NWCFL: Year Review, 2024 – Premier Division
Sun 12th January 2025 | A Look Back | By Jay Cooper
We’re at the end of the first full week of 2025 – already! 2024 is officially in the record books, so let’s take our annual look back at how each of the three divisions from the NWCFL have changed over the past 12 months.
This article will focus solely on the Premier Division.
Cast your minds back to January 2024. There was a three-horse title race underway that was unpredictable at the time and would stay that way right until the bitter end. All of Bury (in their first full season under their old name again), Wythenshawe FC (in their first season having dropped the “Amateurs” from their name), and Wythenshawe Town (no name change) were vying for top spot.
The Shakers were initially meant to host Wythenshawe FC in a six-pointer at the top of the table in January, but one other thing you must remember from early 2024 was the absolutely horrific weather that non-league football around the country had to contend with on a weekly basis. Games were postponed and rearranged left, right and centre for waterlogged or frozen pitches, and the showdown between Bury and Wythenshawe would have to wait until March 30th.
By that time, the divide between the top three and the rest of the chasing pack had grown bigger, and Bury thought they had the match won to put themselves in the driving seat, but Wythenshawe equalised with a 98th minute penalty from Bryan Ly – a name Bury fans would have to get used to.
Mere days later, on April 1st, the two Wythenshawe teams went at it in another vital game at Town’s Ericstan Park. There would be no outrageously late theatrics to save the Ammies this time, as Town won 2-1 thanks to an 85th minute Thomas Bentham goal. From there, the two rivals essentially matched one another’s results right up until the final day, April 20th, which both teams began on 92 points. Wythenshawe FC were in front on goal difference, and knew a win would confirm them as champions of the Premier Division at the first time of asking.
Wythenshawe Town held up their end of the deal to usurp their rivals, hammering already-relegated Skelmersdale United (more on them soon) 3-0, but Wythenshawe FC were not to be denied away at Squires Gate, winning 3-0 themselves and clinching the title on goal difference. Bury, beginning the final day on 91 points, still had an outside chance to upset the odds and steal the title, but finished the season three points behind their two title rivals in the end, having drawn 0-0 with Ramsbottom United.
With that decided, how did the play-off picture look?
For the first time ever, the NWCFL Premier Division adopted a play-off format equivalent to the First Divisions North and South. The previous method saw just the team that finished second place compete with a team from Step 4 that had been given a lifeline to save themselves, similar to how things work in the upper tiers of German football. Now, promotion would be instead decided as it is at EFL level – teams finishing 2nd through 5th would have the opportunity to advance up the leagues in a semi-final/final tournament. And there was quite a handful of teams waiting for this opportunity as 2023 became 2024.
Of course, two of the three sides that did not win the league despite their best efforts, Bury and Wythenshawe Town, would inevitably take two of the four available spots in the play-offs, but who the other two sides would be that they would compete with was a mystery right up until the final day, and even beyond.
As the final week in April came upon us, Padiham, Kendal Town, Chadderton and Prestwich Heys made up places 4-7 in the Premier Division, and they all played their last matches of the season on the 20th. With that in mind, despite coming so close, both Chadderton and Prestwich were out – there was seldom they could do with no games left to play. Similarly, Padiham were definitely in – aside from a points deduction of some kind, nothing could happen in the ensuing week that would change their fate.
The unanswered question surrounded Kendal Town. Having no games of their own left to play, the Cumbria-based side would have no choice but to sit and wait for the one outlier of this story to attempt mission impossible. Charnock Richard were hit harder than most by match postponements throughout the start of the calendar year, and found themselves with four games in hand on the majority of the league after April 20th. Sitting 11 points behind the play-off places at the time, the goal was clear – win all their remaining games.
First was Irlam at home, on April 22nd, and Charnock smashed them 5-1 to get off to the best possible start. No rest for the weary, as challenge number two was the next night away to Barnoldswick Town. Two players who hadn’t scored against Irlam, Luke Power and Charles Duke, did exactly that against Barlick, and Charnock won 2-0 to keep hope alive.
