| Season: | 1979–80 |
| Continentalcup1 Qualifiers: | None |
| Continentalcup2: | Runners-up |
| Continentalcup4: | Promoted for next season |
| League Topscorer: | G. J. Smith Northwich Victoria (29 goals)[1] |
| Matches: | 380 |
| Total Goals: | 972 |
| Nextseason: | 1980–81 |
The 1979–80 Alliance Premier League was the inaugural season of the Alliance Premier League – the first league outside the Football League to cover the whole of England.
Between 1979 and 2004 the single-division Alliance Premier League formed Level 5 of the English football league system. Since 2004 two regional divisions were added at Level 6.
The founder members of the Alliance Premier League were drawn from the Southern League and Northern Premier League, covering the country from Yeovil Town in the South West to Barrow in the far North. One club from Wales – Bangor City – also participated.
| width=20 | Rank | width=155 | Player | width=155 | Club | width=50 | League | width=50 | FA Cup | width=50 | FA Trophy | width=50 | League Cup | width=50 | Total[2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | G. J. Smith | Northwich Victoria | 29 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | 28 | ||||||||||||||
| 3 | 24 | ||||||||||||||
| 4 | Aniello Iannone | 22 | |||||||||||||
| 5 | 21 | ||||||||||||||
| 6 | 20 | ||||||||||||||
| 7 | 19 | ||||||||||||||
| 8 | 16 | ||||||||||||||
| = | David Mather | 16 | |||||||||||||
| 10 | 14 | ||||||||||||||
| 11 | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 13 | ||||||||||||||
| 13 | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 12 | ||||||||||||||
| 17 | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 11 | ||||||||||||||
| = | 11 |
As winners of the Alliance Premier League, Altrincham won the right to apply for election to the Football League to replace one of the four bottom teams in the 1979–80 Football League Fourth Division. The vote went as follows:
| width=140 | Club | width=185 | Final Position | width=50 | Votes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd (Fourth Division) | 49 | ||||
| 23rd (Fourth Division) | 48 | ||||
| 21st (Fourth Division) | 48 | ||||
| 24th (Fourth Division) | 26 | ||||
| 1st (Alliance Premier League) | 25 |
As a result of this, Altrincham failed to be elected to membership of the Football League, falling just one point behind Fourth Division's bottom club Rochdale.