Victoria Premier League

Last updated

Victoria Premier League
Founded2024;0 years ago (2024) [note 1]
CountryAustralia
StateVictoria
Number of teams28
  • Division 1: 14
  • Division 2: 14
Level on pyramid 3 and 4
Promotion to National Premier Leagues Victoria
Relegation to Victorian State League
Domestic cup(s)National
Australia Cup
State
Dockerty Cup
Current champions Melbourne Victory Youth (2024)

The Victoria Premier League is an Australian soccer league based in Victoria that was founded in 2024 and administered by Football Victoria. It consists of two divisions that were named after the Victoria Premier League's breakaway of the National Premier Leagues Victoria second and third divisions that ran in the NPL Victoria system from 2014 to 2023. [1]

Contents

History

In October 2023, Football Victoria renamed the NPL Victoria second and third divisions to form the Victoria Premier League (VPL) as a prominent name to the previously named Victorian Premier League; a former name of the National Premier Leagues Victoria (NPL Victoria) first division. NPL 2 became VPL 1, and NPL 3 became VPL 2. [1] Melbourne Victory Youth were the inaugural champions of the VPL securing promotion to the NPL Victoria, whilst Melbourne Srbija became second division champions securing promotion to the leagues first division.

Format

As of the 2025 season, the Victoria Premier League first and second divisions are contested by 14 teams each. Each team plays home and away against teams against all other teams in the league for a total of 26 fixtures each season. The top two finishing clubs the first division gain automatic promotion to National Premier Leagues Victoria, while those clubs finishing in positions 3rd through 6th play off for a promotion berth. The VPL first division's bottom three teams at the conclusion of the season are relegated to the VPL's second division, and the VPL second division's bottom three are relegated to the Victorian State League first division. [2]

Current members

These are the clubs who will take part in the 2025 Victoria Premier League.

Division 1

TeamLocationStadiumCapacityClub Heritage
Bentleigh Greens Cheltenham Kingston Heath Soccer Complex 3,300 Cypriot (Greek)
Brunswick City Brunswick West Dunstan Reserve1,000 Greek
Bulleen Lions Bulleen David Barro Stadium3,000 Italian (Venetian)
Caroline Springs George Cross Fraser Rise City Vista Recreation Reserve 3,000 Maltese
Eastern Lions Burwood Gardiners Reserve1,500 British
Kingston City Clayton South The Grange Reserve2,000 Greek
Langwarrin Langwarrin South Lawton Park Reserve5,000 Dutch
Manningham United Blues Templestowe Pettys Reserve1,000 [3] Italian
Melbourne City Youth Cranbourne East City Football Academy 1,500N/A
Melbourne Srbija Burnley Kevin Bartlett Reserve2,500 Serbian
Moreland City Coburg Campbell Reserve1,000 [4] British
Northcote City Thornbury John Cain Memorial Park 5,000 Greek
North Sunshine Eagles St Albans Larisa Reserve500 Albanian
Western United Youth Tarneit Wyndham Regional Football Facility 5,000N/A

Division 2

Australia Victoria metropolitan Melbourne location map.svg
Arrow north.svg
Goulburn Valley
(not on map)
Red pog.svg
Whittlesea
Red pog.svg
Eltham
Locations of 2025 VPL 2 clubs within metropolitan Melbourne.
ClubLocationGroundsCapacityClub Heritage
Altona City Altona HC Kim Reserve1,000 Maltese and British
Boroondara-Carey Eagles Bulleen Carey Bulleen Sports Complex100 Italian
Box Hill United Box Hill Wembley Park1,000 Greek
Brunswick Juventus Fawkner CB Smith Reserve 2,000 Italian
Eltham Redbacks Eltham North Eltham North Reserve1,000 Australian
Essendon Royals Essendon Cross Keys Reserve500 Italian (Triestine)
Geelong SC Corio Stead Park1,500 Macedonian
Goulburn Valley Suns Shepparton John McEwan Reserve3,200 Australian
North Geelong Warriors Lara Elcho Park 5,000 Croatian
Nunawading City Forest Hill Mahoney's Reserve1,000 Australian and Greek
Pascoe Vale Fawkner CB Smith Reserve 2,000 Macedonian (Vlach)
Springvale White Eagles Keysborough Serbian Sports Centre 5,000 Serbian
Werribee City Werribee Galvin Park Reserve 1,000 Italian
Whittlesea United Lalor Mosaic Reserve1,000 Turkish

Champions

SeasonDivision 1Division 2
2024 Melbourne Victory Youth Melbourne Srbija

See also

Notes

  1. The first division was founded in 2014 as National Premier Leagues Victoria 2, and the second division was founded in 2020 as National Premier Leagues Victoria 3, as part of the NPL Victoria system before they formed the Victoria Premier League in 2024.