Next was Colne, two days later, again away from home for Ryan Donnellan’s team. It was close, but Luke Power powered home with less than 10 minutes to go to confirm a 1-0 win. This all led to Saturday, April 27th – one more win, and they’d done it. Pilkington were the visitors to Mossie Park, and a Ross O’Farrell brace secured a 2-0 win for Charnock, and a chance at promotion. Condolences to Kendal Town, who were bumped out of the top six as a result, but Charnock had done the improbable.
The play-off semi-finals were both tense affairs, and both ended in 1-0 home victories. Seedings are determined based on league position, and the higher the seed, the likelier you were to get a home game. That is exactly what happened for both Wythenshawe Town (2nd) and Bury (3rd), with the former knocking off Padiham, and the latter undoing all of Charnock Richard’s hard work.
And so, the final was set – Wythenshawe Town VS Bury. The two best of the rest, battling for a second bite at the promotion cherry. Wythy’s Ericstan Park was the venue of choice, and they took advantage of being on home soil to lead the match after 52 minutes via Sam Sheridan. It was a lead they’d hold for half an hour, before Dean Pinnington equalised for Bury, and the game went beyond the full-time whistle and into a penalty shootout. What followed was a shootout that, let’s be honest, was really lacking in quality penalty attempts, but never lost any tension. It would eventually be Wythenshawe Town who won the shootout 3-2, and won the promotion play-offs as a result.
With the top six sewn up, the only real question left to answer from the NWCFL Premier Division as 2023/24 came to a close was, how were things looking at the bottom of the table? From 6th placed Kendal Town right down to 18th placed new arrivals Ramsbottom United, sides had little to fret about. However, from 19th placed Longridge Town on down, there was a mere two points between five teams to get to second-bottom Squires Gate. As interesting and subject-to-change as that sounds on paper, this is a 24-team league, the 24th spot in the table was occupied for 99% of the season by Skelmersdale United.
Skem had only just returned to the NWCFL after competing in the NPL Division One West the season earlier, and were relegated for admin reasons, rather than because they finished in the bottom four. With the majority of their NPL-quality players and behind-the-scenes staff members leaving for pastures new over the summer in 2023, they came into the new season with a serious disadvantage that was difficult to recover from.
Not that they didn’t try. One of the stories of the year came about with Skem’s astonishing decision to hire former France international and Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda to his first ever managerial post. The Skembonda train had left the station in late 2023, and it was certainly headline-grabbing, but this train was subject to a handful of derailments during the first half of 2024, most notably a 10-1 defeat away at Bury in late January.
In April, Skem were inevitably condemned to playing Step 6 football in 2024/25, suffering their second successive relegation, and finishing 10 points behind Squires Gate by the end. They’d broken no notable unwanted records of any kind during a forgettable season, and had in no way embarrassed themselves, but the decision was made in May to cut Chimbonda loose and rebuild ahead of a new season in the First Division North.
Before we get to that new season, there was another few triumphs worth shining a light on involving an NWCFL side. Firstly, Colne, who were relegated to the NWCFL from the NPL pyramid alongside Skem, Ramsbottom United and Glossop North End ahead of 2023/24, finished a respectable 11th place in the table upon their return, but found plenty more success in their local cup competition.
Fighting through to the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy final, which took place on the last day of April, Colne had the fierce task of fighting off NPL Premier Division side Bamber Bridge in a final at Leyland’s LFA County Ground. Despite being the underdogs on paper, Colne roared back from a 2-0 deficit at half time to batter their opponents 5-2 and lift the trophy!
In even more NWCFL-centric cup news, May 11th saw the Macron Cup Final contested between Barnoldswick Town and Chadderton, in a game that would officially put the cap on the 2023/24 campaign. Andrew Hill and Luke Stowe for Barlick scored one after the other like machine gun fire just before the half hour mark, and Oliver Roberts put the gloss on the scoreline to help Steve Pickup’s side to a 3-0 win. Barnoldswick Town won the Macron Cup for the first time in their history at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium.
