The club lineups of the two NCEL Divisions, plus the remainder of Leagues making up steps 1-6 of the national non-league pyramid were announced by the FA on Monday.
In the NCEL Premier Division, Champions North Ferriby have been promoted to the NPL East Division along with runners-up Winterton Rangers, who earned their place by beating Essex side Coggeshall Town in their Inter-Step Play-off last month.
Where relegations are concerned , the "EL-Classico" will be replaced by an A64 Derby as Tadcaster Albion return from the NPL after a six-year spell, and Yorkshire Amateur are relegated to the NCEL Division 1, just one season after coming down from the NPL themselves. The Miners and Brewers both competed in the Premier Division for three seasons between 2013 and 2016 with Town failing to win any of the six meetings. Hopefully a change in the weather is in store for 2023-24!
Second from bottom Goole AFC have provisionally been relegated to Division 1 along with the Ammers, but may be reprieved if issues surrounding the dimensions of Hemsworth's pitch can't be resolved, presumably in time for the new season.
Division 1 champions Campion are promoted into the Premier Division, along with play-off winners Rossington Main. Whilst next season's league matches will be the first competitively against the Red and Blacks, there will likely be some familiar names lining up against us in midfielders Joe Colley and Karl Fitzgerald, who were key players in our run to third-place in the 2021-22 season. We also have chance for revenge for defeat in the Yorkshire Trophy final last summer, one of two previous pre-season games between the two sides. Our last meeting against Rossington came amid Leeds hosting the Tour de France 'Grand Depart' nine years ago, Graham Nicholas' side going down 1-0 in a pre-season friendly. The last competitive matches came back in August 2006 in the FA Cup when Steve Nichol's newly-promoted side eventually prevailed 3-0 on Cedar Ridge after Main held us to a 1-1 draw on Oxford Street.
Completing the lineup is Pickering Town who return to the NCEL after being transferred laterally from the Northern League Division 1 (equivalent to our Premier Division). Its been a difficult few years for the Pikes who, after suffering relegation from the NPL, avoided a second successive relegation by a single point. There's been a couple of meetings in pre-season friendlies in recent years, with each side winning one. The last competitive meeting was something of a horror-show for Garforth fans who witnessed a 7-0 thrashing on Mill Lane in February 2018, but is worth mentioning for the managers of each side. Our assistant Mark Smitheringdale, deputising for suspended manager Rob Hunter, going up against what would be future manager Paul Marshall, then in charge of our hosts.
Enjoy the summer and see you all next season - up the Miners!