2023–24 Northern Football League

The 2023–24 season was the 126th in the history of the Northern Football League, a football competition in England. The league operates two divisions in the English football league system, Division One at Step 5, and Division Two at Step 6.

Northern Football League

Season	2023–24
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

The allocations for Steps 5 and 6 this season were announced by the Football Association on 15 May 2023.^[1] Starting this season, the league's Division One (Step 5) promotes two clubs; one as champions and one via a four-team play-off. This replaced the previous inter-step play-off system. For this season only, there was only one club relegated from the division.^[2]

Division One

Northern Football League
Division One

Season	2023–24
Champions	Bishop Auckland
Promoted	Bishop Auckland Heaton Stannington
Relegated	Sunderland RCA
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Division One featured 16 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with four new clubs.^[3]

• Promoted from Division Two:
  • Birtley Town
  • Boro Rangers
• Demoted/relegated from the Northern Premier League:
  • North Shields
  • Shildon

Division One table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Bishop Auckland (C, P)	38	32	4	2	133	32	+101	100	Promotion to the Northern Premier League
2	Shildon	38	29	4	5	126	32	+94	91	Qualification for the play-offs
3	Heaton Stannington (O, P)	38	23	9	6	76	42	+34	78
4	Birtley Town	38	24	3	11	98	56	+42	75
5	West Auckland Town	38	23	6	9	88	49	+39	75
6	Guisborough Town	38	22	7	9	75	40	+35	70[a]
7	Boro Rangers	38	20	8	10	82	42	+40	68
8	Carlisle City	38	18	6	14	73	81	−8	60
9	West Allotment Celtic	38	17	8	13	85	53	+32	59
10	Whitley Bay	38	17	6	15	71	76	−5	57
11	Whickham	38	16	6	16	73	68	+5	54
12	Redcar Athletic	38	14	9	15	82	67	+15	51
13	Crook Town	38	13	12	13	50	60	−10	51
14	North Shields	38	12	8	18	55	63	−8	44
15	Penrith	38	13	2	23	82	89	−7	41
16	Seaham Red Star	38	7	9	22	45	74	−29	30
17	Newcastle Benfield	38	9	6	23	56	99	−43	30[b]
18	Northallerton Town	38	5	6	27	39	106	−67	21
19	Tow Law Town	38	4	1	33	32	159	−127	13
20	Sunderland RCA (R)	38	1	2	35	28	161	−133	5	Relegation to Division Two

Source: Northern League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Guisborough Town were deducted three points for playing an ineligible player.^[4]
2. Newcastle Benfield were deducted three points for playing an ineligible player.^[5]

Play-offs

	Semi-finals					Final
	2	Shildon	0
	5	West Auckland Town	1
						3	Heaton Stannington	3
						5	West Auckland Town	0
	3	Heaton Stannington	1
	4	Birtley Town	0

Semifinals

Shildon v West Auckland Town

1 May	Shildon	0–1	West Auckland Town	Shildon
19:30		Report	Scott 90'	Stadium: Dean Street Attendance: 604

Heaton Stannington v Birtley Town

2 May	Heaton Stannington	1–0	Birtley Town	High Heaton
19:30	Shepherd 51'	Report		Stadium: Grounsell Park Attendance: 1,235

Final

Heaton Stannington v West Auckland Town

6 May	Heaton Stannington	3–0	West Auckland Town	High Heaton
15:00	Lamb 47' Burn 57' Anderson 85'	Report		Stadium: Grounsell Park Attendance: 2,107

Stadia and locations

Birtley
Town

Bishop Auckland

Boro Rangers

Carlisle City (to the west)

Crook Town

Guisborough Town

Heaton Stannington

Newcastle Benfield

North Shields

Northallerton Town (to the south)

Penrith

Redcar Athletic

Seaham Red Star

Shildon

Sunderland RCA

Tow Law Town

West Allotment Celtic

West Auckland Town

Whickham

Whitley Bay

Location of Division One clubs

Club	Stadium	Capacity
Birtley Town	Birtley Sports Complex
Bishop Auckland	Heritage Park	1,950
Boro Rangers	Stokesley Sports Club (groundshare with Stokesley Sports Club)	2,000
Carlisle City	Gillford Park
Crook Town	The Sir Tom Cowie Millfield Ground	1,500
Guisborough Town	King George V Ground
Heaton Stannington	Grounsell Park
Newcastle Benfield	Sam Smith’s Park	2,000
North Shields	Ralph Gardner Park	1,500
Northallerton Town	Calvert Stadium
Penrith	Frenchfield Stadium	1,500
Redcar Athletic	Green Lane
Seaham Red Star	Seaham Town Park
Shildon	Dean Street	2,000
Sunderland RCA	Meadow Park	1,500
Tow Law Town	Ironworks Road	3,000
West Allotment Celtic	East Palmersville Sports Pavilion	1,500
West Auckland Town	Darlington Road	2,000
Whickham	Glebe Sports Ground	4,000
Whitley Bay	Hillheads Park	4,500

Division Two

Northern Football League
Division Two

Season	2023–24
Champions	Blyth Town
Promoted	Blyth Town Easington Colliery Newcastle Blue Star
Relegated	Brandon United
← 2022–23 2024–25 →

Division Two featured 18 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with four new clubs:

• FC Hartlepool, promoted from the Wearside League
• Newcastle Blue Star, promoted from the Northern Alliance
• Thornaby, relegated from Division One
• Yarm & Eaglescliffe, promoted from the North Riding League