As is expected with the off-season of the NWCFL, there was admin a plenty. Teams left; teams arrived; teams weren’t happy with their re-allocations by the FA and requested to be put back where they originally were; those claims were denied; etc. On their way out of the door from the NWCFL Premier Division were both Wythenshawe outfits, having earned promotion to the NPL; Skelmersdale United, relegated to the First Division North; and Kendal Town, laterally moved to the Northern League Division One.
In terms of the new arrivals to the league, all were for celebratory reasons. In the Prem, there were no movements unwanted by teams into the division, and there were no relegations from the league above that saw sides join the NWCFL. Instead, four promoted sides would have their day to prove themselves – First Division North winners FC St Helens; First Division North play-off winners South Liverpool; First Division South play-off winners Abbey Hey; and always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Stockport Town, who’s PPG average in recent seasons in the South was good enough to see some league reshuffling grant them promotion to the Prem after two years of near-misses.
Since the season began in August, all four of those names have done well. With the year now at its end, all of FC St Helens, Stockport Town and Abbey Hey are sitting in mid-table, between 8th and 13th at the time of writing. South Liverpool are currently 20th – a bit more precarious, but they remain nine points clear of relegation. So, how is everyone else doing?
Expectedly, sniffing around the top of the table are Bury, spearheaded by their marquee summer arrival, Bryan Ly, from Wythenshawe FC. The Shakers started the new campaign by going on an unbeaten run in the league that lasted from the seasons’ start in late July right up until a clash with Lower Breck towards the end of November. They’re currently second in the table at the time of writing, behind Ramsbottom United. Rammy took a year to readjust to life in the NWCFL in 2023/24, but they’re firing on all cylinders this season, and have been top of the table more often than they haven’t so far in 2024/25. Steve Wilkes has overseen his side notch some impressive victories, including 6-0 against Burscough, and 5-0 against Prestwich Heys.
Arguably a step behind the top two, but still very much in the promotion conversation are the likes of Chadderton and Lower Breck, currently more comfortable in the play-off places than 5th placed West Didsbury and Chorlton. West are one of three teams, alongside Breck, who’ve beaten Bury this season, but they don’t get bonus points for that, and are currently only three points clear of last season’s play-off competitors Padiham; and four points clear of all of Irlam, FC St Helens and FC Isle of Man. With there being at least 15 games yet to play this league season as of now, this promotion race will get hotter and hotter.
Towards the tail end of the division, things look a little more cut and dry on paper, but football is still a fickle game. As mentioned, fifth-bottom South Liverpool are currently nine points clear of safety, with Colne currently second bottom. Colne started the season dreadfully, winning just once in their first 23 matches in all competitions – quite unbelievably, that one win came against table-topping Rammy in August. However, they’ve picked up some semblance of form in late December, and are now just two points behind safety and Squires Gate, and six behind fellow strugglers Pilkington.
With Colne off the foot of the division, its Prestwich Heys who now prop up the rest of the teams in the NWCFL Prem. Heys started the season under a new manager, but things were deemed to not be working out and they have since appointed former assistant gaffer Ryan Hutchinson to the helm. His tenure started poorly, but right at the turn of 2024 into 2025, Heys have won two from four, which is progress, if nothing else. If both Heys and Colne can continue to find what it is that’s helped them win some important matches recently, the handful of teams just above them might not feel so safe come the end of the season.
One more thing to address from the 2024/25 campaign from the last calendar year is Cup Competitions. Whilst a handful of NWCFL outfits are making waves in their local competitions, just as Colne did last time around, there’s still an NWCFL Premier Division flag-flyer left in the Isuzu FA Vase. West Didsbury and Chorlton, who earlier made it to the second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup, have knocked off Stockport Town; Ryton and Crawcrook Albion; and Silsden, all on their way to a 4th round Vase clash away at North Shields, that was unfortunately postponed this weekend. We’ll be keeping a close eye on that and hope you reading this might be too.
As another year goes by, there’s been another wheelbarrow full of headline moments from the North West Counties Football League, Premier Division. We expect more of the same in 2025, and hope that everyone reading this had a great Christmas and Holiday season, and gets the best out of 2025!
