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National League South
Season	2016–17
Champions	Maidenhead United
Promoted	Maidenhead United; Ebbsfleet United;
Relegated	; Bishop's Stortford; Gosport Borough; Margate;
	; ← 2015–16 ; ; 2017–18 → ;

National League North
Season	2016–17
Champions	A.F.C. Fylde
Promoted	A.F.C. Fylde; FC Halifax Town;
Relegated	; Altrincham; Stalybridge Celtic; Worcester City;
	; ← 2015–16 ; ; 2017–18 → ;

National League
Season	2016–17
Champions	Lincoln City
Promoted	; Lincoln City; Forest Green Rovers;
Relegated	; Braintree Town; North Ferriby United; Southport; York City;
Matches played	552
Goals scored	1,424 (2.58 per match);
Top goalscorer	; Ricky Miller, Dover Athletic (40 goals)
Biggest home win	; Tranmere Rovers 9 - 0 Solihull Moors;
Biggest away win	; Sutton United 0 – 6 Dover Athletic
Highest scoring	; Tranmere Rovers 9 - 0 Solihull Moors;
Longest winning run	; Gateshead (7 matches)
Longest unbeaten run	Lincoln City (13 matches)
Longest winless run	; Guiseley (13 matches)
Longest losing run	North Ferriby United (8 matches)
Highest attendance	10,031 (Lincoln City v Macclesfield Town)
Lowest attendance	313 (Boreham Wood v North Ferriby United)
Average attendance	1,868
	; ← 2015–16 ; ; 2017–18 → ;

The 2016–17 National League season, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, was the second season under the new title of National League, thirteenth season consisting of three divisions and the thirty-eighth season overall.^[1]

The National League covers the top two levels of non-League football in England. The National League is the fifth highest level of the overall pyramid, while the National League North and National League South exist at the sixth level. The top team and the winner of the play-off of the Premier division will be promoted to English Football League Two, while the bottom four are relegated to the North or South divisions. The champions of the North and South divisions will be promoted to the Premier division, alongside the play-off winners from each division. The bottom three in each of the North and South divisions are relegated to the premier divisions of the Northern Premier League, Isthmian League or Southern League. The fixtures were announced on 6 July 2016.^[2]

1 National League
- 1.1 Promotion and relegation
- 1.2 Team changes
  - 1.2.1 To National League
  - 1.2.2 From National League
- 1.3 Stadia and locations
- 1.4 Managerial changes
- 1.5 League table
- 1.6 Results
- 1.7 Play-offs
  - 1.7.1 First leg
  - 1.7.2 Second leg
  - 1.7.3 Final
- 1.8 Top scorers

2 National League North
- 2.1 Team changes
  - 2.1.1 To National League North
  - 2.1.2 From National League North
- 2.2 Stadia and locations
- 2.3 League table
- 2.4 Results
- 2.5 Play-offs
  - 2.5.1 First leg
  - 2.5.2 Second leg
  - 2.5.3 Final
- 2.6 Top scorers

3 National League South
- 3.1 Team changes
  - 3.1.1 To National League South
  - 3.1.2 From National League South
- 3.2 Stadia and locations
- 3.3 League table
- 3.4 Results
- 3.5 Play-offs
  - 3.5.1 First leg
  - 3.5.2 Second leg
  - 3.5.3 Final
- 3.6 Top scorers

4 References

National League

Promotion and relegation

The following teams changed divisions after the 2015–16 season. Solihull Moors were the first team to be promoted
after North Ferriby United's 2–0 loss to Stalybridge Celtic on 13 April 2016 clinched them the National League North title. This will be their first season in the National League. Sutton United were promoted on 23 April 2016 after a 2–0 win over Chelmsford City, returning to the league for the first time in sixteen years.

