NWCFL 2023 Year Review - Premier Division
Thu 28th December 2023 | A Look Back | By Jay Cooper
This is the first of three articles covering the major talking points surrounding all the divisions in the NWCFL throughout 2023. This piece will focus on the Premier Division as the 2022/23 season came to a close and the 2023/24 season began.
Coming into the new year at the start of 2022, the race for the Premier Division title was something of a two-horse race - both Macclesfield and Skelmersdale United were peeling away from the chasing pack. Coming into 2023, this couldn't be further from what was going on. The team at the top of the table seemed to change on a weekly basis, with all of Avro, Vauxhall Motors, Wythenshawe Town and then-called Bury AFC being in with a serious chance at lifting the trophy. As the early months of the year began to pass, 4 contenders became 3 with a slight drop off from the Shakers, and it would be Vauxhall that eventually made it over the line first. The Ellesmere Port side, then managed by Mick McGraa, sealed the title with a 4-1 win against AFC Liverpool in mid-April.
Both Avro and Wythenshawe Town kept gunning for 2nd, right up until the last post, where it would eventually be the former that got the chance at the Inter Step Play-off match to join the Motormen in promotion. Goals from Thomas Bentham and Jack Morrow against Lincoln United sealed the deal, and Alex Frost's Avro side became the second NWCFL team to confirm their place in the NPL Division One West for 2023/24. It would be Wythenshawe Town that took 3rd with 83 points, 4 less than Avro. Bury finished 4th, also on 83 points, with Northwich Victoria in 5th with 81, before a sizeable drop to AFC Liverpool in 6th, with 67 points.
As well as Bury, the other new arrivals to the division for the 2022/23 season fared mostly well. West Didsbury and Chorlton placed 9th, with Kendal Town in 12th and FC isle of Man in 13th. The bottom of the table unfortunately made for sorry viewing from an Ashton Athletic perspective. The Yellows finished bottom of a 22-team table, with exactly half the points (18) that 21st-placed Burscough (36) had managed. As a result, they were relegated from the Premier Division upon the official end of the season in June. However, they wouldn't be the only side to say their goodbyes to the NWCFL Prem.
In quite a controversial move, the FA league allocations initially saw all 3 of Cheshire-based sides Congleton Town, Northwich Victoria and Winsford United being moved laterally to the Midlands League Premier Division. Congleton had done particularly well for themselves in cup competitions throughout 2022/23 - they won both the Cheshire Senior Cup and the Macron Cup, edging both final victories (against Altrincham and Bacup Borough, respectively) in penalty shootouts; as well as going on a remarkable run to the Isuzu FA Vase semi-finals, where they narrowly lost to defending champions Newport Pagnell Town on penalties. This new development would mean that the Bears wouldn't have the opportunity to defend their Macron Cup crown.
The key reason for this was that the NWCFL Prem was expected to play host in 2023/24 to all of Colne, Glossop North End, Ramsbottom United and Skelmersdale United, who were dropping down from step 4 of the non-league system. On top of that, all 4 teams who gained promotion from the First Divisions North and South - Pilkington, Chadderton, then-called Wythenshawe Amateurs, and Cheadle Town - were also expected to be part of the Prem for the new campaign.
Despite the best efforts of Northwich Vics and Congleton, the latter of whom had won an appeal against this very decision ahead of the 2021/22 season, the move would stick, and both sides went across to the Midlands League. As for Winsford, amid serious fears of the club being unable to run if laterally moved, they accepted voluntary relegation to the NWCFL First Division South (despite finishing 18th) and stayed in our pyramid.
All of this complicated shifting and shuffling eventually led to the NWCFL Premier Division beginning proceedings for 2023/24 with a 24-team league - changes from 2022/23 consisted of 2 promotions, 2 relegations (1 voluntary), 2 lateral outgoings, and 8 new arrivals from above and below. However, there were a few more changes to address before a ball was kicked.
As I've alluded to already in this article, both of Bury AFC and Wythenshawe Amateurs would come into the new campaign under new monikers. The latter would officially drop "Amateurs" from their club name to be rechristened as Wythenshawe FC, but would maintain their nickname of "the Ammies". As for the Shakers, their new identity was quite the talking point. In a story told hundreds of times (including here), the 2023/24 season would be the first one of the English Football pyramid to feature Bury FC, back home at Gigg lane, since 2018/19, after a merger between two bodies (one of which being Bury AFC) that sought to bring the club back from the dead.
One more thing to address from the off-season too. Avro confirmed their promotion via an Inter Step play-off victory, but for those sides who wanted to succeed Avro as Premier Division play-off winners in 2024, the process has been slightly altered. In quite a well-received change, the Premier Division will now operate in the same way as the First Divisions North and South with regards to the play-offs - 2nd through 5th will compete in semi-finals and a final to earn the ultimate prize.
