1985–86 Northern Counties East Football League

The 1985–86 Northern Counties East Football League season was the 4th in the history of Northern Counties East Football League, a football competition in England.

At the end of the previous season divisions One North, One Central and One South was reorganised. The clubs were distributed between newly formed divisions One, Two and Three.

Division Three was disbanded at the end of the season. Most of the Division Three clubs were promoted to Division Two.

Premier Division

Northern Counties East
Football League
Premier Division

Season	1985–86
Champions	Arnold
Matches played	380
Goals scored	1,181 (3.11 per match)
← 1984–85 1986–87 →

The Premier Division featured 17 clubs which competed in the previous season, along with three new clubs:

• Armthorpe Welfare, promoted from Division One Central
• Farsley Celtic, promoted from Division One North
• Long Eaton United, promoted from Division One South

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Arnold	38	24	8	6	83	36	+47	79[a]	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
2	Emley	38	22	11	5	77	47	+30	77
3	Guiseley	38	22	6	10	81	52	+29	72
4	Long Eaton United	38	19	11	8	70	39	+31	68
5	Eastwood Town	38	21	5	12	73	62	+11	67[a]
6	Alfreton Town	38	21	2	15	66	47	+19	65
7	Sutton Town	38	18	6	14	69	57	+12	60
8	Farsley Celtic	38	14	12	12	71	55	+16	54
9	Belper Town	38	15	9	14	54	45	+9	54
10	Thackley	38	14	11	13	52	58	−6	53
11	Denaby United	38	13	14	11	63	56	+7	52[a]
12	Pontefract Collieries	38	15	7	16	55	54	+1	52
13	Armthorpe Welfare	38	15	7	16	57	58	−1	52
14	Bentley Victoria Welfare	38	12	11	15	61	65	−4	47
15	Heanor Town	38	11	9	18	61	69	−8	41[a]	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
16	Spalding United	38	9	12	17	41	62	−21	39	Transferred to the United Counties League
17	Boston	38	10	6	22	42	79	−37	36
18	Appleby Frodingham	38	6	12	20	40	83	−43	30	Club folded
19	Bridlington Trinity	38	4	14	20	34	85	−51	26
20	Ilkeston Town	38	5	7	26	31	72	−41	22	Resigned to the Central Midlands League

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Arnold, Eastwood Town, Denaby United and Heanor Town were deducted 1 point.

Map

Appleby Frodingham

Armthorpe Welfare

Bentley Victoria Welfare

Bridlington Trinity

Denaby United

Emley

Farsley Celtic

Guiseley

Pontefract Collieries

Thackley

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Premier Division on a map of Yorkshire and the Humber

Alfreton Town

Arnold

Belper Town

Boston

ET

HT

Ilkeston Town

Long Eaton United

Spalding United

Sutton Town

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Premier Division on a map of the East Midlands (ET = Eastwood Town, HT = Heanor Town)

Division One

Northern Counties East
Football League
Division One

Season	1985–86
Champions	North Ferriby United
Promoted	Bridlington Town Brigg Town Harrogate Town North Ferriby United
Matches played	240
Goals scored	795 (3.31 per match)
← 1984–85 (One North) 1984–85 (One Central) 1984–85 (One South) 1986–87 →

At the end of the previous season divisions One North, One South and One Central was reorganised. The clubs were distributed between newly formed divisions One, Two and Three. Division One consisted of 16 clubs.

