The 1976–77 Northern Premier League was the ninth season of the

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

, a regional

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 ...

league in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

, the northern areas of the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

and

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. The season began on 21 August 1976 and concluded on 20 May 1977.

Overview

The League featured twenty-three teams for the first time. The systems of goal average was replaced by goal difference.

Team changes

The following club left the League at the end of the previous season: *

Skelmersdale United Skelmersdale United Football Club is a football club from Skelmersdale, Lancashire. They are currently members of the Liverpool County Premier League and play at The Community Ground, Burscough. The club is a member of both the Liverpool Count ...

resigned, demoted to

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 i ...

Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...

folded The following club joined the League at the start of the season: *

Frickley Athletic Frickley Athletic Football Club is a football club based in South Elmsall, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Westfield Lane. History The club was formed on 30 July 1908, and became a member of the South Yorkshire Lea ...

promoted from

Midland League (1889) The Midland Football League was a semi-professional football league in England. It acted as a feeder league to the Football League for many years before merging with the Yorkshire Football League, Yorkshire League in 1982 to form the Northern Cou ...

League table

Results

Stadia and locations

Cup results

Challenge Cup

Northern Premier League Shield

Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.

FA Cup

Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, only three teams reached the second round: Second Round Third Round Fourth Round

FA Trophy

Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, three teams reached the fourth round: Fourth Round Semi-finals Final

End of the season

At the end of the ninth season of the Northern Premier League, Altrincham who put forward for election did not receive enough votes to be promoted to the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

Football League elections

Alongside the four

teams facing re-election, two non-League teams, one from the Northern Premier League and the other from the Southern League. Applied to be elected. Three out of the four Football League teams were re-elected. Wimbledon from the Southern League replaced Workington from the Football League as they didn't receive enough votes. Workington was subsequently relegated to the Northern Premier League.A history of admission to the Football League
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Promotion and relegation

The following club left the League at the end of the season: * Gateshead United folded. A new club formed

Gateshead Gateshead () is a town in the Gateshead Metropolitan Borough of Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank. The town's attractions include the twenty metre tall Angel of the North sculpture on the town's southern outskirts, ...

replaced. The following club joined the League the following season: *

Workington Workington is a coastal town and civil parish in the Cumberland district of Cumbria, England. The town is at the mouth of the River Derwent on the west coast, south-west of Carlisle and north-east of Whitehaven. At the 2021 census the ...

relegated from

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

References

External links

Northern Premier League official website

{{DEFAULTSORT:1976-77 Northern Premier League Northern Premier League seasons 5