NWCFL: Year Review, 2024 – Premier Division
Sun 12th January 2025 | A Look Back
By Jay Cooper
We’re at the end of the first full week of 2025 – already! 2024 is officially in the record books, so let’s take our annual look back at how each of the three divisions from the NWCFL have changed over the past 12 months.
This article will focus solely on the Premier Division.
Cast your minds back to January 2024. There was a three-horse title race underway that was unpredictable at the time and would stay that way right until the bitter end. All of Bury (in their first full season under their old name again), Wythenshawe FC (in their first season having dropped the “Amateurs” from their name), and Wythenshawe Town (no name change) were vying for top spot.
The Shakers were initially meant to host Wythenshawe FC in a six-pointer at the top of the table in January, but one other thing you must remember from early 2024 was the absolutely horrific weather that non-league football around the country had to contend with on a weekly basis. Games were postponed and rearranged left, right and centre for waterlogged or frozen pitches, and the showdown between Bury and Wythenshawe would have to wait until March 30th.
By that time, the divide between the top three and the rest of the chasing pack had grown bigger, and Bury thought they had the match won to put themselves in the driving seat, but Wythenshawe equalised with a 98th minute penalty from Bryan Ly – a name Bury fans would have to get used to.
Mere days later, on April 1st, the two Wythenshawe teams went at it in another vital game at Town’s Ericstan Park. There would be no outrageously late theatrics to save the Ammies this time, as Town won 2-1 thanks to an 85th minute Thomas Bentham goal. From there, the two rivals essentially matched one another’s results right up until the final day, April 20th, which both teams began on 92 points. Wythenshawe FC were in front on goal difference, and knew a win would confirm them as champions of the Premier Division at the first time of asking.
Wythenshawe Town held up their end of the deal to usurp their rivals, hammering already-relegated Skelmersdale United (more on them soon) 3-0, but Wythenshawe FC were not to be denied away at Squires Gate, winning 3-0 themselves and clinching the title on goal difference. Bury, beginning the final day on 91 points, still had an outside chance to upset the odds and steal the title, but finished the season three points behind their two title rivals in the end, having drawn 0-0 with Ramsbottom United.
With that decided, how did the play-off picture look?
For the first time ever, the NWCFL Premier Division adopted a play-off format equivalent to the First Divisions North and South. The previous method saw just the team that finished second place compete with a team from Step 4 that had been given a lifeline to save themselves, similar to how things work in the upper tiers of German football. Now, promotion would be instead decided as it is at EFL level – teams finishing 2nd through 5th would have the opportunity to advance up the leagues in a semi-final/final tournament. And there was quite a handful of teams waiting for this opportunity as 2023 became 2024.
Of course, two of the three sides that did not win the league despite their best efforts, Bury and Wythenshawe Town, would inevitably take two of the four available spots in the play-offs, but who the other two sides would be that they would compete with was a mystery right up until the final day, and even beyond.
As the final week in April came upon us, Padiham, Kendal Town, Chadderton and Prestwich Heys made up places 4-7 in the Premier Division, and they all played their last matches of the season on the 20th. With that in mind, despite coming so close, both Chadderton and Prestwich were out – there was seldom they could do with no games left to play. Similarly, Padiham were definitely in – aside from a points deduction of some kind, nothing could happen in the ensuing week that would change their fate.
The unanswered question surrounded Kendal Town. Having no games of their own left to play, the Cumbria-based side would have no choice but to sit and wait for the one outlier of this story to attempt mission impossible. Charnock Richard were hit harder than most by match postponements throughout the start of the calendar year, and found themselves with four games in hand on the majority of the league after April 20th. Sitting 11 points behind the play-off places at the time, the goal was clear – win all their remaining games.
First was Irlam at home, on April 22nd, and Charnock smashed them 5-1 to get off to the best possible start. No rest for the weary, as challenge number two was the next night away to Barnoldswick Town. Two players who hadn’t scored against Irlam, Luke Power and Charles Duke, did exactly that against Barlick, and Charnock won 2-0 to keep hope alive.
