This page contains Northern League tables 1897-1905 and notes about changes/movements which took place.  Seasons 1905-1920 can be accessed using the button for this in the menu above.  If it's a later look you are after, try the button for 1950-1966 or the one for 1991-1997.

 

NORTHERN LEAGUE 1897-1905

 

For the three seasons 1897-1898 to 1899-1900 the Northern League operated two divisions.

 

Northern League Division 1 Final Table 1897-1898

 

The Division 1 programme was not completed until October 8^th, 1898, when Middlesbrough played the last of their outstanding games, at Tow Law.  Three of Boro’s matches had had to be postponed because of a smallpox epidemic in the town during the 1897-98 season.

 

1	Stockton	16	11	2	3	37	20	24
2	Middlesbrough	16	9	4	3	42	22	22
3	Darlington	16	8	2	6	41	31	18
4	Bishop Auckland	16	6	4	6	33	35	16
5	Darlington St. Augustine’s	16	7	2	7	29	32	16
6	Leadgate Park	16	5	4	7	23	34	14
7	South Bank	16	5	3	8	34	38	13
8	Tow Law	16	4	4	8	16	24	12
9	Crook Town	16	3	3	10	17	36	9
		144	58	28	58	272	272	144

 

Northern League Division 2 Final Table 1897-1898

 

1	Howden-le-Wear	10	5	2	3	17	14	12
2	Darlington Rise Carr Rangers	10	5	1	4	22	18	11
3	Loftus	10	5	1	4	18	17	11
4	Leadgate Exiles	10	5	0	5	17	17	10
5	Shildon United	10	4	1	5	15	17	9
6	Brotton	10	3	1	6	14	20	7
		60	27	6	27	103	103	60

 

Britannia Rovers were apparently expelled from the league at the end of March.  They had taken one point from 6 games, scoring 6 goals against 25 by that stage.  Darlington Rise Carr Rangers and Leadgate Exiles left at the end of the season, but Scarborough, Stockton St. John’s, Stockton Vulcan, Thornaby, Thornaby Utopians and West Hartlepool were all admitted to Division 2.

 

There was no promotion or relegation.

 

Northern League Division 1 Final Table 1898-1899

 

1	Bishop Auckland	16	9	7	0	35	16	25
2	Darlington	16	10	3	3	50	29	23
3	Middlesbrough	16	7	4	5	29	27	18
4	South Bank	16	6	6	4	20	21	18
5	Darlington St. Augustine’s	16	5	5	6	19	23	15
6	Leadgate Park	16	4	4	8	25	30	12
7	Stockton	16	4	4	8	25	31	12
8	Tow Law	16	3	6	7	18	25	12
9	Crook Town	16	4	1	11	25	44	9
		144	52	40	52	246	246	144

 

Leadgate Park and Middlesbrough left the competition at the end of the season.  Their places in Division 1 were taken by Stockton St. John’s and Thornaby Utopians – the top two sides in Division 2.

 

Northern League Division 2 Final Table 1898-1899

 

1	Stockton St. John’s***	18	11	5	2	38	11	27
2	Thornaby Utopians	18	10	4	4	45	21	24
3	Thornaby	18	10	1	7	42	28	21
4	Brotton*	17	9	2	6	33	22	20
5	Stockton Vulcan*	17	10	0	7	29	30	20
6	Shildon United**	18	7	3	8	21	20	17
7	West Hartlepool	18	6	1	11	23	48	13
8	Scarborough**	18	5	3	10	21	37	13
9	Loftus*	17	4	3	10	18	41	11
10	Howden-le-Wear*	17	4	2	11	21	33	10
		176	76	24	76	291	291	176

 

*Matches definitely not played were Howden-le-Wear v. Brotton and Stockton Vulcan v. Loftus.

**Records include two 0-0 draws for fixtures between Scarborough and Shildon United, but there is extreme doubt as to whether these games actually took place.

***The Final League Table shown in newspapers from the time incorrectly gave Stockton St. John’s record as follows: 18-10-6-2-39-13-26.  This was corrected by the Northern League at the A.G.M..

It seems that five games had to be replayed during the season following protests.  There is no record of which games these were or which results counted towards the Final Table shown above.

Howden-le-Wear left the league at the end of the season, but Dorman, Long & Co., Grangetown Athletic and Whitby joined Division 2 to maintain its number of clubs at 10.

 

Northern League Division 1 Final Table 1899-1900

 

1	Darlington	16	12	3	1	42	16	27
2	Stockton St. John’s	16	10	3	3	32	17	23
3	Bishop Auckland	16	9	2	5	41	21	20
4	Darlington St. Augustine’s	16	7	4	5	34	27	18
5	South Bank	16	7	3	6	18	26	17
6	Crook Town	16	3	7	6	14	24	13
7	Thornaby Utopians	16	3	6	7	14	25	12
8	Tow Law	16	3	3	10	23	43	9
9	Stockton	16	2	1	13	25	44	5
		144	56	32	56	243	243	144

 

Northern League Division 2 Final Table 1899-1900

 

1	Whitby	14	9	3	2	49	23	21
2	Thornaby	14	8	3	3	29	15	19
3	Grangetown Athletic	14	7	5	2	36	24	19
4	Loftus	14	6	2	6	23	24	14
5	West Hartlepool	14	6	0	8	28	28	12
6	Scarborough	14	4	3	7	27	34	11
7	Stockton Vulcan	14	4	2	8	20	36	10
8	Brotton	14	3	0	11	20	48	6
		112	47	18	47	232	232	112

 

Two clubs withdrew from the Northern League 2^nd Division during the season and their records were deleted.  Dorman, Long & Co. Pulled out on November 15^th and were followed by Shildon United on January 13^th.

