2021–22 Northern Premier League

The 2021–22 season was the 54th season of the Northern Premier League. The league consists of four divisions, the Premier Division at Step 3 of the National League System, and the West, East and Midlands divisions at Step 4. The NPL continued this season with main sponsors Entain's Pitching In.

As the previous season was curtailed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with all results finalised,^[1] the Trident Leagues along with The Football Association decided to make the realignment to leagues at Steps 4, 5 and 6.

Premier Division

Northern Premier League
Premier Division

Season	2021–22
Champions	Buxton
Promoted	Buxton Scarborough Athletic
Relegated	Witton Albion Grantham Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,202 (2.6 per match)
Top goalscorer	26 goals - Jacob Hazel (Whitby Town)
Total attendance	212,646
Average attendance	642
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

The Premier Division comprised the same set of 22 teams which competed in the aborted competition the previous season.

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Buxton	42	23	12	7	80	38	+42	81	Promoted to the National League North
2	South Shields	42	23	9	10	71	40	+31	78	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Scarborough Athletic	42	21	11	10	61	48	+13	74	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the National League North[a]
4	Matlock Town	42	21	10	11	59	36	+23	72[b]	Qualified for the play-offs
5	Warrington Town	42	20	11	11	67	47	+20	71
6	Bamber Bridge	42	21	6	15	67	59	+8	69
7	Whitby Town	42	19	9	14	57	50	+7	66
8	Stafford Rangers	42	15	16	11	55	39	+16	61
9	FC United of Manchester	42	18	7	17	66	57	+9	61
10	Morpeth Town	42	17	10	15	67	59	+8	61
11	Lancaster City	42	17	5	20	44	51	−7	56
12	Mickleover	42	15	10	17	54	65	−11	55	Transferred to the Southern Football League
13	Nantwich Town	42	14	10	18	46	52	−6	52
14	Ashton United	42	13	12	17	50	59	−9	51
15	Radcliffe	42	15	6	21	56	73	−17	51
16	Gainsborough Trinity	42	12	14	16	40	52	−12	50
17	Hyde United	42	14	8	20	52	65	−13	50
18	Stalybridge Celtic	42	15	7	20	51	59	−8	49[c]
19	Atherton Collieries	42	13	9	20	34	45	−11	48	Reprieved from relegation[d]
20	Basford United	42	12	9	21	32	49	−17	45	Reprieved from relegation, then transferred to the Southern Football League
21	Witton Albion	42	12	7	23	48	78	−30	43	Relegated to Division One West
22	Grantham Town	42	8	10	24	45	81	−36	34	Relegated to Division One East

Source: NPL official site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[4]
Notes:

1. Four teams played for one spot and promotion to the National League North.
2. Matlock Town were deducted one point for fielding an ineligible player.
3. Stalybridge Celtic were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.^[2]
4. Due to expansion of Step 2 divisions and in order to make up the number of clubs in Step 3 and higher divisions, seven clubs at Step 3, all four fourth-from-bottom teams and those placed third-from-bottom that are the top three based on points per game (PPG), were reprieved from relegation.^[3]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jacob Hazel	Whitby Town	26
2	Diego De Girolamo	Buxton	20
3	Andrew Johnson	Morpeth Town	18
	Callum Saunders	Witton Albion
5	Jordan Buckley	Warrington Town	17
	Jamie Ward	Buxton
7	Bobby Grant	Radcliffe	16
8	Paul Dawson	Bamber Bridge Lancaster City (6)	14
	Regan Linney	F.C. United of Manchester
10	Joshua Amis	Warrington Town	12
	Liam Henderson	Morpeth Town
	JJ Hooper	South Shields
	Luca Navarro	Radcliffe Stafford Rangers (3)

