Northern Premier League Division One East
The Northern Premier League Division One East is a football league in England at Step 4 of the National League System and the eighth tier of the English football pyramid overall.
The league geographically encompasses all of Northern England, the northern and central Midlands, and the western parts of East Anglia.
Like its counterparts in the West and the Midlands, the league typically features 22 clubs, all competing for the right to win promotion or remain in the division.
More about the league
The Northern Premier League as a whole has been in existence since 1968. It was considered the northern counterpart of the Southern League, located in southern England. Initially, the league consisted of only one division. However, that changed in 1987 with the introduction of Division One.
It further expanded in 2007 with the addition of a third division, which was split into two regional divisions: Division One North and Division One South.
It wasn’t until 2018 that Division One was split into East and West Divisions. A year later, the leagues were reassigned to the North West and the South East. Finally, in 2021, non-league football was revamped, with Division One being split into its current form: One East, One West, and One Midlands.
Clubs promoted from the Northern Premier League Division One East win promotion to the Northern Premier League. The team that finishes at the top of the table gains promotion to the higher league, as long as it meets the criteria for Step 3.
A second promotion spot is available for the team that wins the play-offs, which includes the teams that finish from second to fifth place in the regular league season.
At the other end of the spectrum, the teams that finish from 19th to 22nd place in the division are relegated to one of the following: The Eastern Counties League, the Midland League, the Northern League, the Northern Counties East League, the North West Counties League or the United Counties League North or South.
Successful teams in the Northern Premier League One East
| Season | Champions |
|---|---|
| 2018/19 | Atherton Collieries |
| 2019/20 | Workington* |
| 2020/21 | Leek Town* |
| 2021/22 | Liversedge |
| 2022/23 | Worksop Town |
| 2023/24 | Hebburn Town |
| 2024/25 | Cleethorpes Town |
The division is relatively new, having been formed in 2018. Unsurprisingly, there hasn’t been a team that has dominated the division. No team has finished top of the table on two occasions.
Two campaigns were interrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic, with the 2019/20 season terminated on March 26th, 2020. At the time of termination, Workington topped the table, but were not officially crowned as champions.
The following season was also heavily affected by the Coronavirus, as the league once again failed to complete. This time, the league was terminated on 21st February 2021.
When the league ended, Leek Town was at the top of the table, and, like Workington in the previous season, they were not awarded the official title of champions, despite their position in the table.
Not only were neither team officially considered champions, but both failed to win promotion to the Northern Premier League due to the full schedule of games not being completed.