2015–16 North West Counties Football League

The 2015–16 North West Counties Football League season was the 34th in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions: Premier Division and Division One.

Premier Division

North West Counties
Football League
Premier Division

Season	2015–16
Champions	Colne
Promoted	Colne
Relegated	Alsager Town Silsden AFC Blackpool
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The Premier Division featured four new teams:^[1]

• Atherton Collieries – promoted from Division One
• Cammell Laird 1907 – promoted from Division One
• A.F.C. Darwen – promoted from Division One
• Padiham – relegated from Northern Premier League Division One North

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Colne (C, P)	42	31	7	4	105	41	+64	100	Promoted to Northern Premier League Division One North
2	Runcorn Linnets	42	32	2	8	97	35	+62	98
3	Atherton Collieries	42	25	9	8	113	66	+47	84
4	1874 Northwich	42	24	6	12	89	62	+27	78
5	West Didsbury & Chorlton	42	21	5	16	81	65	+16	68
6	Congleton Town	42	19	10	13	79	65	+14	67
7	Ashton Athletic	42	17	10	15	73	68	+5	61
8	Bootle	42	17	10	15	75	75	0	61
9	Barnoldswick Town	42	17	8	17	77	69	+8	59
10	Abbey Hey	42	16	11	15	67	66	+1	59
11	Padiham	42	16	9	17	84	90	−6	57
12	Maine Road	42	16	7	19	72	76	−4	55
13	Runcorn Town	42	15	7	20	70	76	−6	52
14	Winsford United	42	14	10	18	66	93	−27	52
15	Cammell Laird 1907	42	14	8	20	71	83	−12	50
16	Nelson	42	13	9	20	69	70	−1	48
17	A.F.C. Liverpool	42	11	15	16	86	92	−6	48
18	A.F.C. Darwen	42	12	7	23	82	111	−29	43
19	Squires Gate	42	11	8	23	53	91	−38	41
20	Alsager Town (R)	42	11	6	25	56	101	−45	39	Relegated to Division One
21	Silsden (R)	42	9	11	22	57	88	−31	38
22	A.F.C. Blackpool (R)	42	9	9	24	65	104	−39	36

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2016. Source: NWCFL League Tables
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated

Promotion criteria

To be promoted at the end of the season a team must:

1. Have applied to be considered for promotion by 30 November 2015
2. Pass a ground grading examination by 31 March 2016
3. Finish the season in a position higher than that of any other team also achieving criteria 1 and 2
4. Finish the season in one of the top three positions^[2]

The following five clubs achieved criterion 1:^[3]

