NWCFL First Division South 2025/26: Revisited
Wed 17th June 2026 | A Look Back | By Jay Cooper
With the start date of the new NWCFL league season less than a fortnight away, now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of what went down last season. This is the third of three articles which will surround each division individually, finishing with the First Division South.
The season officially began on the 21st of June 2025, with the AGM and Awards Evening for the previous season. Over the course of that day, many changes took effect. As far as the First Division South was concerned, a goodbye was said to promoted sides Winsford United and Abbey Hulton United, both of whom were laterally moved out of the NWCFL after reaching Step Five.
But we also said hello to new arrivals to the division. Both Haughmond and Telford Town joined the league via promotion, from the Shropshire County League and the West Midlands League, respectively. On top of that, Wolverhampton Casuals made their NWCFL bow following their relegation from the Midland League Premier Division.
With all relegated sides reprieved, and with more new arrivals to the division than departures, the season began on Saturday, July 26th, with 19 teams going for glory, as opposed to 18 in the previous season.
Right from the start, it seemed that there was only ever going to be one winner of the First Division South – Runcorn Town. A defeat to Sandbach United in their fourth game of the campaign would turn out to be their only one in the league, full stop.
Sandbach were hoping to mount a promotion push of their own, but they weren’t alone in that desire. Stafford Town, who were beaten in the play-off final in 2025/26, were itching to go one better this season, and newly promoted Telford Town settled into life in the NWCFL astonishingly fast, going unbeaten in their first seven league games and winning five to see out August in the top three.
Compared to their fellow new arrivals, Telford were living the dream. Haughmond and Wolves Casuals had struggled to get off to a hot start – the latter had only won twice by the first weekend of September, whereas the former wouldn’t record their first tally in the win column in the NWCFL until mid-October. And yet, neither side were bottom.
That distinction went to Wolverhampton Sporting Community, who had also finished bottom of the division in 2024/25, but were reprieved from relegation alongside Shawbury United and Foley Meir. Shawbury weren’t in much better shape by mid-Autumn, nor were division regulars Alsager Town, but Foley Meir were closer to mid-table.
As winter fell, Runcorn Town’s closest challengers had very much emerged – Eccleshall. After drawing with the leaders in mid-September, they went on a nine-game unbeaten run in the league that was only stopped halfway through December in their reverse fixture against Runcorn, which ended 4-3 at the Viridor Community Stadium.
Fixtures seemed to be few and far between in the South going into Christmas time. Mother Nature was paying her regularly scheduled visit to the NWCFL, but all the postponements in the world couldn’t stop Runcorn topping the pile on the 25th.
The play-off picture was similar at year’s end to how it had been at the start of the season. Eccleshall and Telford Town were still hopeful for a Runcorn collapse and a title chance. Keeping pace in the race for the top five were the likes of Stockport Georgians, Stafford Town, Sandbach United, and, after winning four league games from six in winter, New Mills had begun sniffing around.
Towards the base of the division, little had changed. Neither of Market Drayton Town and Cammell Laird 1907 were comfortably safe at this stage of the campaign, but both had a headstart on the bottom five by the first week of the new year – Wolverhampton Casuals, Alsager Town, Shawbury United, Haughmond and Wolverhampton Sporting Community.
On the cup front, there were no South sides left in the FA Vase by the time 2026 dawned, but Telford Town had made their mark in the Macron Cup. They had knocked off runaway league leaders Runcorn Town 4-0 in round three to become the last team standing from the division in the tournament in the new year.
January ended with both Runcorn and Stockport Georgians progressing to the Edward Case Cup semi-finals, with Georgians winning 5-4 in their quarter-final clash against Maghull, from the North. Meanwhile, dependable mid-table outfit Barnton were eliminated on penalties.
The first week of February saw some off-the-field news drastically affect the relegation battle in the South. Wolverhampton Sporting Community, midway through their second NWCFL season, resigned from the league with immediate effect, having previously voiced their concerns at having been placed in the NWCFL in the first place for logistical reasons.
Their resignation was accepted, and their games and results in the season up to that point were expunged, leaving Haughmond bottom of a division that now featured 18 teams.
As all other sides in the table kept on keeping on, March turned into a pivotal month for the title race. After drop-offs in form for the majority of the chasing pack, Eccleshall did their best to stay within spitting distance of Runcorn, but they found themselves doing little more than delaying the inevitable throughout the first month of Spring.
