Season 2014-2015

Season 2014-2015 Season Review - Results – Tables - Statistics Compiled by Alan Allcock with editorial by Dave Watters The 2014 -15 EVO -STIK Northern Premier League campaign will be widely remembered as the season FC Unit ed of Manchester celebrated their tenth anniversary by avoiding the heartbreak of the play-offs to finally win promotion as top flight champions. Not many will forget the mark by Curzon Ashton either, the Tameside outfit winning successive promotions as the Premier Division’s play-off winners a year after coming up as runaway First Division North champions. In the NPL’s three title races, Mickleover Sports were the clearest winners, taking the title by nine points from runners-up Leek Town who lost out in the play-offs, Sutton Coldfield Town earning the second promotion slot. Salford City dominated the headlines on and off the pitch in First Division North and not just nationally but internationally after their takeover by Manchester United’s Class of 92. They went on to beat runners-up Darlington 1883 to the title. The Quakers did win their play-offs, going up with the Ammies to take another step towards fulfilling their dream of succeeding the old Darlington in the Football League one day. In the top flight, Belper Town, Trafford, Witton Albion and Marine went down but thanks to the demise of Salisbury City, the Mariners celebrated a Football Association reprieve as the relegated club at Step 3 with the best record. New Mills were also saved from dropping out of First Division North in the FA’s annual reshuffle of clubs at Steps 1-4, Padiham returning on their own to Step 5. Regrettably, relegation in First Division South wasn’t decided on the field of play alone, bottom-markers Brigg Town and Rainworth Miners Welfare having already voluntarily resigned from the NPL during the run-in to play at Step 5 of the National League System. It was undoubtedly a memorable season in the FA Cup, Warrington Town and Blyth Spartans earning worldwide acclaim and headlines for reaching the second and third rounds respectively. In the first live game on BBC since 2009, the Wire beat Exeter City 1-0 while Spartans also won in front of the cameras, 2-1 away at Hartlepool United before exiting the competition in the third round after an epic 3-2 defeat at the hands of Birmingham City at Croft Park. In the FA Trophy, FC United of Manchester flew the flag for the league all the way to the quarter-finals, losing 1-0 at Torquay United after beating Chorley in a replay to reach the last eight. The Integro Doodson Sport Cup was lifted at Stockport County’s Edgeley Park by Warrington Town, the FA Cup heroes summoning up their final reserves of strength to beat First Division North rivals Farsley AFC 3-2 on penalties after drawing 0-0 in normal time. League clubs weren’t short of success in county cup competition either with seven signing off with silverware - Matlock Town in Derbyshire, Blyth Spartans in Northumberland, Stafford Rangers in Staffordshire, Skelmersdale United in Liverpool, Stamford AFC in Lincolnshire, Frickley Athletic in the Sheffield & Hallam Senior Cup and Mossley AFC in the Manchester Premier Cup. In the goal-scoring charts, hot-shot Nathan