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// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhy did National Premier Leagues Victoria Men's goer bring a ladder? To elevate their game.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from NPL Victoria)

National Premier Leagues Victoria Men's
Organising bodyFootball Victoria
Founded2013; 13 years ago (2013)
First season2014
CountryAustralia
State Victoria
ConfederationAsian Football Confederation
Divisions1
Number of clubs14
Level on pyramid3
Relegation toVictorian Premier League Men's
Domestic cup(s)National:
Australia Cup
State:
Dockerty Cup
Current championsHeidelberg United
(2025)
Current premiersAvondale FC
(2025)
Most championshipsBentleigh Greens (3 titles)
Most premiershipsHeidelberg United (3 titles)
Broadcaster(s)YouTube
Current: 2026 NPL Victoria Men's

The National Premier Leagues Victoria Men's, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level of men's soccer in Victoria.

NPL Victoria Men's is contested by 14 clubs. Running from February to September each year, the league sees teams play 26 regular season fixtures, once at home and once away against each other club. The first-placed team at the conclusion of the regular season is termed the "premier". The top six-placed clubs then play a knock-out finals series, with the winner becoming the "champion". As of the 2025 season, the three bottom-placed teams at the conclusion of the season are relegated to the division below, Victorian Premier League Men's 1.

In the 2024 season, Football Victoria included a provision that relegation in the 2024 season would be suspended if a National Second Division commences in 2025; instead assigning two relegation spots in the 2025 season.[1]

The league premier qualifies as Victoria's representative in the national finals series, whilst the champion plays against the Dockerty Cup winner in the FV Community Shield.

History

[edit]

In early 2013, it was announced that Victoria would join the National Premier Leagues, with the Victorian Premier League expected to be rebranded for the 2014 season.[2][3] Although Football Federation Victoria's initial proposal was halted with the announcement of a deferral in November 2013 after several clubs objected to the process for selecting teams. However, by December 2013, a resolution was reached whereby Victorian teams would participate in the 2014 season.[4][5]

Competition format

[edit]

NPL Victoria comprises 14 teams. The season is staged during the Australian winter, running from February to September. The league combines aspects of both the traditional European-style round-robin and Australian-style finals series within its competition format.

Regular season

[edit]

The regular season consists of a double round-robin. Each club plays every other club twice, once at home and once away, for a total of 26 matches. Teams receive three points for a win, one point for a draw and no points for a loss. The clubs are ranked first based on the number of points acquired during the season. If two teams have an equal number of points, they are separated firstly by goal difference and then the number of goals scored, calculated across all matches. The Rules of Competition provide head-to-head aggregate and head-to-head away goals as further tiebreakers if necessary.[6] The team ranked first at the end of the regular season is termed the premiers, and becomes Victoria's entry for the Australian Championship.

Finals series

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At the conclusion of the regular season, the six highest-ranked clubs qualify for the (Victorian) finals series. The finals take place over three weeks, with teams entering the series based on their respective finishes in the regular season. The teams ranked 3–6 enter at the elimination finals stage. The third-ranked team plays the sixth-ranked team, whilst the fourth-ranked team plays the fifth-ranked one. The two winners of the elimination finals meet the teams ranked 1 and 2 in the semi-finals. The premier in the regular season plays the lower-ranked qualifier from the elimination finals, whilst the runner-up plays the higher-ranked qualifier. The finals conclude with the grand final, played between the two winners of the semi-finals. The winner of the grand final is crowned the champions. As all finals matches require a winner, they are all knock-out fixtures. If a draw occurs at the end of normal time, 30 minutes of extra time are played. A penalty shoot-out is played if the teams are still drawn.

Promotion and relegation

[edit]

NPL Victoria also operates a system of promotion and relegation with the division immediately below, VPL 1. As of the 2025 season, the three bottom clubs at the conclusion of each season are automatically relegated. From VPL 1, the winners and runners-up are automatically promoted to NPL Victoria, with a third club promoted via a playoff between the clubs finishing 3rd through 6th for the season in that league.

Current clubs

[edit]

The following clubs are competing in the 2026 NPL Victoria season.