Results table

Home \ Away	ASH	ATH	BAM	BAS	BUX	UOM	GAI	GRA	HYD	LNC	MAT	MIC	MOR	NAN	RAD	SCA	SOU	STA	STL	WAR	WHI	WIT
Ashton United		2–2	0–0	3–0	1–1	0–3	2–1	2–2	0–3	1–0	2–0	3–0	1–2	2–1	3–1	0–0	1–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–3	0–1
Atherton Collieries	1–2		2–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	3–1	2–1	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–0	1–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	0–2	0–1	0–0
Bamber Bridge	0–1	1–2		1–0	0–4	0–0	5–1	2–1	4–1	2–1	2–4	2–2	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–0	1–3	0–2	2–2	3–0	2–0
Basford United	0–0	2–0	0–1		1–3	0–1	2–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	0–1	0–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–0	1–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	1–1	2–2
Buxton	3–0	2–0	3–0	1–0		1–2	1–0	3–0	3–0	0–0	1–0	3–1	2–2	1–1	3–0	5–1	2–2	2–3	2–0	3–3	4–1	3–1
FC United of Manchester	4–3	2–0	1–0	3–2	1–1		3–2	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	0–2	3–0	6–0	0–1	1–3	2–1	0–1	3–4	2–0
Gainsborough Trinity	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–0	0–0	3–2		2–2	1–1	3–1	1–2	2–0	2–1	0–0	1–1	0–2	1–1	1–1	1–0	1–1	1–0	1–1
Grantham Town	4–3	0–1	1–2	1–1	0–3	1–2	1–1		2–0	2–7	1–3	1–1	3–2	0–1	1–2	1–2	1–0	0–1	0–0	1–2	0–2	2–3
Hyde United	2–1	0–1	0–4	0–1	1–2	2–1	1–0	3–0		0–1	2–3	1–4	2–2	1–0	1–3	3–2	1–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	1–2	3–2
Lancaster City	3–2	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	0–2	1–1	0–0		0–2	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–1	0–2	1–0	0–2	2–0	0–1	0–1	0–1
Matlock Town	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–1	2–1	1–0	3–0	0–0	2–1	0–1		1–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–0	0–1	2–3	2–1	2–0	2–3	9–0
Mickleover	2–1	2–0	0–1	0–1	3–3	3–3	2–0	2–2	3–2	3–1	2–1		0–4	0–0	4–1	1–2	1–0	0–0	1–3	2–2	1–2	2–1
Morpeth Town	2–0	2–0	1–3	2–1	3–0	1–0	2–0	2–1	2–2	2–2	0–0	3–1		1–2	3–1	0–3	1–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	2–0	1–2
Nantwich Town	2–2	2–2	0–1	0–1	1–3	2–0	2–1	1–0	0–2	0–2	0–1	0–1	2–3		2–3	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–2	1–1	1–0	1–0
Radcliffe	0–2	1–0	2–3	3–0	2–3	3–3	2–0	1–2	3–2	2–0	0–1	3–1	1–5	3–1		0–1	0–4	0–1	2–1	0–2	4–3	2–0
Scarborough Athletic	1–1	0–1	2–4	3–0	2–1	2–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–0	0–0	1–1	1–1	3–0	5–2		0–2	1–1	0–3	2–0	2–1	3–2
South Shields	1–1	2–1	4–2	0–1	0–1	1–1	3–1	4–1	1–2	2–1	3–1	3–0	2–0	4–2	2–0	1–0		2–0	4–0	3–2	2–3	3–1
Stafford Rangers	5–0	1–1	1–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	0–0	4–1	0–0	1–2	2–0	1–1	3–1	2–2	2–0	0–1	1–1		2–0	0–1	0–0	1–1
Stalybridge Celtic	1–0	1–0	1–2	0–2	1–0	5–2	1–1	5–0	1–1	3–0	0–2	0–1	2–0	1–5	0–2	0–1	1–3	2–1		0–3	2–1	2–2
Warrington Town	1–3	2–0	4–1	2–3	2–2	2–0	1–0	3–3	1–0	5–1	0–2	0–1	3–1	2–1	1–1	0–2	1–2	1–1	3–0		0–0	2–0
Whitby Town	2–0	0–2	2–0	0–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	0–3	2–2	4–2	2–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	2–2	1–3	0–1	1–1		0–1
Witton Albion	1–0	2–0	1–4	4–0	0–3	2–3	1–1	1–4	4–2	2–3	0–1	1–0	3–2	0–1	2–1	2–2	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–4	0–2

Source: NPL Premier Division results grid
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	South Shields	1 (5)
	5	Warrington Town (pen.)	1 (6)
						5	Warrington Town	1
						3	Scarborough Athletic	2
	3	Scarborough Athletic	2
	4	Matlock Town	1

Semi-finals

South Shields v Warrington Town

26 April	South Shields	1–1 (a.e.t.) (5–6 p)	Warrington Town	South Shields
	Osei 19'		Buckley 52'	Stadium: Mariners Park Attendance: 2,014

Scarborough Athletic v Matlock Town

26 April	Scarborough Athletic	2–1	Matlock Town	Scarborough
	Jackson 74' Colville 84'		Hughes 90'	Stadium: Flamingo Land Stadium Attendance: 2,676

Final

Scarborough Athletic v Warrington Town

2 May	Scarborough Athletic	2–1	Warrington Town	Scarborough
	Coulson 19' Gooda 81'		Amis 36' Duggan	Stadium: Flamingo Land Stadium Attendance: 2,805

Stadia and locations

Greater Manchester

Bamber Bridge

Basford United

Buxton

Gainsborough Trinity

Grantham Town

Lancaster City

Matlock Town

Mickleover

Morpeth Town

Nantwich Town

Scarborough Athletic

South Shields

Stafford Rangers

Warrington

Whitby Town

Witton Albion

Locations of the 2021–22 Premier Division teams

Ashton United

Atherton Collieries

F.C. United

Hyde United

Radcliffe

Stalybridge Celtic

Locations of Northern Premier League 2021–22 Premier Division teams (Greater Manchester)

Club	Location	Ground	Capacity
Ashton United	Ashton-under-Lyne	Hurst Cross	4,500
Atherton Collieries	Atherton	Alder Street	2,500
Bamber Bridge	Bamber Bridge	Irongate	2,264
Basford United	Nottingham (Basford)	Greenwich Avenue	2,200
Buxton	Buxton	The Silverlands	5,200
FC United of Manchester	Manchester (Moston)	Broadhurst Park	4,400
Gainsborough Trinity	Gainsborough	The Northolme	4,304
Grantham Town	Grantham	South Kesteven Sports Stadium	7,500
Hyde United	Hyde	Ewen Fields	4,250
Lancaster City	Lancaster	Giant Axe	3,500
Matlock Town	Matlock	Causeway Lane	2,214
Mickleover	Derby (Mickleover)	Station Road	1,500
Morpeth Town	Morpeth	Craik Park	1,500
Nantwich Town	Nantwich	The Weaver Stadium	3,500
Radcliffe	Radcliffe	Stainton Park	3,500
Scarborough Athletic	Scarborough	Flamingo Land Stadium	2,833
South Shields	South Shields	Mariners Park	3,500
Stafford Rangers	Stafford	Marston Road	4,000
Stalybridge Celtic	Stalybridge	Bower Fold	6,500
Warrington Town	Warrington	Cantilever Park	3,500
Whitby Town	Whitby	Turnbull Ground	3,500
Witton Albion	Northwich	Wincham Park	4,813

Division One West

Northern Premier League
Division One West

Season	2021–22
Champions	Warrington Rylands 1906
Promoted	Warrington Rylands 1906 Marine
Relegated	Kendal Town Market Drayton
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,121 (2.95 per match)
Top goalscorer	25 goals - Ryan Brooke (Runcorn Linnets)
Total attendance	161,728
Average attendance	426
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

When the divisions were realigned this became Division One West instead of Division One North West from the previous season. Division One West comprised 20 teams.

