Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League is Step Three of the National League System and, alongside the Isthmian League and the Southern League, forms the seventh tier of the English game overall.
The league includes 22 teams from Northern England, the northern, central areas of the Midlands, and the western parts of East Anglia.
The history of the Northern Premier League
The Northern Premier League was founded in 1968 as the northern version of the Southern League. However, compared to the Southern League and the Isthmian League, which had been running for decades before their northern equivalent, the Northern Premier League was a late arrival.
When it began, the Northern Premier League was the highest tier of non-league football below the Football League. It was also at the same level as the other prominent non-league division, the Northern League.
The Northern Premier League gradually beat off the competition from the Northern League. After a few decades of competition between the leagues, the Northern League eventually accepted defeat and became a feeder league for the Northern Premier League.
In 1979, the landscape of non-league football changed with the introduction of the Alliance Premier League. After numerous name changes over the years, it became known in its current guise as the National League in 2015.
The introduction of the new league saw the Northern Premier League drop down a level in the non-league pecking order. It became a feeder league for the Alliance Premier League.
The Northern Premier League experienced another demotion down the non-league pyramid in 2004, as regional leagues were introduced in the then-Conference.
The drop left the league as the third tier of non-league football, with the National League and the National League North and South above it in the pyramid.
Although most of the clubs that have participated in the league have mainly been from the north and Midlands of England, clubs from other parts of the UK have featured in the league.
From season 1992/93, the league included a club not from England in the shape of Welsh club Caernarfon Town. Scottish outfit Gretna also joined the league shortly after the Welsh club.
Other Welsh clubs have also featured in the Northern Premier League over the years, including Colwyn Bay, Bangor City, Newtown, and Rhyl.
In 2007, the decision was made to create three divisions of the Northern Premier League: The Northern Premier League, Division One North and Division One South.
The Northern Premier League was at the top of the pyramid, with the other leagues feeding into the top league. From 2018 until the time of writing, the leagues are the Premier Division, Division One West, Division One East, and Division One Midlands.
How does promotion and relegation work in the league?
The club that finishes top of the table wins automatic promotion to the National League North. In theory, clubs could end up in the National League South, but it is usually the appropriate geographic league that teams are placed in.
There is a second promotion spot allocated to the team that wins the four-team play-offs between the teams that finish second and fifth place in the regular league campaign.
The team that finishes second place in the league faces the fifth-place team in one of the play-off semi-finals, while the third and fourth-place teams face off in the other semi-finals.
The winners of the two semi-finals reach the play-off final, which is held at the home stadium of the highest-ranking team. The winner of the final earns the second promotion spot.
The teams that finish in the league’s bottom four, from 19th, 20th, 21st and 22nd position, are usually relegated to Division One North West or South East. However, some more southern clubs may well drop down into the Southern League Division One Central.
Which clubs have featured in the division and played in the EFL?
The Northern Premier League has played host to several teams that have gone on to play in the Football League. The likes of Burton Albion, Barrow, Accrington Stanley and Morecambe have all featured in the division in recent decades.
However, arguably the most successful former Northern Premier League team in its history is Wigan Athletic, who won promotion from the league in 1978.
Not only did the Latics play in the EFL, but in 2005 the north west outfit won promotion to the Premier League.
Although Wigan were relegated to the Championship in 2013, in the same season, Athletic made history by winning the FA Cup for the first and only time. The Latics are the only former Northern Premier League club ever to make it to the English top flight, and of course, the same with the FA Cup.