Division Two table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Blyth Town (C, P)	42	34	3	5	139	37	+102	105	Promotion to Division Two
2	Newcastle Blue Star (P)	42	27	8	7	102	46	+56	89	Qualification for the play-offs, then promotion to Division One
3	Easington Colliery (O, P)	42	25	8	9	97	49	+48	83	Qualification for the play-offs
4	Bedlington Terriers	42	24	5	13	81	54	+27	77
5	Horden Community Welfare	42	22	8	12	76	58	+18	74
6	Billingham Synthonia	42	21	10	11	105	62	+43	73
7	Chester-le-Street Town	42	21	9	12	83	60	+23	72
8	Yarm & Eaglescliffe	42	21	8	13	79	70	+9	71
9	Newcastle University	42	19	7	16	104	78	+26	64
10	Esh Winning	42	17	13	12	61	69	−8	64
11	Ryton & Crawcrook Albion	42	19	5	18	99	68	+31	62
12	Jarrow	42	18	8	16	80	72	+8	62
13	Thornaby	42	18	7	17	61	57	+4	61
14	FC Hartlepool	42	18	9	15	81	64	+17	60[a]
15	Prudhoe Youth Club	42	13	10	19	73	73	0	49
16	Boldon Community Association	42	12	10	20	62	91	−29	46
17	Redcar Town	42	14	4	24	57	90	−33	46
18	Billingham Town	42	12	8	22	58	85	−27	44
19	Chester-le-Street United	42	12	6	24	50	79	−29	42
20	Sunderland West End	42	8	7	27	61	96	−35	31
21	Washington	42	6	2	34	43	149	−106	20
22	Brandon United (R)	42	3	1	38	30	175	−145	7[b]	Relegation to the Wearside League

Source: Northern League
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) number of matches won; 5) head-to-head results
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

1. FC Hartlepool were deducted three points for playing an ineligible player.^[6]
2. Brandon United were deducted three points for playing an ineligible player.^[7]

Play-offs

	Semi-finals					Final
	2	Newcastle Blue Star	2
	5	Horden Community Welfare	1
						2	Newcastle Blue Star	1
						3	Easington Colliery	2
	3	Easington Colliery	4
	4	Bedlington Terriers	0

Semifinals

Newcastle Blue Star v Horden Community Welfare

3 May	Newcastle Blue Star	2–1	Horden Community Welfare	Newcastle upon Tyne
19:30	Flounders 5' (o.g.) Ryder 83'	Report	Wallace 51'	Stadium: Scotswood Attendance: 1,061

Easington Colliery v Bedlington Terriers

4 May	Easington Colliery	4–0	Bedlington Terriers	Easington
15:00	Davison 20' Forster 28' Weirs 38' Fairley 80'	Report		Stadium: Welfare Park Attendance: 310

Final

Newcastle Blue Star v Easington Colliery

8 May	Newcastle Blue Star	1-2	Easington Colliery	Newcastle upon Tyne
19:30	Ogbewe 90+15'	Report	Fairley 87' Kenney 90+8'	Stadium: Scotswood Attendance: 1,771

Stadia and locations

Bedlington Terriers

Billingham Synthonia

Billingham Town and Yarm & Eaglescliffe

Blyth Town

Boldon CA

Brandon United

Chester-le-Street Town

Chester-le-Street United

Easington Colliery

Esh
Winning

Hartlepool

Horden CW

Jarrow

Newcastle Blue Star

Newcastle University and Prudhoe Youth Club

Redcar Town

Ryton & Crawcrook Albion

Sunderland West End

Thornaby

Washington

Location of Division Two clubs

Club	Stadium	Capacity
Bedlington Terriers	Welfare Park	3,000
Billingham Synthonia	Stokesley Sports Club (groundshare with Stokesley Sports Club)	2,000
Billingham Town	Bedford Terrace	3,000
Blyth Town	South Newsham Playing Fields
Boldon Community Association	Boldon Colliery Welfare
Brandon United	Welfare Ground
Chester-le-Street Town	Moor Park
Chester-le-Street United	Riverside
Easington Colliery	Welfare Park
Esh Winning	West Terrace	3,500
FC Hartlepool	Grayfields Enclosure
Horden Community Welfare	Welfare Park
Jarrow	Perth Green
Newcastle Blue Star	Scotswood
Newcastle University	Kimberley Park
Prudhoe Youth Club
Redcar Town	Mo Mowlam Memorial Park
Ryton & Crawcrook Albion	Kingsley Park	1,500
Thornaby	Teesdale Park	5,000
Sunderland West End	Ford Hub Sports Complex
Washington	Northern Playing Fields
Yarm & Eaglescliffe	Bedford Terrace (groundshare with Billingham Town)	3,000

References

1. "THE FA RELEASES NATIONAL LEAGUE SYSTEM CLUB ALLOCATIONS FOR STEPS 1-6 IN 2023-24 TERM". The Football Association. 15 May 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
2. "Step 5 to 4 promotion/relegation update". The FA. 16 March 2023.
3. "NEW SEASON FIXTURES RELEASED". Northern Football League. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
4. "GUISBOROUGH DEDUCTED POINTS". Northern Football League. 31 October 2023.
5. "BENFIELD DEDUCTED THREE POINTS". Northern Football League. 1 March 2024.
6. "FC HARTLEPOOL POINTS DEDUCTION". Northern Football League. 12 December 2023.
7. "POINTS DEDUCTED". Northern Football League. 15 April 2024.

External links

• Northern Football League