2017–18 North West Counties Football League

North West Counties
Football League
Division One
Season	2017–18
Champions	Silsden
Promoted	Silsden; Litherland REMYCA; Whitchurch Alport
	← 2016–17 2018–19 →

North West Counties
Football League
Premier Division
Season	2017–18
Champions	Runcorn Linnets
Promoted	Runcorn Linnets; Widnes
Relegated	AFC Liverpool; Maine Road; Barnton; AFC Darwen
	← 2016–17 2018–19 →

The 2017–18 North West Counties Football League season (known as the Hallmark Security League for sponsorship reasons^[1]) was the 36th in the history of the North West Counties Football League, a football competition in England. It was also the last season to have a single Division One. Teams were divided into two divisions: Premier Division and Division One.

The constitution for Step 5 and Step 6 divisions for 2017–18 was announced by the FA on 26 May 2017,^[2] and ratified by the league at its AGM on 17 June.^[3]

Premier Division

At the end of season 2016–17, the following four teams left the division:

Atherton Collieries, promoted to NPL Division One North
Cammell Laird 1907, relegated to Division One
Nelson, relegated to Division One
New Mills, relegated to Division One

The remaining 18 teams, together with the following, formed the Premier Division for season 2017–18:

Burscough, relegated from NPL Division One North
Charnock Richard, promoted from the First Division
City of Liverpool, promoted from the First Division
Northwich Victoria, relegated from NPL Division One South
Widnes, promoted from the First Division

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Runcorn Linnets (C, P)	44	31	7	6	122	36	+86	100	Promoted to Northern Premier League Division One West
2	Widnes (P)	44	30	6	8	102	52	+50	96	Promoted to Northern Premier League Division One West^[a]
3	Runcorn Town	44	29	6	9	107	65	+42	93
4	City of Liverpool	44	25	9	10	115	58	+57	84
5	Bootle	44	25	8	11	122	61	+61	83
6	Charnock Richard	44	24	7	13	103	72	+31	79
7	1874 Northwich	44	24	7	13	85	56	+29	79
8	Hanley Town	44	23	7	14	94	59	+35	76
9	Barnoldswick Town	44	22	5	17	102	78	+24	71
10	West Didsbury & Chorlton	44	21	4	19	99	120	−21	67
11	Squires Gate	44	19	7	18	79	94	−15	64
12	Ashton Athletic	44	19	5	20	86	69	+17	62
13	Irlam	44	18	5	21	66	80	−14	59
14	Winsford United	44	16	10	18	77	87	−10	58
15	Congleton Town	44	16	8	20	83	85	−2	56
16	Northwich Victoria	44	17	5	22	77	93	−16	56
17	Padiham	44	16	5	23	85	96	−11	53
18	Burscough	44	15	5	24	82	103	−21	50
19	Abbey Hey	44	13	6	25	65	84	−19	45
20	AFC Liverpool (R)	44	12	6	26	77	94	−17	42	Relegated to Division One North
21	Maine Road (R)	44	11	4	29	59	117	−58	37	Relegated to Division One South
22	Barnton (R)	44	4	7	33	61	171	−110	19	Relegated to Division One South
23	AFC Darwen (R)	44	3	7	34	42	160	−118	16	Relegated to Division One North

Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2018. Source: NWCFL Tables
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results ^[5]
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated
Notes:

^ 12 of the 14 runners-up at Step 5 were to have been promoted to Step 4.^[4]
However, with resignations and mergers in leagues above, all fourteen runners-up were promoted.

