Where an asterisk appears at the end of a team’s name, this means it was the reserve side of a Football League club.

 

1946-1947

 

1	Middlesbrough*	38	23	6	9	104	56	52
2	Sunderland*	38	23	5	10	111	61	51
3	South Shields	38	19	10	9	103	79	48
4	Ashington	38	19	6	13	98	93	44
5	Darlington*	38	19	5	14	81	64	43
6	Gateshead*	38	18	6	14	105	87	42
7	Consett	38	18	5	15	97	83	41
8	Carlisle United*	38	18	5	15	101	87	41
9	Stockton	38	18	5	15	75	73	41
10	Annfield Plain	38	17	7	14	90	88	41
11	West Stanley	38	17	6	15	112	99	40
12	North Shields	38	17	4	17	97	91	38
13	Workington	38	14	9	15	80	69	37
14	Hartlepools United*	38	15	7	16	70	75	37
15	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	38	13	10	15	57	76	36
16	Eppleton Colliery Welfare	38	12	7	19	63	98	31
17	Spennymoor United	38	11	6	21	70	81	28
18	Horden Colliery Welfare	38	11	6	21	71	101	28
19	Throckley Welfare	38	13	2	23	78	132	28
20	Murton Colliery Welfare	38	4	5	29	43	113	13
		760	319	122	319	1706	1706	760

 

Throckley Welfare left the competition at the end of the season and were replaced by Blyth Spartans.

 

1947-1948

 

1	Sunderland*	38	24	9	5	102	51	57
2	Gateshead*	38	25	6	7	105	48	56
3	Middlesbrough*	38	24	6	8	91	46	54
4	North Shields	38	21	7	10	89	65	49
5	Hartlepools United*	38	17	9	12	62	62	43
6	West Stanley	38	18	5	15	87	74	41
7	Consett	38	18	4	16	87	75	40
8	Blyth Spartans	38	15	10	13	62	60	40
9	Ashington	38	16	7	15	81	70	39
10	Horden Colliery Welfare	38	17	3	18	60	66	37
11	Stockton	38	13	10	15	57	59	36
12	Spennymoor United	38	14	7	17	70	69	35
13	Darlington*	38	15	5	18	65	68	35
14	Carlisle United*	38	14	7	17	61	65	35
15	South Shields	38	17	1	20	65	79	35
16	Workington	38	14	6	18	80	98	34
17	Murton Colliery Welfare	38	12	7	19	65	85	31
18	Annfield Plain	38	11	9	18	72	96	31
19	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	38	7	6	25	70	115	20
20	Eppleton Colliery Welfare	38	3	6	29	41	121	12
		760	315	130	315	1472	1472	760

 

1948-1949

 

1	Middlesbrough*	38	26	6	6	126	47	58
2	South Shields	38	18	13	7	80	60	49
3	Gateshead*	38	20	7	11	77	62	47
4	Spennymoor United	38	19	8	11	88	66	46
5	Sunderland*	38	18	9	11	90	53	45
6	Consett	38	18	9	11	80	72	45
7	Ashington	38	18	8	12	96	83	44
8	Blyth Spartans	38	18	7	13	71	56	43
9	Carlisle United*	38	19	5	14	62	68	43
10	Hartlepools United*	38	16	7	15	85	97	39
11	West Stanley	38	15	8	15	82	79	38
12	Horden Colliery Welfare	38	14	9	15	67	54	37
13	Annfield Plain	38	15	7	16	74	65	37
14	Stockton	38	12	10	16	67	75	34
15	North Shields	38	15	4	19	74	94	34
16	Eppleton Colliery Welfare	38	11	9	18	64	101	31
17	Darlington*	38	11	5	22	67	83	27
18	Workington	38	12	3	23	84	105	27
19	Murton Colliery Welfare	38	8	3	27	55	106	19
20	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	38	4	9	25	39	102	17
		760	307	146	307	1528	1528	760

 

1949-1950

 

