2015–16 Northern Football League

Northern Football League
Division Two
Season	2015–16
Champions	South Shields
Promoted	Chester-le-Street Town; Ryhope Colliery Welfare; South Shields
Relegated	Birtley Town; Stokesley Sports Club
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,707 (3.69 per match)
	← 2014–15 2016–17 →

Northern Football League
Division One
Season	2015–16
Champions	Shildon
Relegated	Bedlington Terriers; Norton & Stockton Ancients; Durham City
Matches played	462
Goals scored	1,738 (3.76 per match)
	← 2014–15 2016–17 →

The 2015–16 season was the 118th in the history of Northern Football League, a football competition in England. The league has operated two divisions in the English football league system, Division One at step 5, and Division Two at step 6.

Division One

Division One featured 19 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs, promoted from Division Two:

Only Bishop Auckland applied for promotion to Step 4.^[1] They would have needed to finish in the top three to achieve this.^[2]

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation
1	Shildon	42	31	3	8	135	37	+98	96
2	Marske United	42	26	3	13	86	60	+26	81
3	Guisborough Town	42	22	11	9	95	55	+40	77
4	Morpeth Town	42	24	5	13	89	64	+25	77
5	North Shields	42	21	9	12	77	48	+29	72
6	Newton Aycliffe	42	21	9	12	76	61	+15	72
7	Consett	42	21	8	13	92	76	+16	71
8	Bishop Auckland	42	20	7	15	80	79	+1	67
9	Seaham Red Star	42	18	11	13	90	85	+5	65
10	Washington	42	20	5	17	82	85	−3	65
11	Dunston UTS	42	18	8	16	78	64	+14	62
12	Ashington	42	18	6	18	85	76	+9	60
13	Sunderland RCA	42	15	9	18	73	89	−16	54
14	Penrith	42	14	10	18	67	75	−8	52
15	Jarrow Roofing BCA	42	15	6	21	90	102	−12	51
16	Whitley Bay	42	15	5	22	75	70	+5	50
17	West Auckland Town	42	15	5	22	56	84	−28	50
18	Newcastle Benfield	42	11	11	20	79	96	−17	44
19	West Allotment Celtic	42	11	7	24	50	105	−55	40
20	Durham City	42	9	9	24	59	95	−36	36	Relegated to Division Two
21	Norton & Stockton Ancients	42	8	8	26	67	120	−53	32
22	Bedlington Terriers	42	8	7	27	57	112	−55	31

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

Division Two featured 19 clubs which competed in the division last season, along with three new clubs:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	South Shields	42	35	2	5	122	31	+91	107	Promoted to Division One
2	Ryhope Colliery Welfare	42	30	4	8	121	65	+56	94
3	Chester-le-Street Town	42	28	6	8	106	44	+62	90
4	Team Northumbria	42	26	11	5	101	41	+60	89
5	Billingham Synthonia	42	25	8	9	81	37	+44	83
6	Easington Colliery	42	22	10	10	106	59	+47	76
7	Thornaby	42	23	6	13	93	65	+28	75
8	Northallerton Town	42	21	10	11	81	48	+33	73
9	Heaton Stannington	42	21	8	13	92	59	+33	71
10	Hebburn Town	42	17	10	15	78	54	+24	61
11	Billingham Town	42	18	7	17	80	67	+13	61
12	Whickham	42	17	8	17	57	68	−11	59
13	Darlington Railway Athletic	42	18	4	20	86	89	−3	58
14	Tow Law Town	42	14	11	17	75	82	−7	53
15	Brandon United	42	14	4	24	77	98	−21	46
16	Ryton & Crawcrook Albion	42	11	11	20	58	79	−21	44
17	Alnwick Town	42	12	6	24	66	113	−47	42
18	Crook Town	42	10	5	27	53	99	−46	35
19	Willington	42	9	5	28	45	98	−53	32
20	Esh Winning	42	7	6	29	46	127	−81	27
21	Birtley Town	42	5	6	31	50	117	−67	21	Relegated to the Northern Alliance
22	Stokesley Sports Club	42	4	2	36	33	167	−134	14	Relegated to the Wearside League

Source: fchd
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored.

^ "Promotion applications for clubs aiming for Step 4". The FA. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 12 December 2015.
^ Simpson, Ray (11 November 2015). "Bishop Auckland apply for promotion -- but nobody else does". The Northern Echo. Retrieved 4 May 2016.