After all administrative changes were finally confirmed, the new season got underway in late July, and it was Kendal Town who made an absolutely storming start to proceedings. They went undefeated all the way through to early September, where it was new arrivals Colne that finally snapped their streak. After something of a cooling off period for Kendal in the months since, they have been overtaken as the pacesetters, to the point where they aren't even in the play-off places at the time of writing.
The top 2 sides as the year comes to a close are the newly-named Wythenshawe FC and Bury FC, with last years also-rans Wythenshawe Town also firmly in the mix. Just 2 points separate the top 3 as of now, with Prestwich Heys and Chadderton rounding out the top 5. Towards the base of the table, its been a half-season of turbulence for Skelmersdale United. Skem managed to finish mid-table in the NPL Division One West last time out, but they fell afoul of a pitch bounce test, and was unable to meet the FA ground grading rules for the league they were in.
Their relegation led to a summer of scrambling for a place to play, which eventually led to a groundshare with Burscough, as well as contending with a mass exodus of club committee members. All this has translated to less than desirable on-field results, with Skem currently propping up the rest of the division under the stewardship of former Premier League defender Pascal Chimbonda, making his managerial debut.
Their closest company is newly promoted Cheadle Town, who have 5 points to spare on their contemporaries. Alongside Bury FC, Paul Marshall's side have faced a small points deduction this season, but Town's leaves them in a bit more of a precarious position than the Shakers.
With regards to cup competitions thus far this season, perhaps the most common headline has been to do with weather-based postponements. For instance, look no further than the 5 Isuzu FA Vase games featuring NWCFL sides from all 3 divisions that were scheduled to take place earlier this month, on December 2nd - all 5 were postponed due to frozen pitches. Thankfully, all those games have since been played, and Charnock Richard are your sole flag-flyers for the Premier Division as we head into the 4th round, with one other side from the pyramid also still kicking, which I will address in tomorrow's article.
There are Macron Cup fixtures from previous rounds that are still yet to be played at this time, but some confirmed names in the next round include Chadderton, Charnock Richard, Irlam, Kendal Town and Prestwich Heys.
At this level of the game, there are transfers, managerial changes and shocking results a-plenty, and they can all happen at any time. After Christmas, elite level football can become somewhat predictable, but there's still everything to play for in the NWCFL, and the only way to see how it all happens is to come and watch.
NWCFL 2023 Year Review - Premier Division
Thu 28th December 2023 | A Look Back
By Jay Cooper
This is the first of three articles covering the major talking points surrounding all the divisions in the NWCFL throughout 2023. This piece will focus on the Premier Division as the 2022/23 season came to a close and the 2023/24 season began.
Coming into the new year at the start of 2022, the race for the Premier Division title was something of a two-horse race - both Macclesfield and Skelmersdale United were peeling away from the chasing pack. Coming into 2023, this couldn't be further from what was going on. The team at the top of the table seemed to change on a weekly basis, with all of Avro, Vauxhall Motors, Wythenshawe Town and then-called Bury AFC being in with a serious chance at lifting the trophy. As the early months of the year began to pass, 4 contenders became 3 with a slight drop off from the Shakers, and it would be Vauxhall that eventually made it over the line first. The Ellesmere Port side, then managed by Mick McGraa, sealed the title with a 4-1 win against AFC Liverpool in mid-April.
Both Avro and Wythenshawe Town kept gunning for 2nd, right up until the last post, where it would eventually be the former that got the chance at the Inter Step Play-off match to join the Motormen in promotion. Goals from Thomas Bentham and Jack Morrow against Lincoln United sealed the deal, and Alex Frost's Avro side became the second NWCFL team to confirm their place in the NPL Division One West for 2023/24. It would be Wythenshawe Town that took 3rd with 83 points, 4 less than Avro. Bury finished 4th, also on 83 points, with Northwich Victoria in 5th with 81, before a sizeable drop to AFC Liverpool in 6th, with 67 points.
As well as Bury, the other new arrivals to the division for the 2022/23 season fared mostly well. West Didsbury and Chorlton placed 9th, with Kendal Town in 12th and FC isle of Man in 13th. The bottom of the table unfortunately made for sorry viewing from an Ashton Athletic perspective. The Yellows finished bottom of a 22-team table, with exactly half the points (18) that 21st-placed Burscough (36) had managed. As a result, they were relegated from the Premier Division upon the official end of the season in June. However, they wouldn't be the only side to say their goodbyes to the NWCFL Prem.