• 1874 Northwich
• Atherton Collieries
• Colne
• Runcorn Linnets
• Runcorn Town

Results

Home \ Away	18N	ABH	BLK	DAR	LVP	ALS	ASH	ACO	BWT	BTL	CAM	CLN	CNG	MNR	NEL	PAD	RNL	RNT	SIL	SQG	WDC	WNS
1874 Northwich		2–1	3–0	2–3	1–0	1–1	3–1	1–3	2–1	3–3	2–0	0–1	1–0	1–2	4–2	5–4	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–0	2–2
Abbey Hey	0–1		1–1	2–1	2–3	3–1	0–2	2–1	0–2	4–1	4–2	1–3	4–1	3–0	3–0	3–0	0–4	2–0	1–3	3–1	1–5	2–4
A.F.C. Blackpool	3–4	1–3		2–3	1–5	0–1	2–3	1–3	0–3	1–1	1–2	0–4	5–2	2–0	1–0	2–2	0–2	1–2	5–0	3–1	3–5	2–2
A.F.C. Darwen	3–1	2–2	2–2		3–3	3–0	2–3	3–7	3–1	0–1	4–1	0–4	1–3	7–4	1–3	1–2	0–2	1–5	2–2	1–1	2–2	1–2
A.F.C. Liverpool	3–3	1–1	7–1	6–1		4–0	1–4	0–0	3–6	2–1	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	2–2	2–1	1–4	2–3	1–0	2–6	4–2
Alsager Town	0–5	2–0	1–2	1–4	2–2		3–3	3–2	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–2	1–4	0–1	2–4	0–2	3–1	0–1	1–2	3–3	1–2	3–4
Ashton Athletic	4–0	1–2	0–1	1–0	4–2	1–1		2–0	4–2	2–3	2–1	1–3	1–4	0–2	2–1	2–4	0–3	1–1	2–2	0–2	3–0	2–2
Atherton Collieries	1–3	0–0	2–2	6–1	5–1	4–2	1–0		1–1	0–1	3–1	3–0	2–1	4–3	3–3	2–4	0–2	4–0	7–2	5–2	2–0	4–1
Barnoldswick Town	2–1	0–0	4–1	5–1	1–1	1–4	2–2	5–1		1–1	2–2	1–2	1–1	4–2	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–4	0–0	3–0	0–3	5–2
Bootle	2–3	2–2	6–0	3–2	3–3	4–1	3–2	2–5	0–2		3–2	3–2	1–0	2–1	1–2	1–3	1–0	0–1	4–0	5–1	1–2	2–2
Cammell Laird 1907	0–1	2–3	2–1	4–2	4–4	3–1	2–2	3–4	2–0	3–1		4–0	1–3	1–1	3–0	0–3	0–3	2–2	2–0	2–0	0–1	1–4
Colne	1–1	1–1	2–1	6–1	4–1	5–0	6–2	1–1	4–0	1–0	3–0		4–2	2–0	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–2	2–1	0–0	3–0	6–2
Congleton Town	4–4	1–1	3–3	2–0	0–0	3–0	0–2	1–2	4–3	3–0	2–1	0–2		2–0	1–0	4–2	2–0	4–1	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–0
Maine Road	4–2	2–0	0–2	5–3	4–3	2–2	0–1	2–2	2–0	2–2	2–4	1–3	0–0		2–1	0–3	0–2	3–2	3–1	3–1	0–1	5–0
Nelson	0–2	2–3	3–1	0–0	1–2	3–0	0–0	3–4	1–0	2–2	3–1	0–1	0–1	1–1		4–0	1–1	3–2	2–1	1–3	4–2	5–1
Padiham	0–7	2–1	3–3	0–2	1–1	6–3	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–1	1–3	4–3	3–1	4–4		0–4	1–1	5–1	0–1	1–3	5–1
Runcorn Linnets	2–1	3–0	5–1	3–1	2–1	4–0	0–1	1–4	0–1	7–1	4–0	4–0	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–1		2–1	2–1	2–0	0–0	5–1
Runcorn Town	0–2	0–2	4–2	2–5	5–2	0–1	1–4	0–4	3–2	1–2	0–1	1–2	4–2	1–0	0–4	2–0	1–3		2–2	5–0	0–0	1–0
Silsden	2–1	2–2	3–0	0–2	2–0	0–1	2–2	0–3	3–1	1–1	1–2	1–3	2–2	2–3	1–0	3–2	1–3	2–2		1–2	1–1	2–3
Squires Gate	2–1	0–0	0–1	6–3	3–1	1–2	0–0	3–4	2–1	0–3	2–2	1–4	1–2	0–5	2–2	3–2	2–3	2–1	3–1		0–4	1–3
West Didsbury & Chorlton	2–3	3–1	2–1	4–2	0–3	4–3	0–3	1–2	0–1	4–0	2–3	1–3	4–3	0–1	3–0	5–1	0–3	0–3	2–1	3–0		2–0
Winsford United	0–3	1–1	3–3	0–3	2–1	2–0	2–0	1–1	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–5	2–2	2–0	2–0	1–4	2–3	2–1	1–1	2–0	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2016. Source: NWCFL Premier Division results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and Locations

Sources for this subsection: NWCFL web site and the websites of the participating clubs