Team changes

The following 3 clubs were promoted from the North West Counties League:

• 1874 Northwich
• Bootle
• Warrington Rylands 1906

The following 5 clubs transferred from Division One South East:

• Leek Town
• Newcastle Town
• Kidsgrove Athletic
• Glossop North End
• Market Drayton Town

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Warrington Rylands 1906	38	26	7	5	95	38	+57	85	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Workington	38	25	9	4	72	27	+45	84	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Leek Town	38	24	7	7	74	36	+38	79
4	Runcorn Linnets	38	23	7	8	72	39	+33	76
5	Marine	38	24	5	9	63	40	+23	74[a]	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division[b]
6	Clitheroe	38	21	8	9	78	44	+34	71
7	Bootle	38	20	2	16	78	65	+13	62
8	Mossley	38	17	6	15	60	59	+1	57
9	City of Liverpool	38	14	11	13	48	51	−3	53
10	Kidsgrove Athletic	38	14	8	16	51	53	−2	50
11	Trafford	38	13	10	15	56	55	+1	49
12	1874 Northwich	38	13	8	17	59	58	+1	47
13	Widnes	38	13	8	17	46	45	+1	47
14	Colne	38	12	8	18	39	54	−15	44
15	Ramsbottom United	38	12	6	20	47	62	−15	42
16	Newcastle Town	38	10	10	18	49	64	−15	40
17	Glossop North End	38	9	13	16	36	55	−19	40	Reprieved from inter-step play-offs[c]
18	Prescot Cables	38	12	3	23	49	70	−21	39
19	Kendal Town	38	3	4	31	28	90	−62	12[d]	Relegated to the North West Counties League
20	Market Drayton Town	38	2	6	30	21	116	−95	12	Relegated to the Midland League

Source: NPL official site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[4]
Notes:

1. Marine were deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.
2. Four teams played for one spot and promotion to Level 7.
3. Ten of the 16 clubs at Step 4, all eight fourth-from-bottom teams and two sides placed third-from-bottom, one at the top and the other in third place on a points per game (PPG) basis, were reprieved from contesting relegation play-offs.^[5]
4. Kendal Town were deducted one point for fielding an ineligible player.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ryan Brooke	Runcorn Linnets	25
2	Ben Hodkinson	Bootle	20
3	Kane Drummond	Warrington Rylands	19
	Daniel Trickett-Smith	Leek Town
5	Jamie Rainford	Glossop North End Ramsbottom United (4)	18
6	Max Cane	Clitheroe	16
7	Timothy Grice	Leek Town	15
	Jack McGowan	Bootle
9	Stefon Gonzales	Clitheroe	14
	Jack Hazlehurst	City of Liverpool
	David Symington	Workington

Results table

Home \ Away	18N	BOO	COL	CLI	CLN	GNE	KEN	KID	LEE	MAR	MKT	MOS	NEW	PRE	RAM	RUN	TRA	WAR	WID	WOR
1874 Northwich		0–5	2–2	2–2	1–2	0–1	4–1	0–3	0–3	0–2	1–0	7–3	1–1	0–1	1–0	1–2	3–0	0–1	0–3	2–4
Bootle	3–2		3–1	1–2	3–0	1–2	3–2	0–3	0–3	2–0	4–0	3–0	2–3	3–0	5–0	2–1	2–3	2–4	1–0	0–4
City of Liverpool	0–1	2–1		0–4	0–0	1–1	0–0	1–1	2–0	1–2	3–0	1–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	0–2
Clitheroe	2–2	7–1	6–0		5–1	2–0	3–1	1–2	0–2	2–0	4–0	3–2	2–0	4–1	3–2	1–2	1–0	2–2	2–1	0–2
Colne	0–4	0–2	4–0	1–1		2–0	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–1	0–0	0–1	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–1	1–0	0–2	2–0	0–3
Glossop North End	1–1	3–2	2–2	0–2	3–2		2–0	2–2	1–2	0–2	3–2	0–2	0–2	0–2	3–0	3–1	1–1	1–1	0–0	1–3
Kendal Town	0–0	2–4	0–1	1–2	0–2	0–0		0–4	1–3	0–2	2–1	1–2	0–2	4–3	1–2	0–3	1–5	0–2	0–0	1–3
Kidsgrove Athletic	1–3	1–2	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	4–2		2–3	0–0	1–0	1–3	4–0	1–2	0–0	0–1	0–2	1–0	1–0	0–1
Leek Town	1–2	3–1	2–2	5–0	2–0	2–1	3–0	0–0		3–2	5–1	4–0	1–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	2–2	3–0	2–1	0–0
Marine	1–0	0–3	2–1	0–2	1–0	2–1	4–1	3–0	1–3		3–1	0–3	3–2	3–1	3–1	3–1	2–1	0–2	0–0	2–1
Market Drayton Town	0–1	0–3	1–3	1–1	0–5	0–0	2–1	1–4	0–1	0–1		1–7	1–1	1–0	2–2	0–2	0–4	1–3	0–5	1–1
Mossley	1–0	2–1	1–2	0–0	0–2	0–0	2–1	3–3	3–2	1–1	1–0		2–2	4–1	0–3	0–2	3–1	0–3	1–1	0–1
Newcastle Town	0–1	0–2	1–3	0–1	5–1	0–0	1–0	1–0	2–3	1–3	6–1	1–2		2–1	1–1	1–2	2–2	1–2	3–4	1–1
Prescot Cables	1–2	2–1	0–6	2–3	0–4	0–2	1–0	3–0	0–1	0–1	7–0	3–1	2–1		2–1	0–1	4–2	3–3	0–1	0–0
Ramsbottom United	2–0	2–3	1–0	3–0	3–1	0–0	2–0	3–2	0–2	0–3	7–1	1–2	4–0	1–0		1–3	1–1	0–1	3–2	0–1
Runcorn Linnets	1–0	3–1	3–3	0–0	0–0	1–1	7–0	4–0	2–0	1–1	4–1	0–4	2–0	2–1	4–0		1–1	2–0	2–0	1–2
Trafford	2–5	1–2	0–1	0–5	1–1	1–0	4–2	0–1	2–1	0–2	3–0	2–1	1–1	3–0	2–0	2–0		0–0	3–0	2–2
Warrington Rylands 1906	3–1	2–2	2–3	2–2	6–0	4–0	2–1	3–0	2–0	1–4	7–0	2–1	5–2	7–2	8–0	2–0	4–1		1–0	2–1
Widnes	1–1	3–0	1–1	2–1	1–3	2–0	3–1	1–1	1–2	2–3	2–0	1–2	0–0	2–1	1–0	3–5	1–0	0–1		0–1
Workington	2–2	2–2	3–0	1–0	2–0	5–1	2–0	5–0	1–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	4–0	1–0	1–0	2–4	2–1	1–1	0–1