On the final day of the month, a Tuesday, Eccleshall were preoccupied with a Staffordshire Senior Cup semi-final victory against NPL side Stafford Rangers. With that door ajar, Runcorn Town stormed to a 6-0 league win against relegation threatened Alsager Town to confirm their status as champions. They became the first side across any division in the NWCFL to win a league title in the 2025/26 campaign.
As far as the extended promotion battle was concerned, a barren run for Telford Town – which included defeat to First Division North leaders Nelson in the Macron Cup – had seen them slip out of the top five, and they were replaced in that regard by Ashville during March. Eccleshall and Stockport Georgians looked in no danger of falling out of the top five, but New Mills, Sandbach United and Stafford Town were the sides jostling with Ashville for a spot in the play-off places.
The end of March and beginning of April saw Shawbury United embark on an unbeaten streak in the league that would save their NWCFL status. They won twice in two games during the Easter weekend, against Barnton and by-now relegated bottom side Haughmond to officially confirm their safety.
Mid-table pride had been well achieved by this stage by the likes of Cheadle Heath Nomads, Barnton, Foley Meir, Cammell Laird 1907, Allscott Heath and Wolverhampton Casuals. After Shawbury secured their safety, it was left to Market Drayton Town and Alsager Town to fight it out to avoid the drop.
It would be the penultimate weekend of the season that would decide the majority of important outcomes in the South. By this point, New Mills were well cemented in the top five alongside runners-up Eccleshall, and Stockport Georgians, who they would leapfrog in the standings on the final day.
Stafford Town, in fifth, had a three-point advantage and nine-goal headstart on Ashville ahead of the final match of the campaign – it was a gulf that couldn’t be bridged by the end of the season.
Elsewhere, Market Drayton Town played their final game. Win and safety was theirs, but they were beaten 3-0 by Foley Meir. Elsewhere, Alsager Town, not willing to give up this fight, stormed to a 3-1 win on the same day against Cammell Laird 1907, and followed that up in midweek with a 3-0 win against bottom side Haughmond to overtake Market Drayton in their final game of the season and save themselves.
The play-off semi-finals saw two very different games of football take place. Top seed Eccleshall had home advantage over bottom seed Stafford Town, and took their visitors to the cleaners on April 25th, winning 5-1 to earn a spot in the final.
By contrast, New Mills and Stockport Georgians went toe to toe in a much more reserved contest at the former’s Church Lane. A 23rd minute goal for the visitors turned out to be the decider, as the Millers were unable to find a way through in the ensuing 70 minutes, and Georgians now had a date with destiny, opposite Eccleshall.
Whilst their four closest challengers were battling it out to join them in promotion, Runcorn Town were in the mood for even more silverware. Their first attempt was the only one in which they fell short, as they were beaten 5-2 by Crewe Alexandra in the Cheshire Senior Cup final on April 21st.
They made amends on the same day as the semi-final matches, seeing off First Division North champions Nelson 3-1, to win the First Division Champions Cup.
Following that, they faced Darwen FC, from the First Division North, on April 30th in the Edward Case Cup final – a final that they had reached by overcoming Cammell Laird 1907, Stafford Town, Sandbach United and Nelson.
Despite going behind early in the second half, Town fended off their opponents at the Jim Fowler Memorial Stadium – home of Euxton Villa – to win 3-2 and get their hands on a third trophy for the season. Treble winners – Runcorn Town!
The First Division South season officially culminated on May 2nd, as second placed Eccleshall hosted fourth placed Stockport Georgians for a chance at Step Five football in 2026/27. The hosts were convinced they’d done it, leading 1-0 until the 93rd minute, but the visitors struck back at the death through Josh Winthrop to set up extra time and eventually penalties.
It was the third play-off final of the day that wound up having to be decided by spot kicks, but it became the only one that saw the away side take the victory. Stockport Georgians won 5-4 on penalties, just as their compatriots from the North, Droylsden, had done, and secured their promotion to the ninth tier of English football.
All was decided as far as the league was concerned, but Shawbury United, survivalists without a reprieve this time around, had also made the TJ Vickers Premier Cup Final. They fell to a 2-0 defeat to AFC Bridgnorth on May 9th, with the victors being a team that Shawbury, and all their contemporaries in the South, may need to familiarise themselves with ahead of 2026/27.