1	North Shields	38	24	6	8	95	60	54
2	West Stanley	38	23	6	9	65	45	52
3	Middlesbrough*	38	22	7	9	124	53	51
4	Stockton	38	21	7	10	69	52	49
5	Sunderland*	38	20	5	13	90	54	45
6	Blyth Spartans	38	18	8	12	87	69	44
7	Carlisle United*	38	16	10	12	59	49	42
8	Horden Colliery Welfare	38	16	9	13	75	64	41
9	Workington	38	16	8	14	84	83	40
10	Spennymoor United	38	15	9	14	73	53	39
11	Hartlepools United*	38	15	9	14	85	77	39
12	Consett	38	14	10	14	65	86	38
13	Murton Colliery Welfare	38	14	6	18	72	95	34
14	South Shields	38	11	11	16	61	78	33
15	Ashington	38	13	5	20	74	93	31
16	Gateshead*	38	11	8	19	77	79	30
17	Annfield Plain	38	9	10	19	69	91	28
18	Darlington*	38	11	5	22	63	91	27
19	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	38	9	5	24	63	115	23
20	Eppleton Colliery Welfare	38	8	4	26	51	114	20
		760	306	148	306	1501	1501	760

 

1950-1951

 

1	Stockton	38	25	6	7	79	37	56
2	Middlesbrough*	38	25	5	8	100	51	55
3	Carlisle United*	38	21	4	13	105	60	46
4	Horden Colliery Welfare	38	21	4	13	78	53	46
5	Workington	38	18	9	11	79	68	45
6	Sunderland*	38	16	12	10	80	49	44
7	North Shields	38	16	12	10	80	64	44
8	Ashington	38	16	11	11	83	67	43
9	Spennymoor United	38	18	7	13	80	65	43
10	Blyth Spartans	38	15	9	14	67	76	39
11	Darlington*	38	15	8	15	69	64	38
12	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	38	16	3	19	63	81	35
13	Consett	38	14	6	18	76	84	34
14	West Stanley	38	12	9	17	55	68	33
15	Hartlepools United*	38	14	5	19	74	91	33
16	South Shields	38	12	8	18	48	81	32
17	Gateshead*	38	10	6	22	60	82	26
18	Annfield Plain	38	11	4	23	64	95	26
19	Eppleton Colliery Welfare	38	6	11	21	51	95	23
20	Murton Colliery Welfare	38	5	9	24	49	109	19
		760	306	148	306	1440	1440	760

 

Workington were elected to the Football League Division 3 (North) and placed their reserve side in the North Eastern League.  Eppleton Colliery Welfare and Murton Colliery Welfare both left the competition and transferred to the Wearside League.

 

1951-1952

 

1	Middlesbrough*	34	23	4	7	96	38	50
2	North Shields	34	21	3	10	95	43	45
3	Sunderland*	34	18	8	8	82	50	44
4	Gateshead*	34	17	6	11	86	64	40
5	Ashington	34	15	8	11	84	78	38
6	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	34	14	8	12	67	51	36
7	Hartlepools United*	34	16	4	14	69	66	36
8	West Stanley	34	16	3	15	74	72	35
9	Spennymoor United	34	14	6	14	78	70	34
10	Blyth Spartans	34	11	10	13	53	68	32
11	Stockton	34	11	8	15	60	77	30
12	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	13	4	17	54	80	30
13	Carlisle United*	34	11	6	17	66	63	28
14	South Shields	34	9	10	15	53	74	28
15	Annfield Plain	34	10	8	16	59	90	28
16	Consett	34	11	6	17	70	101	28
17	Darlington*	34	9	9	16	58	84	27
18	Workington*	34	7	9	18	69	104	23
		612	246	120	246	1273	1273	612

 

1952-1953

 