Source: NPL West Division results grid
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Workington	2
	5	Marine	3
						5	Marine	2
						4	Runcorn Linnets	1
	3	Leek Town	1
	4	Runcorn Linnets	4

Semi-finals

Workington v Marine

26 April	Workington	2–3 (a.e.t.)	Marine	Workington
	Scott Allison 6' Sam Smith 58'	Report	Neil Kengni 21', 90', 93'	Stadium: Borough Park Attendance: 1,326

Leek Town v Runcorn Linnets

26 April	Leek Town	1–4	Runcorn Linnets	Leek
	Timothy Grice 65'	Report	Iwan Murray 1', 4' Thomas Marsh-Hughes 3' Ryan Brooke 79'	Stadium: Harrison Park Attendance: 1,381

Final

Runcorn Linnets v Marine

30 April	Runcorn Linnets	1–2	Marine	Runcorn, Cheshire
15:00	Ryan Brooke 3'	Report	Neil Kengni 71' Jack Dunn 79'	Stadium: APEC Taxis Stadium Attendance: 1,600

Stadia and locations

1874 Northwich

Bootle

City of Liverpool

Clitheroe

Colne

Glossop North End

Kendal Town

Kidsgrove Athletic

Leek Town

Marine

Market Drayton Town

Mossley

Newcastle Town

Prescot Cables

Ramsbottom United

Runcorn Linnets

Trafford

Warrington Rylands

Widnes

Workington

Locations of Northern Premier League 2021–22 Division One West teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
1874 Northwich	Barnton	The Offside Trust Stadium (groundshare with Barnton)	3,000
Bootle	Bootle	New Bucks Park	3,750
City of Liverpool	Ellesmere Port	Rivacre Park (groundshare with Vauxhall Motors)	3,300
Clitheroe	Clitheroe	Shawbridge	2,000
Colne	Colne	Holt House	1,800
Glossop North End	Glossop	The Amdec Forklift Stadium	1,301
Kendal Town	Kendal	Parkside Road	2,400
Kidsgrove Athletic	Kidsgrove	The Autonet Insurance Stadium	2,000
Leek Town	Leek	Harrison Park	3,600
Marine	Crosby	Rossett Park	3,185
Market Drayton Town	Market Drayton	Greenfields Sports Ground	1,000
Mossley	Mossley	Seel Park	4,000
Newcastle Town	Newcastle-under-Lyme	Lyme Valley Stadium	4,000
Prescot Cables	Prescot	IP Truck Parts Stadium	3,200
Ramsbottom United	Ramsbottom	The Harry Williams Riverside	2,000
Runcorn Linnets	Runcorn	APEC Taxis Stadium	1,600
Trafford	Flixton	Shawe lane	2,500
Warrington Rylands 1906	Warrington	Gorsey Lane	1,345
Widnes	Widnes	Halton Stadium	13,350
Workington	Workington	Borough Park	3,101

Division One East

Northern Premier League
Division One East

Season	2021–22
Champions	Liversedge
Promoted	Liversedge Marske United
Relegated	Yorkshire Amateur Frickley Athletic Pickering Town
Matches played	342
Goals scored	1,099 (3.21 per match)
Top goalscorer	28 goals - Adam Boyes (Marske United)
Total attendance	114,372
Average attendance	334
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

When the divisions were realigned this became Division One East instead of Division One South East from the previous season. Division One East comprised 19 teams, with a vacancy left due to the withdrawal of Droylsden in the previous campaign.

Team changes

The following six clubs were promoted from Step 5 divisions:

• Bridlington Town – promoted from Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Hebburn Town – promoted from Northern League Division One
• Liversedge – promoted from Northern Counties East League Premier Division
• Shildon – promoted from Northern League Division One
• Stockton Town – promoted from Northern League Division One
• Yorkshire Amateur – promoted from Northern Counties East League Premier Division

The following seven clubs transferred from the Division One North West:

• Dunston UTS
• Marske United
• Tadcaster Albion
• Pickering Town
• Brighouse Town
• Pontefract Collieries
• Ossett United

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Liversedge	36	29	6	1	98	22	+76	93	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Marske United	36	28	4	4	94	34	+60	88	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division[a]
3	Cleethorpes Town	36	21	6	9	74	46	+28	69	Qualified for the play-offs
4	Stockton Town	36	19	9	8	79	41	+38	66
5	Shildon	36	19	6	11	61	35	+26	63
6	Dunston UTS	36	17	3	16	67	60	+7	54
7	Brighouse Town	36	15	9	12	59	52	+7	54
8	Worksop Town	36	16	6	14	56	53	+3	54
9	Ossett United	36	15	8	13	43	59	−16	53
10	Yorkshire Amateur	36	14	5	17	55	63	−8	47	Demoted to the Northern Counties East League[b]
11	Stocksbridge Park Steels	36	13	7	16	53	58	−5	46
12	Pontefract Collieries	36	13	4	19	41	54	−13	43
13	Hebburn Town	36	12	6	18	47	56	−9	42
14	Tadcaster Albion	36	10	7	19	47	63	−16	37
15	Bridlington Town	36	9	7	20	40	65	−25	34
16	Lincoln United	36	9	7	20	56	91	−35	34	Reprieved from inter-step play-offs[c]
17	Sheffield	36	8	9	19	47	77	−30	33
18	Frickley Athletic	36	8	6	22	30	67	−37	30	Relegated to the Northern Counties East League
19	Pickering Town	36	7	5	24	52	103	−51	20[d]	Relegated to the Northern League

Source: NPL official site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[4]
Notes:

1. Four teams played for one spot and promotion to Level 7.
2. The FA relegated Yorkshire Amateur for not meeting Step 4 ground grading standards, sparing Sheffield from the relegation play-offs.^[6][7]
3. Ten of the 16 clubs at Step 4, all eight fourth-from-bottom teams and two sides placed third-from-bottom, one at the top and the other in third place on a points per game (PPG) basis, were reprieved from contesting relegation play-offs. The FA granted third-placed Sheffield a reprieve after demoting Yorkshire Amateur.^[6]
4. Pickering Town were deducted 6 points for fielding an ineligible player.

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Adam Boyes	Marske United	28
2	Laurence Sorhaindo	Brighouse Town	23
3	Matthew Cotton	Lincoln United	21
4	Benjamin Atkinson	Liversedge	18
	Luke Mangham	Stocksbridge Park Steels
	Michael Roberts	Stockton Town
	Nicholas Walker	Liversedge
8	Kevin Hayes	Stockton Town	16
	Dean Thexton	Shildon
9	Marc Newsham	Sheffield	16
	Brody Robertson	Cleethorpes Town

Results table

Home \ Away	BRD	BRI	CLE	DUN	FRI	HEB	LIN	LIV	MAR	OSS	PIC	PON	SHE	SHI	STB	STC	TAD	WOR	YOR
Bridlington Town		1–4	1–2	3–2	1–1	0–0	4–2	2–2	0–5	2–0	5–2	2–0	0–2	2–1	0–0	1–3	0–4	0–1	2–1
Brighouse Town	1–0		0–2	0–0	3–1	3–1	3–2	1–2	0–3	2–0	5–1	1–1	2–2	0–1	2–1	1–3	1–1	1–1	1–2
Cleethorpes Town	1–0	3–2		1–1	3–0	0–2	4–4	2–4	3–4	7–1	2–0	0–2	3–1	1–2	3–1	0–0	0–0	0–0	1–1
Dunston UTS	1–2	2–3	0–2		6–0	1–0	3–1	0–4	2–0	2–1	4–3	4–1	3–1	0–2	4–2	2–1	1–2	4–0	3–0
Frickley Athletic	2–0	2–1	1–2	1–2		0–1	1–4	0–2	0–3	0–1	1–2	1–3	2–2	1–1	1–0	0–3	2–0	0–1	1–4
Hebburn Town	3–0	1–3	0–4	2–1	0–1		2–1	1–1	0–2	2–1	2–2	0–1	1–0	1–2	1–5	1–4	2–3	3–0	4–2
Lincoln United	2–2	1–1	1–4	3–2	1–0	1–4		0–2	0–3	3–3	3–1	0–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	0–5	1–3	1–0	4–1
Liversedge	1–1	1–1	5–0	2–0	2–0	2–0	6–1		2–1	6–0	5–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	5–0	4–2	3–1	1–0	5–0
Marske United	2–1	4–1	2–0	4–0	4–0	1–1	1–0	0–2		1–1	5–2	1–0	6–1	2–0	2–1	1–2	3–2	3–2	4–0
Ossett United	0–0	1–0	1–3	1–1	4–2	2–1	2–1	0–5	1–3		1–1	1–3	3–2	2–1	3–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0
Pickering Town	1–4	2–2	0–4	4–2	1–2	2–1	3–4	1–3	1–4	0–2		1–3	4–1	0–4	1–0	0–6	2–1	1–4	3–3
Pontefract Collieries	2–0	0–0	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–1	3–4	1–3	0–1	0–2	1–0		1–2	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–5	1–2	4–3
Sheffield	3–0	1–2	0–1	2–1	1–0	0–4	2–0	0–2	0–5	0–0	2–3	4–0		1–1	1–1	0–0	2–3	0–3	3–2
Shildon	2–0	3–1	3–0	2–1	2–2	1–0	2–1	0–3	1–2	0–0	4–0	4–0	5–1		2–2	0–0	2–1	3–0	1–2
Stocksbridge Park Steels	2–0	1–3	0–2	5–2	1–2	5–2	4–3	0–3	2–2	1–0	3–2	1–0	1–0	1–2		0–0	2–0	2–1	2–0
Stockton Town	2–1	3–2	2–3	3–0	1–1	2–1	3–1	0–0	2–2	4–0	4–1	3–1	3–3	1–0	3–2		4–0	0–1	1–1
Tadcaster Albion	2–1	1–2	1–4	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–2	0–2	0–1	2–3	3–2	0–2	2–2	0–3	1–1	3–2		2–2	0–3
Worksop Town	4–2	0–1	3–1	0–3	1–2	1–1	6–2	0–2	3–5	1–1	3–2	1–0	6–0	2–1	3–2	2–1	0–0		0–3
Yorkshire Amateur	2–0	1–3	0–4	0–3	0–0	0–1	7–0	2–0	1–2	2–0	0–0	1–0	2–1	2–1	2–1	2–5	2–0	1–2

Source: NPL East Division results grid
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Marske United	2
	5	Shildon	1
						2	Marske United	2
						4	Stockton Town	1
	3	Cleethorpes Town	1
	4	Stockton Town	2