Results

Home \ Away	18N	ABH	DAR	LVP	ASH	BWT	BNT	BTL	BUR	CHR	COL	CNG	HAN	IRL	MNR	NWV	PAD	RNL	RNT	SQG	WDC	WID	WIN
1874 N	—	1–1	5–0	4–1	1–2	3–0	3–3	1–2	2–1	2–1	1–1	2–2	2–0	1–2	5–0	2–1	2–0	2–4	2–1	3–1	1–0	1–2	1–0
Abbey H	4–2	—	1–1	3–3	0–2	0–2	7–1	0–1	4–2	1–2	0–0	2–3	2–3	1–2	0–4	1–2	3–0	0–4	1–3	1–3	1–2	0–3	1–2
AFC Darwen	0–3	1–3	—	2–0	0–4	0–4	1–3	4–4	0–0	1–4	0–6	3–3	2–5	0–4	1–3	0–5	0–1	0–1	2–2	0–1	3–3	2–3	0–0
AFC Livpl	3–0	3–1	4–2	—	1–3	3–4	5–0	2–1	1–2	1–2	0–5	0–2	2–0	0–1	1–2	2–4	1–3	1–2	1–2	0–0	3–2	2–4	4–0
Ashton Ath	0–2	3–0	6–0	1–0	—	3–2	3–3	0–1	2–4	5–0	1–2	4–2	0–5	0–2	0–1	5–1	2–0	0–3	3–1	0–2	7–1	0–1	0–2
Barlick	4–0	3–1	0–1	3–2	1–3	—	5–0	1–2	5–2	0–4	1–3	4–2	1–3	3–0	2–4	1–1	5–1	1–4	0–1	5–0	4–1	6–1	3–2
Barnton	2–3	0–4	2–0	1–0	2–2	2–3	—	1–9	1–2	3–5	0–8	1–1	1–5	1–3	3–3	0–4	2–3	1–3	1–4	0–7	2–4	2–2	0–4
Bootle	0–1	2–0	10–0	3–3	4–3	2–3	5–0	—	1–2	0–0	0–4	5–1	3–4	3–3	4–1	5–0	4–1	0–0	3–3	1–0	3–3	5–2	3–0
Burscough	0–1	3–2	1–0	2–3	1–4	4–1	4–2	1–1	—	1–1	1–2	2–2	2–1	1–4	2–1	2–1	1–5	0–1	2–5	3–2	4–5	0–1	1–6
Char Rchd	4–2	0–1	9–1	2–2	1–0	3–4	4–1	3–1	5–2	—	1–4	2–0	3–0	1–0	4–1	3–2	4–1	0–2	1–1	5–2	1–2	1–4	1–1
C of Liv	2–0	2–0	8–0	1–1	2–1	4–4	4–2	0–2	3–2	2–0	—	2–4	3–0	5–0	4–0	2–1	4–3	1–5	0–0	0–1	6–1	1–4	3–1
Cong T	1–4	3–1	6–2	3–3	0–2	1–1	5–1	3–4	4–2	1–1	1–2	—	3–1	3–0	2–1	1–1	2–0	0–2	0–0	0–1	0–3	0–1	4–1
Hanley T	1–1	4–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–2	5–1	2–1	2–0	1–3	2–0	0–2	—	5–0	3–0	3–0	3–2	1–1	1–2	4–0	6–2	1–1	1–1
Irlam	0–3	1–2	3–5	0–2	3–1	1–1	4–0	0–3	2–1	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–0	—	2–1	0–2	0–4	1–0	2–3	4–0	3–0	1–3	1–5
Maine Road	2–3	1–3	3–2	0–1	0–3	0–3	3–1	0–4	2–3	1–3	0–5	2–1	2–8	2–0	—	2–1	1–3	0–5	2–5	1–1	2–1	0–2	0–1
Nwich Vic	0–2	0–2	5–0	3–1	0–2	3–1	5–2	2–3	1–1	0–2	3–2	3–2	3–2	1–4	1–0	—	1–2	3–0	1–3	1–1	1–2	2–2	0–4
Padiham	0–3	1–2	5–1	5–4	0–0	1–2	5–3	0–2	3–2	2–1	2–0	3–4	1–2	0–1	1–1	2–4	—	1–1	4–0	4–2	6–1	3–3	1–2
Runc Lin	2–1	2–2	5–1	5–2	2–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	3–0	6–2	1–1	3–1	2–0	1–1	3–0	4–2	6–1	—	0–1	5–0	7–0	0–2	5–0
Runc T	2–1	1–0	10–3	1–0	3–1	3–2	5–0	2–0	3–2	0–2	2–2	5–2	1–0	2–0	4–3	6–1	4–0	0–5	—	1–2	3–2	1–2	1–2
Sq Gate	0–3	3–2	4–0	5–4	3–1	1–3	6–4	0–5	0–6	3–1	3–2	3–1	1–0	2–1	2–2	5–0	2–2	0–5	1–2	—	1–2	1–2	2–2
WDC	2–1	2–2	4–1	1–2	4–2	0–2	1–4	0–4	4–3	5–3	4–3	2–1	3–3	3–5	4–3	1–2	3–1	4–0	2–4	4–2	—	3–1	3–2
Widnes	2–2	0–1	4–0	2–0	2–2	2–0	7–1	3–2	3–0	0–3	0–1	2–1	3–0	3–1	5–1	4–0	3–1	2–1	2–0	0–1	4–0	—	3–1
Wins U	1–1	1–2	2–0	4–3	3–3	1–0	1–1	0–4	1–5	3–3	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–3	5–1	2–3	2–1	0–4	2–4	2–2	1–3	2–1	—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2018. Source: results and fixtures
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Stadia and locations

