1973–74 Northern Premier League

The 1973–74 Northern Premier League was the sixth 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 11 August 1973 and concluded on 9 May 1974.[1]

Northern Premier League
Season1973–74
ChampionsBoston United
PromotedNone
Relegatednone
Matches played552
Goals scored1,479 (2.68 per match)
Biggest home winWigan Athletic 7–0 Matlock Town[1]
(8 September 1973)

Wigan Athletic 7–0 Great Harwood[1]
(22 September 1973)

Gainsborough Trinity 7–0 Fleetwood[1]
(26 April 1974)
Biggest away winBradford Park Avenue 1–7 Stafford Rangers[1]
(8 September 1973)

Bradford Park Avenue 0–6 South Shields[1]
(18 September 1973)

Morecambe 0–6 South Shields[1]
(2 May 1974)
Highest scoringBradford Park Avenue 1–7 Stafford Rangers[1]
(8 September 1973)

Runcorn 6–2 Mossley[1]
(8 October 1973)
Wigan Athletic 5–3 Northwich Victoria[1]
(10 November 1973)
South Shields 7–1 Morecambe[1]
(17 November 1973)
Lancaster City 7–1 Goole Town[1]
(22 December 1973)
South Liverpool 5–3 Northwich Victoria[1]
(3 March 1974)

Goole Town 7–1 Morecambe[1]
(20 April 1974)
Longest winning run10 matches
Stafford Rangers
(24 November 1973 – 9 February 1974)
Longest unbeaten run17 matches
Scarborough
(21 August 1973 – 20 October 1973)
Longest winless run17 matches
Bradford Park Avenue
(11 August 1973 – 27 October 1973)
Mossley
(8 October 1973 – 26 January 1974)
Longest losing run7 matches
Netherfield
(9 February 1974 – 16 March 1974)

Overview

Team changes

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

The following club 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 11 8 69 32 2.156 65
2 Wigan Athletic 46 28 8 10 96 39 2.462 64
3 Altrincham 46 26 11 9 77 34 2.265 63
4 Stafford Rangers 46 27 9 10 101 45 2.244 63
5 Scarborough 46 22 14 10 62 43 1.442 58
6 South Shields 46 25 6 15 87 48 1.813 56
7 Runcorn 46 21 14 11 72 47 1.532 56
8 Macclesfield Town 46 18 15 13 48 47 1.021 51
9 Bangor City 46 19 11 16 65 56 1.161 49
10 Gainsborough Trinity 46 18 11 17 77 64 1.203 47
11 South Liverpool 46 16 15 15 55 47 1.170 47
12 Skelmersdale United 46 16 13 17 50 59 0.847 45
13 Goole Town 46 14 15 17 60 69 0.870 43
14 Fleetwood 46 14 15 17 48 68 0.706 43
15 Northwich Victoria 46 14 13 19 68 75 0.907 41
16 Mossley 46 15 11 20 53 65 0.815 41
17 Morecambe 46 13 13 20 62 84 0.738 39
18 Buxton 46 14 10 22 45 71 0.634 38
19 Matlock Town 46 11 14 21 50 79 0.633 36
20 Great Harwood 46 10 14 22 52 74 0.703 34
21 Bradford Park Avenue 46 9 15 22 42 84 0.500 33 Club Folded
22 Barrow 46 13 7 26 46 94 0.489 33
23 Lancaster City 46 10 12 24 52 67 0.776 32
24 Netherfield 46 11 5 30 42 88 0.477 27
Updated to match(es) played on 9 May 1974. Source: The Football Archieves
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) Champion.

