NWCFL First Division North 2025/26: Revisited
Sat 13th June 2026 | A Look Back | By Jay Cooper
With the start date of the new NWCFL league season less than a fortnight away, now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of what went down last season. This is the second of three articles which will surround each division individually, continuing with the First Division North.
The season officially began on the 21st of June 2025, with the AGM and Awards Evening for the previous season. Over the course of that day, many changes took effect. As far as the First Division North was concerned, a goodbye was said to promoted sides Atherton LR and Euxton Villa, as well as to relegated Skelmersdale United, and laterally moved Route One Rovers.
But we also said hello to new arrivals to the division – Colne and Squires Gate, who were both relegated from the Premier Division the prior season. Additionally, there were two outright NWCFL debutants to be introduced to this division – Fulwood Amateurs, from the West Lancashire League; and MSB Woolton, from the Liverpool County Premier League.
Like the previous season, this made for an 18-team league, and the action began on Saturday, July 26th… mostly. It would be the final weekend of August before every team in the league had featured at least once, with Bacup Borough the last to get off the starting line following redevelopments to the Brian Boys Stadium.
The pacesetters emerged quickly, with Maghull, in only their second season in the NWCFL, topping the table more often than they didn’t during the opening month and a half. They were accompanied in the early scramble for first place by Holker Old Boys, and, despite stuttered starts, Nelson and Droylsden soon joined the fray.
As Autumn fell, the bottom of the division also took shape. Ashton Athletic suffered a losing streak that spanned the first week of August to the middle of October, and they were propping up the table as we neared Halloween. The likes of newly promoted MSB Woolton, as well as Garstang, Daisy Hill and Squires Gate were within touching distance at this stage.
As October became November, Ashton Town threw their hats in the ring for a potential title push, missing out on the opportunity to top the table in the middle of the month after a defeat to fellow dark horses Darwen FC, who had made a home for themselves in the top five.
At this time, AFC Blackpool were also in the play-offs conversation, having done nothing but win since the start of October. Little did we know that all of these teams finding form at the same time would lead to such a topsy turvy title picture after the turn of the year.
Come December, Nelson and Droylsden were not only fixtures of the promotion battle, but they had also fought their way into the fourth round of the Isuzu FA Vase for the first time in their respective histories. Nelson won 3-0 against Premier Division side Ramsbottom United to achieve this, while Droylsden knocked off Fulwood Amateurs by a 2-0 scoreline.
By Christmas Day, the play-offs picture in the First Division North was very crowded. Just three points separated fifth from fifth bottom in the table as the two Ashton sides book-ended the division – Town at the top, Athletic at the bottom.
Following the birth of 2026, the title race became even tighter. Nelson leapfrogged five rivals in a fortnight to take first place in the new year, despite having as many as five games in hand on a few of the teams below them. But just three points separated them from eighth placed MSB Woolton.
Between them were Thornton Cleveleys; Squires Gate, for whom a six-game unbeaten spell in the league between mid-November and the new year had dragged them from near the bottom to near the top; Ashton Town, who were top just two weeks prior; Droylsden; Darwen FC; and even slow starters Bacup Borough.
At the bottom of the division as 2025 became 2026, there was a new party in the mix to keep Ashton Athletic and Garstang, forever trading the wooden spoon, company. Maine Road had lost every game that they’d managed to play amid postponements between mid-November and the turn of the year, and they were now staring down the barrel of the bottom three.
Even as January became February, two months out from the end of the season, the title race remained anyone’s for the taking. Droylsden were top for a bit, but they were fighting a war on two fronts after an FA Vase fifth round victory over Bilston Town saw them become the only Step Six side in the competition to reach the Quarter Final stage.
Unfortunately, they would not make it any further in that competition, losing 4-2 in the last eight to eventual finalists Cockfosters FC.