Barnton & Northwich Victoria

Bootle &
City of Liverpool

Winsford Utd
&1874 Northwich

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Locations of the 2017–18 North West Counties Football League Premier Division teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Widnes	Select Security Stadium (groundshare with Widnes Vikings Rugby League Club)	13,350
AFC Darwen	The Anchor Ground	4,000
AFC Liverpool	Marine Travel Arena, Crosby (groundshare with Marine)	3,185
Burscough	Victoria Park	3,054
1874 Northwich *	Barton Stadium (groundshare with Winsford United)	3,000
Winsford United	Barton Stadium	3,000
Bootle	Delta Taxis Stadium	2,500
City of Liverpool	Delta Taxis Stadium (groundshare with Bootle)	2,500
Maine Road	Brantingham Road, Chorlton	2,000
Padiham	Arbories Memorial Sports Ground	1,688
Runcorn Linnets	Millbank Linnets Stadium	1,600
Runcorn Town	Pavilions Sports Complex	1,530
Congleton Town	Richborough Estates Stadium	1,450
Abbey Hey	The Abbey Stadium, Gorton	1,000
Ashton Athletic	Brockstedes Park	1,000
Irlam	Silver Street	1,000
Squires Gate	School Road	1,000
West Didsbury & Chorlton	Brookburn Road, Chorlton	1,000
Hanley Town	Abbey Lane	750
Barnoldswick Town	Silentnight Beds Stadium
Barnton	Townfield
Charnock Richard	Mossie Park	1,000
Northwich Victoria	Townfield (groundshare with Barnton)

Due to ground conditions and acute fixture congestion, 1874 Northwich played some home matches, notably in the latter stages of the FA Vase and the league programme, at Wincham Park, Northwich, home of Witton Albion.^[6]

Division One

At the end of season 2016–17, the following four teams left the division:

Ashton Town, relegated to the Cheshire Association Football League Premier Division.
Charnock Richard, promoted to the Premier Division
City of Liverpool, promoted to the Premier Division
Widnes, promoted to the Premier Division

The remaining 18 teams, together with the following, formed Division One for the 2017–18 season:

Abbey Hulton United, promoted from Staffordshire County Senior League
Cammell Laird 1907, relegated from the Premier Division
Nelson, relegated from the Premier Division
New Mills, relegated from the Premier Division

