Brisbane Premier League
The Brisbane Premier League (BPL), also known as the Flight Centre Premier League, is the first tier of senior soccer in Brisbane, Queensland (third tier in Queensland and fourth overall in Australia). It is run and administered by Football Brisbane. Twelve teams play a twenty-two match regular season, with the team at the top of the table designated as 'Premiers', and the top four teams qualifying for a finals series.
Founded | 1983 |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 4 |
Relegation to | Capital League 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | Canale Cup |
Current premiers | St. George Willawong FC (2020) |
Website | www.FootballBrisbane.com.au |
Current: 2020 Brisbane Premier League |
There is no promotion and relegation between the BPL and the Queensland Premier League (the second tier league in Queensland from season 2018 onwards). The bottom two teams in the BPL at the end of the season are relegated to the next tier in Brisbane, Capital League 1 (subject to the potentially promoted teams from Capital League 1 satisfying Football Brisbane's criteria regarding grounds and facilities).
Current clubs
The teams for Season 2020 are shown in alphabetical order in the table below.[1]
Team | Home Ground | Location | Founded |
---|---|---|---|
Acacia Ridge | Ron Proud Field | Acacia Ridge | 1963 |
Albany Creek | Wolter Park | Albany Creek | 1963 |
Bayside United | Don Randall Oval | Lota | 1974 |
Brisbane Knights | Croatian Sports Centre | Rocklea | 1957 |
Caboolture SFC | Grant Road Sports Complex | Caboolture | 1974 |
Centenary Stormers | Atthows Park | Darra | 2000 |
Grange Thistle | Lanham Park | Grange | 1919 |
North Star FC | O'Callaghan Park | Zillmere | 1958 |
St George Willawong | St George's Park | Willawong | 2010 |
Taringa Rovers | Jack Speare Park | Taringa | 1949 |
The Gap | Walton Bridge Reserve | The Gap | 1944 |
Toowong | Dunmore Park | Auchenflower | 1921 |
Honours
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- 1 Challenge Cup held as a knockout competition (see section on Charity Cup competition).
- 2 Ipswich and West Moreton Association competition continued during these seasons.
- 3 Competition restricted to Second and Third Divisions and Junior competitions.
Media
The league and its lower divisions are covered by several local newspapers throughout the city, suburbs and surrounding areas including Ipswich and Toowoomba. Highlights of matches, often at least 2 matches per round, in the league are put together by FB Media (the Media arm of Football Brisbane). Live scores and updates from all Brisbane Premier League matches can be found on The Washing Line Facebook page. The Washing Line website also publishes reports, previews and newspaper articles from around the city. The website built upon the Unofficial site YourBPL.com which began media coverage of the league in 2007. From 2012, the newly founded 'FB Media' has been producing weekly podcasts which can be downloaded from The Washing Line website featuring prominent guests including James Meyer, Miron Bleiberg, Matt Mundy and a wide variety of coaches and players from the Brisbane Premier League. Some games are covered by PaulyTV and FBTV.
Media milestones
- On Sunday 23 May 2010, a match between Brisbane Wolves and Pine Rivers United became the first BPL match to be streamed live on the internet. Wolves won 5–2.
- On Saturday 11 June 2011, a match between Redlands United and Olympic FC featured on The Danny Baker Show in the UK, on BBC Radio 5 Live. Olympic won 3–2.
- At the end of the 2011 season following the success of Wolves FC, 18 goal centreback Patrick Hopkins was scouted via FBTV match highlights for Ljungskile SK in Sweden. In need of a forward, the league's top scorer Steffen Vroom soon followed.
Sponsors
From 2014 to 2015 the Brisbane Premier League was known as the Trophy Superstore Premier League.
This changed in 2016 when Flight Centre became the league sponsors, thus known as the Flight Centre Premier League.
References
- "Ladder for Brisbane Premier League". SportsTG. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
- "Football Brisbane website: Mens Winners 1884-1933" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- "Football Brisbane website: MensWinners 1934-1982" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
- "Football Brisbane website: MensWinners 1983-2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 March 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2015.