Club Location Home ground Capacity
Altona Magic Altona North Paisley Park 5,000[7]
Avondale Parkville Avenger Park 2,500[8]
Bentleigh Greens Cheltenham Kingston Heath Soccer Complex 3,300
Caroline Springs George Cross Fraser Rise City Vista Recreation Reserve 3,000
Dandenong City Endeavour Hills Frank Holohan Reserve 4,000[9]
Dandenong Thunder Dandenong South George Andrews Reserve 5,000[10]
Green Gully Keilor Downs Green Gully Reserve 10,000[11]
Heidelberg United Heidelberg West Olympic Village 12,000[12]
Hume City Westmeadows Nasiol Stadium 3,000[13]
Melbourne City Cranbourne East City Football Academy 1,500
Oakleigh Cannons Oakleigh Jack Edwards Reserve 4,000[14]
Preston Lions Reservoir B.T. Connor Reserve 9,000[15]
South Melbourne Albert Park Lakeside Stadium 12,000[16]
St Albans Saints St Albans Churchill Reserve 3,500[17]

Honours

[edit]

2014–2015

[edit]

The league ran through two divisions; the Premier Division and Division 1. The Premier Division was a single league season, whilst Division 1 separated by two zone leagues (East and West) and the winners qualifying for a Grand Final between the two Division 1 Premiers to determine the Champions.

2016–2019

[edit]

The leagues were renamed with the Premier Division becoming Division 1, and Division 1 becoming Division 2.

2020–2023

[edit]

In 2020, a third division was added and the second division was no longer divided into two zones (East and West).

2024–present

[edit]

From 2024 onwards, the second and third divisions were moved from the NPL Victoria system to the Victorian Premier League system leaving only the top division of NPL Victoria.

Season Champions Premiers
2024 Oakleigh Cannons South Melbourne
2025 Heidelberg United Avondale FC

NPL Finals series

[edit]

Up to the 2019 season, one representative from each Member Federation participated in the NPL Championship, a knock-out competition to determine a national champion.

YearTeamResult
2014South MelbourneSemi Finalist
2015South MelbourneQuarter Finalist
2016Bentleigh GreensQuarter Finalist
2017Heidelberg UnitedChampions
2018Heidelberg UnitedSemi Finalist
2019Heidelberg UnitedQuarter Finalist
2020Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[18]

Australian Championship representation

[edit]

From the 2025 season, the Premiers from each Member Federation participated in the Australian Championship. In addition, three Victorian teams currently in the NPL also participated, designated as Foundation Clubs.

YearTeamResult
2025 Avondale FCQuarter-finals
Heidelberg UnitedSemi-finals
Preston LionsGroup stage
South MelbourneWinners

Former clubs

[edit]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Subsequent to the season cancellation, and as a result of a court challenge involving Avondale FC and Football Victoria, it was agreed that eight rounds of games from the 2022 NPL Season would also count towards the 2021 NPL league table, enabling sufficient matches to be played to "complete" the season, and be able to declare a Premier for 2021.[20]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "2024 Rules of Competition Summary of Changes.pdf". Google Docs. Football Victoria. 8 February 2024. p. 65. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  2. ↑ "Gallop aims for Aussie FA Cup". The Australian. Australian Associated Press. 14 February 2013. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "Second Division 'By 2022'?". Australian FourFourTwo. Sportal Australia. 3 October 2012. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  4. ↑ "NPL update – message from FFV Board". Football Federation Victoria. 8 November 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2013.
  5. ↑ "National Premier Leagues confirmed for Victoria in 2014". Football Federation Australia. 6 December 2013. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "2019 Rules of Competition - NPL Mens & Boys" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 May 2022.
  7. ↑ "Altona Magic SC". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  8. ↑ "Avenger Park". Ausstadiums. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  9. ↑ "Frank Holohan Reserve". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "Dandenong Thunder SC". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  11. ↑ "Green Gully Reserve". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  12. ↑ "Olympic Village". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  13. ↑ "Hume City Stadium". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "Jack Edwards Reserve". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  15. ↑ "Genis Steel Stadium". Soccerway. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "Lakeside Stadium". Austadiums. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "Churchill Reserve". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  18. 1 2 3 "Coronavirus forces FFA Cup to be cancelled". The World Game. SBS. 7 July 2020. Archived from the original on 8 July 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  19. 1 2 "Metro Melbourne 2021 season status". Football Victoria. 3 September 2021. Archived from the original on 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
  20. ↑ "Outcome of legal proceedings between Avondale FC and Football Victoria announced". Football Victoria. 28 January 2022. Archived from the original on 4 February 2022. Retrieved 4 February 2022.
[edit]
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