League table

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Silsden (C, P)	42	33	4	5	110	38	+72	103	Promoted to the Premier Division
2	Litherland REMYCA (P)	42	31	6	5	117	39	+78	99	Promoted to the Premier Division
3	Prestwich Heys	42	29	4	9	124	50	+74	91	Qualified for the play-offs, then allocated to Division One North
4	Whitchurch Alport (O, P)	42	28	4	10	91	38	+53	88	Qualified for the play-offs, then promoted to the Premier Division^[a]
5	Sandbach United	42	27	3	12	90	57	+33	84	Qualified for the play-offs, then allocated to Division One South
6	Cammell Laird 1907	42	22	6	14	84	58	+26	72
7	AFC Blackpool	42	21	5	16	92	78	+14	68	Allocated to Division One North
8	Alsager Town	42	19	10	13	84	71	+13	67	Allocated to Division One South
9	Holker Old Boys	42	19	8	15	72	89	−17	65	Allocated to Division One North
10	Stockport Town	42	15	8	19	81	87	−6	53	Allocated to Division One South
11	Carlisle City	42	16	5	21	71	80	−9	53	Allocated to Division One North
12	Cheadle Town	42	14	11	17	72	83	−11	53	Allocated to Division One South
13	Abbey Hulton United	42	14	8	20	56	66	−10	50
14	New Mills	42	14	7	21	68	95	−27	49
15	Eccleshall	42	13	8	21	66	105	−39	47
16	Chadderton	42	12	10	20	83	93	−10	46	Allocated to Division One North
17	Bacup Borough	42	14	4	24	65	95	−30	46^[b]
18	Atherton Laburnum Rovers	42	13	5	24	61	81	−20	44
19	FC Oswestry Town	42	11	7	24	60	101	−41	40	Allocated to Division One South
20	St Helens Town	42	8	8	26	55	98	−43	32	Allocated to Division One North
21	Nelson	42	7	10	25	50	91	−41	31
22	Daisy Hill	42	8	7	27	49	108	−59	31

Updated to match(es) played on 17 May 2018. Source: NWCFL Tables
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results ^[5]
(C) Champions; (O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

^ Four teams played for one spot and promotion to the Premier Division.
^ Bacup Borough were awarded a 3–0 win against FC Oswestry Town, due to Oswestry failing to fulfill fixture on 5 May.

