The Northern Football Alliance is 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 ...

league based in the

North East The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

, England. It has four divisions headed by the Premier Division, which sits at step 7 (or level 11) of the

National League System The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. The National League System has a h ...

. The top club in the Premier Division is eligible for promotion to the

Northern League Northern League may refer to: Sport Baseball * Northern League (baseball, 1902–71), a name used by several minor leagues that operated in the upper midwestern U.S. and Manitoba from 1902 to 1971 * Northern League (baseball, 1993–2010), an indep ...

Division Two. The top clubs in the First, Second and Third Divisions are promoted to the Premier, First, and Second Divisions respectively. The bottom club in the Third Division may be relegated to either the North Northumberland League Division One, or the Tyneside Amateur League, depending on which is more geographically appropriate. The Northern Football Alliance was founded in 1890 as a single league, with a membership of seven teams. In 1926 it became the Second Division of the

North Eastern League The North Eastern League was an association football league for teams in the North East of England. The league was founded in 1906 and was initially successful, with teams defecting from the rival Northern Football Alliance to play. Although som ...

, but it split away again in 1935. It disbanded in 1964 due to lack of membership, but reformed just one season later, in 1965–66. In 1988 the Northern Amateur League and the Northern Combination League combined with the Northern Football Alliance (all under the name Northern Football Alliance) to create a three-division format, which later expanded to four. Under a sponsorship agreement it is billed as the Bay Plastics Northern Football Alliance. The league's teams chiefly come from

Tyneside Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt. The population of Tyneside as published i ...

as well as

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, with teams from further south preferring to play in the

Wearside League The Wearside Football League is a non-league football competition based in northern England. It consists of three divisions which sits at steps 7 to 9 (or levels 11 to 13) of the National League System and is a feeder to the Northern League Di ...

, but there are exceptions, for example Prudhoe Town F.C. from Northumberland compete in the Wearside League, whilst Coundon and Leeholme from near

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland () is a market town and civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, northern England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham. Much of the town's early history surro ...

in southern County Durham compete in the Alliance.

Member teams, 2022–23 season

Premier Division

*AFC Newbiggin * Alnwick Town *Burradon & New Fordley *Cramlington United *Gateshead Rutherford *Halwhistle Jubilee *Killingworth *

Newcastle Blue Star Newcastle Blue Star F.C. is a football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was established in 1930 and joined the Wearside League in 1973. In 1978, it won the FA Vase. Having won promotion to the Northern Premier League Premier Divi ...

*Newcastle Chemfica *Newcastle Independent * Percy Main Amateurs * Ponteland United *Seaton Delaval AFC *Wallington * Whitley Bay 'A' *Winlaton Community

Division One

*Bedlington *FC United of Newcastle *Forest Hall *Gosforth Bohemians * Hebburn Town U23 *Hexham *

Reserves *Newcastle East End *North Shields Athletic *Rothbury *Seaton Burn *Stobswood Welfare *Wallsend Boys Club *West Moor & Jesmond *Whitburn & Cleadon *Willington Quay Saints

Division Two

*Blaydon Community * Blyth Town U23 *Cullercoats *Ellington * Heaton Stannington 'A' *Morpeth *Newcastle Chemfica Amateurs *Newcastle Independent Cabrito *

Newcastle University Newcastle University (legally the University of Newcastle upon Tyne) is a UK public university, public research university based in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England. It has overseas campuses in Singapore and Malaysia. The university is ...

'A' *North Sunderland *Ponteland United Reserves *Red House Farm *Seaton Sluice *Walker Central *Whitley Bay Sporting Club *Wideopen

Division Three

*Amble AFC * Alnwick Town Development * Ashington AFC Reserves *Benton *Blyth Rangers *Cramlington Blue Star *Gateshead Redheugh 1957 *Gosforth Bohemians Reserves *Hazlerigg Victory *Heddon United *Stocksfield *Wallsend Boys Club U23 *West Moor & Jesmond U23 *Whickham U23 *Whitley Bay Sporting Club 'A'

Champions (1890–1988)

*1890–91 –

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

"A" *1891–92 –

Shankhouse Shankhouse Football Club was a football club based in Cramlington, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England. They play at Action Park. The club was a FA Charter Standard Club affiliated to the Northumberland Football Association. The club's nickna ...

*1892–93 –

"A" *1893–94 –

"A" *1894–95 –

"A" *1895–96 –

"A" *1896–97 – Hebburn Argyle *1897–98 –

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

"A" *1898–99 –

Jarrow Jarrow ( or ) is a town in South Tyneside in the county of Tyne and Wear, England. It is east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is situated on the south bank of the River Tyne, about from the east coast. It is home to the southern portal of the Tyne ...

