2016–17 Northern Football League

The 2016–17 season was the 119th in the history of Northern Football League, a football competition in England. The league has operated two divisions in the English football league system, Division One at step 5, and Division Two at step 6.

Division One

Northern Football League
Division One

Season	2016–17
Champions	South Shields
Promoted	South Shields
Relegated	Chester-le-Street Town West Allotment Celtic
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,880 (4.07 per match)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Division One featured 19 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs, promoted from Division Two:

• Chester-le-Street Town
• Ryhope Colliery Welfare
• South Shields

Two teams – Bishop Auckland and South Shields applied for promotion to step 4 for the 2017–18 season.^[1]

Division One table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	South Shields	42	34	6	2	127	35	+92	108	Promoted to the Northern Premier League
2	Morpeth Town	42	32	5	5	136	56	+80	101
3	North Shields	42	32	5	5	107	39	+68	101
4	Shildon	42	29	7	6	112	52	+60	94
5	Marske United	42	22	6	14	103	75	+28	72
6	Whitley Bay	42	19	13	10	88	70	+18	70
7	Consett	42	19	8	15	105	81	+24	65
8	Bishop Auckland	42	18	10	14	88	67	+21	64
9	Newton Aycliffe	42	19	7	16	78	76	+2	64
10	Newcastle Benfield	42	16	10	16	101	71	+30	58
11	Sunderland RCA	42	16	9	17	85	79	+6	57
12	Penrith	42	17	6	19	67	89	−22	57
13	Jarrow Roofing BCA	42	14	12	16	83	90	−7	54
14	Seaham Red Star	42	15	6	21	78	81	−3	51
15	Dunston UTS	42	14	6	22	77	96	−19	48
16	Ashington	42	13	8	21	73	90	−17	47
17	Ryhope Colliery Welfare	42	11	10	21	82	129	−47	43
18	West Auckland Town	42	11	3	28	60	120	−60	36
19	Washington	42	10	5	27	67	111	−44	35
20	Guisborough Town	42	10	7	25	70	124	−54	34[a]
21	Chester-le-Street Town	42	6	5	31	51	127	−76	23	Relegated to Division Two
22	West Allotment Celtic	42	6	4	32	42	122	−80	22

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results ^[3]
Notes:

1. On 2 October Guisborough Town have been deducted 3 points for fielding an ineligible player.^[2]

Division Two

Northern Football League
Division Two

Season	2016–17
Champions	Stockton Town
Promoted	Billingham Synthonia Stockton Town Team Northumbria
Matches played	420
Goals scored	1,554 (3.7 per match)
← 2015–16 2017–18 →

Division Two featured 17 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with five new clubs:

• Bedlington Terriers, relegated from Division One
• Blyth Town, promoted from the Northern Football Alliance
• Durham City, relegated from Division One
• Norton & Stockton Ancients, relegated from Division One
• Stockton Town, promoted from the Wearside League

Division Two table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion
1	Stockton Town	40	28	9	3	111	37	+74	93	Promoted to Division One
2	Team Northumbria	40	28	5	7	98	37	+61	89
3	Billingham Synthonia	40	26	8	6	89	37	+52	86
4	Heaton Stannington	40	25	4	11	87	44	+43	79
5	Billingham Town	40	23	9	8	109	42	+67	78
6	Whickham	40	20	9	11	83	51	+32	69
7	Easington Colliery	40	20	9	11	84	61	+23	69
8	Blyth Town	40	20	8	12	96	56	+40	68
9	Northallerton Town	40	17	11	12	90	68	+22	62
10	Durham City	40	18	7	15	73	63	+10	61
11	Hebburn Town	40	18	7	15	57	59	−2	61
12	Bedlington Terriers	40	16	6	18	76	90	−14	54
13	Tow Law Town	40	15	8	17	68	66	+2	53
14	Brandon United	40	9	10	21	46	89	−43	37
15	Alnwick Town	40	10	6	24	72	113	−41	36
16	Thornaby	40	9	7	24	55	102	−47	34
17	Crook Town	40	10	4	26	60	115	−55	34
18	Willington	40	9	5	26	40	94	−54	32
19	Darlington Railway Athletic	40	9	4	27	61	126	−65	31
20	Ryton & Crawcrook Albion	40	7	9	24	46	93	−47	30
21	Esh Winning	40	7	7	26	53	111	−58	28
22	Norton & Stockton Ancients[a]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	Resigned from the league

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results ^[3]
Notes:

1. Norton & Stockton Ancients withdrew from the league on 9 December, club record W=9 D=1 L=8 GF=38 GA=33 expunged.^[4]