Results

Home \ Away	ABH	BLP	ALS	ALR	BAC	CAM	CAR	CHD	CHE	DSH	ECC	OSW	HOB	LIT	NEL	NWM	PRH	SAN	SIL	STH	STK	WHI
Ab Hul U	—	4–2	2–4	1–1	4–1	0–2	1–1	1–0	3–0	2–0	2–3	3–0	0–3	1–3	0–1	3–2	0–3	1–3	1–2	3–1	3–3	0–1
AFC Blckpl	3–1	—	5–1	1–6	1–2	3–2	1–3	1–3	4–2	3–2	5–0	9–2	1–2	0–1	4–2	1–0	3–2	1–1	1–3	1–2	2–1	1–4
Alsager T	2–0	4–1	—	1–0	3–0	3–2	0–1	2–2	1–4	1–2	2–1	2–1	5–2	0–1	2–1	2–3	2–3	1–1	0–2	1–1	2–2	0–3
Atherton LR	2–1	4–3	1–2	—	1–3	2–1	1–4	2–3	1–2	1–3	3–4	0–1	0–2	0–3	3–2	2–5	1–3	1–4	0–0	2–0	2–0	0–3
Bacup B	2–0	1–2	2–5	1–2	—	0–1	4–1	4–3	1–5	1–1	3–0	3–0 *	2–5	0–3	0–3	2–1	2–0	0–3	1–6	2–3	5–2	2–1
Camm L 1907	2–1	1–1	3–1	3–1	1–0	—	3–1	3–0	1–2	5–0	5–1	3–2	5–1	1–4	2–0	0–0	3–0	0–1	4–1	4–0	2–1	2–2
Carlisle C	1–2	2–3	2–3	0–1	1–1	2–3	—	0–4	2–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	4–1	2–1	5–0	1–2	0–3	0–1	0–1	3–0	1–4	3–1
Chadderton	2–1	1–3	3–3	1–3	5–4	0–1	5–0	—	2–0	4–3	1–2	0–1	2–2	4–4	4–2	1–1	2–3	1–2	0–2	4–0	2–4	1–3
Cheadle T	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–1	4–1	3–0	1–1	2–2	—	0–0	3–3	1–2	1–1	0–5	0–2	0–2	2–4	3–4	2–2	0–0	1–2	1–4
Daisy H	1–2	1–3	1–7	1–0	1–1	3–4	1–3	2–0	1–0	—	1–1	1–1	0–3	0–2	2–2	2–2	2–6	1–2	0–3	3–4	0–2	0–2
Eccleshall	0–0	2–2	0–4	1–1	3–2	4–2	2–1	2–2	3–4	1–3	—	3–0	2–4	0–2	1–1	2–0	3–5	2–1	0–5	3–2	4–1	0–2
FC Oswestry T	2–2	1–3	1–2	0–2	2–0	3–2	3–3	1–4	2–3	5–0	4–0	—	4–0	1–4	2–2	2–0	0–2	0–2	0–0	0–3	1–5	0–1
Holker OB	2–3	0–3	0–0	0–0	2–1	0–3	2–1	0–2	2–2	1–0	3–5	6–1	—	3–2	2–0	2–2	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–0	2–1	4–3
Lith REMYCA	2–0	2–3	2–2	3–3	3–1	2–1	3–0	3–3	2–0	4–0	6–0	4–3	6–0	—	1–1	1–2	2–0	3–2	3–0	1–0	4–0	1–0
Nelson	0–1	2–1	3–1	1–3	0–1	1–2	0–4	0–0	1–2	2–0	2–2	0–0	1–1	0–6	—	1–2	0–4	2–4	1–2	1–2	0–4	2–3
New Mills	0–1	4–1	0–3	1–4	0–3	2–2	2–3	2–2	2–3	1–5	3–1	0–4	7–2	0–2	2–2	—	2–1	1–5	2–4	2–0	4–2	4–1
Prestwich H	2–2	0–1	4–0	2–1	3–1	3–0	7–2	4–2	3–1	8–0	3–0	5–2	5–0	1–1	4–1	4–0	—	2–1	0–4	4–0	8–1	0–1
Sandbach U	1–2	1–4	2–2	4–2	7–1	1–0	2–1	4–2	1–3	4–0	2–1	4–0	0–1	0–2	2–1	3–0	0–6	—	3–1	1–0	1–0	2–1
Silsden	2–1	1–0	2–1	2–0	2–1	2–1	3–2	6–0	5–2	5–1	6–0	5–1	5–0	2–1	1–0	4–0	2–2	1–0	—	5–2	2–0	1–2
St Helens T	0–0 *	2–3	3–3	3–0	1–2	1–1	2–3	3–1	2–3	1–3	1–2	2–3	1–3	1–4	2–2	0–2	0–2	3–2	1–4	—	3–3	1–5
Stockport T	3–1	0–0	0–1	2–1	1–1	1–1	0–1	4–2	2–2	2–1	3–2	7–0	1–3	2–6	2–4	6–1	2–1	3–2	1–3	1–1	—	0–1
Whitchurch A	0–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	3–0	2–0	2–1	3–1	2–0	5–0	2–0	1–1	5–1	0–2	5–1	5–0	0–1	0–2	0–1	5–1	3–0	—

Updated to match(es) played on 12 May 2018. Source: results and fixtures
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Bacup Borough v FC Oswestry Town: visitors failed to fulfil fixture on 5 May, result declared a 3–0 home win
St Helens Town v Abbey Hulton United: result declared a draw following investigation^[7]

