Having survived earlier ‘storms’, the NCEL entered the next phase of its life with hopes for peace, calm, stability and, most of all, an improving standard of football.  While the last of these was undoubtedly achieved, there were more problems in the years after 1988, with the competition taking its present shape following another crop of departures.  One of the major features was the entry of sides from the Northern League seeking to move up the Non-League Pyramid, while another was the revival of one of Yorkshire’s ‘sleeping giants’ under a new, but recognisable name.

 

1988-1989

 

Premier Division

 

1	Emley	32	25	5	2	80	18	80
2	Hatfield Main	32	21	9	2	67	24	72
3	Bridlington Town	32	21	5	6	67	26	68
4	North Ferriby United	32	17	9	6	63	31	60
5	Guiseley	32	16	10	6	50	27	58
6	Denaby United	32	13	7	12	52	50	46
7	Pontefract Collieries	32	10	11	11	37	34	41
8	Harrogate Railway Athletic	32	10	11	11	41	43	41
9	Thackley	32	11	6	15	43	59	39
10	Belper Town	32	9	10	13	45	51	37
11	Armthorpe Welfare	32	9	9	14	44	60	36
12	Hallam	32	9	5	18	47	77	32
13	Long Eaton United	32	8	7	17	32	54	31
14	Brigg Town	32	8	7	17	43	66	31
15	Grimethorpe MW	32	8	5	19	38	59	29
16	Bridlington Trinity	32	6	7	19	40	72	25
17	Ossett Albion	32	5	9	18	33	71	24
		544	206	132	206	822	822

 

Emley left to join the Northern Premier league and Long Eaton United departed to join the Central Midlands League.  Sutton Town, relegated from the NPL, joined the Premier Division, as did North Shields from the Northern League.  There was no relegation.

 

Division 1

 

1	Sheffield	30	21	5	4	76	25	68
2	Rowntree Mackintosh	30	18	6	6	68	36	60
3	Woolley Miners’ Welfare	30	16	11	3	49	28	59
4	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	30	17	5	8	68	38	56
5	Pickering Town	30	16	4	10	58	54	52
6	Garforth Town	30	15	5	10	56	34	50
7	Eccleshill United	30	15	4	11	47	39	49
8	Collingham	30	14	5	11	38	30	47
9	Immingham Town	30	12	10	8	39	31	46
10	Kiveton Park	30	11	1	18	30	44	34
11	Mexborough Town Athletic	30	8	7	15	28	40	31
12	Parkgate	30	8	6	16	29	54	30
13	Frechevill CA	30	6	11	13	31	44	29
14	York Railway Institute	30	6	10	14	25	37	28
15	Bradley Rangers	30	6	3	21	22	62	21
16	Pilkington Recreation	30	3	3	24	18	86	12
		480	192	96	192	682	682

 

Sheffield were promoted to the Premier Division.  Bradley Rangers and Pilkington Recreation were relegated.

 

Division 2

 

1	Ossett Town	26	19	3	4	76	17	60
2	Liversedge	26	16	4	6	52	24	52
3	Selby Town	26	15	5	6	54	35	50
4	Worsbrough Bridge MW	26	14	5	7	64	41	47
5	Glasshoughton Welfare	26	14	3	9	52	36	45
6	Dronfield United	26	11	7	8	39	36	40
7	Hall Road rangers	26	10	4	12	44	60	34
8	Yorkshire Main Colliery	26	9	5	12	45	46	32
9	Stocksbridge Park Steels	26	8	6	12	37	52	30
10	Tadcaster Albion	26	8	6	12	30	46	30
11	Winterton Rangers	26	8	6	12	37	63	30
12	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	26	6	8	12	21	43	26
13	Yorkshire Amateur	26	6	3	17	30	55	21
14	Fryston Colliery Welfare	26	3	5	18	23	50	14
		364	147	70	147	604	604

 

Liversedge and Ossett Town were promoted.

 

1989-1990

 

Premier Division

 

1	Bridlington Town	34	22	9	3	72	24	75
2	North Shields	34	21	6	7	63	31	69
3	Denaby United	34	19	5	10	55	40	62
4	Bridlington Trinity	34	18	6	10	82	44	60
5	Harrogate Railway Athletic	34	17	9	8	59	50	60
6	North Ferriby United	34	18	5	11	66	43	59
7	Armthorpe Welfare	34	18	4	12	53	39	58
8	Sutton Town	34	16	9	9	52	38	57
9	Sheffield	34	15	10	9	44	33	55
10	Brigg Town	34	13	7	14	57	50	46
11	Guiseley	34	12	7	15	54	46	43
12	Belper Town	34	11	6	17	39	50	39
13	Pontefract Collieries	34	10	7	17	43	67	37
14	Hallam	34	9	8	17	45	64	35
15	Thackley	34	7	9	18	43	64	30
16	Ossett Albion	34	6	7	21	27	69	25
17	Grimethorpe MW	34	7	3	24	40	90	24
18	Hatfield Main	34	6	5	23	27	79	23
		612	245	122	245	921	921

 

Bridlington Town joined the Northern Premier League, while Bridlington Trinity folded.  The bottom two clubs, Grimethorpe Miners’ Welfare and Hatfield Main were relegated, as were Hallam and Sheffield because of ground grading regulations.  Spennymoor United were admitted to the Premier Division from the Northern League.