Next was Colne, two days later, again away from home for Ryan Donnellan’s team. It was close, but Luke Power powered home with less than 10 minutes to go to confirm a 1-0 win. This all led to Saturday, April 27th – one more win, and they’d done it. Pilkington were the visitors to Mossie Park, and a Ross O’Farrell brace secured a 2-0 win for Charnock, and a chance at promotion. Condolences to Kendal Town, who were bumped out of the top six as a result, but Charnock had done the improbable.
The play-off semi-finals were both tense affairs, and both ended in 1-0 home victories. Seedings are determined based on league position, and the higher the seed, the likelier you were to get a home game. That is exactly what happened for both Wythenshawe Town (2nd) and Bury (3rd), with the former knocking off Padiham, and the latter undoing all of Charnock Richard’s hard work.
And so, the final was set – Wythenshawe Town VS Bury. The two best of the rest, battling for a second bite at the promotion cherry. Wythy’s Ericstan Park was the venue of choice, and they took advantage of being on home soil to lead the match after 52 minutes via Sam Sheridan. It was a lead they’d hold for half an hour, before Dean Pinnington equalised for Bury, and the game went beyond the full-time whistle and into a penalty shootout. What followed was a shootout that, let’s be honest, was really lacking in quality penalty attempts, but never lost any tension. It would eventually be Wythenshawe Town who won the shootout 3-2, and won the promotion play-offs as a result.
With the top six sewn up, the only real question left to answer from the NWCFL Premier Division as 2023/24 came to a close was, how were things looking at the bottom of the table? From 6th placed Kendal Town right down to 18th placed new arrivals Ramsbottom United, sides had little to fret about. However, from 19th placed Longridge Town on down, there was a mere two points between five teams to get to second-bottom Squires Gate. As interesting and subject-to-change as that sounds on paper, this is a 24-team league, the 24th spot in the table was occupied for 99% of the season by Skelmersdale United.
Skem had only just returned to the NWCFL after competing in the NPL Division One West the season earlier, and were relegated for admin reasons, rather than because they finished in the bottom four. With the majority of their NPL-quality players and behind-the-scenes staff members leaving for pastures new over the summer in 2023, they came into the new season with a serious disadvantage that was difficult to recover from.
Not that they didn’t try. One of the stories of the year came about with Skem’s astonishing decision to hire former France international and Tottenham Hotspur defender Pascal Chimbonda to his first ever managerial post. The Skembonda train had left the station in late 2023, and it was certainly headline-grabbing, but this train was subject to a handful of derailments during the first half of 2024, most notably a 10-1 defeat away at Bury in late January.
In April, Skem were inevitably condemned to playing Step 6 football in 2024/25, suffering their second successive relegation, and finishing 10 points behind Squires Gate by the end. They’d broken no notable unwanted records of any kind during a forgettable season, and had in no way embarrassed themselves, but the decision was made in May to cut Chimbonda loose and rebuild ahead of a new season in the First Division North.
Before we get to that new season, there was another few triumphs worth shining a light on involving an NWCFL side. Firstly, Colne, who were relegated to the NWCFL from the NPL pyramid alongside Skem, Ramsbottom United and Glossop North End ahead of 2023/24, finished a respectable 11th place in the table upon their return, but found plenty more success in their local cup competition.
Fighting through to the Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy final, which took place on the last day of April, Colne had the fierce task of fighting off NPL Premier Division side Bamber Bridge in a final at Leyland’s LFA County Ground. Despite being the underdogs on paper, Colne roared back from a 2-0 deficit at half time to batter their opponents 5-2 and lift the trophy!
In even more NWCFL-centric cup news, May 11th saw the Macron Cup Final contested between Barnoldswick Town and Chadderton, in a game that would officially put the cap on the 2023/24 campaign. Andrew Hill and Luke Stowe for Barlick scored one after the other like machine gun fire just before the half hour mark, and Oliver Roberts put the gloss on the scoreline to help Steve Pickup’s side to a 3-0 win. Barnoldswick Town won the Macron Cup for the first time in their history at Accrington Stanley’s Wham Stadium.