Dagenham & Redbridge were relegated from Football League Two on 16 April 2016 after their 3–2 loss to Leyton Orient returning to the fifth tier after nine years in the Football League. York City were relegated on 23 April after their 3–0 loss to Accrington Stanley,returning to the league for the first time since the 2011–12 season. North Ferriby United's 2–1 win over A.F.C. Fylde and Maidstone United's win on penalties over Ebbsfleet United made them the National League North and National League South play-off winners respectively. It is the first time both teams have competed in the league.

The six teams replace Cheltenham Town, Grimsby Town, FC Halifax Town, Altrincham, Kidderminster Harriers and Welling United. Cheltenham Town were promoted back to League Two at their first attempt after beating FC Halifax Town 2–0 on 16 April 2016. Grimsby Town were promoted back to the Football League after beating Forest Green Rovers 3–1 in the 2015–16 National League play-off final.^[4] Kidderminster Harriers and Welling United were relegated on the same day after defeats to Barrow and Chester.

On the final day of the season, Altrincham were relegated after losing 3–0 to Braintree Town, ending their two-year stay in the league. FC Halifax Town's 1–1 draw against Macclesfield Town was not enough to save them after Guiseley's 4–3 win over Torquay United, ending their three-year stay in the league.

Team changes

To National League

Promoted from National League North

Solihull Moors

North Ferriby United

Promoted from National League South

Sutton United

Maidstone United

Relegated from League Two

Dagenham & Redbridge

York City

From National League

Relegated to National League North

FC Halifax Town

Altrincham

Kidderminster Harriers

Relegated to National League South

Welling United

Promoted to League Two

Cheltenham Town

Grimsby Town

Stadia and locations

London

Aldershot

Barrow

Boreham Wood

Braintree

Chester

Dover

Eastleigh

Forest Green

Gateshead

Guiseley

Lincoln

Macclesfield

Maidstone

North Ferriby

Solihull Moors

Southport

Torquay

Tranmere

Woking

Wrexham

York

London teams
Bromley
Dagenham & Redbridge
Sutton

Locations of the 2016–17 National League teams

Bromley

Dagenham & Redbridge

Sutton

Locations of the National League clubsGreater London

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity
Aldershot Town	Aldershot	Recreation Ground	7,100
Barrow	Barrow-in-Furness	Holker Street	5,045
Boreham Wood	Borehamwood	Meadow Park	4,502
Braintree Town	Braintree	Cressing Road	4,085
Bromley	London (Bromley)	Hayes Lane	5,300
Chester	Chester	Deva Stadium	6,500
Dagenham & Redbridge	London (Dagenham)	Victoria Road	6,078
Dover Athletic	Dover	Crabble Athletic Ground	5,885
Eastleigh	Eastleigh	Ten Acres	5,250
Forest Green Rovers	Nailsworth	The New Lawn	5,032
Gateshead	Gateshead	Gateshead International Stadium	11,800
Guiseley	Guiseley	Nethermoor Park	3,770
Lincoln City	Lincoln	Sincil Bank	10,120
Macclesfield Town	Macclesfield	Moss Rose	6,355
Maidstone United	Maidstone	Gallagher Stadium	4,200
North Ferriby United	North Ferriby	Grange Lane	2,200
Solihull Moors	Solihull	Damson Park	3,050
Southport	Southport	Haig Avenue	7,177
Sutton United	London (Sutton)	Gander Green Lane	5,013
Torquay United	Torquay	Plainmoor	6,500
Tranmere Rovers	Birkenhead	Prenton Park	16,789
Woking	Woking	Kingfield Stadium	6,036
Wrexham	Wrexham	Racecourse Ground	10,771
York City	York	Bootham Crescent	8,256^[5]