*1899–1900 – Willington Athletic *1900–01 –

"A" *1901–02 –

"A" *1902–03 –

Morpeth Harriers Morpeth may refer to: *Morpeth, New South Wales, Australia **Electoral district of Morpeth, a former electoral district of the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales *Morpeth, Ontario, Canada * Morpeth, Northumberland, England, UK **Morpeth (UK Pa ...

*1903–04 – Wallsend Park Villa *1904–05 – Willington Athletic *1905–06 – Willington Athletic *1906–07 – North Shields Athletic *1907–08 – North Shields Athletic *1908–09 – Blyth Spartans *1909–10 – Willington Athletic *1910–11 – Newburn *1911–12 – Newburn *1912–13 – Blyth Spartans *1913–14 – Ashington *1914–15 – Spen Black & Whites *1915–19 – ''Not competed for due to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

'' *1919–20 –

Annfield Plain Annfield Plain is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated on a plateau between the towns of Stanley, to the north-east, and Consett, to the west. According to the 2001 census, Annfield Plain has a population of 3,569. By the ti ...

*1920–21 – Chopwell Institute *1921–22 – Felling Colliery *1922–23 –

*1923–24 – Birtley *1924–25 – Ashington Reserves *1925–26 – Chilton Colliery Recreation *1926–27 –

Consett Consett is a town in County Durham, England, about south-west of Newcastle upon Tyne. It had a population of 27,394 in 2001 and an estimate of 25,812 in 2019. History Consett sits high on the edge of the Pennines. Its' name originates in the ...

*1927–28 –

Washington Colliery Washington Football Club is a football club based in Washington, Tyne and Wear, England. The club was formed by the local miners at the local "F-Pit" Colliery in the early 20th century as Washington Colliery F.C. The club's distinctive red colo ...

*1928–29 – North Shields *1929–30 – Walker Celtic *1930–31 – Chopwell Institute *1931–32 – Crawcrook Albion *1932–33 – Eden Colliery Welfare *1933–34 – Throckley Welfare *1934–35 – Newbiggin West End *1935–36 – Hexham Town *1936–37 – Stakeford Albion *1937–38 –

Alnwick Alnwick ( ) is a market town in Northumberland, England, of which it is the traditional county town. The population at the 2011 Census was 8,116. The town is on the south bank of the River Aln, south of Berwick-upon-Tweed and the Scottish bor ...

*1938–39 –

"A" *1939–46 – ''Not competed for due to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

'' *1946–47 – Newburn *1947–48 – Hexham Hearts *1948–49 – Cramlington Welfare *1949–50 –

West Sleekburn West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...

*1950–51 – Cramlington Welfare *1951–52 – Newburn *1952–53 – Whitley Bay Athletic *1953–54 – Whitley Bay Athletic *1954–55 – Amble *1955–56 – Ashington Reserves *1956–57 – Amble *1957–58 –

"A" *1958–59 – Amble *1959–60 – Amble *1960–61 – Amble *1961–62 – Newburn *1962–63 – Alnwick Town *1963–64 – Alnwick Town *1964–65 – ''not competed'' *1965–66 – Alnwick Town *1966–67 – Bedlington Colliery Welfare *1967–68 – Alnwick Town *1968–69 – Alnwick Town *1969–70 – Alnwick Town *1970–71 – Alnwick Town *1971–72 – Alnwick Town *1972–73 – Marine Park *1973–74 – Marine Park *1974–75 – South Shields Mariners *1975–76 –

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

*1976–77 – Wallington *1977–78 – Brandon United *1978–79 – Brandon United *1979–80 –

Guisborough Town Guisborough Town Football Club is a football club based in Guisborough, North Yorkshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the King George V Ground. History The club was established in 1973 and joined the Middlesbrough & D ...

*1980–81 – Percy Main Amateurs *1981–82 – Percy Main Amateurs *1982–83 – Darlington Cleveland Bridge *1983–84 –

Morpeth Town Morpeth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Morpeth, Northumberland, England. They are currently members of the and play at Craik Park. History The club was established in 1909. They joined the Northern Alliance in 193 ...

*1984–85 – Dudley Welfare *1985–86 – Gateshead Tyne Sports *1986–87 –

West Allotment Celtic West Allotment Celtic Football Club is a football club who currently play their home games at East Palmersville Sports Pavilion, Palmersville, near Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. History Formed in 1928 in West Allotment, a village in North Tyne ...

*1987–88 – Seaton Delaval Seaton Terrace

Divisional Champions (Since 1988)

References

External links

Official websiteFull-Time at The FA
{{Men's football in England Football leagues in England 1890 establishments in England Sports leagues established in 1890