1	Sunderland*	34	28	2	4	102	27	58
2	Middlesbrough*	34	23	4	7	95	46	50
3	Carlisle United*	34	19	7	8	88	55	45
4	Blyth Spartans	34	20	5	9	93	61	45
5	Darlington*	34	16	8	10	76	64	40
6	Spennymoor United	34	10	14	10	68	71	34
7	Workington*	34	13	7	14	74	68	33
8	North Shields	34	14	3	17	81	85	31
9	Gateshead*	34	12	6	16	68	68	30
10	Ashington	34	12	6	16	71	76	30
11	Stockton	34	13	4	17	48	66	30
12	Consett	34	10	9	15	45	66	29
13	South Shields	34	10	8	16	41	55	28
14	West Stanley	34	9	10	15	54	85	28
15	Hartlepools United*	34	9	9	16	61	85	27
16	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	34	9	8	17	50	80	26
17	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	9	6	19	55	80	24
18	Annfield Plain	34	9	6	19	56	88	24
		612	245	122	245	1226	1226	612

 

1953-1954

 

1	Middlesbrough*	34	20	7	7	92	45	47
2	Sunderland*	34	21	5	8	92	50	47
3	Spennymoor United	34	20	4	10	80	45	44
4	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	18	7	9	66	52	43
5	Hartlepools United*	34	18	6	10	84	74	42
6	Gateshead*	34	17	4	13	85	69	38
7	Annfield Plain	34	16	4	14	71	71	36
8	Consett	34	17	2	15	63	75	36
9	Carlisle United*	34	17	1	16	100	78	35
10	South Shields	34	12	7	15	66	68	31
11	Darlington*	34	12	5	17	76	78	29
12	Workington*	34	12	5	17	63	69	29
13	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	34	12	5	17	50	66	29
14	Blyth Spartans	34	11	6	17	48	82	28
15	Ashington	34	11	5	18	61	79	27
16	North Shields	34	10	5	19	65	100	25
17	Stockton	34	10	4	20	56	86	24
18	West Stanley	34	8	6	20	59	90	22
		612	262	88	262	1277	1277	612

 

1954-1955

 

1	Middlesbrough*	34	25	5	4	97	27	55
2	Sunderland*	34	23	3	8	112	42	49
3	Spennymoor United	34	20	7	7	80	48	47
4	Workington*	34	19	5	10	76	42	43
5	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	17	5	12	72	61	39
6	North Shields	34	14	9	11	76	73	37
7	South Shields	34	13	10	11	74	67	36
8	Darlington*	34	14	7	13	81	64	35
9	Blyth Spartans	34	13	7	14	64	78	33
10	Gateshead*	34	14	4	16	71	74	32
11	Carlisle United*	34	14	3	17	85	70	31
12	Annfield Plain	34	11	9	14	67	86	31
13	Ashington	34	10	9	15	61	74	29
14	Hartlepools United*	34	11	5	18	65	82	27
15	Consett	34	12	3	19	57	98	27
16	Stockton	34	8	7	19	48	77	23
17	Blackhall Colliery Welfare	34	8	4	22	33	95	20
18	West Stanley	34	6	6	22	45	106	18
		612	252	108	252	1264	1264	612

 

Blackhall Colliery Welfare left the competition at the end of the season.  Their place was taken by Whitley Bay Athletic from the Northern Alliance.

1955-1956

 

1	Middlesbrough*	34	28	3	3	112	34	59
2	South Shields	34	20	7	7	96	51	47
3	Ashington	34	19	7	8	92	59	45
4	Workington*	34	18	8	8	81	42	44
5	Sunderland*	34	20	3	11	87	54	43
6	Gateshead*	34	13	11	10	69	65	37
7	Blyth Spartans	34	17	3	14	68	80	37
8	Stockton	34	15	5	14	68	65	35
9	Carlisle United*	34	14	6	14	74	56	34
10	Darlington*	34	13	7	14	76	71	33
11	Annfield Plain	34	12	8	14	54	65	32
12	Spennymoor United	34	12	5	17	59	63	29
13	Consett	34	11	6	17	58	88	28
14	North Shields	34	10	6	18	54	78	26
15	Hartlepools United*	34	10	6	18	48	78	26
16	Whitley Bay Athletic	34	8	8	18	62	92	24
17	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	8	5	21	50	94	21
18	West Stanley	34	4	4	26	34	107	12
		612	252	108	252	1242	1242	612

 

1956-1957

 