Managerial changes

Team	Outgoing manager	Manner of departure	Date of vacancy	Position in table	Incoming manager	Date of appointment
Eastleigh	Chris Todd	Sacked	17 August 2016^[6]	24th	Ronnie Moore	19 August 2016^[7]
Guiseley	Mark Bower		21 August 2016^[8]	24th	Adam Lockwood	22 September 2016^[9]
Southport	Andy Bishop		3 September 2016^[10]	23rd	Steve Burr	8 September 2016^[11]
Tranmere Rovers	Gary Brabin		18 September 2016^[12]	5th	Paul Carden (Interim)	19 September 2016^[13]
Braintree Town	Jamie Day		25 September 2016^[14]	22nd	Hakan Hayrettin	27 September 2016^[15]
Tranmere Rovers	Paul Carden	End of Interim Spell	7 October 2016^[12]	9th	Micky Mellon	7 October 2016^[16]
Wrexham	Gary Mills	Sacked	13 October 2016^[17]	15th	Dean Keates	25 October 2016^[18]
York City	Jackie McNamara	Became Chief Executive	16 October 2016	19th	Gary Mills	16 October 2016^[19]
Eastleigh	Ronnie Moore	Resigned	30 November 2016	9th	Martin Allen	1 December 2016^[20]
Southport	Steve Burr	Sacked	30 January 2017^[21]	20th	Liam Watson (Interim)	30 January 2017
Eastleigh	Martin Allen	Sacked	22 February 2017^{[citation needed]}	15th	Richard Hill	22 February 2017

League table

Pos	Team [ v t e ]	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion, qualification or relegation
1	Lincoln City (C, P)	46	30	9	7	83	40	+43	99	Promoted to EFL League Two
2	Tranmere Rovers	46	29	8	9	79	39	+40	95	Qualified for the play-offs
3	Forest Green Rovers (O, P)	46	25	11	10	88	56	+32	86
4	Dagenham & Redbridge	46	26	6	14	79	53	+26	84
5	Aldershot Town	46	23	13	10	66	37	+29	82
6	Dover Athletic	46	24	7	15	85	63	+22	79
7	Barrow	46	20	15	11	72	53	+19	75
8	Gateshead	46	19	13	14	72	51	+21	70
9	Macclesfield Town	46	20	8	18	64	57	+7	68
10	Bromley	46	18	8	20	59	66	−7	62
11	Boreham Wood	46	15	13	18	49	48	+1	58
12	Sutton United	46	15	13	18	61	63	−2	58
13	Wrexham	46	15	13	18	47	61	−14	58
14	Maidstone United	46	16	10	20	59	75	−16	58
15	Eastleigh	46	14	15	17	56	63	−7	57
16	Solihull Moors	46	15	10	21	62	75	−13	55
17	Torquay United	46	14	11	21	54	61	−7	53
18	Woking	46	14	11	21	66	80	−14	53
19	Chester	46	14	10	22	63	71	−8	52
20	Guiseley	46	13	12	21	50	67	−17	51
21	York City (R)	46	11	17	18	55	70	−15	50	Relegated to National League North
22	Braintree Town (R)	46	13	9	24	51	76	−25	48	Relegated to National League South
23	Southport (R)	46	10	9	27	52	97	−45	39	Relegated to National League North
24	North Ferriby United (R)	46	12	3	31	32	82	−50	39	Relegated to National League North

Source: National League official site
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Goal difference; 3) Number of goals scored; 4) Number of matches won; 5) Head-to-head results ^[22]
(C) Champion; (O) Play-off winner; (P) Promoted; (R) Relegated.