Semi-finals

Marske United v Shildon

26 April	Marske United	2–1 (a.e.t.)	Shildon	Marske-by-the-Sea
19:45	Boyes 77' Kennedy 111'	Report	Thexton 79'	Stadium: Mount Pleasant Attendance: 855

Cleethorpes Town v Stockton Town

26 April	Cleethorpes Town	1–2	Stockton Town	Grimsby
19:45	Middleton 26'	Report	Nicholson 15' Hayes 21'	Stadium: Bradley Football Centre Attendance: 828

Final

Marske United v Stockton Town

30 April	Marske United	2–1	Stockton Town	Marske-by-the-Sea
21:00	Smith 71' Gott 89'	Report 1 Report 2	Portas 90'	Stadium: Mount Pleasant Attendance: 1,500 Referee: Stuart Morland

Stadia and locations

Bridlington Town

Brighouse Town

Cleethorpes Town

Dunston UTS

Frickley Athletic

Hebburn Town

Lincoln United

Liversedge

Marske United

Ossett United

Pickering Town

Pontefract Collieries

Sheffield

Shildon

Stocksbridge Park Steels

Stockton Town

Tadcaster Albion

Yorkshire Amateur

Worksop Town

Locations of Northern Premier League 2021–22 Division One East teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bridlington Town	Bridlington	Queensgate	3,000
Brighouse Town	Brighouse	St Giles Road	1,000
Cleethorpes Town	Grimsby	Bradley Football Centre	1,000
Dunston UTS	Dunston	Wellington Road	2,500
Frickley Athletic	South Elmsall	Westfield Lane	2,087
Hebburn Town	Hebburn	The Green Energy Sports Ground	–
Lincoln United	Lincoln	Ashby Avenue	2,200
Liversedge	Cleckheaton	Clayborn	2,000
Marske United	Marske-by-the-Sea	Mount Pleasant	2,500
Ossett United	Ossett	Ingfield	1,950
Pickering Town	Pickering	Mill Lane	2,000
Pontefract Collieries	Pontefract	Harratt Nissan Stadium	1,200
Sheffield	Dronfield	Coach and Horses Ground	2,089
Shildon	Shildon	Dean Street	4,700
Stocksbridge Park Steels	Stocksbridge	Bracken Moor	3,500
Stockton Town	Stockton	Bishopton Road West	1,800
Tadcaster Albion	Tadcaster	Ings Lane	2,000
Worksop Town	Worksop	Sandy Lane	2,500
Yorkshire Amateur	Leeds	Bracken Edge	1,550

Division One Midlands

Northern Premier League
Division One Midlands

Season	2021–22
Champions	Ilkeston Town
Promoted	Ilkeston Town Belper United
Relegated	Histon Soham Town Rangers Wisbech Town
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,255 (3.3 per match)
Top goalscorer	31 goal - Jonathon Margetts (Stamford Belper Town)
Total attendance	128,877
Average attendance	339
← 2020–21 2022–23 →

As part of the realignment, the delayed formation of a third Northern Premier League First Division saw the creation of a new Midlands Division, in which it covers the Birmingham area, Nottinghamshire, western Northamptonshire and northern Cambridgeshire regions. The division consists of 20 sides for its inaugural season.

Team changes

The following 2 clubs were promoted from Step 5 divisions:

• Shepshed Dynamo – promoted from United Counties League
• Sporting Khalsa – promoted from Midland League

The following 9 clubs transferred from the NPL Division One South East:

• Belper Town
• Carlton Town
• Chasetown
• Ilkeston Town
• Loughborough Dynamo
• Stamford
• Sutton Coldfield Town
• Spalding United
• Wisbech Town

The following 9 clubs also transferred from other Step 4 Trident Alliance divisions:

• Bedworth United – transferred from Southern League Division Division One Central
• Cambridge City – transferred from Isthmian League North Division
• Coleshill Town – transferred from Southern League Division One Central
• Corby Town – transferred from Southern League Division One Central
• Daventry Town – transferred from Southern League Division One Central
• Halesowen Town – transferred from Southern League Division One Central
• Histon – transferred from Isthmian League North Division
• Soham Town Rangers – transferred from Isthmian League North Division
• Yaxley – transferred from Southern League Division One Central

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Ilkeston Town	38	27	6	5	97	42	+55	87	Promoted to the Southern League Premier Central
2	Stamford	38	26	6	6	95	36	+59	84	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Halesowen Town	38	25	8	5	92	39	+53	83
4	Chasetown	38	25	7	6	79	38	+41	82
5	Belper Town	38	23	4	11	73	51	+22	73	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division[a]
6	Carlton Town	38	19	11	8	71	48	+23	68	Transferred to Division One East
7	Coleshill Town	38	19	4	15	71	49	+22	61
8	Sporting Khalsa	38	18	6	14	76	68	+8	60
9	Cambridge City	38	15	9	14	60	58	+2	54
10	Spalding United	38	15	8	15	47	56	−9	53
11	Shepshed Dynamo	38	13	12	13	55	60	−5	51
12	Bedworth United	38	13	8	17	47	59	−12	47
13	Loughborough Dynamo	38	13	6	19	71	76	−5	45
14	Yaxley	38	12	5	21	59	95	−36	41
15	Corby Town	38	11	7	20	56	66	−10	40
16	Daventry Town	38	10	9	19	50	80	−30	39
17	Sutton Coldfield Town	38	9	10	19	42	62	−20	37	Reprieved from inter-step play-offs[b]
18	Histon	38	5	9	24	37	91	−54	24	Qualified for inter-step play-off, then relegated to the United Counties League[c]
19	Soham Town Rangers	38	5	6	27	42	91	−49	21	Relegated to the Eastern Counties League
20	Wisbech Town	38	5	3	30	35	90	−55	18	Relegated to the United Counties League