Playoffs

Source for this subsection: NWC website

Semifinals			Final

3	Prestwich Heys	1

6	Cammell Laird 1907	4
			6	Cammell Laird 1907	1

			4	Whitchurch Alport	2
4	Whitchurch Alport	1

5	Sandbach United	0

Stadia and locations

Locations of the 2017–18 North West Counties Football League Division One teams

Team	Stadium	Capacity
Carlisle City	Gillford Park Stadium	4,000
Atherton Laburnum Rovers	Crilly Park	3,000
Bacup Borough	West View	3,000
Holker Old Boys	Rakesmoor Lane Barrow-in-Furness	2,500
Stockport Town	Stockport Sports Village	2,384
FC Oswestry Town	Park Hall Stadium	2,034
Cammell Laird 1907	North West Construction Stadium, Birkenhead	2,000
Cheadle Town	Park Road Stadium	2,000
Daisy Hill	New Sirs Westhoughton	2,000
Eccleshall	Pershall Park	2,000
Nelson	Victoria Park	2,000
AFC Blackpool	The Mechanics	1,500
Alsager Town	Wood Park Stadium	1,500
Chadderton	MCA Stadium	1,500
Silsden	Keighley Road Stadium	1,500
New Mills	Church Lane	1,400
Abbey Hulton United	Birches Head Road
Litherland REMYCA	Litherland Sports Park
Prestwich Heys	Aide Moran Park
Sandbach United	Sandbach Community Football Centre
St Helens Town	Ruskin Drive Sportsground
Whitchurch Alport	Yockings Park

League Challenge Cup

Also called the Macron Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons.^[8] Source for this section: NWCFL web site

First round

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
AFC Blackpool	0–0 (2–3 p)	Nelson
AFC Darwen	1–0	City of Liverpool
Ashton Athletic	6–3	Daisy Hill
Atherton Laburnum Rovers	0–4	Carlisle City
Prestwich Heys	4–0	St. Helens Town
Silsden	0–3	Burscough

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Cammell Laird 1907	2–1	Congleton Town
FC Oswestry Town	2–1	Chadderton
Runcorn Town	3–3 (3–4 p)	Alsager Town
Sandbach United	2–3	Irlam
Stockport Town	7–1	Maine Road
Whitchurch Alport	1–1 (4–5 p)	Northwich Victoria
Winsford United	4–3	Barnton

All remaining teams received byes to the second round.

Second round

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
AFC Darwen	1–2 * †	Padiham
Bacup Borough	1–6 **	Ashton Athletic
Barnoldswick Town	0–4	Charnock Richard
Bootle	4–2	Litherland REMYCA
Holker Old Boys	2–7 ***	AFC Liverpool
Nelson	1–1 (3–0 p) **** †	Prestwich Heys
Squires Gate	1–2	Burscough
Widnes	1–1 (3–1 p)	Carlisle City

* Played at Padiham, following two postponements
** Played at Ashton, following two postponements
*** Played at Crosby, following two postponements
**** Played at Prestwich, following two postponements
† Padiham and Nelson eliminated, having fielded ineligible players

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
1874 Northwich	4–1 *	Abbey Hulton United
Abbey Hey	5–3	New Mills
Cheadle Town	2–1	Alsager Town
Eccleshall	0–3	FC Oswestry Town
Hanley Town	3–5	Northwich Victoria
Irlam	1–1 (5–4 p) **	Cammell Laird 1907
Stockport Town	2–1	Runcorn Linnets
Winsford United	5–1	West Didsbury & Chorlton

* Played at Abbey Hulton, following two postponements
** Played at Birkenhead, following two postponements

Third round

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Bootle	1–3	Charnock Richard
Burscough	1–1 (8–7 p)	Prestwich Heys
AFC Liverpool	1–4	Ashton Athletic
Widnes	2–1	AFC Darwen

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Cheadle Town	1–1 (3–4 p)	Northwich Victoria
Irlam	3–1	FC Oswestry Town
Stockport Town	2–1	Abbey Hey
Winsford United	3–1	1874 Northwich

Quarter-finals

Home team	Score	Away team
Ashton Athletic	0–2	Widnes
Burscough	2–1	Northwich Victoria

Home team	Score	Away team
Stockport Town	0–4	Irlam
Winsford United	1–1 (4–2 p)	Charnock Richard

Semi-finals

First leg

Home team	Score	Away team
Irlam	0–0	Burscough

Home team	Score	Away team
Widnes	5–0	Winsford United

Second leg

Home team	Score	Away team
Burscough	3–0	Irlam

Home team	Score	Away team
Winsford United	2–2	Widnes

Final

Played at Highbury Stadium, home of Fleetwood Town.

