The 1987–88 Northern Premier League season was the 20th in the history of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

competition in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Teams were divided into two divisions.

Premier Division

The Premier Division featured two new teams: *

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History Although the club itself claims it was formed in 1910, the team was activ ...

relegated from

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

Gateshead Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...

relegated from

League table

Results

Division One

It was the first Division One season, it was formed by clubs from: * 12 clubs joined from the NWCL Division One: **

Stalybridge Celtic Stalybridge Celtic Football Club is an English football club based in Stalybridge, Greater Manchester. They are currently members of the and play at Bower Fold. The team traditionally plays in a blue and white strip. In 1921 Stalybridge Celtic ...

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They have spent their complete history ...

Winsford United Winsford United Football Club are a football club based in Winsford, Cheshire, England. The club was founded in 1883 and are nicknamed ''The Blues''. The club is currently a member of the , with home matches played at The Barton Stadium. Thei ...

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

** Penrith **

Congleton Town Congleton Town Football Club is an association football club based in Congleton, Cheshire, England. They currently play in the and are full members of the Cheshire County Football Association. The club have played in a number of regional league ...

**Eastwood Hanley F.C., Eastwood Hanley **Radcliffe Borough F.C., Radcliffe Borough **Leek Town F.C., Leek Town **Kendal Town F.C., Netherfield **Irlam Town F.C., Irlam Town **Curzon Ashton F.C., Curzon Ashton * 2 clubs joined from the 1986–87 North West Counties Football League#Division Two, NWCL Division Two: **Droylsden F.C., Droylsden **Lancaster City F.C., Lancaster City * 5 clubs joined from the 1986–87 Northern Counties East Football League#Premier Division, NCEL Premier Division: **Alfreton Town F.C., Alfreton Town **Farsley Celtic F.C., Farsley Celtic **Ashfield United F.C., Sutton Town **Harrogate Town F.C., Harrogate Town **Eastwood Town F.C., Eastwood Town

League table

Promotion and relegation

In the twentieth season of the Northern Premier League Chorley (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference. Meanwhile, Oswestry Town folded at the end of the season and Workington were relegated; these three sides were replaced by Northern Premier League First Division, Division One winners

, second placed

and newly admitted Shepshed Dynamo F.C., Shepshed Charterhouse. Colne Dynamoes F.C., Colne Dynamoes, Bishop Auckland F.C., Bishop Auckland, Whitley Bay F.C., Whitley Bay and Newtown A.F.C., Newtown were admitted into Division One at the end of the season.

Cup Results

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup, Challenge Cup: *''Goole Town'' bt. Barrow Northern Premier League President's Cup, President's Cup: *''South Liverpool'' 5–4 Southport Northern Premier League Shield: Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup. *''Chorley'' bt. Goole Town

External links

Northern Premier League Tables at RSSSF
{{DEFAULTSORT:1987-88 Northern Premier League Northern Premier League seasons 1987–88 in English football leagues, 6