 

Division 1

 

1	Rowntree Mackintosh	28	18	7	3	63	23	61
2	Liversedge	28	17	3	8	57	29	54
3	Ossett Town	28	15	9	4	49	22	54
4	Woolley Miners’ Welfare	28	15	5	8	51	33	50
5	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	28	12	11	5	51	29	47
6	Garforth Town	28	13	7	8	42	23	46
7	Eccleshill United	28	11	9	8	50	45	42
8	Kiveton Park	28	13	2	13	35	31	41
9	Immingham Town	28	10	7	11	28	37	37
10	Collingham	28	10	3	15	29	41	33
11	Frecheville CA	28	8	7	13	41	45	31
12	Parkgate	28	7	10	11	33	42	31
13	York Railway Institute	28	9	3	16	34	66	30
14	Pickering Town	28	6	5	17	39	64	23
15	Mexborough Town Athletic	28	1	2	25	17	89	5
		420	165	90	165	619	619

 

Maltby Miners’ Welfare and Ossett Town were promoted because of their ground facilities.  Collingham, Frecheville Community Association and Woolley Miners’ Welfare all withdrew from the NCEL.  Parkgate became R.E.S. Parkgate.  Immingham Town, Kiveton Park and Rowntree Mackintosh were relegated due to ground grading.

 

Division 2

 

1	Winterton Rangers	26	15	6	5	46	28	51
2	Selby Town	26	13	8	5	51	29	47
3	Bradley Rangers	26	12	9	5	48	34	45
4	Fryston Colliery Welfare	26	12	8	6	39	29	44
5	Yorkshire Main Colliery	26	13	3	10	41	46	42
6	Glasshoughton Welfare	26	10	7	9	40	35	37
7	Stocksbridge Park Steels	26	9	9	8	36	28	36
8	Yorkshire Amateur	26	8	9	9	41	34	33
9	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	26	7	11	8	35	41	32
10	Tadcaster Albion	26	8	6	12	31	38	30
11	Worsbrough Bridge MW	26	7	8	11	36	40	29
12	Hall Road Rangers	26	5	9	12	25	47	24
13	Dronfield United	26	5	8	13	30	47	23
14	Pilkington Recreation	26	4	7	15	20	43	19
		364	128	108	128	519	519

 

Winterton Rangers were promoted to the Premier Division.  Selby Town were promoted, on merit, to Division 1.  Glasshoughton Welfare and Yorkshire Main Colliery were also promoted on the basis on their ground facilities.

 

1990-1991

 

Premier Division

 

1	Guiseley	30	24	4	2	78	25	76
2	North Shields	30	23	2	5	75	29	71
3	Spennymoor United	30	19	4	7	55	29	61
4	North Ferriby United	30	14	8	8	55	42	50
5	Brigg Town	30	13	8	9	40	40	47
6	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	30	13	7	10	44	46	46
7	Harrogate Railway Athletic	30	12	9	9	49	40	45
8	Ossett Town	30	10	10	10	42	38	40
9	Armthorpe Welfare	30	10	6	14	52	55	36
10	Winterton Rangers	30	9	9	12	49	65	36
11	Thackley	30	9	7	14	43	46	34
12	Sutton Town	30	9	6	15	53	60	33
13	Belper Town	30	7	10	13	37	52	31
14	Ossett Albion	30	3	12	15	34	51	21
15	Denaby United	30	5	6	19	33	81	21
16	Pontefract Collieries	30	4	4	22	34	74	16
		480	184	112	184	773	773

 

Guiseley moved to the Northern Premier League.  There was no relegation due to the fact that eight clubs from the League’s lower divisions left the competition and this led to the NCEL being reorganised into two divisions, with 19 clubs in the Premier section and 16 clubs in the First section.