 

At the end of the season Brotton, Grangetown Athletic, Loftus, Stockton Vulcan, Thornaby and Tow Law all left the Northern League, leaving membership at 11 clubs.  It was therefore decided to form a single, combined division.

 

Northern League Final Table 1900-1901

 

1	Bishop Auckland	20	12	5	3	61	22	29
2	Darlington St. Augustine’s	20	10	5	5	37	25	25
3	Darlington	20	11	2	7	55	37	24
4	Stockton	20	8	5	7	34	25	21
5	Crook Town	20	7	7	6	38	30	21
6	Scarborough	20	9	3	8	25	28	21
7	South Bank	20	9	3	8	35	45	21
8	Thornaby Utopians	20	8	2	10	30	37	18
9	Stockton St. John’s	20	7	3	10	23	35	17
10	West Hartlepool	20	5	5	10	31	37	15
11	Whitby	20	2	4	14	17	65	8
		220	88	44	88	386	386	220

 

Thornaby Utopians and Whitby left the competition, but Grangetown Athletic returned after a one season absence.

 

Northern League Final Table 1901-1902

 

1	Bishop Auckland	18	12	3	3	48	22	27
2	Grangetown Athletic	18	9	8	1	34	14	26
3	Darlington	18	9	4	5	37	22	22
4	South Bank	18	7	6	5	32	23	20
5	Darlington St. Augustine’s	18	7	5	6	31	22	19
6	Stockton	18	6	7	5	25	25	19
7	Crook Town	18	5	3	10	29	41	13
8	West Hartlepool	18	5	3	10	24	48	13
9	Scarborough	18	5	3	10	20	35	13
10	Stockton St. John’s	18	2	4	12	13	41	8
		180	67	46	67	293	293	180

 

The ‘A’ teams of Football League clubs Middlesbrough, Newcastle United and Sunderland were admitted to the Northern League.  It is believed that in these times, ‘A’ teams were in fact ‘Reserve XIs’ for the 1^st team, so there were some high quality professional players plying their trade in the competition.

 

Northern League Final Table 1902-1903

 

1	Newcastle United ‘A’*	24	22	0	2	100	14	42
2	Sunderland ‘A’	24	18	4	2	93	22	40
3	Middlesbrough ‘A’	24	13	7	4	66	30	33
4	Bishop Auckland	24	13	3	8	57	35	29
5	Stockton	24	9	5	10	35	38	23
6	Darlington	24	10	3	11	34	50	23
7	South Bank	24	8	6	10	30	44	22
8	Crook Town	24	9	4	11	27	41	22
9	Grangetown Athletic	24	8	4	12	34	47	20
10	Stockton St. John’s*	24	6	5	13	24	52	15
11	Scarborough	24	5	4	15	23	69	14
12	Darlington St. Augustine’s	24	4	5	15	21	58	13
13	West Hartlepool	24	3	6	15	27	71	12
		312	128	56	128	571	571	308

*2 points deducted

 

Northern League Final Table 1903-1904

 

1	Newcastle United ‘A’	24	19	1	4	97	23	39
2	Bishop Auckland	24	17	2	5	55	27	36
3	Sunderland ‘A’	24	14	6	4	66	32	34
4	Middlesbrough ‘A’	24	12	5	7	56	32	29
5	Stockton	24	13	2	9	36	34	28
6	Darlington	24	11	3	10	48	49	25
7	Grangetown Athletic	24	10	3	11	50	49	23
8	South Bank	24	9	1	14	42	56	19
9	Darlington St. Augustine’s	24	8	2	14	30	58	18
10	Shildon Athletic*	24	8	2	14	28	54	18
11	Scarborough	24	7	2	15	36	70	16
12	Crook Town	24	5	4	15	33	62	14
13	West Hartlepool	24	5	3	16	31	62	13
		312	138	36	138	608	608	312

 

*Shildon Athletic’s record includes three losses by Stockton St. John’s. 

  The ‘Saints’ resigned from the Northern League on October 8^th and Athletic stepped in to take over their fixtures.

 

Northern League Final Table 1904-1905

 

1	Newcastle United ‘A’	24	22	0	2	83	12	44
2	Sunderland ‘A’*	24	16	3	5	59	29	33
3	Middlesbrough ‘A’	24	13	6	5	69	35	32
4	Darlington	24	9	6	9	38	38	24
5	Shildon Athletic	24	8	7	9	48	48	23
6	South Bank	24	9	5	10	42	44	23
7	West Hartlepool	24	10	3	11	35	44	23
8	Bishop Auckland	24	10	2	12	51	49	22
9	Stockton	24	8	6	10	32	37	22
10	Darlington St. Augustine’s	24	9	4	11	34	43	22
11	Grangetown Athletic	24	8	4	12	36	52	20
12	Scarborough	24	4	5	15	22	60	13
13	Crook Town	24	4	1	19	23	81	9
		312	130	52	130	572	572	310

*2 points deducted

 

 

 

 

 

July 20th - More pages and seasons will follow.