Source: NPL official site
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results^[4]
Notes:

1. Four teams played for one spot and promotion to Level 7.
2. Ten of the 16 clubs at Step 4, all eight fourth-from-bottom placed teams and two sides placed third-from-bottom, one at the top and other in third place on a points per game (PPG) basis, were reprieved.^[5]
3. Histon contested a one-off play-off match as one of the remaining six third-from-bottom teams with the fewest PPG against Consett, one of six runners-up from Step 5 that also had the fewest PPG at the end of the 2021–22 season.^[5]

Top goalscorers

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Jonathon Margetts	Stamford Belper Town (18)	31
2	Jack Langston	Chasetown	27
3	Kai Tonge	Coleshill Town	24
4	Zak Goodson	Ilkeston Town	21
5	Richard Gregory	Halesowen Town	20
	Remaye Campbell	Ilkeston Town
7	Joey Butlin	Chasetown	19
8	Kevin Bastos	Loughborough Dynamo	16
9	Jack Bowen	Daventry Town	15
	Daniel Cotton	Yaxley
	Jack Duffy	Stamford
	Kyle Finn	Halesowen Town

Results table

Home \ Away	BED	BEL	CAM	CAR	CHA	COL	COR	DAV	HAL	HIS	ILK	LOU	SHE	SOH	SPA	SPO	STA	SUT	WIS	YAX
Bedworth United		1–2	2–2	0–0	1–3	1–0	2–0	0–0	1–2	4–0	1–2	2–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	1–3	0–3	1–0	0–0	3–0
Belper Town	5–0		2–1	3–0	0–2	0–2	2–0	2–1	2–2	2–1	2–2	2–1	4–1	3–1	1–2	3–0	1–4	4–0	2–1	3–0
Cambridge City	0–1	1–1		2–3	1–3	3–4	2–4	3–1	1–2	4–2	1–2	3–1	3–3	1–1	2–1	1–1	1–2	0–0	1–0	2–1
Carlton Town	1–0	2–1	1–0		2–0	2–1	4–2	3–2	3–3	0–0	1–1	4–1	1–1	2–1	4–0	2–2	1–3	2–0	2–0	2–3
Chasetown	1–1	3–0	3–0	2–2		3–1	3–2	5–0	1–4	1–0	1–0	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–2	1–1	0–4	1–0	3–1	4–0
Coleshill Town	5–0	1–2	2–1	1–1	1–4		4–2	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–3	2–1	0–0	3–0	1–2	1–2	0–3	1–2	3–1	4–1
Corby Town	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1	1–2	3–0		1–3	2–2	6–1	0–2	0–3	1–1	1–0	1–2	3–1	0–4	2–1	2–0	0–0
Daventry Town	3–2	1–3	0–4	0–2	2–2	1–1	3–2		1–6	1–1	0–4	2–2	0–5	1–2	2–1	3–1	0–2	2–0	0–2	3–0
Halesowen Town	3–0	2–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	0–2	3–0	2–1		3–0	0–1	4–1	5–1	2–1	0–1	4–0	3–2	1–1	2–0	5–0
Histon	2–2	1–1	0–1	2–0	0–1	0–4	0–5	2–4	0–1		0–0	3–2	2–2	2–4	1–1	0–1	2–2	1–1	1–5	0–2
Ilkeston Town	3–1	3–1	2–0	4–1	3–4	3–2	4–0	2–1	2–2	8–0		2–1	2–4	3–1	5–0	2–3	0–0	5–2	5–1	1–0
Loughborough Dynamo	1–2	1–2	0–2	2–2	0–2	1–4	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–4	1–5		5–0	2–2	3–2	6–2	0–2	3–3	2–0	6–1
Shepshed Dynamo	1–0	3–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	1–0	0–0	1–1	2–1	3–1	0–1	0–1		1–0	1–3	0–2	0–0	4–4	2–3	4–4
Soham Town Rangers	1–4	0–2	1–2	0–6	1–2	0–2	1–3	1–0	1–6	2–0	2–5	1–3	0–2		0–2	0–2	1–3	0–1	2–0	2–4
Spalding United	1–1	0–3	1–2	0–3	1–0	0–2	0–2	1–1	0–3	3–0	0–0	2–1	3–0	4–3		2–0	3–2	1–1	2–0	1–3
Sporting Khalsa	4–1	1–0	2–3	2–1	2–1	0–1	3–3	1–1	2–3	3–1	4–2	2–2	2–3	3–1	2–0		1–2	2–0	6–2	4–3
Stamford	4–1	6–1	2–2	3–0	1–3	3–1	1–0	5–1	2–2	1–0	1–3	3–1	2–0	2–2	1–0	4–3		6–0	5–0	1–2
Sutton Coldfield Town	1–0	0–2	0–1	0–1	0–0	0–1	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–2	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	1–0		3–0	3–0
Wisbech Town	0–2	3–4	2–3	0–3	0–4	0–4	2–1	3–4	0–1	1–2	1–2	2–3	1–4	3–0	0–0	0–3	0–1	2–2		2–1
Yaxley	3–2	1–2	1–1	1–3	1–4	0–5	0–3	2–0	1–5	5–2	0–1	1–3	1–1	4–4	3–1	3–2	0–3	4–3	3–0

Source: NPL Midlands Division results grid
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-off

	Semifinals					Final
	2	Stamford	1
	5	Belper Town	2
						5	Belper Town	1
						4	Chasetown	0
	3	Halesowen Town	0
	4	Chasetown	1

Semi-finals

Stamford v Belper Town

26 April	Stamford	1–2	Belper Town	Stamford
19:45	Matwasa 90+3'	Report	Litchfield 40' Dixon 90'	Stadium: Borderville Sports Centre Attendance: 984 Referee: Ben Cooke

