Five Things We Learned 2024/25 - Gameweek 37
Thu 10th April 2025 | Five Things | By Jay Cooper
1. Atherton LR are CHAMPIONS!
After a back-and-forth battle with Nelson, it has finally been concluded on the penultimate matchweek that Atherton LR are your league title winners in the First Division North – and they did it in style. They hosted Bacup Borough at Crilly Park and smashed them to bits, winning 6-0.
With that, their points total is up to 78 for the campaign, with Nelson in second, who have gone tooth and nail with Rovers for the title to their credit, currently sitting on 73 with just one game left to play. Next season will be the club’s first at Step 5 since 2012!
2. 100-point Breck
In a turn of events scarcely seen in NWCFL history, two sides have now broken the 100-point barrier in the Premier Division. Bury got there first, achieving the feat last week, and they remain top of the table, but they are joined in the centurions’ club by Lower Breck, currently second in the table.
Breck achieved the feat on Friday last week in a Liverpool derby, earning a tense, slender 1-0 victory over Litherland REMYCA on home soil. They still have two games to add to their total and maybe close the gap on Bury. The last time two sides breached the 100-point margin was the 2008/09 campaign, when both AFC Fylde and New Mills managed it.
3. Play-offs all sewn up
In basically every division! It is 100% known at this point who will be competing in the play-offs in the First Divisions North and South. On Saturday, Euxton Villa, currently 5th in the North, broke a run of three games without a win by overcoming Maghull 2-1 to officially escape best-of-the-rest Darwen FC and claim their spot. Elsewhere, Eccleshall, currently 5th in the South, won a crucial six-pointer against their closest challengers for the play-off places, Cheadle Heath Nomads, to book their place in their first ever play-offs and claim their highest ever league finish.
Finally, in the Premier Division, West Didsbury and Chorlton put AFC Liverpool to the sword this past weekend, winning 6-1 and all but officially securing their position in 5th place. Their closest challengers, Irlam, would have to overcome a six-point gap and a goal difference of 17 to snatch that spot, and they’d need to do so in just two remaining matches. West, you’d have to imagine, can relax.
4. Shawbury are relegated
In contrast to the First Division North, the battle to avoid relegation from the First Division South has been quite up in the air, but with this penultimate round of matches this past weekend, two new arrivals to the division at the start of 2024/25 have seen their status as relegation candidates unfortunately secured. The first of these is Shawbury United.
The Shropshire side were moved into the NWCFL laterally in the summer of 2024 from the Midlands League, and they have struggled to find their feet in this league system. Their 1-0 home defeat to Stockport Georgians on Saturday was enough to see them mathematically condemned to the bottom three, but there will still be a chance at a reprieve, based on their PPG average.
5. Wolves Sporting are relegated
Wolverhampton Sporting Community have a had a lot of similarities to Shawbury this season. They were laterally moved into the NWCFL from the Midlands League last summer; they have been embroiled in a relegation battle for the majority of the season; and their fate was confirmed this past Saturday as one of the teams who will finish below the dotted line.
Wolves Sporting held up their end of the bargain in their bid to make a great escape, surprising play-off guarantees and Macron AND Edward Case Cup finalists Stafford Town with a 1-0 victory at the weekend. Alas, results elsewhere meant that the team currently sitting one place above the drop zone, Allscott Heath, cannot be caught up to on points. Like with Shawbury, there will the option of a reprieve for the club to maintain their status at Step 5.
Five Things We Learned 2024/25 - Gameweek 37
Thu 10th April 2025 | Five Things
By Jay Cooper
1. Atherton LR are CHAMPIONS!
After a back-and-forth battle with Nelson, it has finally been concluded on the penultimate matchweek that Atherton LR are your league title winners in the First Division North – and they did it in style. They hosted Bacup Borough at Crilly Park and smashed them to bits, winning 6-0.
With that, their points total is up to 78 for the campaign, with Nelson in second, who have gone tooth and nail with Rovers for the title to their credit, currently sitting on 73 with just one game left to play. Next season will be the club’s first at Step 5 since 2012!
2. 100-point Breck
In a turn of events scarcely seen in NWCFL history, two sides have now broken the 100-point barrier in the Premier Division. Bury got there first, achieving the feat last week, and they remain top of the table, but they are joined in the centurions’ club by Lower Breck, currently second in the table.
Breck achieved the feat on Friday last week in a Liverpool derby, earning a tense, slender 1-0 victory over Litherland REMYCA on home soil. They still have two games to add to their total and maybe close the gap on Bury. The last time two sides breached the 100-point margin was the 2008/09 campaign, when both AFC Fylde and New Mills managed it.
3. Play-offs all sewn up
In basically every division! It is 100% known at this point who will be competing in the play-offs in the First Divisions North and South. On Saturday, Euxton Villa, currently 5th in the North, broke a run of three games without a win by overcoming Maghull 2-1 to officially escape best-of-the-rest Darwen FC and claim their spot. Elsewhere, Eccleshall, currently 5th in the South, won a crucial six-pointer against their closest challengers for the play-off places, Cheadle Heath Nomads, to book their place in their first ever play-offs and claim their highest ever league finish.
Finally, in the Premier Division, West Didsbury and Chorlton put AFC Liverpool to the sword this past weekend, winning 6-1 and all but officially securing their position in 5th place. Their closest challengers, Irlam, would have to overcome a six-point gap and a goal difference of 17 to snatch that spot, and they’d need to do so in just two remaining matches. West, you’d have to imagine, can relax.
4. Shawbury are relegated
In contrast to the First Division North, the battle to avoid relegation from the First Division South has been quite up in the air, but with this penultimate round of matches this past weekend, two new arrivals to the division at the start of 2024/25 have seen their status as relegation candidates unfortunately secured. The first of these is Shawbury United.
The Shropshire side were moved into the NWCFL laterally in the summer of 2024 from the Midlands League, and they have struggled to find their feet in this league system. Their 1-0 home defeat to Stockport Georgians on Saturday was enough to see them mathematically condemned to the bottom three, but there will still be a chance at a reprieve, based on their PPG average.
5. Wolves Sporting are relegated
Wolverhampton Sporting Community have a had a lot of similarities to Shawbury this season. They were laterally moved into the NWCFL from the Midlands League last summer; they have been embroiled in a relegation battle for the majority of the season; and their fate was confirmed this past Saturday as one of the teams who will finish below the dotted line.
Wolves Sporting held up their end of the bargain in their bid to make a great escape, surprising play-off guarantees and Macron AND Edward Case Cup finalists Stafford Town with a 1-0 victory at the weekend. Alas, results elsewhere meant that the team currently sitting one place above the drop zone, Allscott Heath, cannot be caught up to on points. Like with Shawbury, there will the option of a reprieve for the club to maintain their status at Step 5.