1874 Northwich

Abbey Hey

AFC Blackpool

AFC  Darwen

AFC Liverpool

Alsager Tn

Ashton Ath

Ath C

Barnoldswick Tn

Bootle

Cammell Laird

Colne

Congleton Tn

Maine Rd

Nelson

Padiham

Runcorn Lin

Runcorn Tn

Silsden

Squires Gate

WD&C

Winsford Utd

Locations of the 2015–16 North West Counties Football League Premier Division teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
A.F.C. Darwen	The Anchor Ground	4,000
A.F.C. Liverpool	Marine Travel Arena, Crosby (groundshare with Marine)	3,185
1874 Northwich	Barton Stadium (groundshare with Winsford United)	3,000
Winsford United	Barton Stadium	3,000
Atherton Collieries	Alder Street	2,500
Bootle	Delta Taxis Stadium	2,500
Silsden	The Asda Foundation Stadium	2,300
Cammell Laird 1907	North West Construction Stadium, Birkenhead	2,000
Maine Road	Brantingham Road, Chorlton	2,000
Nelson	Little Wembley	2,000
Colne	XLCR Stadium	1,800
Padiham	Arbories Memorial Sports Ground	1,688
Runcorn Linnets	Millbank Linnets Stadium	1,600
Runcorn Town	Pavilions Sports Complex	1,530
A.F.C. Blackpool	The Mechanics	1,500
Alsager Town	Wood Park Stadium	1,500
Congleton Town	Richborough Estates Stadium	1,450
Abbey Hey	The Abbey Stadium, Gorton	1,000
Ashton Athletic	Brockstedes Park	1,000
Squires Gate	School Road	1,000
Barnoldswick Town	Silentnight Beds Stadium
West Didsbury & Chorlton	Brookburn Road, Chorlton

Division One

North West Counties
Football League
Division One

Season	2015–16
Champions	Hanley Town
Promoted	Hanley Town Irlam Barnton
Relegated	Rochdale Town
← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Division One featured four new teams:^[1][4]

• Bacup Borough – relegated from Premier Division, and a name change from Bacup & Rossendale Borough
• St Helens Town – relegated from Premier Division
• Stockport Town – new club
• Whitchurch Alport – joined from Mercian Regional Football League Premier Division

One further club had changed its name since the previous season:

• Northwich Manchester Villa – previously known as Northwich Flixton Villa

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Hanley Town (C, P)	34	25	3	6	68	32	+36	78	Promotion to Premier Division
2	Irlam (P)	34	24	5	5	73	27	+46	77
3	Barnton (O, P)	34	19	9	6	94	36	+58	66	Qualification for Playoffs
4	Stockport Town	34	19	6	9	68	44	+24	63
5	Bacup Borough	34	17	6	11	81	54	+27	57
6	Cheadle Town	34	16	8	10	89	59	+30	56
7	St Helens Town	34	17	4	13	84	61	+23	55
8	Holker Old Boys	34	16	7	11	73	62	+11	55
9	Litherland REMYCA	34	16	6	12	63	51	+12	54
10	Rochdale Town (R)	34	14	5	15	66	77	−11	47[a]	Relegation to Step 7
11	Ashton Town	34	12	7	15	57	57	0	43
12	Daisy Hill	34	12	6	16	56	72	−16	42
13	Widnes	34	10	5	19	67	77	−10	35
14	Chadderton	34	9	8	17	43	53	−10	35
15	Northwich Manchester Villa	34	10	4	20	48	77	−29	34[b]	Resigned from league at end of season
16	Eccleshall	34	9	5	20	53	77	−24	32
17	Atherton Laburnum Rovers	34	4	6	24	32	103	−71	18
18	Whitchurch Alport	34	2	10	22	31	127	−96	16

Updated to match(es) played on 9 May 2016. Source: NWCFL League Tables
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Rochdale Town were relegated due to ground grading considerations^[5]
2. Northwich Manchester Villa resigned from the league at the end of the season^[6]

Playoffs

Source for this subsection: NWCFL results

	Semifinals					Final
	3	Barnton (aet)	4
	6	Cheadle Town	1
						3	Barnton (aet)	2
						5	Bacup Borough	0
	4	Stockport Town	0
	5	Bacup Borough	2