With the NWCFL’s annual Groundhop Weekend being centred in Lancashire this season in the last weekend of February/first weekend of March, there was plenty of scope for First Division North sides to be involved, weather permitting. Title chasing MSB Woolton had their away game against play-off hopefuls Thornton Cleveleys postponed, but the list of sides who did get to feature in this year’s Groundhop reads as follows:
- Darwen FC 0-0 Colne
- Fulwood Amateurs 2-2 Garstang
- Squires Gate 3-5 Nelson
- AFC Blackpool 3-0 Holker Old Boys
- Daisy Hill 2-0 Steeton
March was the month that really thinned the herd in the title race. Whatever was in the water in the North that saw teams winning and losing at all the right times to keep the pool as expansive as possible had been drained as two legitimate candidates finally emerged – Droylsden, last season’s play-offs runners-up; and Nelson, who were also Macron Cup semi-finalists by now.
At the bottom, the battle for survival was also being narrowed somewhat. Maine Road, already in danger, began a losing streak in mid-February that they would never find a way to snap, and dropped to the foot of the league.
Ashton Athletic and Garstang, who’d spent most of the season inside the drop zone, were given lifelines by this development, and were itching to close the gap on the likes of Steeton, Colne, and one-time promotion hopefuls AFC Blackpool, who did nothing but lose between the first weekend of the year and the Groundhop.
As it turned out, Nelson, who started behind the eight ball in this sprint for the trophy, had already suffered their last league defeat in mid-February, to Bacup. Aside from cup defeats to Runcorn Town and AFC Liverpool, they stuck to their objective and used their games in hand on the Bloods to overtake them in the standings in the final week of March.
Over Easter, Droylsden did their best to delay the inevitable, officially condemning Maine Road to relegation in their quest to catch the new leaders, but when Nelson came up against another officially relegated side in Ashton Athletic the next weekend, the writing was on the wall. A 5-0 win saw them crowned champions of the First Division North with two games left to play, after what had been a bewildering title race throughout 2026.
Droylsden were destined for the play-offs for the second season running, where they would be eventually joined by: MSB Woolton, who had really grown into themselves in their first NWCFL outing; Maghull, who bounced in and out of the top five during 2026 but went unbeaten in their last five to secure their place; and Squires Gate, who only cemented their spot on the final day of the season when Darwen, in sixth, failed to win.
In the end, despite the top eight at one time being separated by just three points, the gap between champions Nelson and eighth placed Ashton Town by the season’s end had been stretched to a whopping 14 points.
At the bottom, Steeton and AFC Blackpool were safe and sound with games to spare at the tail end of the campaign. Colne kept the edge in a one-on-one battle for safety against Garstang, culminating in their penultimate game of the season, where a 5-3 victory against Holker Old Boys saw them secure survival and condemn Garstang to the drop with Ashton Athletic and Maine Road.
And so began the play-offs. Top seed Droylsden, hoping to undo last season’s heartache, hosted Squires Gate, who were aiming to bounce straight back to the Premier Division, in the first semi-final. The Bloods got the job done, 2-1, via a last-minute winner to secure a second consecutive final.
The other semi-final between greater Liverpool area rivals MSB Woolton and Maghull was much more of a goal-fest. Maghull, the visitors in this game, won 4-2 after a second half that saw five goals scored either way, to set up a crunch tie with Droylsden to take place in early May.
There was one more loose end to tie up amidst the play-offs, however. Darwen FC, after missing out on the top five by a hair, still had the chance to secure silverware for themselves in the Edward Case Cup Final. They’d gotten this far in the contest by knocking off: Colne; Ashton Town; Barnton, from the First Division South; and Stockport Georgians, also from the South.
At Euxton Villa’s Jim Fowler Memorial Stadium, the Salmoners fell heartbreakingly short against runaway First Division South champions Runcorn Town, who won 3-2 in the final on May 30th. A stellar effort at the end of a strong season overall for Darwen.
Finally, we had made it. One of Droylsden or Maghull would join Nelson in promotion. After a topsy-turvy promotion battle that at one point seemed to include two-thirds of the division, this is what it came down to. And Droylsden were not going to let it slip away again.
On home soil, they went blow for blow with an energetic Maghull side and the game finished 3-3 after 120 minutes, meaning penalties. In the end, the Bloods held their nerve and sent most of the 1,940 fans in attendance home happy, winning 5-4 in the shootout and confirming promotion to the Premier Division ahead of 2026/27.