NWCFL First Division South 2025/26: Revisited
Wed 17th June 2026 | A Look Back
By Jay Cooper
With the start date of the new NWCFL league season less than a fortnight away, now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of what went down last season. This is the third of three articles which will surround each division individually, finishing with the First Division South.
The season officially began on the 21st of June 2025, with the AGM and Awards Evening for the previous season. Over the course of that day, many changes took effect. As far as the First Division South was concerned, a goodbye was said to promoted sides Winsford United and Abbey Hulton United, both of whom were laterally moved out of the NWCFL after reaching Step Five.
But we also said hello to new arrivals to the division. Both Haughmond and Telford Town joined the league via promotion, from the Shropshire County League and the West Midlands League, respectively. On top of that, Wolverhampton Casuals made their NWCFL bow following their relegation from the Midland League Premier Division.
With all relegated sides reprieved, and with more new arrivals to the division than departures, the season began on Saturday, July 26th, with 19 teams going for glory, as opposed to 18 in the previous season.
Right from the start, it seemed that there was only ever going to be one winner of the First Division South – Runcorn Town. A defeat to Sandbach United in their fourth game of the campaign would turn out to be their only one in the league, full stop.
Sandbach were hoping to mount a promotion push of their own, but they weren’t alone in that desire. Stafford Town, who were beaten in the play-off final in 2025/26, were itching to go one better this season, and newly promoted Telford Town settled into life in the NWCFL astonishingly fast, going unbeaten in their first seven league games and winning five to see out August in the top three.
Compared to their fellow new arrivals, Telford were living the dream. Haughmond and Wolves Casuals had struggled to get off to a hot start – the latter had only won twice by the first weekend of September, whereas the former wouldn’t record their first tally in the win column in the NWCFL until mid-October. And yet, neither side were bottom.
That distinction went to Wolverhampton Sporting Community, who had also finished bottom of the division in 2024/25, but were reprieved from relegation alongside Shawbury United and Foley Meir. Shawbury weren’t in much better shape by mid-Autumn, nor were division regulars Alsager Town, but Foley Meir were closer to mid-table.
As winter fell, Runcorn Town’s closest challengers had very much emerged – Eccleshall. After drawing with the leaders in mid-September, they went on a nine-game unbeaten run in the league that was only stopped halfway through December in their reverse fixture against Runcorn, which ended 4-3 at the Viridor Community Stadium.
Fixtures seemed to be few and far between in the South going into Christmas time. Mother Nature was paying her regularly scheduled visit to the NWCFL, but all the postponements in the world couldn’t stop Runcorn topping the pile on the 25th.
The play-off picture was similar at year’s end to how it had been at the start of the season. Eccleshall and Telford Town were still hopeful for a Runcorn collapse and a title chance. Keeping pace in the race for the top five were the likes of Stockport Georgians, Stafford Town, Sandbach United, and, after winning four league games from six in winter, New Mills had begun sniffing around.
Towards the base of the division, little had changed. Neither of Market Drayton Town and Cammell Laird 1907 were comfortably safe at this stage of the campaign, but both had a headstart on the bottom five by the first week of the new year – Wolverhampton Casuals, Alsager Town, Shawbury United, Haughmond and Wolverhampton Sporting Community.
On the cup front, there were no South sides left in the FA Vase by the time 2026 dawned, but Telford Town had made their mark in the Macron Cup. They had knocked off runaway league leaders Runcorn Town 4-0 in round three to become the last team standing from the division in the tournament in the new year.
January ended with both Runcorn and Stockport Georgians progressing to the Edward Case Cup semi-finals, with Georgians winning 5-4 in their quarter-final clash against Maghull, from the North. Meanwhile, dependable mid-table outfit Barnton were eliminated on penalties.
The first week of February saw some off-the-field news drastically affect the relegation battle in the South. Wolverhampton Sporting Community, midway through their second NWCFL season, resigned from the league with immediate effect, having previously voiced their concerns at having been placed in the NWCFL in the first place for logistical reasons.
Their resignation was accepted, and their games and results in the season up to that point were expunged, leaving Haughmond bottom of a division that now featured 18 teams.
As all other sides in the table kept on keeping on, March turned into a pivotal month for the title race. After drop-offs in form for the majority of the chasing pack, Eccleshall did their best to stay within spitting distance of Runcorn, but they found themselves doing little more than delaying the inevitable throughout the first month of Spring.