• Clubs transferred from Division One North:
  • Bradley Rangers
  • Bridlington Town
  • Harrogate Railway Athletic
  • Harrogate Town
  • North Ferriby United
  • Rowntree Mackintosh
• Clubs transferred from Division One Central:
  • Brigg Town
  • Hatfield Main
  • Ossett Albion
  • Pilkington Recreation
  • Woolley Miners Welfare
• Clubs transferred from Division One South:
  • Borrowash Victoria
  • Dronfield United
  • Harworth Colliery Institute
  • Sheffield
• Plus:
  • Mexborough Town Athletic, relegated from the Premier Division

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	North Ferriby United	30	18	5	7	54	31	+23	59	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Sheffield	30	16	8	6	54	39	+15	56
3	Harrogate Town	30	16	6	8	65	42	+23	54	Promoted to the Premier Division
4	Rowntree Mackintosh	30	16	5	9	67	45	+22	53
5	Ossett Albion	30	13	11	6	54	39	+15	50
6	Bridlington Town	30	11	13	6	49	41	+8	46	Promoted to the Premier Division
7	Borrowash Victoria	30	12	10	8	53	48	+5	46	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
8	Harworth Colliery Institute	30	12	6	12	51	50	+1	42
9	Woolley Miners Welfare	30	12	7	11	59	59	0	42[a]
10	Bradley Rangers	30	12	4	14	51	51	0	40
11	Hatfield Main	30	8	13	9	57	43	+14	37
12	Brigg Town	30	8	8	14	31	42	−11	32	Promoted to the Premier Division
13	Mexborough Town Athletic	30	8	7	15	39	68	−29	30[a]
14	Harrogate Railway Athletic	30	6	6	18	47	70	−23	23[a]
15	Dronfield United	30	6	6	18	32	61	−29	23[a]
16	Pilkington Recreation	30	4	9	17	32	66	−34	21

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Woolley Miners Welfare, Mexborough Town Athletic, Harrogate Railway Athletic and Dronfield United were deducted 1 point.

Map

Bradley Rangers

Bridlington Town

Brigg Town

Harrogate Railway Athletic

Harrogate Town

Hatfield Main

Mexborough Town Athletic

North Ferriby

Ossett Albion

Pilkington Recreation

Rowntree Mackintosh

Sheffield

Woolley Miners Welfare

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division One on a map of Yorkshire and the Humber

Borrowash Victoria

Dronfield United

Harworth Colliery Institute

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division One on a map of the East Midlands

Division Two

Northern Counties East
Football League
Division Two

Season	1985–86
Champions	Lincoln United
Promoted	Garforth Town York Railway Institute Hallam Staveley Works Maltby Miners Welfare Grimethorpe Miners Welfare Kiveton Park BSC Parkgate
Matches played	240
Goals scored	755 (3.15 per match)
← 1984–85 (One North) 1984–85 (One Central) 1984–85 (One South) 1986–87 →

At the end of the previous season divisions One North, One South and One Central was reorganised. The clubs were distributed between newly formed divisions One, Two and Three. Division Two consisted of 16 clubs.

• Clubs transferred from Division One North:
  • Garforth Miners, who also changed name to Garforth Town
  • Liversedge
  • Pickering Town
  • York Railway Institute
• Clubs transferred from Division One Central:
  • Grimethorpe Miners Welfare
  • Maltby Miners Welfare
  • Ossett Town
  • BSC Parkgate
  • Thorne Colliery
  • Yorkshire Main
• Clubs transferred from Division One South:
  • Arnold Kingswell
  • Frecheville Community
  • Hallam
  • Kiveton Park
  • Lincoln United
  • Staveley Works

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Lincoln United	30	20	5	5	73	29	+44	65	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
2	Garforth Town	30	20	4	6	66	29	+37	64	Promoted to Division One
3	York Railway Institute	30	17	5	8	58	39	+19	56
4	Staveley Works	30	17	4	9	52	33	+19	55
5	Hallam	30	15	2	13	48	42	+6	47
6	Maltby Miners Welfare	30	12	7	11	44	48	−4	43
7	Grimethorpe Miners Welfare	30	12	7	11	50	48	+2	42[a]
8	Kiveton Park	30	11	6	13	42	48	−6	39
9	BSC Parkgate	30	11	7	12	43	50	−7	39[b]
10	Liversedge	30	11	5	14	46	56	−10	38
11	Frecheville Community Association	30	9	8	13	43	61	−18	35
12	Arnold Kingswell	30	10	4	16	48	57	−9	34	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
13	Yorkshire Main	30	10	5	15	38	53	−15	34[b]
14	Ossett Town	30	8	7	15	40	53	−13	31
15	Pickering Town	30	5	10	15	33	52	−19	24[b]
16	Thorne Colliery	30	7	4	19	31	57	−26	24[b]	Resigned to the Doncaster & District Senior League

