Country |
England Wales |
---|---|
Founded | 1987 |
Folded | 2007 |
Number of teams | 24 |
Level on pyramid | 7/8 |
Promotion to | NPL Premier Division |
Relegation to |
Northern League NWCL Premier Division NCEL Premier Division Midland Football Alliance |
Domestic cup(s) |
FA Cup FA Trophy Challenge Cup President's Cup Chairman's Cup Peter Swales Shield |
Website | Official website |
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.
The champion team, together with the winners of a play-off between the 2nd to 5th places, were promoted to a level 7 league, usually the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The bottom two clubs may have been relegated to one of several level 9 leagues.
At the beginning of the 2007–08 season, the league was split into the Northern Premier League Division One North and the Northern Premier League Division One South. This was to reflect a standardisation of the National League System, in which the Northern Premier League and the Isthmian League had their first divisions split to reflect the situation in the Southern League. The Northern Premier League had wanted 20 teams per division but faced opposition from the Southern League because it feared massive movement from its Midlands Division.