Results

Home \ Away ALT BAN BRW BOS BPA BUX FLE GAI GOO GHA LNC MAC MAT MOR MOS NET NOR RUN SCA SKU SLI SSH STA WIG
Altrincham 4–0 3–0 2–0 4–1 6–0 1–0 1–1 4–2 3–1 0–0 0–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 4–0 1–1 3–0 1–1 3–0 2–1 1–1 1–0 3–0
Bangor City 1–0 2–0 4–0 0–2 1–0 0–1 3–0 1–0 3–2 1–0 0–1 1–1 2–4 0–0 1–2 5–2 1–1 2–0 4–0 2–0 2–1 0–2 1–2
Barrow 0–3 1–3 0–0 1–0 1–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 3–1 2–0 1–0 1–0 1–1 0–3 3–1 1–4 2–2 2–0 2–5 2–2 1–2 1–0 0–3
Boston United 1–1 2–1 4–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 1–1 3–0 4–1 2–0 4–1 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 3–0 4–2 4–1 1–0 2–2
Bradford Park Avenue 0–0 0–3 3–1 0–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–3 1–0 1–0 2–0 2–1 0–1 1–1 2–0 2–2 1–1 0–3 1–4 0–2 0–6 1–7 0–0
Buxton 0–3 0–0 2–0 1–1 3–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–1 2–1 1–2 2–2 1–4 1–1 1–0 1–0 0–1 2–1 2–0 1–1 0–1 2–0 0–4
Fleetwood Town 0–2 1–1 2–2 0–0 3–1 2–0 1–1 2–3 0–0 1–0 0–0 0–0 1–1 3–0 3–0 2–2 0–3 0–3 1–1 1–0 1–2 1–1 2–1
Gainsborough Trinity 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–1 4–0 3–2 7–0 4–3 1–1 1–1 0–1 0–0 4–1 1–4 4–0 5–0 0–3 1–1 1–0 4–0 3–1 3–2 2–1
Goole Town 0–2 0–1 4–1 0–1 2–2 1–4 1–1 1–0 0–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 7–1 2–0 2–1 2–0 1–2 0–2 0–1 0–0 3–2 2–3 2–1
Great Harwood 1–2 1–2 1–1 1–1 1–0 4–2 4–2 1–2 2–1 2–1 1–1 4–0 0–1 1–4 2–4 0–1 1–1 0–0 1–1 0–0 2–2 0–1 1–1
Lancaster City 1–2 1–1 4–2 0–1 1–1 3–0 1–2 2–2 7–1 3–1 1–1 2–1 3–1 2–1 0–0 4–2 0–0 2–0 2–0 0–0 0–1 1–3 1–4
Macclesfield Town 1–1 1–1 3–2 0–2 1–0 1–0 1–0 1–0 2–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 3–0 1–0 0–0 2–2 1–2 2–2 2–0 3–0 1–0 2–1 0–0
Matlock Town 1–2 2–2 1–0 2–1 1–1 2–0 0–3 4–3 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–1 2–0 0–1 3–1 1–1 2–2 1–2 0–0 2–0 0–2 2–0 2–3
Morecambe 2–2 3–0 3–0 0–2 1–1 0–0 0–2 3–2 4–1 3–3 2–0 3–0 2–2 2–2 5–0 1–3 2–2 0–0 1–2 2–2 0–6 1–3 0–2
Mossley 2–1 0–1 1–2 1–2 2–2 0–1 1–1 2–1 3–0 3–1 2–1 0–1 2–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 0–1 0–0 1–1 0–1 2–4 0–3 0–3
Netherfield 4–1 1–2 1–2 0–3 2–1 1–1 6–1 0–2 0–0 1–3 1–0 1–2 2–1 0–2 0–2 1–2 2–1 0–1 1–2 0–0 1–2 1–5 1–0
Northwich Victoria 1–2 1–1 5–0 0–1 2–2 1–2 1–3 0–2 1–1 2–1 4–2 1–0 4–2 0–0 0–1 5–1 0–2 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–1 1–1 1–2
Runcorn 2–1 2–1 2–0 0–0 2–0 1–2 1–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 3–1 2–0 0–0 4–0 6–2 3–0 1–1 1–1 1–2 2–1 3–1 1–2 0–1
Scarborough 2–0 1–1 0–0 2–1 1–0 2–1 5–0 3–1 1–1 1–0 1–0 3–2 4–0 1–0 2–2 4–1 2–1 1–3 0–2 1–1 2–1 0–1 1–0
Skelmersdale United 1–0 3–1 3–0 0–1 2–2 0–1 0–0 1–1 2–0 1–0 2–2 0–0 4–1 0–2 0–2 0–3 0–2 1–1 1–2 1–0 2–0 1–1 2–1
South Liverpool 2–0 1–0 4–0 0–1 1–1 4–1 0–1 4–0 1–2 2–0 3–1 0–0 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–0 5–3 0–2 1–1 3–1 1–0 2–2 0–0
South Shields 0–0 2–0 6–1 1–0 1–0 1–0 3–1 2–0 2–0 0–2 3–0 3–1 1–0 7–1 4–0 0–1 0–0 3–1 6–0 0–0 2–0 1–3 0–2
Stafford Rangers 1–1 4–3 1–3 3–2 6–0 2–0 5–0 3–1 0–1 5–1 2–0 4–1 5–0 2–1 0–0 2–0 3–0 1–1 0–2 4–0 1–1 1–1 3–0
Wigan Athletic 1–0 2–1 4–1 1–0 4–1 5–0 2–0 3–1 1–1 7–0 2–0 2–4 7–0 3–0 4–0 3–0 5–3 2–0 0–0 2–0 0–0 2–1 1–2
Updated to match(es) played on 9 May 1974. Source: The Football Archieves
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and locations

