–1 2–2 2–1 3–1 1–1 3–1 1–0 4–1 4–0 3–4 3–3 1–1 1–2 5–1 1–0 1–0
Scarborough 0–2 1–0 5–0 1–1 0–0 3–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 3–1 2–1 0–0 0–0 0–0 3–0 0–2 2–0 3–1 3–1 2–1 2–1 1–0 3–0
Skelmersdale United 1–2 2–1 2–2 1–0 0–0 5–0 0–0 1–4 2–1 1–1 4–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 3–2 4–1 1–2 2–3 1–0 0–1 0–2 2–2
South Liverpool 1–1 0–0 1–2 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–0 1–1 2–2 2–1 2–2 0–0 2–1 2–1 0–1 0–0 3–3 2–2 2–0 0–3 1–1 0–0
South Shields 1–0 1–2 3–1 1–3 2–1 2–2 0–2 3–2 3–1 0–1 1–5 0–2 2–0 3–1 2–0 2–3 1–0 2–2 3–2 0–1 0–1 3–1 1–2
Stafford Rangers 1–1 1–1 7–0 0–1 1–2 1–2 1–0 0–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 4–1 0–1 0–2 0–0 1–0 4–2 4–2 1–0 2–2 1–0 5–0 2–1
Wigan Athletic 4–1 4–1 1–0 0–0 2–0 1–1 4–0 1–1 4–2 4–0 1–0 2–0 4–1 1–0 2–1 3–0 1–0 3–0 1–1 0–0 1–2 2–0 0–0
Updated to match(es) played on 4 May 1973. Source: The Football Archives
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and locations

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Locations of the 1972–73 Northern Premier League teams
Club Stadium
Altrincham Moss Lane
Bangor City Farrar Road
Barrow Holker Street
Boston United York Street
Bradford Park Avenue Park Avenue
Ellesmere Port Town Ellesmere Port
Fleetwood Highbury
Gainsborough Trinity The Northolme
Goole Town Victoria Pleasure Ground
Great Harwood The Showground
Lancaster City Great Axe
Macclesfield Town Moss Rose
Matlock Town Causeway Lane
Morecambe Christie Park
Mossley Seel Park
Netherfield Parkside
Northwich Victoria Drill Field
Runcorn Canal Street
Scarborough Athletic Ground
Skelmersdale United White Moss Park
South Liverpool Holly Park
South Shields Simonside Hall
Stafford Rangers Marston Road
Wigan Athletic Springfield Park

Cup results

Challenge Cup

Main article: Northern Premier League Challenge Cup
Stage Home Team Score Away Team
1st Leg Northwich Victoria ?–? Wigan Athletic
2nd Leg Wigan Athletic ?–? Northwich Victoria
Aggregate Northwich Victoria 3–2 Wigan Athletic

Northern Premier League Shield

Main article: Northern Premier League Shield

Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.

Home Team Score Away Team
Boston United beat Northwich Victoria

FA Cup

Main article: 1972–73 FA Cup

Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, only three teams reached the second round:

Second Round

Home Team Score Away Team
Bangor City 2–3 York City
Notts County 2–1 Lancaster City
Scarborough 1–2 Doncaster Rovers

FA Trophy

Main article: 1972–73 FA Trophy

Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, five teams reached the fourth round:

Fourth Round

Home Team Score Away Team
Bangor City 2–3 Ashford Town (Kent)
Morecambe 1–1 Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic 0–0 Morecambe Replay
Wigan Athletic 1–0 Morecambe 2nd Replay
Scarborough 2–0 Chelmsford City
Stafford Rangers 4–1 Bedford Town

Semi-finals

Home Team Score Away Team
Ashford Town (Kent) 0–1 Scarborough
Wigan Athletic 0–0 Stafford Rangers
Wigan Athletic 1–0 Stafford Rangers Replay

Final

Home Team Score Away Team
Scarborough 2–1 Wigan Athletic

End of the season

At the end of the fifth season of the Northern Premier League none of the teams put forward for election received enough votes to be promoted to the Football League. Ellesmere Port Town resigned the league.

Football League elections

Alongside the four Football League teams facing re-election, a total of ten non-League teams applied for election, two of which were from the Northern Premier League. All four Football League teams were re-elected.[2]

Club League Votes
Colchester United Football League 48
Northampton Town Football League 43
Crewe Alexandra Football League 36
Darlington Football League 26
Yeovil Town Southern League 14
Kettering Town Southern League 12
Wigan Athletic Northern Premier League 10
Chelmsford City Southern League 4
Cambridge City Southern League 1
Nuneaton Borough Southern League 1
Telford United Southern League 1
Bedford Town Southern League 0
Boston United Northern Premier League 0
Wimbledon Southern League 0

Promotion and relegation

The following club left the League at the end of the season:

The following club joined the League the following season:

References

  1. ^ a b c d "The Football Archives 72–73". The Football Archives.
  2. ^ A history of admission to the Football League