Results

Home Away^[1]	ALD	BRW	BOR	BRA	BRO	CHR	D&R	DOV	EAS	FGR	GAT	GUI	LIN	MAC	MDS	NFU	SOL	SOU	SUT	TOR	TRA	WOK	WRE	YOR
Aldershot Town		2–2	2–0	2–0	4–0	0–0	3–1	1–0	0–1	0–4	3–0	1–0	0–0	1–2	1–0	2–0	2–0	2–1	2–0	1–1	3–1	4–0	2–0	0–0
Barrow	1–0		1–1	2–1	1–1	3–2	2–1	2–3	4–0	2–3	0–0	3–0	3–0	1–1	3–0	3–1	2–1	0–1	0–0	0–0	2–1	2–2	1–1	2–0
Boreham Wood	1–1	1–1		0–1	0–0	1–1	1–3	5–0	0–1	1–0	0–4	0–0	2–0	2–4	0–1	1–0	0–0	2–0	1–0	2–0	0–1	2–1	0–1	1–1
Braintree Town	2–0	0–2	1–2		2–2	1–2	3–2	1–2	1–1	0–1	1–4	2–0	0–4	1–3	0–0	1–0	0–1	2–0	1–0	1–3	0–1	1–3	1–2	1–1
Bromley	2–2	4–1	1–0	0–5		0–1	1–3	0–2	0–5	1–5	3–2	1–1	1–1	0–1	2–0	3–0	0–1	3–1	1–0	1–0	0–2	2–1	4–3	3–0
Chester	2–0	1–2	0–2	1–0	1–1		3–0	5–0	0–1	1–2	1–2	2–0	2–5	2–3	1–3	3–0	0–3	2–2	4–0	1–0	2–3	2–3	1–1	0–2
Dagenham & Redbridge	1–0	1–4	0–2	3–0	2–1	3–2		2–0	4–0	2–1	0–5	1–2	1–0	1–1	0–2	2–0	4–4	3–0	2–2	0–1	0–0	1–1	3–0	1–0
Dover Athletic	1–2	3–1	1–4	6–1	1–0	3–1	1–2		3–0	4–3	2–0	2–0	2–0	2–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	3–0	3–1	1–2	1–4	3–1	1–1	2–2
Eastleigh	1–1	2–0	2–2	0–2	2–1	0–3	0–1	2–4		1–1	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–1	3–0	2–0	2–0	1–1	2–1	3–0	0–2	0–1	1–1	1–1
Forest Green Rovers	2–1	0–0	2–0	1–1	1–0	2–0	1–1	1–1	1–1		1–0	3–0	2–3	3–0	2–2	0–1	2–1	5–1	1–1	5–5	2–2	4–3	3–0	2–1
Gateshead	1–1	4–1	1–1	1–1	0–2	3–0	1–0	4–2	2–2	3–1		1–1	1–2	1–1	1–2	0–1	0–0	3–0	1–0	0–0	0–1	2–1	2–2	6–1
Guiseley	1–0	1–0	3–1	0–0	1–4	1–1	0–2	0–4	1–1	0–1	1–1		2–1	1–2	2–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	2–1	2–0	1–2	1–1	2–3	6–1
Lincoln City	3–3	1–2	2–0	3–0	1–0	1–0	2–0	2–0	0–0	3–1	3–0	3–1		2–1	2–0	6–1	0–0	4–0	1–3	2–1	2–1	3–2	1–0	1–1
Macclesfield Town	0–2	0–1	0–2	2–0	1–2	0–0	1–4	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–1	1–2	1–2		3–0	1–0	1–3	3–1	0–0	2–0	4–2	3–1	3–0	1–3
Maidstone United	0–2	2–1	1–0	2–1	0–2	4–2	0–1	1–4	2–1	1–4	0–2	1–1	0–0	2–1		1–2	2–4	4–2	1–1	2–1	0–1	0–3	2–2	1–1
North Ferriby United	0–3	0–1	2–4	0–0	1–2	0–1	0–4	1–2	2–1	0–3	1–0	3–2	0–1	0–2	0–2		1–4	0–1	2–1	1–0	1–4	2–1	0–0	0–1
Solihull Moors	0–2	2–4	1–1	3–3	1–0	3–2	2–5	2–3	2–0	0–1	0–2	3–2	0–1	2–3	2–0	2–0		4–0	3–0	0–1	0–3	2–2	0–1	1–2
Southport	1–1	1–4	1–0	4–5	1–2	0–1	1–4	0–1	4–3	2–0	0–3	0–1	1–1	1–2	3–2	2–4	0–0		1–1	1–2	1–1	2–1	3–2	2–0
Sutton United	2–0	0–0	1–0	1–2	2–0	5–2	1–0	0–6	1–1	1–2	3–0	1–0	1–1	2–0	2–2	5–1	1–3	2–2		2–0	1–0	4–1	1–0	2–2
Torquay United	0–0	1–1	0–1	3–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	2–3	4–3	3–1	1–2	1–2	1–1	2–3	2–0	3–0	1–2	2–3		0–0	1–2	1–1	2–0
Tranmere Rovers	2–2	2–0	2–1	1–0	2–2	2–2	0–2	1–0	2–1	0–1	0–1	1–0	0–1	1–0	2–1	1–0	9–0	4–1	3–2	2–1		3–1	2–0	1–0
Woking	1–2	1–1	0–0	2–3	2–1	3–1	1–3	1–0	3–3	0–1	3–0	0–0	1–3	1–0	2–4	1–1	2–1	0–0	2–1	3–1	0–3		2–0	1–1
Wrexham	0–2	2–2	2–1	0–1	2–1	0–0	0–1	0–0	0–0	3–1	0–2	3–1	1–2	0–3	1–3	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	0–1	2–1		2–1
York City	0–1	2–1	1–1	3–0	0–2	1–1	0–2	0–1	3–1	2–2	1–3	1–1	1–4	1–0	1–1	0–1	4–0	5–3	2–2	0–0	0–0	4–1	1–3

