1997–98 North West Counties Football League

The 1997–98 North West Counties Football League season was the 16th in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. Teams were divided into two divisions: Division One and Division Two.

Division One

North West Counties
Football League
Division One

Season	1997–98
Champions	Kidsgrove Athletic
Promoted	Burscough
Relegated	Chadderton Darwen Warrington Town
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1529 (3.31 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Division One featured four new teams:

• Atherton Laburnum Rovers, relegated from the NPL Division One
• Haslingden, promoted as runners-up of Division Two
• Ramsbottom United, promoted as champions of Division Two
• Warrington Town, relegated from the NPL Division One

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Kidsgrove Athletic (C)	42	32	3	7	127	50	+77	99
2	Burscough (P)	42	29	7	6	101	30	+71	94	Promotion to NPL Division One
3	Newcastle Town	42	23	16	3	82	32	+50	85
4	Vauxhall GM	42	24	9	9	91	52	+39	81
5	St Helens Town	42	22	12	8	91	59	+32	78
6	Clitheroe	42	21	10	11	72	51	+21	73
7	Prescot Cables	42	19	11	12	72	57	+15	68
8	Glossop North End	42	19	7	16	78	69	+9	64
9	Mossley	42	16	14	12	67	52	+15	62
10	Nantwich Town	42	17	6	19	71	79	−8	57
11	Maine Road	42	15	10	17	56	70	−14	55
12	Chadderton (R)	42	15	8	19	63	59	+4	53	Relegation to Division Two
13	Rossendale United	42	15	6	21	61	80	−19	51
14	Blackpool Rovers	42	13	9	20	67	84	−17	48	Resigned to the West Lancashire League at the end of the season
15	Atherton Laburnum Rovers	42	12	11	19	54	73	−19	47
16	Haslingden	42	12	10	20	68	95	−27	46	Club folded
17	Ramsbottom United	42	12	9	21	58	84	−26	45
18	Salford City	42	13	4	25	64	92	−28	43
19	Warrington Town (R)	42	10	10	22	56	72	−16	40	Relegation to Division Two
20	Holker Old Boys	42	7	12	23	46	96	−50	33
21	Darwen (R)	42	6	13	23	42	93	−51	31	Relegation to Division Two
22	Atherton Collieries	42	7	9	26	42	100	−58	30

Updated to games played on May 1998.
Source: [1]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Division Two

North West Counties
Football League
Division Two

Season	1997–98
Champions	Oldham Town
Promoted	Bootle Cheadle Town Leek CSOB Skelmersdale United
Relegated	None
Matches played	420
Goals scored	1641 (3.91 per match)
← 1996–97 1998–99 →

Division Two featured three new teams:

• Bootle, relegated from Division One
• Fleetwood Freeport, a new team
• Woodley Sports, joined from the Manchester League

League Table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification or relegation
1	Oldham Town (C)	40	27	8	5	118	49	+69	89
2	Skelmersdale United (P)	40	26	7	7	111	50	+61	85	Promotion to Division One
3	Leek County School Old Boys (P)	40	26	7	7	77	39	+38	85
4	Cheadle Town (P)	40	24	9	7	108	58	+50	81
5	Woodley Sports	40	22	7	11	118	56	+62	73
6	Formby	40	22	7	11	90	63	+27	73
7	Bootle (P)	40	19	15	6	82	60	+22	72	Promotion to Division One
8	Garswood United	40	19	10	11	98	62	+36	67	Resigned to the Mid Cheshire League at the end of the season
9	Tetley Walker	40	19	9	12	98	62	+36	66
10	Castleton Gabriels	40	18	7	15	86	59	+27	61
11	Maghull	40	16	10	14	68	63	+5	58
12	Fleetwood Freeport	40	15	11	14	73	55	+18	56
13	Nelson	40	17	5	18	69	76	−7	56
14	Bacup Borough	40	13	8	19	58	83	−25	47
15	Squires Gate	40	11	9	20	72	88	−16	42
16	Daisy Hill	40	11	9	20	60	86	−26	42
17	Middlewich Athletic	40	11	8	21	48	90	−42	41	Resigned to the Mid Cheshire League at the end of the season
18	Colne	40	8	7	25	48	91	−43	31
19	Ashton Town	40	6	6	28	73	137	−64	24
20	Stantondale	40	4	4	32	50	146	−96	16	Club folded
21	Blackpool Mechanics	40	2	5	33	33	165	−132	11

Updated to games played on 2 May 1998.
Source: [2]
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

References

• http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/engnwcleaghist.html

External links

• NWCFL Official Site