National Premier Leagues Victoria 2
The National Premier Leagues Victoria 2, commonly referred to as NPL Victoria 2, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is the second-highest in the Victorian league system, behind the National Premier Leagues Victoria, and forms the third tier of the overall Australian league system.
Organising body | Football Victoria |
---|---|
Founded | 2014 |
Country | Australia |
State | Victoria |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 3 |
Promotion to | NPL Victoria |
Relegation to | NPL Victoria 3 |
Domestic cup(s) | FFA Cup Dockerty Cup |
Current champions | St Albans Saints (2019) |
Current premiers | Eastern Lions (East) St Albans Saints (West) |
Most championships | Five clubs (see below) |
Current: 2020 Season |
Originally founded as NPL 1 in 2014, it has undergone several changes in competition structure since its inception. Comprising 14 teams in its first season, the league then featured 20 teams divided into two geographic East and West conferences from 2015–19. With the creation of NPL Victoria 3 in 2020, a state-wide second division was re-founded, comprising 12 clubs.
The competition is administered by Football Victoria, the governing body of the sport in the state.
Format
In 2014, the competition was a 14 team league.
For the 2015–2019 seasons, the league was divided into East and West conferences of 10 teams each. Each team played home and away against teams in their conference and single games against each team in the opposite conference. The winner of each conference was promoted to the NPL Victoria, while second place in each conference entered into a promotion/relegation series.
In 2020, the competition reverted to a 12 team league.[1]
Current clubs (2021)
After the cancellation of the 2020 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[2] it was decided that no promotion/relegation would apply. The following clubs will take part in the 2021 NPL Victoria 2 season:
Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Brunswick City | Brunswick West | Dunstan Reserve | 1,000 |
Bulleen Lions | Bulleen | David Barro Stadium | 3,000 |
Goulburn Valley Suns | Shepparton | John McEwan Reserve | 3,200 |
Kingston City | Clayton South | The Grange Reserve | 2,000 |
Langwarrin | Langwarrin South | Lawton Park Reserve | 5,000 |
Manningham United | Templestowe | David Barro Stadium | 3,000 |
Moreland City | Coburg | Campbell Reserve | 2,000 |
Moreland Zebras | Moreland | CB Smith Reserve | 2,000 |
North Geelong Warriors | Geelong | Elcho Park | 5,000 |
Northcote City | Thornbury | John Cain Memorial Reserve | 9,000 |
Pascoe Vale | Fawkner | CB Smith Reserve | 2,000 |
Werribee City | Werribee | Galvin Park Reserve | 1,000 |
History
Avondale FC were the inaugural champions of the National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 division in 2014, while North Geelong finished the season as runners up with both sides earning promotion to the National Premier Leagues Victoria.
On 6 November 2014, Football Federation Victoria announced Melbourne City FC NPL and Melbourne Victory FC Youth would join the league in 2015. Eastern Lions SC, Murray United FC, Nunawading City FC and Moreland City FC all also joined the expanded competition for the 2015 season. FC Bulleen Lions and Richmond SC were the two clubs to achieve automatic promotion in the revamped league in 2015 by winning their respective conferences. Melbourne Victory joined them by beating NPL2 West runner up Moreland Zebras FC in the NPL2 preliminary promotion playoff, and then North Geelong in the promotion playoff, with North Geelong joining automatically relegated sides Werribee City FC and Dandenong Thunder SC in NPL2 for 2016.
In 2016, St Albans Saints SC and Kingston City FC won automatic promotion by winning their respective West and East conferences, while North Geelong immediately bounced back into the top-flight, beating Dandenong Thunder in the NPL2 playoff and Richmond in the NPL promotion-relegation playoff. Richmond, Melbourne Victory and Northcote City FC were the relegated sides from NPL, joining the NPL2 for 2017.
Past winners
Year | Competition | Premiers | Champions |
---|---|---|---|
2014 | National Premier Leagues 1 | Avondale Heights | N/A |
2015 | National Premier Leagues 1 | East: Richmond West: Bulleen Lions |
Richmond |
2016 | National Premier Leagues 2 | East: Kingston City West: St Albans Saints |
Kingston City |
2017 | National Premier Leagues 2 | East: Dandenong Thunder West: Northcote City |
Dandenong Thunder |
2018 | National Premier Leagues 2 | East: Dandenong City West: Altona MagicCity |
Dandenong City |
2019 | National Premier Leagues 2 | East: Eastern Lions West: St Albans Saints |
St Albans Saints |
2020 | Season cancelled due to COVID-19 |
References
- "Victoria restructures its NPL competition". footballtoday.news. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- "2021 Start Up". Football Victoria. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.