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Grimethorpe Miners Welfare were deducted 3 points.
2. BSC Parkgate, Yorkshire Main, Pickering Town, Thorne Colliery were deducted 1 point.

Map

Frecheville CA

Garforth Town

Grimethorpe Miners Welfare

Hallam

Kiveton Park

Liversedge

Maltby MW

Ossett Town

BSC Parkgate

Pickering Town

Thorne Colliery

York Railway Institute

Yorkshire Main

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division Two on a map of Yorkshire and the Humber

Arnold Kingswell

Lincoln United

Staveley Works

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division Two on a map of the East Midlands

Division Three

Northern Counties East
Football League
Division Three

Season	1985–86
Champions	Collingham
Promoted	11 clubs
Matches played	182
Goals scored	586 (3.22 per match)
← 1984–85 (One North) 1984–85 (One Central) 1984–85 (One South)

At the end of the previous season divisions One North, One South and One Central was reorganised. The clubs were distributed between newly formed divisions One, Two and Three. Division Three consisted of 14 clubs.

• Clubs transferred from Division One North:
  • Collingham
  • Hall Road Rangers
  • Selby Town
  • Tadcaster Albion
  • Yorkshire Amateur
• Clubs transferred from Division One Central:
  • Fryston Colliery Welfare
  • Stocksbridge Works
  • Wombwell Sporting Association
  • Worsbrough Bridge Miners Welfare
• Clubs transferred from Division One South:
  • Graham Street Prims
  • Kimberley Town
  • Oakham United

• Plus:
  • Eccleshill United, joined from the West Riding County Amateur Football League
  • Glasshoughton Welfare, joined from the West Yorkshire Association Football League

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Collingham	26	16	7	3	66	23	+43	55	Promoted to Division Two
2	Worsbrough Bridge Miners Welfare	26	14	5	7	60	32	+28	47
3	Eccleshill United	26	13	6	7	43	34	+9	45
4	Glasshoughton Welfare	26	12	7	7	42	33	+9	43
5	Yorkshire Amateur	26	11	10	5	38	29	+9	42[a]
6	Hall Road Rangers	26	9	9	8	37	33	+4	36
7	Oakham United	26	10	6	10	38	35	+3	36	Resigned to the Central Midlands League
8	Graham Street Prims	26	10	5	11	43	41	+2	35
9	Tadcaster Albion	26	9	7	10	44	39	+5	34	Promoted to Division Two
10	Stocksbridge Works	26	9	6	11	42	43	−1	33
11	Selby Town	26	8	7	11	47	59	−12	31
12	Fryston Colliery Welfare	26	5	6	15	32	72	−40	21
13	Wombwell Sporting Association	26	6	5	15	28	49	−21	20[b]
14	Kimberley Town	26	4	6	16	26	64	−38	18	Resigned to the Central Midlands League

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.
Notes:

1. Yorkshire Amateur were deducted 1 point.
2. Wombwell Sporting Association were deducted 3 points.

Collingham

Eccleshill United

Fryston Colliery Welfare

Glasshoughton Welfare

Hall Road Rangers

Selby Town

Stocksbridge Works

Tadcaster Albion

Wombwell SA

Worsbrough Bridge Athletic

Yorkshire Amateur

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division Three on a map of Yorkshire and the Humber

Graham Street Prims

Kimberley Town

Oakham United

Location of the clubs in the 1985–86 NCEL Division Three on a map of the East Midlands