 

Division 1

 

1	Sheffield	24	21	1	2	60	16	64
2	Hallam	24	18	1	5	61	27	55
3	Liversedge	24	15	2	7	61	35	47
4	Pickering Town	24	15	2	7	54	41	47
5	Eccleshill United	24	14	2	8	58	36	44
6	Garforth Town	24	11	7	6	45	33	40
7	Selby Town	24	10	3	11	60	41	33
8	Hatfield Main	24	9	5	10	38	42	32
9	R.E.S. Parkgate	24	7	6	11	40	49	27
10	York Railway Institute	24	7	3	14	32	47	24
11	Glasshoughton Welfare	24	4	5	15	18	50	17
12	Yorkshire Main Colliery*	24	2	3	19	16	61	9
13	Mexborough Town Athletic*	24	3	0	21	16	81	9
		312	136	40	136	559	559

 

Grimethorpe Miners’ Welfare left the League on October 20^th and the club’s record was deleted.  At the end of the season two more clubs (*) resigned.  Eccleshill United, Glasshoughton Welfare, Liversedge and Sheffield joined the new Premier Division.

 

Division 2

 

1	Hall Road Rangers	24	15	5	4	42	25	50
2	Worsbrough Bridge MW	24	14	5	5	45	22	47
3	Rowntree Mackintosh*	24	12	8	4	46	25	44
4	Bradley Rangers	24	13	5	6	45	32	44
5	Yorkshire Amateur	24	13	3	8	47	37	42
6	Tadcaster Albion	24	11	3	10	39	34	36
7	Stocksbridge Park Steels	24	9	8	7	41	35	35
8	Fryston Colliery Welfare*	24	9	4	11	44	44	31
9	Immingham Town	24	7	7	10	29	43	28
10	Kiveton Park*	24	7	4	13	30	43	25
11	Dronfield United*	24	5	6	13	29	40	21
12	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	24	4	5	15	25	51	17
13	Pilkington Recreation*	24	3	5	16	25	56	14
		312	122	68	122	487	487

 

At the end of the season five clubs (*) resigned from the Northern Counties (East) League.  Rossington Main were admitted to the new Division 1.

1991-1992

 

Premier Division

 

1	North Shields	36	31	3	2	109	14	96
2	Sutton Town	36	21	9	6	79	41	72
3	Denaby United*	36	22	3	11	78	47	68
4	North Ferriby United	36	19	8	9	63	45	65
5	Spennymoor United	36	17	8	11	61	45	59
6	Sheffield	36	16	9	11	71	48	57
7	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	36	16	8	12	61	61	56
8	Brigg Town	36	15	7	14	44	42	52
9	Thackley	36	14	9	13	45	45	51
10	Ossett Albion	36	14	8	14	40	51	50
11	Belper Town	36	12	11	13	48	50	47
12	Ossett Town	36	11	12	13	48	57	45
13	Armthorpe Welfare	36	12	9	15	57	67	45
14	Liversedge	36	11	8	17	54	72	41
15	Winterton Rangers	36	10	5	21	53	78	35
16	Pontefract Collieries	36	9	7	20	36	71	34
17	Eccleshill United	36	7	10	19	38	83	31
18	Harrogate Railway Athletic	36	5	8	23	31	60	23
19	Glasshoughton Welfare	36	5	8	23	35	74	23
		684	267	150	267	1051	1051

 

* 1 point deducted.  North Shields left the NCEL at the end of the season.  Originally the plan was that the club would join the Northern Premier League, but, unable to give the financial guarantees demanded, North Shields folded, only to be re-formed and admitted to the Wearside League.  Sutton Town became ‘Ashfield United’.  There was no relegation.

 

Division 1

 

1	Stocksbridge Park Steels	30	19	5	6	71	34	62
2	Pickering Town	30	19	4	7	84	46	61
3	Bradley Rangers	30	18	7	5	59	26	61
4	Yorkshire Amateur	30	18	3	9	56	27	57
5	Hallam	30	17	6	7	57	36	57
6	Hall Road Rangers	30	17	5	8	68	36	56
7	Rossington Main	30	13	5	12	44	38	44
8	R.E.S. Parkgate	30	12	5	13	41	59	41
9	Immingham Town	30	12	4	14	48	64	40
10	Worsbrough Bridge MW	30	11	6	13	44	43	39
11	Garforth Town	30	10	5	15	48	44	35
12	Tadcaster Albion	30	8	4	18	37	62	28
13	Selby Town	30	8	4	18	32	67	28
14	York Railway Institute	30	6	7	17	32	77	25
15	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	30	6	6	18	45	72	24
16	Hatfield Main*	30	7	2	21	36	71	22
		480	201	78	201	802	802

 

* 1 point deducted.  Pickering Town and Stocksbridge Park Steels were promoted.  York Railway Institute resigned from the NCEL at the end of the season.  Hucknall Town and Lincoln United were admitted to Division 1 from the Central Midlands League.