Cartman took the season’s overall ‘golden boot’ with 35 goals split between Harrogate Railway Athletic and Darlington 1883 following his midseason switch to the Quakers. Rushall Olympic’s Aaron Williams emerged as the Premier Division’s top scorer, netting 28 times. In First Division South, Newcastle Town’s Jordan Cole and Jake Woolley couldn’t be separated on 25 apiece. After another season of improvement, the league was in the running to be honoured again at the Football Association’s 2015 Respect awards after being named as the best behaved competition in the senior levels of Non-League football in four out of the last five seasons while monopolising the individual club accolades. In total, nine clubs shared nearly £7000 in league prize money for first, second and third placed finishes in the NPL’s own divisional fair play tables. Newcastle Town led the way as the overall fair play champions, collecting £1500 in prize and the President’s Cup, now awarded annually to the side with the best overall disciplinary record. Blyth Spartans and Bamber Bridge topped the tables in the Premier Division and First Division North. Away from the field of play, the NPL became the first in English football to launch a youth league and academy combining football with further education when the NPL Football Academy opened its doors to its first intake of students at five pilot clubs. By the end of the campaign, eight more clubs had signed up for the 2015-16 season. Mickleover Sports, already celebrating senior success, were inaugural NPLFA Youth League champions. The league's bursary scheme also continued to go from strength to strength, underwriting 50 per cent of the costs for six more coaches to study for UEFA B licences. On social media, the NPL broke through the 10,000 followers mark on Twitter while the monthly EVO-STIK NPL Show spawned a weekly spin-off podcast, the NPL Show Extra. Fittingly after another season of startling successes, England C manager Paul Fairclough handed out the accolades to the stars of the campaign at the fourth annual EVO-STIK NPL Players of the Year Awards. League Operations Manager League Secretary League Press Officer Alan Allcock Angie Firth David Watters 07982 257211 07852 207619 07950 953505 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] LEAGUE TABLES 2014-2015 PREMIER DIVISION HOME AWAY Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts 1 FC United of M cr 46 16 6 1 48 18 10 8 5 30 19 41 92 2 Workington 46 15 5 3 35 16 12 4 7 28 23 24 90 3 Ashton United 46 14 5 4 41 24 10 7 6 34 30 21 84 4 Curzon Ashton + 46 15 4 4 49 22 8 10 5 30 24 33 83 5 Ilkeston FC 46 10 9 4 37 27 12 6 5 42 29 23 81 6 Blyth Spartans 46 12 7 4 37 22 9 9 5 47 32 30 79 7 Skelmersdale U 46 12 5 6 35 26 9 5 9 23 22 10 73 8 Barwell 46 13 4 6 38 28 8 6 9 31 35 6 73 9 Rushall Olympic 46 10 6 7 37 31 11 3 9 39 33 12 72 10 Buxton 46 8 8 7 42 34 10 9 4 28 23 13 71 11 Halesowen Town 46 8 10 5 33 24 5 10 8 23 24 8 59 12 Grantham Town 46 8 8 7 31 33 7 6 10 33 39 -8 59 13 Whitby Town 46 8 9 6 28 26 6 7 10 28 37 -7 58 14 Matlock Town 46 8 6 9 31 30 7 5 11 26 30 -3 56 15 Nantwich Town 46 10 4 9 33 33 6 3 14 28 43 -15 55 16 Stourbridge 46 9 7 7 34 29 5 4 14 25 43 -13 53 17 Ramsbottom U 46 7 5 11 35 39 8 3 12 31 41 -14 53 18 Kings Lynn Town 46 10 2 11 25 30 4 8 11 35 51 -21 52 19 Frickley Athletic 46 8 6 9 32 31 4 8 11 28 42 -13 50 20 Stamford 46 4 7 12 26 40 9 4 10 30 35 -19 50 21 Marine 46 7 8 8 28 28 4 8 11 30 41 -11 49 22 Witton Albion 46 9 4 10 35 41 5 3 15 23 45 -28 49 23 Trafford 46 2 8 13 30 44 4 7 12 28 49 -35 33 24 Belper Town 46 5 7 11 39 47 1 7 15 23 49 -34 32 FIRST DIVISION NORTH HOME AWAY Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts 1 Salford City 42 17 2 2 54 20 13 3 5 38 22 50 95 2 Darlington 1883 + 42 16 3 2 57 14 12 4 5 42 23 62 91 3 Bamber Bridge 42 14 3 4 45 30 11 5 5 43 28 30 83 4 Northwich Vic 42 12 5 4 40 17 13 2 6 35 22 36 82 5 Spennymoor T 42 13 5 3 45 25 9 6 6 31 20 31 77 6 Scarborough Ath 42 14 1 6 43 25 9 5 7 37 36 19 75 7 Mossley 42 12 2 7 40 29 11 4 6 39 34 16 75 8 Harrogate R A 42 11 5 5 42 27 8 5 8 43 48 10 67 9 Warrington Town 42 10 5 6 32 25 9 3 9 33 30 10 65 10 Droylsden 42 13 2 6 52 30 7 1 13 46 54 14 63 11 Lancaster City 42 10 3 8 38 25 8 5 8 27 28 12 62 12 Farsley FC 42 12 5 4 44 24 6 2 13 29 40 9 61 13 Clitheroe 42 8 7 6 35 34 6 3 12 38 47 -8 52 14 Brighouse Town 42 9 3 9 39 45 5 6 10 25 36 -17 51 15 Burscough 42 6 5 10 36 38 6 7 8 26 35 -11 48 16 Kendal Town 42 8 5 8 47 42 4 5 12 34 50 -11 46 17 Ossett Albion * 42 8 3 10 29 35 5 4 12 20 37 -23 43 18 Ossett Town 42 9 2 10 28 31 3 4 14 20 52 -35 42 19 Radcliffe Borough 42 6 7 8 32 44 2 4 15 17 47 -42 35 20 Prescot Cables 42 5 9 7 28 30 2 3 16 19 56 -39 33 21 New Mills 42 3 3 15 29 55 3 4 14 27 52 -51 25 22 Padiham 42 4 3 14 25 49 2 3 16 25 63 -62 24 * 3 points deducted due to ineligible player FIRST DIVISION SOUTH HOME AWAY Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts 1 Mickleover Sports 42 16 2 3 48 15 15 3 3 57 25 65 98 2 Leek Town 42 13 4 4 51 17 15 1 5 40 21 53 89 3 Newcastle Town 42 15 2 4 47 22 12 4 5 45 24 46 87 4 Sutton Coldfld T + 42 15 4 2 46 18 10 4 7 29 23 34 83 5 Gresley FC 42 16 4 1 54 17 9 2 10 42 34 45 81 6 Stafford Rangers 42 11 9 1 35 13 12 3 6 33 20 35 81 7 Spalding United 42 16 2 3 47 16 7 8 6 37 25 43 79 8 Tividale 42 10 4 7 34 24 10 7 4 31 19 22 71 9 Lincoln United 42 9 5 7 42 28 10 4 7 30 27 17 66 10 Coalville Town 42 13 2 6 48 27 6 2 13 28 44 5 61 11 Norton United 42 11 2 8 43 35 8 2 11 36 40 4 61 12 Romulus 42 9 4 8 35 32 9 3 9 34 33 4 61 13 Chasetown 42 9 5 7 36 34 5 4 12 24 30 -4 51 14 Loughborough D 42 7 3 11 43 51 6 6 9 28 36 -16 48 15 Sheffield FC 42 9 0 12 39 50 5 6 10 35 43 -19 48 16 Goole AFC 42 8 5 8 32 29 4 5 12 21 37 -13 46 17 Stocksbridge P S 42 5 8 8 29 34 5 3 13 24 50 -31 41 18 Carlton Town 42 8 2 11 27 33 3 4 14 25 46 -27 39 19 Mkt Drayton T 42 6 2 13 35 56 5 2 14 31 53 -43 37 20 Kidsgrove Athletic 42 5 5 11 20 38 4 4 13 28 58 -48 36 21 Rainworth M W 42 3 3 15 25 44 5 3 13 21 47 -45 30 22 Brigg Town 42 2 3 16 12 60 1 0 20 14 93 -127 12 + Denotes promoted via Play-Offs EVO-STIK LEAGUE LEADING SCORERS 2014-2015 Premier Division Player Team League Goals Aaron Williams + Rushall Olympic 28 Daniel Maguire Blyth Spartans 24 Liam Hardy Buxton 24 Gavin Allott Frickley Athletic 22 Shelton Payne FC United/Trafford(16) 22 Ryan Robbins Stamford 21 Ben Deegan Ashton United

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