The 2016–17 North West Counties Football League season (known as the Hallmark Security League for sponsorship reasons) was the 35th in the history of the

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

, a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

competition in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. Teams were divided into two divisions: Premier Division and First Division.

Premier Division

The Premier Division consisted of 22 clubs. The following four clubs joined the division at the start of the season: * Barnton – promoted from the

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

* Hanley Town – promoted from the

Irlam Irlam is a suburb in the City of Salford, Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, it had a population of 19,933. It lies on flat ground on the south side of the M62 motorway and the north bank of the Manchester Ship Canal, southwest of Salf ...

– promoted from the

New Mills New Mills is a small town in the Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England, south-east of Stockport and from Manchester at the confluence of the River Goyt and River Sett, Sett. It is close to the border with Cheshire and above the Torrs, a ...

– relegated from the Northern Premier League First Division North

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 2016 # Pass a ground grading examination by 31 March 2017 # 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 seven clubs achieved criterion 1: * 1874 Northwich * AFC Liverpool * Atherton Collieries *

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

Padiham Padiham ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish on the River Calder, Lancashire, River Calder, in the Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, Lancashire, England. It is located north west of Burnley, and north ea ...

* Runcorn Linnets * Runcorn Town

Results

Stadia and Locations

Division One

The Division One consisted of 22 teams. The following nine clubs joined the division at the start of the season: * AFC Blackpool – relegated from the Premier Division * Alsager Town – relegated from the Premier Division * Carlisle City – promoted from the

Northern Football Alliance The Northern Football Alliance is a football league based in the North East, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the National League System. The top club in the Premier Division i ...

Charnock Richard Charnock Richard is a small village and civil parish in the borough of Chorley, Lancashire, in England. The population of the civil parish taken at the 2011 census was 1,748. History The village was named in the early 13th century by the local ...

– promoted from the West Lancashire League * City of Liverpool – new team * FC Oswestry Town – promoted from the Mercian Regional League * Prestwich Heys – promoted from the Manchester League * Sandbach United – promoted from the Cheshire League *

Silsden Silsden is a town and civil parish in the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire and Leeds and Liverpool Canal between Keighley and Skipton, which had a population of 8,390 at the 2021 Census. The parish includes the ham ...

– relegated from the Premier Division

League table

Results

Playoffs

Source for this subsection
NWC results archives
/small>

Semifinals

Final

Stadia & Locations

* As their ground was not ready, St Helens Town played the majority of their home matches in 2016–17 at Volair Park, home of Prescot Cables, with the remainder being played at Edge Green Street, home of Ashton Town. * Until their floodlight system was ready, Sandbach United played home evening matches at Alsager Town's ground. * Due to fixture congestion at their home ground,

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

played some of their home games at Townfield, home of Barnton.

League Challenge Cup

Also called the Macron Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons. Source for this section
NWC results archives
/small>

First round

Atherton Collieries are exempt until the second round, as holders. ^* Played at Alsager All remaining teams received byes.

Second round

^* Played at Barnton

Third round

^* Played at Barnoldswick ^* Played at Bootle

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

City of Liverpool won on penalties following a 2–2 aggregate draw Barnoldswick Town won 4–2 on aggregate

Final

Played at

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" from the name of the district in which it was located, and ...

, home of Fleetwood Town

First Division Trophy

Also called th
Reusch
First Division Cup for sponsorship reasons. Source for this section
NWC league archives
/small>

First round

All the remaining First Division teams received a bye to the second round. Northern Section Southern Section

Second round

Northern Section Southern Section

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

First leg

Second leg

Sandbach United won 5–4 on aggregate City of Liverpool won 4–0 on aggregate

Final

Played at Runcorn Linnets' stadium

References

External links

nwcfl.com (The Official Website of The North West Counties Football League)
{{DEFAULTSORT:2016-17 North West Counties Football League North West Counties Football League seasons 9