NWCFL First Division North 2025/26: Revisited
Sat 13th June 2026 | A Look Back
By Jay Cooper
With the start date of the new NWCFL league season less than a fortnight away, now is the perfect time to remind ourselves of what went down last season. This is the second of three articles which will surround each division individually, continuing with the First Division North.
The season officially began on the 21st of June 2025, with the AGM and Awards Evening for the previous season. Over the course of that day, many changes took effect. As far as the First Division North was concerned, a goodbye was said to promoted sides Atherton LR and Euxton Villa, as well as to relegated Skelmersdale United, and laterally moved Route One Rovers.
But we also said hello to new arrivals to the division – Colne and Squires Gate, who were both relegated from the Premier Division the prior season. Additionally, there were two outright NWCFL debutants to be introduced to this division – Fulwood Amateurs, from the West Lancashire League; and MSB Woolton, from the Liverpool County Premier League.
Like the previous season, this made for an 18-team league, and the action began on Saturday, July 26th… mostly. It would be the final weekend of August before every team in the league had featured at least once, with Bacup Borough the last to get off the starting line following redevelopments to the Brian Boys Stadium.
The pacesetters emerged quickly, with Maghull, in only their second season in the NWCFL, topping the table more often than they didn’t during the opening month and a half. They were accompanied in the early scramble for first place by Holker Old Boys, and, despite stuttered starts, Nelson and Droylsden soon joined the fray.
As Autumn fell, the bottom of the division also took shape. Ashton Athletic suffered a losing streak that spanned the first week of August to the middle of October, and they were propping up the table as we neared Halloween. The likes of newly promoted MSB Woolton, as well as Garstang, Daisy Hill and Squires Gate were within touching distance at this stage.
As October became November, Ashton Town threw their hats in the ring for a potential title push, missing out on the opportunity to top the table in the middle of the month after a defeat to fellow dark horses Darwen FC, who had made a home for themselves in the top five.
At this time, AFC Blackpool were also in the play-offs conversation, having done nothing but win since the start of October. Little did we know that all of these teams finding form at the same time would lead to such a topsy turvy title picture after the turn of the year.
Come December, Nelson and Droylsden were not only fixtures of the promotion battle, but they had also fought their way into the fourth round of the Isuzu FA Vase for the first time in their respective histories. Nelson won 3-0 against Premier Division side Ramsbottom United to achieve this, while Droylsden knocked off Fulwood Amateurs by a 2-0 scoreline.
By Christmas Day, the play-offs picture in the First Division North was very crowded. Just three points separated fifth from fifth bottom in the table as the two Ashton sides book-ended the division – Town at the top, Athletic at the bottom.
Following the birth of 2026, the title race became even tighter. Nelson leapfrogged five rivals in a fortnight to take first place in the new year, despite having as many as five games in hand on a few of the teams below them. But just three points separated them from eighth placed MSB Woolton.
Between them were Thornton Cleveleys; Squires Gate, for whom a six-game unbeaten spell in the league between mid-November and the new year had dragged them from near the bottom to near the top; Ashton Town, who were top just two weeks prior; Droylsden; Darwen FC; and even slow starters Bacup Borough.
At the bottom of the division as 2025 became 2026, there was a new party in the mix to keep Ashton Athletic and Garstang, forever trading the wooden spoon, company. Maine Road had lost every game that they’d managed to play amid postponements between mid-November and the turn of the year, and they were now staring down the barrel of the bottom three.
Even as January became February, two months out from the end of the season, the title race remained anyone’s for the taking. Droylsden were top for a bit, but they were fighting a war on two fronts after an FA Vase fifth round victory over Bilston Town saw them become the only Step Six side in the competition to reach the Quarter Final stage.
Unfortunately, they would not make it any further in that competition, losing 4-2 in the last eight to eventual finalists Cockfosters FC.
