If we go north or south I'll take the top position above the relegation line.

Its a big season for us as a club and i know fans will want a play off position.

Its going to be very interesting who we sign.

If we go north we will get bigger gates. A minimum of 2 games over a 1000 fans.

Downside if we go north, more traveling to grounds which a lot of ilson have already been to, will this stop them? I don't think so.

Downside if we go south, I think we are all cheese off going clubs in Birmingham. Sorry to say some of them are a bunch of dicks and the refs are shocking. Right from the 1st game of the season v tamworth, we all should of known we are in for a long hard season. Rushall away 2 sending offs, which both where very harsh.

You have to look at our team, we are not a dirty side but I bet we are close to top of the foul play table.

Be interesting if matchman has a total number of yellow and reds from last season.

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NORTHERN PREMIER LEAGUE
Premier Division (22):
Ashton United, Atherton Collieries, Bamber Bridge, Basford United, Bradford (Park Avenue), FC United, Gainsborough Trinity, Guiseley, Hyde United, Ilkeston Town, Lancaster City, Macclesfield, Marine, Marske United, Matlock Town, Morpeth Town, Radcliffe, Stafford Rangers, Warrington Rylands, Whitby Town, Workington, Worksop Town.

East Division (20):
Ashington, Belper Town, Bridlington Town, Brighouse Town, Carlton Town, Cleethorpes Town, Consett, Dunston, Grantham Town, Grimsby Borough, Hebburn Town, Liversedge, Newton Aycliffe, North Ferriby, Ossett United, Pontefract Collieries, Sheffield, Stocksbridge Park Steels, Stockton Town, Winterton Rangers.

West Division (20):
1874 Northwich, Avro, Bootle, Chasetown, City of Liverpool, Clitheroe, Hanley Town, Hednesford Town, Kidsgrove Athletic, Leek Town, Mossley, Nantwich Town, Newcastle Town, Prescot Cables, Runcorn Linnets, Stalybridge Celtic, Trafford, Vauxhall Motors, Widnes, Witton Albion.

Midlands Division (20):
AFC Rushden & Diamonds, Anstey Nomads, Bedworth United, Boldmere St Michael’s, Cambridge City, Coleshill Town, Corby Town, Coventry Sphinx, Gresley Rovers, Harborough Town, Hinckley LR, Loughborough Dynamo, Lye Town, Quorn, Rugby Town, Shepshed Dynamo, Spalding United, Sporting Khalsa, Sutton Coldfield Town, Walsall Wood.


SOUTHERN LEAGUE
PREMIER DIVISION CENTRAL
AFC Sudbury
AFC Telford United
Alvechurch
Barwell
Berkhamsted
Bromsgrove Sporting
Coalville Town
Halesowen Town
Hitchin Town
Kettering Town
Leamington
Leiston
Long Eaton United
Mickleover
Needham Market
Nuneaton Borough
Redditch United
Royston Town
St Ives Town
Stamford AFC
Stourbridge
Stratford Town

• NLS 1 to 4 club allocations 2023-24 796KB (PDF)[/url]
• [url=https://www.thefa.com/-/media/thefacom-new/files/rules-and-regulations/2023-24/nls-5-and-6-club-allocations-2023-24-finalv2-150523.ashx]NLS 5 and 6 club allocations 2023-24 297.7KB (PDF)

Last edited by Matchman (15/5/2023 9:41 PM)

Dick Durrant wrote:

Sadly no Ilkeston v Long Eaton games which would have been crackers

NPL is more physical than SPC. And a better standard overall. It’s colder in the north and there’s (a bit) more travelling

From a personal point of view it’ll be nice to see some new grounds in the SPC and have a few nights away too!

Good luck for the season ahead and beyond

Hey Dick I moved up to Northumberland last Christmas and it’s certainly not colder. They very rarely get frosts as it closer to the sea! After the step 3 and step 4 teams the facilities are very basic despite the standard of the football being good!

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Next season’s 22 NPL Premier Division teams with last season's points  

Bamber Bridge,                 3rd    73  points
Gainsborough Trinity,        4th    69 points
Matlock Town,                   5th    68 points
Hyde United                      6th    66 points
Radcliffe,                           7th    66 points
FC United,                         8th    63 points
Marine,                              9th    61 points
Warrington Rylands,        10th    60 points
Lancaster City,                 11th    58 points
Stafford Rangers,             12th    57 points
Guiseley,                          13th    55 points
Ashton United,                 14th    53 points
Whitby Town,                    15th    52 points
Marske United,                 16th    50 points
Morpeth Town,                  17th    49 points
Atherton Collieries,           18th    47 points 

Bradford (Park Avenue),   23rd    46 points   (Relegated from National League North)
Worksop Town.                   1st    99 points    (Promoted from NPL East)
Macclesfield,                       1st    90 points    (Promoted from NPL West)
Workington,                        3rd    75 points    (Promoted from NPL West)
Ilkeston Town,                   7th    61 points   (Moved from Southern Prem Central)
Basford United,                 15th    52 points   (Moved from Southern Prem Central)


This looks to be a really tough league, much stronger than last season's Southern League Premier Central. Ilkeston will have done really well if they can finish in the top half of the table.

Last season 68 points got Matock into the playoffs and 47 points were needed for Atherton Collieries to avoid relegation.




        

Last edited by Matchman (20/5/2023 6:59 PM)

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​Looking ahead to how we may fare next season in this tough league

Last season's three highest finishers who weren't promoted will probably do well again ie: Bamber Bridge, Gainsborough Trinity and Matlock. 
FC United will definitely be challenging.
I'm not sure about relegated Bradford Park Avenue but I definitely think the three promoted clubs, Worksop, Macclesfield and Workington will be near the top.

So that's at least seven teams who I expect to do well:
Bamber Bridge
Gainsborough
Matlock
FC United
Worksop
Macclesfield 
Workington

Until we know which players we have, it's difficult to predict how we will fare. At best we could be challenging for a playoff spot and at worst we could do a Belper. How ever fortunes transpire, it's going to be another roller coaster season of ups and downs. It always takes time to settle in a new league as we found out last season.