Updated to games played on 29 April 2017.
Source: The National League
1 ^{^} The home team is listed in the left-hand column.
Colours: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Play-offs

Semifinals					Final

2	Tranmere Rovers	3	2	5
5	Aldershot Town	0	2	2
					2	Tranmere Rovers	1
					3	Forest Green Rovers	3
3	Forest Green Rovers	1	2	3
4	Dagenham & Redbridge	1	0	1

First leg

Aldershot Town v Tranmere Rovers

3 May 2017	Aldershot Town	0–3	Tranmere Rovers	Recreation Ground, Aldershot
19:00		Report	Stockton 3', 75' Norwood 48'	Attendance: 5,614 Referee: Craig Hicks

Dagenham & Redbridge v Forest Green Rovers

4 May 2017	Dagenham & Redbridge	1–1	Forest Green Rovers	Victoria Road, Dagenham
19:00	Maguire-Drew 45+'	Report	Noble 29' (pen.)	Attendance: 2,208 Referee: Anthony Coggins

Second leg

Tranmere Rovers v Aldershot Town

6 May 2017	Tranmere Rovers	2–2 (5–2 agg.)	Aldershot Town	Prenton Park, Birkenhead
12:15	Stockton 20' Norwood 90+4'	Report	Mensah 43' Hughes 50' (o.g.)	Attendance: 10,241 Referee: Scott Oldham

Forest Green Rovers v Dagenham & Redbridge

7 May 2017	Forest Green Rovers	2–0 (3–1 agg.)	Dagenham & Redbridge	The New Lawn, Nailsworth
15:00	Doidge 34' Marsh-Brown 45'	Report		Attendance: 3,237 Referee: Martin Coy

Final

Tranmere Rovers v Forest Green Rovers

14 May 2017	Tranmere Rovers	1–3	Forest Green Rovers	Wembley Stadium, London
15:00	Jennings 22'	Report	Woolery 12', 44' Doidge 41'	Attendance: 18,801 Referee: Anthony Backhouse

Top scorers

As of matches played 29 April 2017^[23]

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Ricky Miller	Dover Athletic	40
2	Christian Doidge	Forest Green Rovers	25
3	Andy Cook	Tranmere Rovers	23
4	Michael Cheek	Braintree Town	19
4	Byron Harrison	Barrow	19
5	Oliver Hawkins	Dagenham & Redbridge	18
5	Danny Johnson	Gateshead	18
8	James Alabi	Chester	17
8	Gozie Ugwu	Woking	17
9	Richard Bennett	Barrow	15
	Matt Rhead	Lincoln City
	Corey Whitely	Dagenham & Redbridge