The 1997-98 Northern Premier League season was the 30th in the history of the Northern Premier League

Northern Premier League

The Northern Premier League, is one of the regional English football leagues which sits directly below the Football Conference featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs. Geographically, the league covers all of Northern England, and the northern areas of the Midlands. Originally just one...

, a football competition in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Teams were divided into two divisions; the Premier and the First. It was known as the Unibond League for sponsorship reasons.

Premier Division

The Premier League featured three new teams:

• Altrincham
  Altrincham F.C.
  Altrincham Football Club is an English association football club from Altrincham, Greater Manchester. They currently play in the Conference North, having been relegated from the Conference National at the end of the 2010–11 season.-History:...
  
   relegated from the Conference
• Leigh RMI
  Leigh RMI F.C.
  Leigh Genesis Football Club, formerly known as Horwich Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. and Leigh Railway Mechanics Institute F.C. , was an English semi-professional association football team that folded after relegation from the Northern Premier League in 2011...
  
   promoted as runners up from Division One
• Radcliffe Borough
  Radcliffe Borough F.C.
  Radcliffe Borough F.C. is an English football club based in Radcliffe, Greater Manchester. The club was formed on 24 April 1949 and currently plays in the Northern Premier League Division One North...
  
   promoted as champions from Division One

League Table

Division One

Division One featured five new teams:

• Buxton
  Buxton F.C.
  Buxton Football Club are an English football club based in Buxton, Derbyshire. They were established in 1877 and joined the Combination League in 1891. They then joined the Manchester League in 1899 and won the championship in 1932. They reached the 3rd round of the FA Cup in the 1951-52 season....
  
   relegated from the Conference
• Belper Town
  Belper Town F.C.
  -History:They were established in 1883 and joined the Midland League in 1961. After the 1981–82 season, Belper Town joined the Northern Counties East League Premier Division, winning the title in 1984–85...
  
   promoted as runners-up from the NCEFL Premier Division
• Trafford
  Trafford F.C.
  Trafford F.C. is an English football club based in Flixton, Greater Manchester. The club are currently members of Division One North of the Northern Premier League and play at Shawe View.-History:...
  
   promoted as champions from the NWCFL Division One
• Whitby Town
  Whitby Town F.C.
  Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football...
  
   promoted as champions from the Northern League Division One
  Northern League (football)
  The Northern League is a football league in North East England for semi-professional and amateur teams. Having been founded in 1889, it is the oldest surviving football league in the world after the Football League....
  
  
• Witton Albion
  Witton Albion F.C.
  Witton Albion F.C. are a football club based in Northwich, England. They were founded in 1887. They have won the Cheshire Senior Cup 11 times since 1902. Their most recent success in this competition was in 2006, when they defeated Stalybridge Celtic in the final. They have also reached the FA Cup...
  
   relegated from the Conference

League Table

Promotion and relegation

In the thirtieth season of the Northern Premier League Barrow (as champions) were automatically promoted to the Football Conference

Football Conference

The Football Conference is a football league in England which consists of three divisions called Conference National, Conference North, and Conference South. Some Football Conference clubs are fully professional, such as Luton Town, but most of them are semi-professional...

. Radcliffe Borough and Alfreton Town were relegated to the First Division; these two clubs were replaced by relegated Conference sides Gateshead

Gateshead F.C.

Gateshead Football Club are a professional Association football club, based in Gateshead, England. They currently play in the Conference National, the fifth level of the English football league system.Ian Bogie is the current manager....

 and Stalybridge Celtic

Stalybridge Celtic F.C.

Stalybridge Celtic are an English full time professional football club from Stalybridge, Greater Manchester in North West England. The club, which plays its home matches at Bower Fold, is currently in the Conference North in the sixth tier of the English football league system...

, First Division

Northern Premier League First Division

The Northern Premier League First Division was a football league covering the north of England. After the creation of Conference North/South in the 2004-05 season it sat at level 8 of the English football league system....

 winners Whitby Town

Whitby Town F.C.

Whitby Town Football Club is an English football club based in Whitby, North Yorkshire. The club participates in the Northern Premier League, the seventh tier of English football...

 and second placed Worksop Town

Worksop Town F.C.

Worksop Town Football Club are a semi-professional English football club from Worksop, Nottinghamshire who play in the Northern Premier League Premier Division...

. In the First Division Workington and Buxton left the League at the end of the season and were replaced by newly-admitted Hucknall Town

Hucknall Town F.C.

Hucknall Town F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and play at Watnall Road.-History:...

 and Burscough

Burscough F.C.

Burscough F.C. is an English football club based in Burscough, Lancashire. The club are members of the Northern Premier League Premier Division and groundshare with Skelmersdale United...

.

Cup Results

Challenge Cup

Northern Premier League Challenge Cup

The Northern Premier League Challenge Cup is a knock-out cup competition organised by the Northern Premier League....

: Teams from both leagues.

• Altrincham bt. Gainsborough Trinity
  

President's Cup

Northern Premier League President's Cup

The Northern Premier League President's Cup is a knock-out cup competition organised by the Northern Premier League.Teams from both of the Northern Premier League Division One leagues take part in the tournament, with teams that played in the preliminary round of the Northern Premier League...

: 'Plate' competition for losing teams in the NPL Cup.

• Runcorn bt. Guiseley
  

Peter Swales Shield

Peter Swales Shield

The Peter Swales Shield is an annual one-off game organised by the Northern Premier League. It is named in memory of Peter Swales....

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

• Altrincham bt. Barrow

External links

• Northern Premier League Tables at RSSSF