The 2015–16 North West Counties Football League season was the 34th in the history of the

North West Counties Football League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern S ...

, 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 and Division One.

Premier Division

The Premier Division featured four new teams: * Atherton Collieries – promoted from Division One * Cammell Laird 1907 – promoted from Division One *

A.F.C. Darwen Darwen Football Club is a association football, football club from Darwen, Lancashire, England. The club was formed in 2009 as A.F.C. Darwen, a successor to the original Darwen F.C. (1870), Darwen club, which had been wound up. They currently ...

– promoted from Division One *

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a town and civil parish on the River Calder, about west of Burnley, Lancashire, England. It forms part of the Borough of Burnley. Originally by the River Calder, it is edged by the foothills of Pendle Hill to the north-west ...

– relegated from

Northern Premier League Division One North 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 Division ...

League table

Promotion criteria

To be promoted at the end of the season a team must: # Have applied to be considered for promotion by 30 November 2015 # Pass a ground grading examination by 31 March 2016 # Finish the season in a position higher than that of any other team also achieving criteria 1 and 2 # Finish the season in one of the top three positions The following five clubs achieved criterion 1: *1874 Northwich *Atherton Collieries *Colne *Runcorn Linnets *Runcorn Town

Results

Stadia and Locations

Sources for this subsection
NWCFL web site
and the websites of the participating clubs

Division One

Division One featured four new teams: * Bacup Borough – relegated from Premier Division, and a name change from Bacup & Rossendale Borough * St Helens Town – relegated from Premier Division * Stockport Town – new club * Whitchurch Alport – joined from

Mercian Regional Football League The Shropshire Premier League was an English association football league based in the county of Shropshire. It was formed as the Mercian Regional Football League for the 2012–13 season, with all member clubs of the dissolved Shropshire County ...

Premier Division One further club had changed its name since the previous season: * Northwich Manchester Villa – previously known as Northwich Flixton Villa

League table

Playoffs

Source for this subsection
NWCFL results
/small>

Results

Stadia & Locations

Sources for this section
NWCFL web site
and the websites of the participating clubs

League Challenge Cup

Also called th
MEN United
Cup for sponsorship reasons. Sources for this section
NWCFL web site results
/small>

First round

Bacup Borough and Rochdale Town received byes to the second round. Premier Division teams exempt to the second round. Played Saturday 26 September.

Second round

Ties played 23 and 24 October.

Third round

Ties played 28 November, with four delayed by bad weather. ^* played at Ashton
^** played at Atherton

Quarter-finals

Ties played on Saturday 27 February.

Semi-finals

Final

Played 10 May at Fleetwood Town's

Highbury Stadium Arsenal Stadium was a football stadium in Highbury, London, which was the home of Arsenal Football Club between 6 September 1913 and 7 May 2006. It was popularly known as "Highbury" due to its location and was given the affectionate nickname ...

First Division Trophy

Also called th
Reusch
First Division Cup for sponsorship reasons. Source for this section
NWCFL web site
/small>

First round

Each of the remaining Division One clubs received a bye to the second round. Ties played Saturday 17 October.

Second round

Ties played 6 and 7 November, with two delayed due to bad weather ^*played at Chadderton, following two postponements

Quarter-finals

One tie played 20 February, with three delayed due to bad weather ^* Played at Barnton ^* Litherland REMYCA disqualified for fielding an ineligible player
^** Irlam disqualified for fielding an ineligible player
^*** Played at Stockport

Semi-finals

Played on 19 March. Hanley Town awarded walkover to final

Final

Played on 19 April at Congleton Town's ground

References

External links

nwcfl.com (The Official Website of The North West Counties Football League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2015-16 North West Counties Football League North West Counties Football League seasons 9