1986–87 North West Counties Football League

The 1986–87 North West Counties Football League was the fifth in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into three divisions.

North West Counties Football League

← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Division One

North West Counties
Football League
Division One

Season	1986–87
Champions	Stalybridge Celtic
Promoted	12 clubs to Northern Premier League Division One
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Division One featured 2 new teams:

• Kirkby Town promoted as champions from Division Two
• Rossendale United promoted as runners-up from Division Two

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Stalybridge Celtic (C, P)	38	25	8	5	74	39	+35	58	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
2	Accrington Stanley (P)	38	19	15	4	63	32	+31	53
3	Clitheroe	38	20	12	6	76	47	+29	52
4	Kirkby Town	38	22	4	12	71	48	+23	48
5	Bootle	38	19	10	9	52	38	+14	48
6	St Helens Town	38	19	9	10	65	37	+28	47
7	Winsford United (P)	38	19	8	11	55	39	+16	46	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
8	Fleetwood Town (P)	38	16	13	9	61	49	+12	45
9	Penrith (P)	38	16	10	12	62	59	+3	42
10	Rossendale United	38	14	11	13	66	59	+7	39
11	Congleton Town (P)	38	13	11	14	38	39	−1	37	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
12	Burscough	38	11	11	16	58	54	+4	33
13	Leyland Motors	38	13	7	18	52	56	−4	33
14	Eastwood Hanley (P)	38	10	11	17	40	50	−10	31	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
15	Radcliffe Borough (P)	38	11	8	19	46	57	−11	30
16	Leek Town (P)	38	9	12	17	42	55	−13	30
17	Netherfield (P)	38	12	5	21	45	73	−28	29
18	Irlam Town (P)	38	4	13	21	36	74	−38	21
19	Curzon Ashton (P)	38	4	12	22	35	78	−43	20
20	Glossop	38	5	8	25	33	87	−54	18

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The points system until the 1990–91 season: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Division Two

North West Counties
Football League
Division Two

Season	1986–87
Champions	Droylsden
Promoted	2 clubs to Northern Premier League Division One 10 clubs to Division One
← 1985–86 1987–88 →

Division Two featured 4 new teams:

• Prescot Cables, relegated from Division One
• Formby, relegated from Division One
• Blackpool Mechanics promoted as champions from Division Three
• Oldham Town promoted as runners-up from Division Three

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Droylsden (C, P)	34	20	8	6	79	42	+37	48	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
2	Warrington Town (P)	34	16	13	5	48	34	+14	45	Promotion to Division One
3	Ashton United	34	19	6	9	73	45	+28	44
4	Wren Rovers	34	18	8	8	65	39	+26	44
5	Colwyn Bay (P)	34	17	9	8	61	43	+18	43	Promotion to Division One
6	Darwen (P)	34	15	8	11	45	47	−2	38
7	Chadderton	34	14	9	11	52	47	+5	37
8	Colne Dynamoes (P)	34	14	8	12	57	44	+13	36	Promotion to Division One
9	Skelmersdale United (P)	34	13	10	11	52	53	−1	36
10	Ellesmere Port & Neston (P)	34	15	5	14	68	54	+14	35
11	Formby (P)	34	13	7	14	54	55	−1	33
12	Blackpool Mechanics	34	12	8	14	56	64	−8	32
13	Lancaster City (P)	34	12	7	15	55	53	+2	31	Promotion to Northern Premier League Division One
14	Prescot Cables (P)	34	12	6	16	46	48	−2	28[lower-alpha 1]	Promotion to Division One
15	Great Harwood Town	34	9	8	17	36	59	−23	24[lower-alpha 1]
16	Oldham Town	34	7	9	18	38	57	−19	23
17	Atherton Laburnum Rovers (P)	34	8	5	21	32	61	−29	21	Promotion to Division One
18	Salford (P)	34	1	8	25	17	89	−72	10

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The points system until the 1990–91 season: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. Prescot Cables and Great Harwood Town had 2 points deducted.

Division Three

North West Counties
Football League
Division Three

Season	1986–87
Champions	Atherton Collieries
Promoted	13 clubs to Division Two
← 1985–86

Division Three featured 4 new teams:

• Ford Motors, relegated from Division Two
• Nantwich Town, relegated from Division Two
• Flixton, joined from the Manchester League
• Ashton Town, joined from the Manchester League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Atherton Collieries (C, P)	24	16	4	4	46	22	+24	36	Promotion to Division Two
2	Flixton (P)	24	15	5	4	58	29	+29	35
3	Maghull (P)	24	14	2	8	44	29	+15	30
4	Nelson (P)	24	12	6	6	37	29	+8	30
5	Newton (P)	24	11	5	8	42	36	+6	27
6	Ford Motors (P)	24	9	8	7	38	27	+11	26
7	Bacup Borough (P)	24	10	6	8	27	27	0	26
8	Cheadle Town (P)	24	9	5	10	33	44	−11	23
9	Daisy Hill (P)	24	6	7	11	21	42	−21	17[lower-alpha 1]
10	Padiham (P)	24	4	8	12	35	39	−4	16
11	Nantwich Town (P)	24	5	6	13	26	42	−16	16
12	Ashton Town (P)	24	4	9	11	29	39	−10	15[lower-alpha 1]
13	Whitworth Valley (P)	24	3	5	16	17	48	−31	11

Source: rsssf.com
Rules for classification: The points system until the 1990–91 season: 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and 0 points for losing.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. Daisy Hill and Ashton Town had 2 points deducted.

Promotion and relegation

Division One

12 sides (highlighted in the table in green) were promoted to the Northern Premier League First Division. No teams were relegated.

Division two

Droylsden and Lancaster City moved to the Northern Premier League First Division while 10 teams (highlighted in the table in lightgreen) were promoted to the Division One. Newcastle Town, Maine Road and Vauxhall Motors joined the Division as newly admitted teams. No teams were relegated.

Division Three

All sides were promoted to Division Two as Division Three was disbanded at the end of the season.

External links

• North West Counties Football League Tables at RSSSF