{"id":384,"date":"2023-06-30T14:59:58","date_gmt":"2023-06-30T13:59:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nonleagueinsider.com\/?p=384"},"modified":"2023-09-05T11:50:10","modified_gmt":"2023-09-05T10:50:10","slug":"what-is-the-north-west-counties-football-league","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nonleagueinsider.com\/leagues\/what-is-the-north-west-counties-football-league\/","title":{"rendered":"What is the North West Counties Football League?"},"content":{"rendered":"
The North West Counties Football League, also known as the NWCFL, is based in the north of England and features teams from the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, Northern Staffordshire, Northern Shropshire, the far west of West Yorkshire, and the High Peak area of Derbyshire.<\/p>\n
However, Welsh clubs Caernarfon Town, Colwyn Bay and Rhyl have all previously featured in the competition at various times in its history.<\/p>\n
The league is a part of the Joint Liaison Council that manages the Northern branch of the National Football System in England.<\/p>\n
From season 2018\/19, the competition has had some format changes, as it has gone from two divisions to three, with the Premier Division being the ninth level of the English game and the fifth in NLS. The Premier Division features 24 teams.<\/p>\n
There are now also two separate divisions split into North and South, decided by which part of the country the club hails from. These divisions are the tenth level of the English league system and the sixth in the non-league system. Unlike the Premier Division, there are just 18 teams in each of the North and South Divisions.<\/p>\n
The league was introduced in 1982 when the Cheshire County League and the Lancashire Combination merged into one organisation.<\/p>\n
The league first consisted of three divisions. However, the introduction of the Northern Premier League (NPL) in 1987 led to the league being reduced to just two divisions.<\/p>\n
That time was a crucial one as it was around that time that the league saw promotion and relegation introduced. Whichever two clubs finished first and second in the North West Counties Football League earned promotion to the Northern Premier League if, of course, their grounds meet the criteria for such a promotion.<\/p>\n
For the 2008-09 season, the Premier Division replaced Division One while the First Division took the place of Division Two. Hence, the North and South divisions were created for the 2018-19 season<\/a>, as previously mentioned.<\/p>\n