In quite a controversial move, the FA league allocations initially saw all 3 of Cheshire-based sides Congleton Town, Northwich Victoria and Winsford United being moved laterally to the Midlands League Premier Division. Congleton had done particularly well for themselves in cup competitions throughout 2022/23 - they won both the Cheshire Senior Cup and the Macron Cup, edging both final victories (against Altrincham and Bacup Borough, respectively) in penalty shootouts; as well as going on a remarkable run to the Isuzu FA Vase semi-finals, where they narrowly lost to defending champions Newport Pagnell Town on penalties. This new development would mean that the Bears wouldn't have the opportunity to defend their Macron Cup crown.
The key reason for this was that the NWCFL Prem was expected to play host in 2023/24 to all of Colne, Glossop North End, Ramsbottom United and Skelmersdale United, who were dropping down from step 4 of the non-league system. On top of that, all 4 teams who gained promotion from the First Divisions North and South - Pilkington, Chadderton, then-called Wythenshawe Amateurs, and Cheadle Town - were also expected to be part of the Prem for the new campaign.
Despite the best efforts of Northwich Vics and Congleton, the latter of whom had won an appeal against this very decision ahead of the 2021/22 season, the move would stick, and both sides went across to the Midlands League. As for Winsford, amid serious fears of the club being unable to run if laterally moved, they accepted voluntary relegation to the NWCFL First Division South (despite finishing 18th) and stayed in our pyramid.
All of this complicated shifting and shuffling eventually led to the NWCFL Premier Division beginning proceedings for 2023/24 with a 24-team league - changes from 2022/23 consisted of 2 promotions, 2 relegations (1 voluntary), 2 lateral outgoings, and 8 new arrivals from above and below. However, there were a few more changes to address before a ball was kicked.
As I've alluded to already in this article, both of Bury AFC and Wythenshawe Amateurs would come into the new campaign under new monikers. The latter would officially drop "Amateurs" from their club name to be rechristened as Wythenshawe FC, but would maintain their nickname of "the Ammies". As for the Shakers, their new identity was quite the talking point. In a story told hundreds of times (including here), the 2023/24 season would be the first one of the English Football pyramid to feature Bury FC, back home at Gigg lane, since 2018/19, after a merger between two bodies (one of which being Bury AFC) that sought to bring the club back from the dead.
One more thing to address from the off-season too. Avro confirmed their promotion via an Inter Step play-off victory, but for those sides who wanted to succeed Avro as Premier Division play-off winners in 2024, the process has been slightly altered. In quite a well-received change, the Premier Division will now operate in the same way as the First Divisions North and South with regards to the play-offs - 2nd through 5th will compete in semi-finals and a final to earn the ultimate prize.
After all administrative changes were finally confirmed, the new season got underway in late July, and it was Kendal Town who made an absolutely storming start to proceedings. They went undefeated all the way through to early September, where it was new arrivals Colne that finally snapped their streak. After something of a cooling off period for Kendal in the months since, they have been overtaken as the pacesetters, to the point where they aren't even in the play-off places at the time of writing.
The top 2 sides as the year comes to a close are the newly-named Wythenshawe FC and Bury FC, with last years also-rans Wythenshawe Town also firmly in the mix. Just 2 points separate the top 3 as of now, with Prestwich Heys and Chadderton rounding out the top 5. Towards the base of the table, its been a half-season of turbulence for Skelmersdale United. Skem managed to finish mid-table in the NPL Division One West last time out, but they fell afoul of a pitch bounce test, and was unable to meet the FA ground grading rules for the league they were in.
Their relegation led to a summer of scrambling for a place to play, which eventually led to a groundshare with Burscough, as well as contending with a mass exodus of club committee members. All this has translated to less than desirable on-field results, with Skem currently propping up the rest of the division under the stewardship of former Premier League defender Pascal Chimbonda, making his managerial debut.
Their closest company is newly promoted Cheadle Town, who have 5 points to spare on their contemporaries. Alongside Bury FC, Paul Marshall's side have faced a small points deduction this season, but Town's leaves them in a bit more of a precarious position than the Shakers.
With regards to cup competitions thus far this season, perhaps the most common headline has been to do with weather-based postponements. For instance, look no further than the 5 Isuzu FA Vase games featuring NWCFL sides from all 3 divisions that were scheduled to take place earlier this month, on December 2nd - all 5 were postponed due to frozen pitches. Thankfully, all those games have since been played, and Charnock Richard are your sole flag-flyers for the Premier Division as we head into the 4th round, with one other side from the pyramid also still kicking, which I will address in tomorrow's article.
There are Macron Cup fixtures from previous rounds that are still yet to be played at this time, but some confirmed names in the next round include Chadderton, Charnock Richard, Irlam, Kendal Town and Prestwich Heys.
At this level of the game, there are transfers, managerial changes and shocking results a-plenty, and they can all happen at any time. After Christmas, elite level football can become somewhat predictable, but there's still everything to play for in the NWCFL, and the only way to see how it all happens is to come and watch.
