Northern Premier League Division One South
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Countries |  England |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2007 |
| Number of teams | 20 |
| Promotion to | NPL Premier Division |
| Relegation to | NWCL Division One NCEL Premier Division Midland Football Alliance |
| Levels on pyramid | Level 8 |
| Domestic cup(s) | FA Cup FA Trophy Challenge Cup President's Cup Chairman's Cup |
| Current champions | Retford United (2006-07) |
| Website | http://www.unibondleague.com/ |
 2009-09 |
|
Division One South is one of the two second-tier divisions of the Northern Premier League. It is at Step 4 (or level 8) of the National League System, placing it seven divisions below the Premier League. For sponsorship reasons, it is also referred to as the UniBond League Division One South.
The split of the Northern Premier League First Division resulted in the creation of the Division One South and the Division One North. The division began play at the start of the 2007-08 season, initially with 18 teams but now 20 teams for the 2008-09 season
Contents |
[edit] League system
When the FA announced the details of the restructuring, a number of clubs complained that a 34 game season was too short. To address this perceived shortfall it was decided that the clubs would play an additional eight games on top of that; four to be played at home and four to be played away.[1]
To facilitate these additional games each division was split into two regional groups of nine clubs. Each team in Group A for example, would play the other teams in Group A three times, while they would play teams in Group B just twice. Likewise, the reverse was true for those teams in Group B, who would play teams in their group three times, and they would play teams in Group A twice.
The increase to 20 clubs in each division for season 2008-09 has meant that this system is no longer needed, and each team will play all others at home and away for a total of 38 games.
[edit] Current clubs
| Club |
Finishing position 2007-08 |
|---|---|
| Belper Town | 8th |
| Brigg Town | 16th |
| Carlton Town | 10th |
| Glapwell | 2nd NCEL Premier Division |
| Goole | 9th |
| Grantham Town | 6th |
| Gresley Rovers | 11th |
| Kidsgrove Athletic | 18th |
| Leek Town | 19th in NPL Premier Division |
| Lincoln United | 21st in NPL Premier Division |
| Loughborough Dynamo | 2nd in Midland Football Alliance |
| Quorn | 12th |
| Retford United | 1st |
| Rushall Olympic | 5th in SPL Division One Midlands |
| Sheffield | 4th |
| Shepshed Dynamo | 15th |
| Spalding United | 19th |
| Stamford | 20th in NPL Premier Division |
| Stocksbridge Park Steels | 5th |
| Willenhall Town | 14th in SPL Division One Midlands |
[edit] Past champions
From 1987 until 2007, the division was united and just known as the Northern Premier League First Division, before being split into North and South subsections. Here are the champions from when the league was just the NPL First Division.
|
|
[edit] 2007-08
- Champions : Retford United (Not promoted due to Ground Standards)
- Promoted : Cammell Laird
- Playoff Winners : Nantwich Town
- Other Playoff teams: Sheffield, Stocksbridge Park Steels, Grantham Town
- Relegated: Alsagar Town (for Ground Standards, Spalding United were reprived)
[edit] NPL Division One South 2008-09
- Champions: Retford United
- Playoffs: Belper Town, Stocksbridge Park Steels, Carlton Town, Rushall Olympic
- Relegated: Gresley Rovers (voluntarily, Brigg Town were reprieved)
