Northern League

Last updated: 30th April 2023

The Northern League is the premier track & field event in which Bury AC compete and is open to Senior and U20 athletes. U17s can also compete in some events. Our team manager is Byron Edwards. Athletes compete for the club across the full range of track & field disciplines:

Sprints: 100m, 200m, 400m, 100m hurdles (Ladies), 110m hurdles (Men), 400m hurdles, 4x100m relay, 4x400m relay

Endurance: 800m, 1500m, 3000m (Ladies), 5000m (Men), 3000 steeplechase

Jumps: High jump, long jump, triple jump, pole vault

Throws: Hammer, discus, javelin, shot

League structure

The league was restructured in 2021 to provide a more regionalised competition and minimise travel. The league is now split into 3 regions: West, East and Northeast, with Bury AC in the West region. Within each region, there is a Premier Division, two division 1s (West North and West South in our region) and a variable number of divisions 2s, depending on the number of clubs in the region. There are normally six teams in a division and there will be four fixtures in the season. There is also a Grand Final, contested by the top 2 clubs in each Premier division to determine the Northern champion.

The teams in each division for 2022, and the overall fixture list, can be seen here. The rules of the competition are here. There is a flowchart showing how promotion and relegation works on the final page.

Key changes for 2023

There have been a few changes announced for 2023:

First year U17s can no longer compete in Northern League.
There is now a women’s steeplechase in fixtures 2 & 4 and men’s in the fixtures 1 & 3 (previously only men in all 4 fixtures).
The event timetable has changed as a results, and varies according to which steeplechase is being run. The timetable is on page 2 of the rules, here.
Several clubs have left the league due to a shortfall in officials/athletes, meaning that there are not enough clubs for two divisions 2, so existing divisions have been amalgamated (this doesn’t affect Bury this year).

Fixtures & Results – 2023

In 2022 we finished narrow runners up to Trafford, missing promotion by a single league point.

This year’s fixtures are as follows:

Match 1 Saturday 20th May 2023 Ashton-under-Lyne (Richmond St Stadium, OL7 9HG; host club is East Cheshire) – No hammer & discus in this fixture
Match 2 Sunday 18th June 2022 Bury (Market St Track, BL9 9FX)
Match 3 Sunday 9th July 2022 tbc [previously hosted by Kendal, who have since withdrawn from the league]
Match 4 Saturday 19th August 2022 Blackpool (Stanley Park Arena, FY9 9HQ)

The teams in our division in 2023 are:

1. Blackpool, Wyre & Fylde AC

2. Bolton United Harriers & AC

3. Bury AC

4. East Cheshire Harriers & Tameside AC

5. Horwich RMI / Chorley

6. Preston Harriers

There were originally 7 teams in the division, but Kendal have withdrawn, so we now have the usual 6.

Scoring

There are 6 clubs in the division, and 4 fixtures. At each fixture, a club can field 2 athletes in each of the sprint, endurance, throw and jump events listed above. There will be an “A” athlete and a “B” athlete, with points as follows, for positions 1-7: “A” athletes: 9 / 7 / 6 / 5 / 4 / 3 “B” athletes: 7 / 5 / 4 / 3 / 2 / 1. The club with the most overall points wins the fixture.

The winning club in each fixture then gets 6 league points, second place 5 points and so on, and the final league table is decided after the four fixtures. If league points are equal after the four fixtures, aggregate match points decides placings.

It is important to field athletes in all available events to ensure that no available points are missed, so please be willing to “have a go” in events that may not be your favoured choice

Officials

As well as athletes, every club has to provide a team of officials to support the event. A significant number of points are also scored for provision of officials, and if we are short of officials, this can greatly reduce the points that we score. Not all officials need to be qualified – roles include, for example, raking the long jump pit, collecting the discus after each throw etc – so if you are unable to compete, please make yourself available to officiate. Our officials duties this years are as follows:

Fix #1: Men’s discus (13:00), Women’s High Jump (14:45)

Fix #2: Men’s Long jump (12:35), Women’s discus (14:00), Men’s Triple jump (15:45)

Fix #3: Pole Vault (11:30), Women’s Javelin (16:05)

Fix #4: Women’s Long Jump (11:00), Men’s High Jump (13:10), Men’s Javelin (15:00)

Past results

2022 Final Standings (West 1N Division)

2022 Match 1 Results 2022 Match 2 Results 2022 Match 3 results 2022 Match 4 Results

2021 Final Standings (West 1N Division)

2021 Match 1 Results 2021 Match 2 Results 2021 Match 3 Results 2021 Match 4 Results

2019 Final Standings (Division 3WC)

2019 Match 1 Results 2019 Match 2 Results 2019 Match 3 Results 2019 Match 4 Results

2018 Final Standings (Divison 2WC)