With the NWCFL’s annual Groundhop Weekend being centred in Lancashire this season in the last weekend of February/first weekend of March, there was plenty of scope for First Division North sides to be involved, weather permitting. Title chasing MSB Woolton had their away game against play-off hopefuls Thornton Cleveleys postponed, but the list of sides who did get to feature in this year’s Groundhop reads as follows:
- Darwen FC 0-0 Colne
- Fulwood Amateurs 2-2 Garstang
- Squires Gate 3-5 Nelson
- AFC Blackpool 3-0 Holker Old Boys
- Daisy Hill 2-0 Steeton
March was the month that really thinned the herd in the title race. Whatever was in the water in the North that saw teams winning and losing at all the right times to keep the pool as expansive as possible had been drained as two legitimate candidates finally emerged – Droylsden, last season’s play-offs runners-up; and Nelson, who were also Macron Cup semi-finalists by now.
At the bottom, the battle for survival was also being narrowed somewhat. Maine Road, already in danger, began a losing streak in mid-February that they would never find a way to snap, and dropped to the foot of the league.
Ashton Athletic and Garstang, who’d spent most of the season inside the drop zone, were given lifelines by this development, and were itching to close the gap on the likes of Steeton, Colne, and one-time promotion hopefuls AFC Blackpool, who did nothing but lose between the first weekend of the year and the Groundhop.
As it turned out, Nelson, who started behind the eight ball in this sprint for the trophy, had already suffered their last league defeat in mid-February, to Bacup. Aside from cup defeats to Runcorn Town and AFC Liverpool, they stuck to their objective and used their games in hand on the Bloods to overtake them in the standings in the final week of March.
Over Easter, Droylsden did their best to delay the inevitable, officially condemning Maine Road to relegation in their quest to catch the new leaders, but when Nelson came up against another officially relegated side in Ashton Athletic the next weekend, the writing was on the wall. A 5-0 win saw them crowned champions of the First Division North with two games left to play, after what had been a bewildering title race throughout 2026.
Droylsden were destined for the play-offs for the second season running, where they would be eventually joined by: MSB Woolton, who had really grown into themselves in their first NWCFL outing; Maghull, who bounced in and out of the top five during 2026 but went unbeaten in their last five to secure their place; and Squires Gate, who only cemented their spot on the final day of the season when Darwen, in sixth, failed to win.
In the end, despite the top eight at one time being separated by just three points, the gap between champions Nelson and eighth placed Ashton Town by the season’s end had been stretched to a whopping 14 points.
At the bottom, Steeton and AFC Blackpool were safe and sound with games to spare at the tail end of the campaign. Colne kept the edge in a one-on-one battle for safety against Garstang, culminating in their penultimate game of the season, where a 5-3 victory against Holker Old Boys saw them secure survival and condemn Garstang to the drop with Ashton Athletic and Maine Road.
And so began the play-offs. Top seed Droylsden, hoping to undo last season’s heartache, hosted Squires Gate, who were aiming to bounce straight back to the Premier Division, in the first semi-final. The Bloods got the job done, 2-1, via a last-minute winner to secure a second consecutive final.
The other semi-final between greater Liverpool area rivals MSB Woolton and Maghull was much more of a goal-fest. Maghull, the visitors in this game, won 4-2 after a second half that saw five goals scored either way, to set up a crunch tie with Droylsden to take place in early May.
There was one more loose end to tie up amidst the play-offs, however. Darwen FC, after missing out on the top five by a hair, still had the chance to secure silverware for themselves in the Edward Case Cup Final. They’d gotten this far in the contest by knocking off: Colne; Ashton Town; Barnton, from the First Division South; and Stockport Georgians, also from the South.
At Euxton Villa’s Jim Fowler Memorial Stadium, the Salmoners fell heartbreakingly short against runaway First Division South champions Runcorn Town, who won 3-2 in the final on May 30th. A stellar effort at the end of a strong season overall for Darwen.
Finally, we had made it. One of Droylsden or Maghull would join Nelson in promotion. After a topsy-turvy promotion battle that at one point seemed to include two-thirds of the division, this is what it came down to. And Droylsden were not going to let it slip away again.
On home soil, they went blow for blow with an energetic Maghull side and the game finished 3-3 after 120 minutes, meaning penalties. In the end, the Bloods held their nerve and sent most of the 1,940 fans in attendance home happy, winning 5-4 in the shootout and confirming promotion to the Premier Division ahead of 2026/27.