	Score
Widnes	2–1	Burscough

Division One Trophy

Also called the LWC Drinks First Division Cup for sponsorship reasons.^[3] Source for this section: NWCFL web site

First round

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Atherton Laburnum Rovers	2–1 ^*	Carlisle City
Daisy Hill	0–0 (5–4 p)	Litherland REMYCA
Holker Old Boys	1–2	St. Helens Town

^* Played at Carlisle following two postponements

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Chadderton	0–1	Cheadle Town
New Mills	2–2 (3–4 p)	Alsager Town
Sandbach United	6–1	FC Oswestry Town

All the remaining First Division teams received a bye to the second round.

Second round

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
AFC Blackpool	4–0	Silsden
Nelson	0–1	Atherton Laburnum Rovers
Prestwich Heys	3–1	Bacup Borough
St. Helens Town	3–3 (2–4 p)	Daisy Hill

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Cammell Laird 1907	2–0	Stockport Town
Cheadle Town	3–1	Abbey Hulton United
Sandbach United	4–2	Eccleshall
Whitchurch Alport	0–3	Alsager Town

Quarter-finals

Northern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Daisy Hill	0–1 *	Atherton Laburnum Rovers
Prestwich Heys	3–1	AFC Blackpool

* Atherton LR disqualified for fielding an ineligible player^[9]

Southern Section

Home team	Score	Away team
Alsager Town	0–4	Cammell Laird 1907
Sandbach United	4–1	Cheadle Town

Semi-finals

First leg

Home team	Score	Away team
Cammell Laird 1907	3–1	Daisy Hill

Home team	Score	Away team
Sandbach United	1–2	Prestwich Heys

Second leg

Home team	Score	Away team
Daisy Hill	1–2	Cammell Laird 1907

Home team	Score	Away team
Prestwich Heys	3–2	Sandbach United

Final

Played at the Millbank Linnets Stadium, home of Runcorn Linnets.

	Score
Cammell Laird 1907	1–2	Prestwich Heys

References

^ "The NWCFL agree headline sponsorship deal with Hallmark Security". NWCFL. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
^ "Club Allocations for Step 5–6" (PDF). The FA. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ ^a ^b "News from the AGM". NWCFL. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
^ "FA National League System Restructure - season 2018/19". NWC. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
^ ^a ^b "The FA Handbook Standardised Rules 2017-2018 (page 539, section 12.2)". The FA. Retrieved 21 July 2017.
^ "Venue switch for 1874 Northwich". North West Counties Football League. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.
^ "Lights go out". Stoke Sentinel. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
^ "League announces 4-year partnership deal with Macron". NWCFL. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
^ "LWC Drinks First Division Cup update". NWC. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.

External links

nwcfl.com (The Official Website of The North West Counties Football League)

[table_note_res_PP0.7569789452278-5] 12 of the 14 runners-up at Step 5 were to have been promoted to Step 4.^[4]
However, with resignations and mergers in leagues above, all fourteen runners-up were promoted.

[table_note_res_PRPO0.53987506196828-8] Four teams played for one spot and promotion to the Premier Division.

[table_hth_BAC0.53987506196828-9] Bacup Borough were awarded a 3–0 win against FC Oswestry Town, due to Oswestry failing to fulfill fixture on 5 May.

[1] "The NWCFL agree headline sponsorship deal with Hallmark Security". NWCFL. 6 June 2016. Retrieved 6 June 2016.

[2] "Club Allocations for Step 5–6" (PDF). The FA. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}

[News_from_the_AGM-3] "News from the AGM". NWCFL. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 17 June 2017.

[NWC_news_6038-4] "FA National League System Restructure - season 2018/19". NWC. 18 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.

[Standardised_rules_2017–18-6] "The FA Handbook Standardised Rules 2017-2018 (page 539, section 12.2)". The FA. Retrieved 21 July 2017.

[7] "Venue switch for 1874 Northwich". North West Counties Football League. 12 February 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2018.

[10] "Lights go out". Stoke Sentinel. 18 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.

[Macro_Challenge_Cup-11] "League announces 4-year partnership deal with Macron". NWCFL. 7 June 2016. Retrieved 7 June 2016.

[12] "LWC Drinks First Division Cup update". NWC. 4 March 2018. Retrieved 5 March 2018.

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