 

1992-1993

 

Premier Division

 

1	Spennymoor United	38	26	7	5	102	33	85
2	Pickering Town	38	27	4	7	90	48	85
3	North Ferriby United	38	23	7	8	90	40	76
4	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	38	21	11	6	69	40	74
5	Thackley	38	20	7	11	62	39	67
6	Brigg Town	38	16	14	8	55	39	62
7	Denaby United	38	15	11	12	71	63	56
8	Ossett Albion	38	16	7	15	68	60	55
9	Eccleshill United	38	16	6	16	65	65	54
10	Winterton Rangers	38	14	7	17	61	72	49
11	Ashfield United	38	12	11	15	69	88	47
12	Ossett Town	38	13	7	18	69	71	46
13	Belper Town	38	11	12	15	56	62	45
14	Liversedge	38	12	8	18	56	77	44
15	Sheffield	38	12	6	20	55	70	42
16	Stocksbridge Park Steels	38	10	11	17	54	70	41
17	Pontefract Collieries	38	11	8	19	62	88	41
18	Glasshoughton Welfare	38	9	9	20	46	77	36
19	Armthorpe Welfare	38	8	8	22	49	81	32
20	Harrogate Railway Athletic	38	3	9	26	49	115	18
		760	295	170	295	1298	1298

 

Spennymoor United moved to the Northern Premier League.  Harrogate Railway Athletic were relegated.

 

Division 1

 

1	Lincoln United	26	17	5	4	62	31	56
2	Hucknall Town	26	15	6	5	54	32	51
3	Hallam	26	15	5	6	50	23	50
4	Yorkshire Amateur	26	14	3	9	42	29	45
5	R.E.S. Parkgate	26	12	9	5	39	38	45
6	Tadcaster Albion	26	12	5	9	51	43	41
7	Rossington Main	26	9	7	10	33	31	34
8	Hall Road Rangers	26	9	6	11	48	43	33
9	Garforth Town	26	8	8	10	34	38	32
10	Worsbrough Bridge MW	26	7	8	11	33	48	29
11	Hatfield Main	26	6	6	14	40	63	24
12	Immingham Town	26	5	8	13	38	51	23
13	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	26	6	4	16	41	65	22
14	Selby Town	26	5	4	17	34	64	19
		364	140	84	140	599	599

 

Bradley Rangers failed to fulfil all their fixtures and were expelled from the competition, with their record deleted.  Hucknall Town and Lincoln United were promoted.  Arnold Town and Louth United joined from the Central Midlands League.

 

1993-1994

 

Premier Division

 

1	Stocksbridge Park Steels	38	23	5	10	82	39	74
2	Thackley	38	21	11	6	57	32	74
3	Lincoln United	38	21	9	8	82	44	72
4	Sheffield	38	22	5	11	69	49	71
5	Brigg Town	38	18	8	12	77	54	61
6	Pickering Town	38	17	10	11	76	61	61
7	Maltby Miners’ Welfare	38	18	6	14	77	62	60
8	Ossett Albion	38	16	12	10	73	59	60
9	North Ferriby United	38	18	5	15	57	43	59
10	Armthrope Welfare	38	14	15	9	55	42	57
11	Liversedge	38	17	4	17	63	65	55
12	Glasshoughton Welfare	38	13	11	14	51	58	50
13	Denaby United	38	13	7	18	66	66	46
14	Hucknall Town	38	13	5	20	48	65	44
15	Belper Town	38	12	7	19	57	75	43
16	Ossett Town	38	10	11	17	43	71	41
17	Pontefract Collieries	38	10	10	18	52	71	40
18	Ashfield United	38	9	8	21	50	85	35
19	Eccleshill United	38	8	9	21	44	75	33
20	Winterton Rangers	38	6	4	28	40	103	22
		760	299	162	299	1219	1219

 

Eccleshill United and Winterton Rangers were relegated.

 

Division 1

 

1	Arnold Town	28	20	1	7	88	34	61
2	Hallam	28	18	5	5	64	26	59
3	Louth United	28	17	4	7	72	38	55
4	Hatfield Main	28	17	4	7	61	33	55
5	Yorkshire Amateur	28	16	4	8	51	25	52
6	Garforth Town	28	15	6	7	39	28	51
7	Rossington Main	28	12	4	12	43	47	40
8	Worsbrough Bridge MW	28	11	3	14	49	47	36
9	Harrogate Railway Athletic	28	10	5	13	47	56	35
10	Hall Road Rangers	28	9	6	13	57	63	33
11	Selby Town*	28	10	5	13	44	66	29
12	Tadcaster Albion	28	8	2	18	38	73	26
13	R.E.S. Parkgate	28	6	5	17	43	69	23
14	Immingham Town	28	6	5	17	33	76	23
15	Brodsworth Miners’ Welfare	28	3	5	20	26	74	14
		420	178	64	178	755	755

 

*6 points deducted.  Arnold Town and Hallam were promoted.  Blidworth Welfare were admitted from the Central Midlands League/  R.E.S. Parkgate reverted to the name ‘Parkgate’.