Halesowen Town v Chasetown

26 April	Halesowen Town	0–1	Chasetown	Halesowen
19:45		Report	Langston 90+3' (pen.)	Stadium: The Grove Attendance: 2,573

Final

Chasetown v Belper Town

30 April	Chasetown	0–1	Belper Town	Chasetown
15:00		Report	Bertram 49'	Stadium: The Scholars Ground Attendance: 2,500 Referee: Shaun Taylor

Inter-step play-off

Histon v Consett

30 April	Histon	1–2	Consett	Impington
	Lindsay 73'		Heslop 44' Marriott 52'	Stadium: Bridge Road Attendance: 410

Stadia and locations

Bedworth United

Belper
Town

Cambridge City and Histon

Carlton Town

Chasetown

Coleshill Town

Corby Town

Daventry Town

Halesowen Town

Ilkeston Town

Loughborough Dynamo

Shepshed Dynamo

Soham Town Rangers

Spalding United

Sporting Khalsa

Stamford

Sutton Coldfield Town

Wisbech Town

Yaxley

Locations of Northern Premier League 2021–22 Division One Midlands teams

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Bedworth United	Bedworth	The Oval	3,000
Belper Town	Belper	Christchurch Meadow	2,650
Cambridge City	Impington	Bridge Road (groundshare with Histon)	4,300
Carlton Town	Carlton	Bill Stokeld Stadium	1,500
Chasetown	Burntwood	The Scholars Ground	2,000
Coleshill Town	Coleshill	Pack Meadow	2,000
Corby Town	Corby	Steel Park	3,893
Daventry Town	Daventry	Elderstubbs	1,855
Halesowen Town	Halesowen	The Grove	3,150
Histon	Impington	Bridge Road	4,300
Ilkeston Town	Ilkeston	New Manor Ground	3,029
Loughborough Dynamo	Loughborough	Nanpantan Sports Ground	1,500
Shepshed Dynamo	Shepshed	The Dovecote Stadium	2,500
Soham Town Rangers	Soham	Julius Martin Lane	2,000
Spalding United	Spalding	Sir Halley Stewart Field	3,500
Sporting Khalsa	Willenhall	Guardian Warehousing Arena	–
Stamford	Stamford	Borderville Sports Centre	2,000
Sutton Coldfield Town	Sutton Coldfield	Central Ground	2,000
Wisbech Town	Wisbech	Fenland Stadium	1,118
Yaxley	Yaxley	Leading Drove	1,000

Relegation reprieves

Step 3

Seven clubs at Step 3, all four fourth-from-bottom teams and those placed third-from-bottom that are the top three on a points per game (PPG) basis, were reprieved from relegation. The remaining team was relegated to Step 4.^[3]

The final points-per-game ranking of the third-from-bottom placed teams in Step 3 divisions was as follows:

Pos	Team	League	Pld	Pts	PPG	Qualification
5	Basford United	Northern Premier League Premier Division	42	45	1.071	Retention at Step 3
6	Barwell	Southern League Premier Division Central	40	41	1.025
7	Kings Langley	Southern League Premier Division South	42	37	0.881
8	Leatherhead	Isthmian League Premier Division	42	36	0.857	Relegation to Step 4

Source: ^[5]

Step 4

Ten of the 16 clubs at Step 4, all eight fourth-from-bottom teams and two sides placed third-from-bottom, one at the top and the other in third place on a points per game (PPG) basis, were reprieved from contesting relegation play-offs. The FA granted third-placed Sheffield a reprieve after Yorkshire Amateur's demotion.^[6] The remaining six teams contested one-off matches with six runners-up from Step 5 that had the fewest PPG at the end of the 2021–22 season. Three winners of their matches stayed at Step 4 for the 2022–23 season, while three others lost theirs and were relegated to Step 5.^[3]

The final points-per-game ranking of the 3rd-from-bottom-placed teams in Step 4 divisions was also as follows:

Pos	Team	League	Pld	Pts	PPG	Qualification
9	Prescot Cables	Northern Premier League Division One West	38	39	1.026	Retention at Step 4
10	Lancing	Isthmian League South East Division	38	36	0.947	Relegation match with a Step 5 team
11	Sheffield	Northern Premier League Division One East	36	33	0.917	Retention at Step 4
12	Witham Town	Isthmian League North Division	38	33	0.863	Relegation match with a Step 5 team
13	Cinderford Town	Southern League Division One South	36	31	0.861
14	Kempston Rovers	Southern League Division One Central	38	29	0.763
15	Histon	Northern Premier League Division One Midlands	38	24	0.632
16	Chalfont St Peter	Isthmian League South Central Division	36	21	0.583

Source: ^[5]

Challenge Cup

For the second successive season, it was announced to member clubs that the League Challenge Cup was cancelled due to any further fixture disruptions that might have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

See also

• Northern Premier League
• 2021–22 Isthmian League
• 2021–22 Southern League

Notes

References

1. "Coronavirus: All football below National League to end". The Pitching In Northern Premier League. 12 February 2021. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
2. "Celtic secretary leaves after an administrative blunder". 4 May 2022.
3. "[Promotion and relegation for 2021/22]". The Football Association. September 2021. "7 clubs across Step 3 to be reprieved. Reprieves are based on those with the highest PPG, starting with 4th from bottom Clubs, then 3rd from bottom (and so on). As it stands, this would be all four 4th from bottom Clubs and the best three 3rd from bottom Clubs."
4. "The FA Handbook 2020/2021 Part 29 Standardised Rules Section 12.2". The FA. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
5. Miller, Pete. "Non League 21/22 Promotion and Relegation". Google Docs.
6. Gordon, James (24 April 2022). "Relegation, Reprieves & Inter-Step Play-Offs". The Pitching In Northern Premier League. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
7. Grayson, James (23 April 2022). "Relegated Yorkshire Amateur will get stronger and stronger, despite devastating blow". Non League Yorkshire. Retrieved 26 April 2022.

External links

• Official website