1	Spennymoor United	34	22	7	5	79	42	51
2	South Shields	34	22	5	7	88	39	49
3	North Shields	34	21	6	7	92	39	48
4	Ashington	34	20	8	6	117	55	48
5	Middlesbrough*	34	20	7	7	92	43	47
6	Sunderland*	34	20	5	9	97	46	45
7	Workington*	34	16	7	11	74	57	39
8	Blyth Spartans	34	17	5	12	90	71	39
9	Hartlepools United*	34	18	3	13	80	71	39
10	Darlington*	34	14	6	14	78	75	34
11	Gateshead*	34	13	6	15	62	79	32
12	Annfield Plain	34	10	7	17	66	86	27
13	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	11	4	19	54	84	26
14	Consett	34	8	4	22	51	86	20
15	Stockton	34	10	0	24	59	107	20
16	Carlisle United*	34	5	8	21	35	83	18
17	West Stanley	34	6	4	24	32	100	16
18	Whitley Bay Athletic	34	6	2	26	44	127	14
		612	259	94	259	1290	1290	612

 

1957-1958

 

1	South Shields	34	27	3	4	107	42	57
2	Middlesbrough*	34	22	5	7	92	33	49
3	Ashington	34	22	5	7	79	48	49
4	North Shields	34	16	9	9	66	44	41
5	Workington*	34	17	5	12	73	59	39
6	Sunderland*	34	17	4	13	84	50	38
7	Gateshead*	34	15	8	11	82	72	38
8	Carlisle United*	34	16	4	14	66	57	36
9	Blyth Spartans	34	14	7	13	66	66	35
10	Horden Colliery Welfare	34	13	9	12	58	59	35
11	Hartlepools United*	34	15	4	15	72	61	34
12	Spennymoor United	34	13	8	13	70	72	34
13	Consett	34	13	6	15	68	63	32
14	Annfield Plain	34	9	7	18	57	96	25
15	Darlington*	34	7	8	19	56	92	22
16	Stockton	34	7	5	22	60	107	19
17	West Stanley	34	8	2	24	47	97	18
18	Whitley Bay Athletic	34	3	5	26	35	120	11
		612	254	104	254	1238	1238	612

 

Following talks, which began in March 1958, the seven Football League clubs withdrew their reserve sides from the North Eastern League at the end of the season to join the new North Regional League, which was for Football League clubs’ second elevens only.  Unable to find enough new clubs to make it a viable competition, the North Eastern League closed down. 

 

The name ‘lived on’, however, as a new set-up called the North Eastern League was created for the 1958-1959 season, though this was at ‘a lower level’, including some Football League club ‘A’ teams.  Of the eleven sides from the ‘old competition’, Whitley Bay Athletic moved to the Northern League, Annfield Plain and West Stanley were accepted into the Northern Alliance, and the remaining eight joined the Midland League, a competition which had been decimated by a similar mass withdrawal of Football League club reserve sides at the end of the 1957-1958 season.  The Midland League was thus given a new shape and operated in this form for the next two seasons.

 

Midland League 1958-1959

 

1	Peterborough United	36	32	4	0	137	26	68
2	Ashington	36	28	4	4	125	40	60
3	North Shields	36	21	6	9	82	49	48
4	South Shields	36	19	8	9	79	45	46
5	Blyth Spartans	36	18	10	8	79	52	46
6	Skegness Town	36	17	7	12	73	71	41
7	Horden Colliery	36	15	10	11	68	73	40
8	Consett	36	16	4	16	72	72	36
9	Scarborough	36	13	9	14	63	79	35
10	Frickley Colliery	36	12	9	15	70	75	33
11	Goole Town	36	12	7	17	72	90	31
12	Gainsborough Trinity	36	10	10	16	70	77	30
13	Sutton Town	36	10	9	17	69	98	29
14	Spennymoor United	36	8	12	16	55	92	28
15	Scunthorpe United*	36	8	10	18	58	70	26
16	Denaby United	36	10	3	23	57	107	23
17	Stockton	36	7	8	21	65	106	22
18	Grantham	36	7	7	22	66	90	21
19	Worksop Town	36	10	1	25	50	98	21
		684	273	138	273	1410	1410	684

 

Grantham and Scunthorpe United Reserves withdrew from the competition at the end of the season.

