| Season | 1986–87 |
|---|---|
| Champions | Macclesfield Town |
| Promoted | Macclesfield Town |
| Relegated | none |
| Matches | 462 |
| Goals | 1,349 (2.92 per match) |
1987–88 → | |
The1986–87 Northern Premier League season was the 19th in the history of theNorthern Premier League, afootball competition inEngland.It was the last Northern Premier League season, consisting of a single division, as before the next season 19 clubs joined the league and formed a new Division One.
The League featured twenty-two clubs.
The following club left the League at the end of the previous season:
The following club joined the League at the start of the season:
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Macclesfield Town(C, P) | 42 | 26 | 10 | 6 | 80 | 47 | +33 | 88 | Promoted toFootball Conference |
| 2 | Bangor City | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 74 | 35 | +39 | 87 | |
| 3 | Caernarfon Town | 42 | 20 | 16 | 6 | 67 | 40 | +27 | 76 | |
| 4 | Marine | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 70 | 43 | +27 | 73 | |
| 5 | South Liverpool | 42 | 21 | 10 | 11 | 58 | 40 | +18 | 73 | |
| 6 | Morecambe | 42 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 66 | 49 | +17 | 72 | |
| 7 | Matlock Town | 42 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 81 | 67 | +14 | 70 | |
| 8 | Southport | 42 | 19 | 11 | 12 | 67 | 49 | +18 | 68 | |
| 9 | Chorley | 42 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 58 | 59 | −1 | 60 | |
| 10 | Mossley | 42 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 57 | 52 | +5 | 57 | |
| 11 | Hyde United | 42 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 81 | 70 | +11 | 55 | |
| 12 | Burton Albion | 42 | 16 | 6 | 20 | 56 | 68 | −12 | 54 | Transferred toSouthern League Premier Division |
| 13 | Buxton | 42 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 71 | 68 | +3 | 53 | |
| 14 | Witton Albion | 42 | 15 | 8 | 19 | 68 | 79 | −11 | 53 | |
| 15 | Barrow | 42 | 15 | 7 | 20 | 42 | 57 | −15 | 52 | |
| 16 | Goole Town | 42 | 13 | 12 | 17 | 58 | 62 | −4 | 51 | |
| 17 | Oswestry Town | 42 | 14 | 8 | 20 | 55 | 83 | −28 | 50 | |
| 18 | Rhyl | 42 | 10 | 15 | 17 | 56 | 74 | −18 | 45 | |
| 19 | Worksop Town | 42 | 9 | 13 | 20 | 56 | 74 | −18 | 40 | |
| 20 | Gainsborough Trinity | 42 | 9 | 10 | 23 | 53 | 77 | −24 | 37 | |
| 21 | Workington | 42 | 5 | 14 | 23 | 38 | 70 | −32 | 28[a] | |
| 22 | Horwich RMI | 42 | 3 | 12 | 27 | 36 | 85 | −49 | 20[a] |
| Home \ Away | BAN | BRW | BRT | BUX | CNR | CHO | GAI | GOO | HOR | HYD | MAC | MAR | MAT | MOR | MOS | OSW | RHL | SLI | SOU | WTN | WRK | WKS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bangor City | 0–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 5–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–1 | 3–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | |
| Barrow | 0–0 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 3–0 | 0–4 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 4–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Burton Albion | 3–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–1 | 0–2 | 0–5 | 0–2 | 4–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 5–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | |
| Buxton | 4–4 | 0–0 | 5–3 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 2–3 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 4–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–3 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 1–3 | |
| Caernarfon Town | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 3–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | |
| Chorley | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 | 0–0 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 3–0 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2–0 | |
| Gainsborough Trinity | 0–5 | 2–0 | 1–4 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | |
| Goole Town | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 0–3 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 0–3 | |
| Horwich RMI | 0–0 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–4 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 2–4 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–2 | |
| Hyde United | 3–0 | 6–1 | 2–1 | 2–5 | 1–3 | 6–0 | 1–1 | 3–5 | 5–0 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 7–0 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 5–2 | |
| Macclesfield Town | 4–3 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 4–1 | 2–2 | 3–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2–0 | |
| Marine | 1–2 | 4–1 | 4–0 | 4–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 1–2 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 5–0 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | |
| Matlock Town | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 2–1 | 2–0 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 4–0 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 5–1 | 2–1 | 2–3 | |
| Morecambe | 1–1 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 1–0 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 2–1 | 1–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 | |
| Mossley | 1–1 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 0–4 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 4–1 | 2–0 | 0–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 4–1 | 0–0 | 3–2 | |
| Oswestry Town | 2–3 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 2–4 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 5–1 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 1–2 | 3–3 | 0–3 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 2–4 | 4–3 | 1–0 | |
| Rhyl | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 4–3 | 2–4 | 6–2 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 4–1 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–0 | |
| South Liverpool | 0–1 | 1–0 | 2–3 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–4 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 4–1 | 1–0 | 4–2 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 2–0 | |
| Southport | 0–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 0–0 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 2–2 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 4–0 | 2–0 | 4–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | |
| Witton Albion | 0–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 5–1 | 1–1 | 2–3 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 1–0 | 3–1 | 4–2 | |
| Workington | 0–1 | 2–0 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 0–0 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 2–5 | 0–1 | 0–0 | 0–3 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 3–1 | 1–1 | 3–3 | 1–1 | 2–1 | |
| Worksop Town | 1–1 | 2–2 | 3–3 | 3–3 | 2–2 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 4–2 | 4–2 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 3–1 | 0–1 | 1–2 | 1–2 | 0–0 | 0–0 | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 |
Northern Premier League Shield: Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.
1 As Macclesfield Town won both the Northern Premier League and the Presidents cup, Bangor City qualified as 2nd placed team of the NPL.
At the end of the nineteenth season of theNorthern Premier League, Macclesfield Town applied to join theFootball Conference and were successful.
The following two clubs left the League at the end of the season:
The following two clubs joined the League the following season:
From the next season, the Northern Premier League was expanded to include aDivision One, with 19 clubs.