| Competition: | Northern Premier League |
| Season: | 1976–77 |
| Winners: | Boston United |
| Promoted: | None |
| Relegated: | None |
| Matches: | 506 |
| Total Goals: | 1494 |
| Biggest Home Win: | Gainsborough Trinity 7–0 Great Harwood (5 February 1977) |
| Biggest Away Win: | South Liverpool 0-8 Bangor City (2 January 1977) |
| Highest Scoring: | Scarborough 5-3 Wigan Athletic (6 November 1976) Bangor City 4-4 Matlock Town (27 November 1976) South Liverpool 0-8 Bangor City (2 January 1977) Worksop Town 1-7 Altrincham (12 March 1977) Frickley Athletic 2-6 Matlock Town (9 April 1977) Great Harwood 4-4 Scarborough (5 May 1977) (29 March 1977) |
| Longest Wins: | 8 matches Lancaster City (11 September 1976 - 11 October 1976) |
| Longest Unbeaten: | 19 matches Northwich Victoria (6 February 1977 – 18 May 1977) |
| Longest Winless: | 11 matches Buxton (23 October 1976 – 5 February 1977) |
| Longest Losses: | 8 matches Barrow (11 April 1977 – 30 April 1977) |
| Prevseason: | 1975–76 |
| Nextseason: | 1977–78 |
The 1976–77 Northern Premier League was the ninth season of the Northern Premier League, a regional football league in Northern England, the northern areas of the Midlands and North Wales. The season began on 21 August 1976 and concluded on 20 May 1977.[1]
The League featured twenty-three teams for the first time. The systems of goal average was replaced by goal difference.
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:
| Team | Stadium | |
|---|---|---|
| Moss Lane | ||
| Farrar Road | ||
| Holker Street | ||
| York Street | ||
| The Silverlands | ||
| Westfield Lane | ||
| The Northolme | ||
| Gateshead Youth Stadium | ||
| Victoria Pleasure Ground | ||
| The Showground | ||
| Great Axe | ||
| Moss Rose | ||
| Causeway Lane | ||
| Christie Park | ||
| Seel Park | ||
| Parkside | ||
| Drill Field | ||
| Canal Street | ||
| Athletic Ground | ||
| Holly Park | ||
| Marston Road | ||
| Springfield Park | ||
| Central Avenue |
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarborough | 1–0 | Runcorn |
Between Champions of NPL Premier Division and Winners of the NPL Cup.
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston United | beat | Scarborough |
See main article: 1976–77 FA Cup. Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, only three teams reached the second round:
Second Round
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team ! | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mansfield Town | 2–5 | Matlock Town | |||||
| Northwich Victoria | 4–0 | Peterborough United | |||||
| Wrexham | 1–1 | Goole Town | |||||
| Goole Town | 0–1 | Wrexham | Replay |
Third Round
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle United | 5–1 | Matlock Town | |||
| Northwich Victoria | 3–2 | Watford |
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carlisle United | 5–1 | Matlock Town | |||
| Northwich Victoria | 1–3 | Oldham Athletic |
See main article: 1976–77 FA Trophy. Out of the twenty-four clubs from the Northern Premier League, three teams reached the fourth round:
Fourth Round
| width=150 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=150 | Away Team ! | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarborough | 1-1 | Nuneaton Borough | |||||
| Nuneaton Borough | 0-1 | Scarborough | Replay | ||||
| Slough Town | 2-0 | Morecambe | |||||
| Weymouth | 0-0 | Altrincham | |||||
| Altrincham | 2-1 | Weymouth | Replay |
Semi-finals
| width=80 | Stage ! | width=180 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=180 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Leg | Scarborough | 2-0 | Altrincham | ||||
| 2nd Leg | Altrincham | 2-0 | Scarborough | ||||
| Aggregate | Scarborough | 2-2 | Altrincham | ||||
| Replay | Scarborough | 0-0 | Altrincham | ||||
| 2nd Replay | Scarborough | 2-1 | Altrincham |
Final
| width=180 | Home Team ! | width=20 | Score ! | width=180 | Away Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarborough | 3-2 | Dagenham |
At the end of the ninth season of the Northern Premier League, Altrincham who put forward for election did not receive enough votes to be promoted to the Football League.
Alongside the four Football League teams facing re-election, two non-League teams, one from the Northern Premier League and the other from the Southern League. Applied to be elected. Three out of the four Football League teams were re-elected. Wimbledon from the Southern League replaced Workington from the Football League as they didn't receive enough votes. Workington was subsequently relegated to the Northern Premier League.[2]
| Club | League | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Halifax Town | Football League Division Four | 44 | |
| Hartlepool | Football League Division Four | 42 | |
| Southport | Football League Division Four | 37 | |
| Wimbledon | Southern League Premier Division | 27 | |
| Workington | Football League Division Four | 21 | |
| Altrincham | Northern Premier League | 12 |
The following club left the League at the end of the season:
The following club joined the League the following season: