Cleator Moor Celtic’s relegation from the North West Counties League has been confirmed.
There were hopes that Celtic, who finished bottom of Division One North, would survive if would-be promotion hopefuls did not pass certain criteria.
In fact Ashton Town and Runcorn Town, who finished in the other relegation positions, have both received reprieves due to a good PPG ratio and the number of teams being promoted in from the County Feeder teams being lower than predicted.
Joining the Division One North are Route One Rovers who will be based at the Marley Stadium, ground-sharing with existing members, Steeton.
Route One won the Yorkshire Amateur League, completing the double by winning the District Cup along the way.
Also joining the Division will be Droylsden FC, a club who have had quite a lot of success over the years including a fairly recent televised FA Cup game, but have spent the last couple of seasons in hiatus.
They were most recently members of the Northern Premier League Division One West a couple of seasons back.
After losing their place they have consolidated their business plan which had been badly affected by the impact of the pandemic.
Brian Dawson, the Cleator Moor Celtic manager, said: “The North West Counties League is a great competition and that’s where we want to be playing.
“But I think now that relegation has been confirmed we can concentrate on the West Lancashire League and doing our best to get back to where we have been.
“We will reflect on what has been a very challenging season. The quality of the league has proved a tough learning curve for us as a coaching staff and what has been a very young team.
“I do believe that we are now starting to find our feet. We needed to change the culture at the club and I believe we have succeeded in that.
“Attendances at training have been excellent and availability for games has always been good apart from a hectic end to the season when we had four games in about a week.
“Going down isn’t the end of the world. It will allow us to gain confidence and grow as a group. I’m also sure it would only be for 12 months.”
The Premier Division, which includes Kendal Town who finished mid-table following their relegation from the NPL, will be running with a 24 team competition.
Congleton Town, Winsford United and Northwich Victoria have all been laterally moved to the Midlands League.
With a good points-per-game ratio from the 2022-23 season, Burscough have gained a reprieve from relegation and will remain at Step 5 in the Premier Division for the new season.
They will be joined by Skelmersdale United, Colne FC, Glossop North End and Ramsbottom United, all former members who have been relegated from NPL Division One West, but all familiar clubs to the NWCFL.
Skelmersdale were promoted just 12 months ago as they defeated Cinderford Town in the Inter-step play-off back on 30th April 2022.
However their current ground that they are sharing does not hold the required ground grade for Step 4 and they are placed in a relegation despite finishing a reputable 11th in the Northern Premier League Division One West last season.
Ramsbottom United and Colne finished 20th and 19th respectively last season and were automatically relegated and it has been over a decade since Rammy’ were last with the North West Counties League.
Colne left more recently, winning the Premier Division with equal aplomb in the 2015-16 season.
They will be joined by Glossop North End who left a season earlier than Colne via the same route.