Semifinals

Barnton v Cheadle Town

9 May 2016	Barnton	4–1 (a.e.t.)	Cheadle Town	Barnton
		Report		Stadium: Townfield Attendance: 159

Stockport Town v Bacup Borough

9 May 2016	Stockport Town	0–2	Bacup Borough	Woodley
		Report		Stadium: Stockport Sports Village Attendance: 188

Final

Barnton v Bacup Borough

14 May 2016	Barnton	2–0 (a.e.t.)	Bacup Borough	Barnton
		Report		Stadium: Townfield Attendance: 554

Results

Home \ Away	AST	ALR	BAC	BAR	CHA	CHT	DSH	ECC	HAN	HOB	IRL	LIT	NMV	RCH	STH	SPT	WHI	WID
Ashton Town		0–0	1–2	2–3	4–0	3–2	0–0	4–3	0–1	2–2	0–1	1–4	5–1	3–2	4–4	0–1	5–0	1–2
Atherton Laburnum Rovers	1–1		0–4	0–6	3–1	1–4	0–3	1–1	1–3	3–2	1–1	0–2	0–3	2–1	1–4	0–0	0–1	2–3
Bacup Borough	2–0	2–3		1–1	0–1	5–5	2–2	3–1	2–1	4–1	0–1	2–1	4–2	9–2	3–3	1–1	7–0	6–0
Barnton	3–0	3–0	2–0		2–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	0–1	4–1	1–0	1–2	2–1	7–1	2–3	4–1	11–1	0–1
Chadderton	6–0	6–0	0–0	0–0		0–1	5–1	3–0	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	1–4	2–1	1–3	0–1	2–0	4–3
Cheadle Town	1–2	10–1	3–0	2–2	1–1		4–0	4–2	1–2	2–2	1–2	2–4	1–1	0–3	1–2	0–1	5–3	2–0
Daisy Hill	0–4	4–2	3–0	1–6	3–0	0–1		0–3	1–3	0–3	0–4	1–3	2–3	2–4	1–2	2–1	4–3	4–2
Eccleshall	2–2	3–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	3–6	1–3		1–2	1–2	0–3	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–3	4–3	3–1	0–5
Hanley Town	2–1	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–2	2–3	2–0		5–1	0–0	3–2	2–0	3–1	2–1	2–3	0–0	4–3
Holker Old Boys	2–2	2–0	5–2	1–4	2–1	1–3	4–1	3–0	3–1		1–1	1–4	6–0	1–0	0–5	0–0	8–0	3–1
Irlam	3–1	3–0	1–4	1–2	2–0	4–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	3–1		3–1	3–0	4–0	2–0	2–1	5–1	4–1
Litherland REMYCA	0–2	6–1	0–1	2–2	2–1	2–1	0–2	0–5	0–2	2–0	1–1		4–1	2–2	3–1	1–2	1–0	1–0
Northwich Manchester Villa	0–2	3–0	0–2	3–3	2–0	0–3	2–2	4–3	1–3	1–2	1–3	2–1		0–5	0–1	0–2	1–1	2–3
Rochdale Town	2–0	4–3	0–3	1–6	5–0	2–6	1–1	2–0	1–3	4–3	0–3	2–1	3–0		3–1	0–0	5–1	1–3
St Helens Town	0–1	4–1	4–0	3–3	3–1	2–2	2–6	2–3	0–2	1–3	3–1	2–3	3–0	2–3		0–3	10–0	3–2
Stockport Town	2–1	4–0	3–2	0–2	2–0	3–5	2–0	6–0	1–0	1–2	0–3	2–2	2–1	3–1	3–0		4–1	2–2
Whitchurch Alport	1–0	2–2	1–5	1–6	1–1	1–4	1–1	0–5	0–3	2–2	0–3	1–1	0–4	1–1	0–5	0–7		3–3
Widnes	2–3	4–1	5–2	1–3	0–2	1–1	2–1	1–2	1–3	1–2	1–2	1–3	2–3	1–1	1–2	6–1	3–3

Updated to match(es) played on 7 May 2016. Source: NWCFL Division One results
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia & Locations

Sources for this section: NWCFL web site and the websites of the participating clubs

Ashton Tn

Ath LR

Bacup B

Barnton

Chadderton

Cheadle Tn

Daisy Hill

Eccleshall

Hanley Tn

Holker OB

Irlam

Litherland REMYCA

Northwich MV

Rochdale Tn

St Helens

Stockport
Tn

Whitchurch A

Widnes

Locations of the 2015–16 North West Counties Football League Division One teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Widnes	Select Security Stadium	13,350
Northwich Manchester Villa	Manchester Regional Arena	6,500
Atherton Laburnum Rovers	Crilly Park	3,000
Bacup Borough	West View	3,000
Holker Old Boys	Rakesmoor Lane Barrow-in-Furness	2,500
Stockport Town	The Neil Rourke Memorial Stadium	2,384
Ashton Town	Edge Green Street	2,000
Cheadle Town	Park Road Stadium	2,000
Daisy Hill	New Sirs Westhoughton	2,000
Chadderton	MCA Stadium	1,500
Rochdale Town	Mayfield Sports Centre	1,500
Eccleshall	Pershall Park	1,000
Irlam	Silver Street	1,000
St Helens Town	Brockstedes Park (groundshare with Ashton Athletic)	1,000
Hanley Town	Abbey Lane	750
Barnton	Townfield
Litherland REMYCA	Litherland Sports Park
Whitchurch Alport	Yockings Park

League Challenge Cup

Also called the MEN United Cup for sponsorship reasons.^[7] Sources for this section: NWCFL web site results

First round

Bacup Borough and Rochdale Town received byes to the second round. Premier Division teams exempt to the second round.