As is expected with the off-season of the NWCFL, there was admin a plenty. Teams left; teams arrived; teams weren’t happy with their re-allocations by the FA and requested to be put back where they originally were; those claims were denied; etc. On their way out of the door from the NWCFL Premier Division were both Wythenshawe outfits, having earned promotion to the NPL; Skelmersdale United, relegated to the First Division North; and Kendal Town, laterally moved to the Northern League Division One.
In terms of the new arrivals to the league, all were for celebratory reasons. In the Prem, there were no movements unwanted by teams into the division, and there were no relegations from the league above that saw sides join the NWCFL. Instead, four promoted sides would have their day to prove themselves – First Division North winners FC St Helens; First Division North play-off winners South Liverpool; First Division South play-off winners Abbey Hey; and always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Stockport Town, who’s PPG average in recent seasons in the South was good enough to see some league reshuffling grant them promotion to the Prem after two years of near-misses.
Since the season began in August, all four of those names have done well. With the year now at its end, all of FC St Helens, Stockport Town and Abbey Hey are sitting in mid-table, between 8th and 13th at the time of writing. South Liverpool are currently 20th – a bit more precarious, but they remain nine points clear of relegation. So, how is everyone else doing?
Expectedly, sniffing around the top of the table are Bury, spearheaded by their marquee summer arrival, Bryan Ly, from Wythenshawe FC. The Shakers started the new campaign by going on an unbeaten run in the league that lasted from the seasons’ start in late July right up until a clash with Lower Breck towards the end of November. They’re currently second in the table at the time of writing, behind Ramsbottom United. Rammy took a year to readjust to life in the NWCFL in 2023/24, but they’re firing on all cylinders this season, and have been top of the table more often than they haven’t so far in 2024/25. Steve Wilkes has overseen his side notch some impressive victories, including 6-0 against Burscough, and 5-0 against Prestwich Heys.
Arguably a step behind the top two, but still very much in the promotion conversation are the likes of Chadderton and Lower Breck, currently more comfortable in the play-off places than 5th placed West Didsbury and Chorlton. West are one of three teams, alongside Breck, who’ve beaten Bury this season, but they don’t get bonus points for that, and are currently only three points clear of last season’s play-off competitors Padiham; and four points clear of all of Irlam, FC St Helens and FC Isle of Man. With there being at least 15 games yet to play this league season as of now, this promotion race will get hotter and hotter.
Towards the tail end of the division, things look a little more cut and dry on paper, but football is still a fickle game. As mentioned, fifth-bottom South Liverpool are currently nine points clear of safety, with Colne currently second bottom. Colne started the season dreadfully, winning just once in their first 23 matches in all competitions – quite unbelievably, that one win came against table-topping Rammy in August. However, they’ve picked up some semblance of form in late December, and are now just two points behind safety and Squires Gate, and six behind fellow strugglers Pilkington.
With Colne off the foot of the division, its Prestwich Heys who now prop up the rest of the teams in the NWCFL Prem. Heys started the season under a new manager, but things were deemed to not be working out and they have since appointed former assistant gaffer Ryan Hutchinson to the helm. His tenure started poorly, but right at the turn of 2024 into 2025, Heys have won two from four, which is progress, if nothing else. If both Heys and Colne can continue to find what it is that’s helped them win some important matches recently, the handful of teams just above them might not feel so safe come the end of the season.
One more thing to address from the 2024/25 campaign from the last calendar year is Cup Competitions. Whilst a handful of NWCFL outfits are making waves in their local competitions, just as Colne did last time around, there’s still an NWCFL Premier Division flag-flyer left in the Isuzu FA Vase. West Didsbury and Chorlton, who earlier made it to the second qualifying round of the Emirates FA Cup, have knocked off Stockport Town; Ryton and Crawcrook Albion; and Silsden, all on their way to a 4th round Vase clash away at North Shields, that was unfortunately postponed this weekend. We’ll be keeping a close eye on that and hope you reading this might be too.
As another year goes by, there’s been another wheelbarrow full of headline moments from the North West Counties Football League, Premier Division. We expect more of the same in 2025, and hope that everyone reading this had a great Christmas and Holiday season, and gets the best out of 2025!