 

Midland League 1959-1960

 

1	Peterborough United	32	23	6	3	108	37	52
2	North Shields	32	22	5	5	76	27	49
3	Ashington	32	19	7	6	90	40	45
4	South Shields	32	16	8	8	65	41	40
5	Blyth Spartans	32	13	10	9	74	51	36
6	Stockton	32	12	8	12	53	66	32
7	Goole Town	32	13	5	14	62	78	31
8	Consett	32	13	4	15	54	65	30
9	Spennymoor United	32	12	6	14	47	57	30
10	Horden Colliery	32	12	5	15	46	62	29
11	Gainsborough Trinity	32	7	14	11	41	60	28
12	Skegness Town	32	9	9	14	50	64	27
13	Scarborough	32	9	8	15	48	65	26
14	Worksop Town	32	10	4	18	41	70	24
15	Sutton Town	32	6	11	15	44	76	23
16	Denaby United	32	8	6	18	44	68	22
17	Frickley Colliery	32	7	6	19	54	70	20
		544	211	122	211	997	997	544

 

Peterborough United were elected to the Football League Division Four.  Denaby United, Frickley Colliery, Gainsborough Trinity, Goole Town, Skegness Town, Sutton Town and Worksop Town all resigned from the competition due to financial difficulties, while Spennymoor United opted to move to the Northern League.  Faced with a second mass departure in two years and a ‘club base’ now outside its ‘home area’, the Midland League now folded. 

 

The remaining former North Eastern League sides agreed to set up their own league competition called the ‘Northern Counties League’ because the name ‘North Eastern League’ was not available in 1960.   They were joined by Annfield Plain from the Northern Alliance, Gateshead from the Football League and Scarborough, who had played in the Midland League.

 

With a membership of only 10 clubs, it was decided that the new competition would play a normal league programme + a ‘league cup league. as well.

 

Northern Counties League 1960-1961

 

1	North Shields	18	11	5	2	59	28	27
2	Ashington	18	12	2	4	50	22	26
3	Blyth Spartans	18	8	6	4	29	22	22
4	Gateshead	18	8	4	6	35	26	20
5	Consett	18	9	1	8	46	42	19
6	Scarborough	18	9	1	8	32	30	19
7	South Shields	18	7	4	7	31	32	18
8	Stockton	18	5	4	9	39	55	14
9	Horden Colliery Welfare	18	6	2	10	25	43	14
10	Annfield Plain	18	0	1	17	15	61	1
		180	75	30	75	361	361	180

 

League Cup 1960-1961

 

1	Gateshead	17	11	3	3	50	20	25
2	Blyth Spartans	18	10	5	3	42	19	25
3	North Shields	18	10	3	5	52	30	23
4	Consett	18	9	5	4	35	23	23
5	Ashington	18	7	4	7	46	40	18
6	South Shields	18	7	3	8	46	30	17
7	Horden Colliery Welfare	18	7	2	9	36	43	16
8	Stockton	18	6	2	10	29	68	14
9	Scarborough	18	5	2	11	33	46	12
10	Annfield Plain	17	2	1	14	25	75	5
		178	74	30	74	394	394	178

 

The reserve sides of Carlisle United, Darlington and Workington joined the competition.  The increase in membership meant that clubs would play each other twice in the league competition but only once in the ‘league cup league’.

 

Northern Counties League 1961-1962

 

1	Consett	24	16	3	5	77	44	35
2	South Shields	24	16	2	6	67	30	34
3	Ashington	24	14	5	5	63	36	33
4	Horden Colliery Welfare	24	13	4	7	57	50	30
5	Gateshead	24	13	3	8	42	34	29
6	Scarborough	24	11	5	8	48	31	27
7	North Shields	24	10	5	9	61	42	25
8	Darlington*	24	8	5	11	55	57	21
9	Blyth Spartans	24	7	6	11	52	61	20
10	Carlisle United	24	6	7	11	31	43	19
11	Stockton	24	6	3	15	41	82	15
12	Annfield Plain	24	5	3	16	34	72	13
13	Workington*	24	5	1	18	36	82	11
		312	130	52	130	664	664	312