On the final day of the month, a Tuesday, Eccleshall were preoccupied with a Staffordshire Senior Cup semi-final victory against NPL side Stafford Rangers. With that door ajar, Runcorn Town stormed to a 6-0 league win against relegation threatened Alsager Town to confirm their status as champions. They became the first side across any division in the NWCFL to win a league title in the 2025/26 campaign.
As far as the extended promotion battle was concerned, a barren run for Telford Town – which included defeat to First Division North leaders Nelson in the Macron Cup – had seen them slip out of the top five, and they were replaced in that regard by Ashville during March. Eccleshall and Stockport Georgians looked in no danger of falling out of the top five, but New Mills, Sandbach United and Stafford Town were the sides jostling with Ashville for a spot in the play-off places.
The end of March and beginning of April saw Shawbury United embark on an unbeaten streak in the league that would save their NWCFL status. They won twice in two games during the Easter weekend, against Barnton and by-now relegated bottom side Haughmond to officially confirm their safety.
Mid-table pride had been well achieved by this stage by the likes of Cheadle Heath Nomads, Barnton, Foley Meir, Cammell Laird 1907, Allscott Heath and Wolverhampton Casuals. After Shawbury secured their safety, it was left to Market Drayton Town and Alsager Town to fight it out to avoid the drop.
It would be the penultimate weekend of the season that would decide the majority of important outcomes in the South. By this point, New Mills were well cemented in the top five alongside runners-up Eccleshall, and Stockport Georgians, who they would leapfrog in the standings on the final day.
Stafford Town, in fifth, had a three-point advantage and nine-goal headstart on Ashville ahead of the final match of the campaign – it was a gulf that couldn’t be bridged by the end of the season.
Elsewhere, Market Drayton Town played their final game. Win and safety was theirs, but they were beaten 3-0 by Foley Meir. Elsewhere, Alsager Town, not willing to give up this fight, stormed to a 3-1 win on the same day against Cammell Laird 1907, and followed that up in midweek with a 3-0 win against bottom side Haughmond to overtake Market Drayton in their final game of the season and save themselves.
The play-off semi-finals saw two very different games of football take place. Top seed Eccleshall had home advantage over bottom seed Stafford Town, and took their visitors to the cleaners on April 25th, winning 5-1 to earn a spot in the final.
By contrast, New Mills and Stockport Georgians went toe to toe in a much more reserved contest at the former’s Church Lane. A 23rd minute goal for the visitors turned out to be the decider, as the Millers were unable to find a way through in the ensuing 70 minutes, and Georgians now had a date with destiny, opposite Eccleshall.
Whilst their four closest challengers were battling it out to join them in promotion, Runcorn Town were in the mood for even more silverware. Their first attempt was the only one in which they fell short, as they were beaten 5-2 by Crewe Alexandra in the Cheshire Senior Cup final on April 21st.
They made amends on the same day as the semi-final matches, seeing off First Division North champions Nelson 3-1, to win the First Division Champions Cup.
Following that, they faced Darwen FC, from the First Division North, on April 30th in the Edward Case Cup final – a final that they had reached by overcoming Cammell Laird 1907, Stafford Town, Sandbach United and Nelson.
Despite going behind early in the second half, Town fended off their opponents at the Jim Fowler Memorial Stadium – home of Euxton Villa – to win 3-2 and get their hands on a third trophy for the season. Treble winners – Runcorn Town!
The First Division South season officially culminated on May 2nd, as second placed Eccleshall hosted fourth placed Stockport Georgians for a chance at Step Five football in 2026/27. The hosts were convinced they’d done it, leading 1-0 until the 93rd minute, but the visitors struck back at the death through Josh Winthrop to set up extra time and eventually penalties.
It was the third play-off final of the day that wound up having to be decided by spot kicks, but it became the only one that saw the away side take the victory. Stockport Georgians won 5-4 on penalties, just as their compatriots from the North, Droylsden, had done, and secured their promotion to the ninth tier of English football.
All was decided as far as the league was concerned, but Shawbury United, survivalists without a reprieve this time around, had also made the TJ Vickers Premier Cup Final. They fell to a 2-0 defeat to AFC Bridgnorth on May 9th, with the victors being a team that Shawbury, and all their contemporaries in the South, may need to familiarise themselves with ahead of 2026/27.
