The Northern League is a men's

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 in

north east England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authorit ...

. Having been founded in 1889, it is the second-oldest football league in the world still in existence after the

English Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engl ...

. It contains two divisions; Division One and Division Two. Division One sits on the ninth tier of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

, five divisions below the Football League. These leagues cover the historic counties of

Durham Durham most commonly refers to: *Durham, England, a cathedral city and the county town of County Durham *County Durham, an English county * Durham County, North Carolina, a county in North Carolina, United States *Durham, North Carolina, a city in N ...

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 ...

Cumberland Cumberland ( ) is a historic county in the far North West England. It covers part of the Lake District as well as the north Pennines and Solway Firth coast. Cumberland had an administrative function from the 12th century until 1974. From 19 ...

and Yorkshire's

North Riding The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. The champion club of Division One is promoted to the lower division 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 ...

History

The Northern league was one of many leagues formed the year after the Football League. In its first season, it consisted of ten clubs that were a mixture of professional and amateur organisations. During its early years, the competition included clubs such as

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 ...

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

that would go on to play in the Football League. In 1905, the league split into two divisions, one professional and one amateur. The next year, however, the Northern League made the decision to abolish the professional division and restrict itself to amateur clubs, or at least clubs that claimed to be amateur. Between the World Wars and in the early years following World War II, the Northern League's amateur status meant that they and their equivalent in the London area, the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional men's football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 82 tea ...

, dominated the old

FA Amateur Cup The FA Amateur Cup was an English football competition for amateur clubs. It commenced in 1893 and ended in 1974 when the Football Association abolished official amateur status. History Following the legalisation of professionalism within footba ...

. The two Leagues continued to be separate from the professional game which was dominated by the Football League, Southern League and, from 1968, the Northern Premier League. The Northern League and Isthmian League (with its feeder leagues) continued to claim amateur status right up until, following pressure, amateur status was abandoned by

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

in 1974. This left amateur leagues like the Northern to find a place in the overall structure of

non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

. Unlike its southern equivalent, the Isthmian League, who became a feeder to the

Alliance Premier League 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 ...

in 1982, the Northern League rejected repeated invitations. Ultimately, the Northern League remained out of the

football pyramid In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

until 1991. The league declined throughout the 1980s as its leading clubs defected to other leagues within the football pyramid, such as the

Northern Counties East Football League The Northern Counties East Football League is a semi-professional English association football, football league. It has two divisions – Premier Division and Division One – which stand at the ninth and tenth levels of the English football lea ...

. When the Northern League finally joined the pyramid, it was as a feeder league to the lower division of the Northern Premier League (Level 9). Since 1995, Northern League clubs have competed for the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, usually referred to as the FA Vase, is an annual football competition for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English National League System (or equivalently, tier 9 or 10 of the overall English footbal ...

, with some success, having won 10 finals. The League had an unusual sponsorship deal put in place by

Brooks Mileson Brooks John Joseph Mileson (13 November 1947 – 3 November 2008) was an English businessman and the owner of now dissolved professional football club Gretna as well as being a philanthropist to 70 non-League clubs. Early life The eldest s ...

, owner of the Albany Group, who were its sponsors in 2003. In that year, Mileson announced that he had created a trust which would continue to sponsor the league throughout his lifetime and that of his sons. In 2008, however, the league announced that this sponsorship had come to an end, and it held a raffle to determine its next sponsor. Interested parties were invited to buy a stake in the raffle for £250. The winning stake was held by a local training company and the league was known as the skilltrainingltd Northern League from the 2008–09 season until the 2011–12 season. The league is currently sponsored by dehumidifier manufacturer

Ebac Ebac Ltd is a family-owned British company which designs and manufactures dehumidifiers, water coolers, air source heat pumps, freezers and washing machines. Company history In 1972, John Elliott took an order from Bovis to build industrial dehum ...

. Level 11 clubs from the

North Riding Football League The North Riding Football League is an English football league that was founded in 2017 by the merger of the former Teesside Football League and Eskvale & Cleveland League. The league has four divisions – the Premier Division (which stand ...

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 ...

and

Wearside Football 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 Divi ...

may apply for promotion into the Northern League's (level 10) Second Division.

Current members

Division One

Division Two

Champions

''Originally the league comprised a single division. The champions were as follows:'' ''In 1897, the league briefly split into two divisions.'' ''In 1900, the league reverted to a single division.'' ''In 1905 the league split into two sections, one for professionals and one for amateurs. This lasted for a single season.'' ''In 1906 the league reverted to a single division, a format retained until 1982.'' ''In 1982 the league added a second division.''

League Cup

*gg = Golden goal

References

External links

Official website
{{Football in England table cells category:Northern England 1889 establishments in England 9 Sports leagues established in 1889