Played Saturday 26 September.

Home team Score Away team Atherton Laburnun Rovers 1–2 Daisy Hill Barnton 2–0 Northwich Manchester Villa Cheadle Town 1–2 Stockport Town Eccleshall 3–3 aet, pens 4–3 Chadderton

Home team Score Away team Hanley Town 4–1 St Helens Town Irlam 2–1 Widnes Litherland REMYCA 3–1 Holker Old Boys Whitchurch Alport 1–5 Ashton Town

Second round

Ties played 23 and 24 October.

Home team Score Away team 1874 Northwich 4–0 Winsford United Abbey Hey 0–1 Silsden AFC Darwen 1–3 AFC Blackpool AFC Liverpool 2–3 Padiham Alsager Town 0–3 Stockport Town Ashton Town 1–2 Runcorn Town Atherton Collieries 2–0 Litherland REMYCA Barnoldswick Town 1–3 Ashton Athletic

Home team Score Away team Barnton 1–1 aet, pens 4–3 Bootle Daisy Hill 0–4 Cammell Laird 1907 Hanley Town 2–4 Bacup Borough Irlam 2–0 Runcorn Linnets Maine Road 1–5 Squires Gate Nelson 4–3 aet Congleton Town Rochdale Town 1–2 Colne West Didsbury & Chorlton 1–2 Eccleshall

Third round

Ties played 28 November, with four delayed by bad weather.

Home team Score Away team 1874 Northwich 2–2 aet, pens 7–8* Ashton Athletic Bacup Borough 1–5** Atherton Collieries Eccleshall 2–0 Irlam Nelson 2–4 Cammell Laird 1907 * played at Ashton ** played at Atherton

Home team Score Away team Padiham 2–2 aet, pens 4–5 Runcorn Town Silsden 0–1 AFC Blackpool Squires Gate 2–5 aet Colne Stockport Town 1–3 Barnton

Quarter-finals

Ties played on Saturday 27 February.

Home team Score Away team Barnton 3–1 Ashton Athletic Cammell Laird 1907 0–2 AFC Blackpool

Home team Score Away team Colne 2–0 Eccleshall Runcorn Town 0–3 Atherton Collieries

Semi-finals

Home team Score Away team Colne 2–0 AFC Blackpool

Home team Score Away team Atherton Collieries 1–0 Barnton

Final

Played 10 May at Fleetwood Town's Highbury Stadium

	Score
Atherton Collieries	5–1	Colne

First Division Trophy

Also called the Reusch First Division Cup for sponsorship reasons.^[8] Source for this section: NWCFL web site

First round

Each of the remaining Division One clubs received a bye to the second round.

Ties played Saturday 17 October.

Home team Score Away team Barnton 3–2 Eccleshall

Home team Score Away team Chadderton 2–0 Bacup Borough

Second round

Ties played 6 and 7 November, with two delayed due to bad weather

Home team Score Away team Daisy Hill 1–2 Litherland REMYCA Hanley Town 2–1 Widnes Holker Old Boys 2–0 Ashton Town Irlam 3–2 Cheadle Town

Home team Score Away team Northwich Manchester Villa 1–4 Barnton Rochdale Town 3–1 Atherton Laburnum Rovers St Helens Town 3–6 (aet)* Chadderton Whitchurch Alport 0–4 Stockport Town *played at Chadderton, following two postponements

Quarter-finals

One tie played 20 February, with three delayed due to bad weather

Home team Score Away team Hanley Town 2–1 Chadderton Holker Old Boys 1–2* Barnton * Played at Barnton

Home team Score Away team Litherland REMYCA* 3–2 Irlam** Rochdale Town 1–4*** Stockport Town * Litherland REMYCA disqualified for fielding an ineligible player ** Irlam disqualified for fielding an ineligible player *** Played at Stockport

Semi-finals

Played on 19 March.

Home team Score Away team disqualified W/O Hanley Town Hanley Town awarded walkover to final

Home team Score Away team Stockport Town 0–0 aet, pens 4–5 Barnton

Final

Played on 19 April at Congleton Town's ground

	Score
Hanley Town	1–1 aet, pens 4–5	Barnton