Team Stadium
AltrinchamMoss Lane
Bangor CityFarrar Road
BarrowHolker Street
Boston UnitedYork Street
Bradford Park AvenuePark Avenue
BuxtonThe Silverlands
FleetwoodHighbury
Gainsborough TrinityThe Northolme
Goole TownVictoria Pleasure Ground
Great HarwoodThe Showground
Lancaster CityGreat Axe
Macclesfield TownMoss Rose
Matlock TownCauseway Lane
MorecambeChristie Park
MossleySeel Park
NetherfieldParkside
Northwich VictoriaDrill Field
RuncornCanal Street
ScarboroughAthletic Ground
Skelmersdale UnitedWhite Moss Park
South LiverpoolHolly Park
South ShieldsSimonside Hall
Stafford RangersMarston Road
Wigan AthleticSpringfield Park

Cup results

Challenge Cup

StageHome TeamScoreAway Team
1st LegBoston United?–?Altrincham
2nd LegAltrincham?–?Boston United
AggregateBoston United4–3Altrincham

Northern Premier League Shield

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

Home TeamScoreAway Team
Wigan AthleticbeatBoston United

FA Cup

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

Second Round

Home TeamScoreAway Team
Blackburn Rovers0–0Altrincham
Altrincham0–2Blackburn RoversReplay
Boston United1–0Hitchin Town
Port Vale2–1Scarborough

Third Round

Home TeamScoreAway Team
Derby County0–0Boston United
Boston United1–6Derby CountyReplay

FA Trophy

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

Fourth Round

Home TeamScoreAway Team
Bedford Town0–1Morecambe
Stafford Rangers0–0Macclesfield Town
Macclesfield Town2–0Stafford RangersReplay
South Shields0–0Worcester City
Worcester City0–2South ShieldsReplay

Semi-finals

StageHome TeamScoreAway Team
1st LegMacclesfield Town0–0Dartford
2nd LegDartford2–1Macclesfield Town
AggregateDartford2–1Macclesfield Town
1st LegSouth Shields0–1Morecambe
2nd LegMorecambe2–0South Shields
AggregateMorecambe3–0South Shields

Final

Home TeamScoreAway Team
Morecambe2–1Dartford

End of the season

At the end of the sixth season of the Northern Premier League none of the teams put forward for election received enough votes the be promoted to the Football League. Bradford Park Avenue folded.

Football League elections

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

Club League Votes
Doncaster RoversFootball League46
Stockport CountyFootball League38
Crewe AlexandraFootball League37
WorkingtonFootball League21
Kettering TownSouthern League16
Yeovil TownSouthern League14
Wigan AthleticNorthern Premier League10
Chelmsford CitySouthern League8
Nuneaton BoroughSouthern League1
Telford UnitedSouthern League1
Cambridge CitySouthern League0

Promotion and relegation

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

  • Bradford Park Avenue folded

The following club joined the league the following season:

Notes

References

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