 

League Cup 1961-1962

 

1	South Shields	12	7	4	1	27	12	18
2	North Shields	12	8	1	3	30	15	17
3	Scarborough	12	6	4	2	23	13	16
4	Consett	12	6	3	3	27	18	15
5	Carlisle United*	12	7	1	4	22	20	15
6	Ashington	12	6	1	5	23	20	13
7	Darlington*	12	6	1	5	23	23	13
8	Gateshead	12	3	5	4	18	22	11
9	Annfield Plain	12	3	3	6	24	27	9
10	Stockton	12	3	3	6	16	19	9
11	Horden Colliery Welfare	12	3	3	6	17	28	9
12	Workington*	12	3	0	9	12	31	6
13	Blyth Spartans	12	1	3	8	10	24	5
		156	62	32	62	272	272	156

 

Gateshead moved to the North Regional League and were replaced by Redcar Albion.  The competition name was changed to ‘North Eastern League’ after this title became available when the junior league which had been known as this folded.

 

North Eastern League 1962-1963

 

1	Scarborough	22	14	4	4	71	34	32
2	South Shields	22	13	5	4	48	27	31
3	North Shields	22	11	4	7	54	43	26
4	Blyth Spartans	22	11	3	8	49	39	25
5	Ashington	22	7	7	8	47	46	21
6	Darlington*	22	10	1	11	35	37	21
7	Horden Colliery Welfare	22	8	5	9	33	36	21
8	Stockton	22	8	3	11	39	57	19
9	Consett	22	7	4	11	40	49	18
10	Workington*	22	8	2	12	32	49	18
11	Annfield Plain	22	7	3	12	27	46	17
12	Carlisle United*	22	6	3	13	35	47	15
		264	110	44	110	510	510	264

 

Redcar Albion resigned from the competition on February 12^th and the club’s record was deleted.

 

League Cup 1962-1963

 

The ravages of the severe winter 1962-1963 played havoc with football fixtures throughout the country.  The North Eastern League opted to finish its league programme but not to try and complete the league Cup as well.  For this reason, the record of Redcar Albion was allowed to stand in the Final Table.  After much discussion, Scarborough were declared winners.

 

1	Scarborough	9	6	1	2	29	11	13
2	Darlington*	10	6	1	3	30	21	13
3	South Shields	10	4	4	2	26	13	12
4	Blyth Spartans	10	6	0	4	35	20	12
5	North Shields	9	5	2	2	20	17	12
6	Ashington	10	5	1	4	22	25	11
7	Carlisle United*	10	4	3	3	14	17	11
8	Horden Colliery Welfare	10	3	3	4	23	24	9
9	Stockton	11	3	2	6	26	40	8
10	Redcar Albion	10	3	2	5	18	33	8
11	Annfield Plain	7	2	2	3	14	17	6
12	Workington*	11	1	4	6	21	32	6
13	Consett	9	1	3	5	13	21	5
		126	49	28	49	291	291	126

 

Scarborough moved to the Midland League and the reserve sides of Carlisle United, Darlington and Workington also left, all three re-joining the North Regional League.

 

North Eastern League 1963-1964

 

1	Horden Colliery Welfare	14	10	2	2	34	11	22
2	South Shields	14	11	0	3	37	20	22
3	Ashington	14	7	2	5	33	19	16
4	Blyth Spartans	14	7	2	5	43	33	16
5	Stockton	14	4	4	6	32	35	12
6	Annfield Plain	14	4	2	8	22	37	10
7	North Shields	14	2	3	9	25	40	7
8	Consett	14	2	3	9	14	45	7
		112	47	18	47	240	240	112

 

While a ‘league cup league’ was probably played also, no trace has yet been found of the outcome.

At the end of the season, the North Eastern League was closed down again.  Blyth Spartans and North Shields joined the Northern League, South Shields moved to the North Regional League, and the other five clubs were accepted into the Wearside League.