Related Research Articles

The National Premier Leagues Victoria, commonly known as NPL Victoria, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is a part of the National Premier Leagues, and is the highest level within the Victorian soccer league system, serving jointly as the second tier within the overall Australian pyramid.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Albans Saints SC</span> Football club

St Albans Dinamo Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in St Albans, Victoria. Established by local Croatian Australians as Dinamo, the club is a regular participant in the Australian-Croatian Soccer Tournament. The club is well known for having produced many great players over the years, including many that have gone on to play for its sister club the Melbourne Knights. Dinamo won promotion to the National Premier League (NPL) Victoria for the 2017 season but, after finishing second last, was relegated to the NPL 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Altona Magic SC</span> Australian soccer team

Altona Magic Soccer Club is a soccer team based in Altona North, a western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The Magic currently compete in the second tier of the Australian soccer league system. Founded in 1968, Altona Magic plays out of Paisley Park Soccer Complex. The club has won the Victorian Premier League on 5 occasions in seasons 1995, 1996, 1997, 2008 and 2009. In 2019, Altona made a return to the National Premier Leagues Victoria, following successive promotions in 2017 via the Victorian State League Division 1 and again in 2018 via National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 (West), both seasons Magic were crowned champions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakleigh Cannons FC</span> Australian association football club

Oakleigh Cannons Football Club is a soccer club based in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. The club, established by members of Oakleigh's Greek Australian community, currently competes in the NPL Victoria. The club's home ground is at Jack Edwards Reserve, on Edward Street, Oakleigh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preston Lions FC</span> Football club

Preston Lions Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club from Preston, a northern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The club was established in 1947 to play non-professional soccer matches against other teams in the local community until 1959, and 12 years later, they joined the Victorian Soccer Federation, the club's first season in an officially sanctioned competition. The Lions currently compete in the Victoria Premier League 1 competition, which is the third tier in the Australian soccer league system, after being promoted in 2022 from NPL 3 Victoria. The club won the Victorian Premier League in seasons 1980, 1994, 2002 and 2007.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caroline Springs George Cross FC</span> Australian football club

Caroline Springs George Cross Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Fraser Rise, a north-western suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and plays in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2, the second tier of football in Victoria, and third in Australia.

Greater Dandenong Football Club is an Australian soccer club from Dandenong, Victoria, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Australia. Greater Dandenong most recently competed in the Victorian State League Division 1 South-East competition, the third tier of football in Victoria, after successive relegations in 2016 and 2017. They changed club name in 2024 relocating to Greater Dandenong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">North Geelong Warriors FC</span> Football club

North Geelong Warriors Football Club, formerly known as North Geelong Croatia, is an Australian professional soccer club from the regional Victorian city of Geelong. The club currently competes in the Victoria Premier League 1, Australia's third division in the country's league system and second division in Victoria. The club was founded in 1967 by a large contingent of ethnic Croatians in the city of Geelong. The Warriors' home base is Elcho Park in the northern Geelong suburb of Lara.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port Melbourne SC</span> Football club

Port Melbourne SC is an Australian soccer club based in Port Melbourne, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1968 by local Greek Australians, and was promoted over the years to the Victorian Premier League in 1994. It spent the years 1994–2003 in the Victorian Premier League, winning the minor premiership twice, but was unable to secure the title during its time in the VPL. The club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dandenong Thunder SC</span> Football club

Dandenong Thunder SC is a soccer club from Dandenong, a suburb in the South-East region of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. They are an Albanian Australian-backed club. Thunder compete in the National Premier Leagues Victoria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FC Melbourne Srbija</span> Football club

FC Melbourne Srbija, commonly known as Melbourne Serbia, is a semi professional football club in Australia based in Melbourne, Victoria. The club was founded by Serbian Australians in 1963 and currently competes in the Victoria Premier League 2.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bentleigh Greens SC</span> Australian soccer club in Melbourne

Bentleigh Greens Soccer Club is an Australian semi professional soccer club based in Cheltenham, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. The club was formed in 1986, by the Greek Cypriot community and currently competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria. Bentleigh made nationwide headlines when it became the first club below the A-League to make the semi-final of the FFA Cup in 2014. The Greens hit another milestone a year later when they claimed their first major trophy, the NPL Victoria title. In 2016, Bentleigh Greens became Victorian top-flight league premiers for the first time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northcote City FC</span> Football club

Northcote City Football Club (Iraklis) is a soccer club based on the border of Thornbury and Northcote, Victoria (Australia). Formed in 1960 by local Greek Australians, the club currently competes in the Victoria Premier League 1.

The National Premier Leagues Victoria Women, known commonly as the NPL Victoria Women's or NPLV Women's, is a professional women's association football league in Victoria, Australia. It is the highest league for women in Victoria, and has been a part of the National Premier Leagues Women’s structure, and which is administered by Football Victoria. Prior to the introduction of the NPL in Victoria in 2016, the league was known as the Women's Victorian Premier League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avondale FC</span> Australian football club

Avondale FC is an Australian semi-professional association football club, with the men's and women's teams based in Parkville and the junior sides based in Avondale Heights, suburbs of Melbourne, Victoria. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues Victoria, having reached the top tier of Victorian football in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moreland City FC</span> Football club

Moreland City Football Club is an Australian soccer club based in Coburg, Victoria, Melbourne. The club currently competes in the Victoria Premier League 1.

Melbourne Victory Football Club Youth is the youth system of Melbourne Victory based in Melbourne, Victoria. The team plays in the National Premier Leagues, the second level of Australia's soccer pyramid in Australia. The club also competes in the under-23s Y-League competition.

The 2023 season is the 112th season of competitive association football in Victoria. The Premier and champion of the top tier of Victorian football was Avondale FC. Oakleigh Cannons would beat Heidelberg United 3-0 to win the 2023 Dockerty Cup.

The 2024 Victoria Premier League 1 was the first season of the newly renamed Victoria Premier League 1, the third-tier competition in Victorian football. The season was won by Melbourne Victory Youth, who along with Preston Lions, were promoted to National Premier Leagues Victoria. North Geelong Warriors and Werribee City were relegated to the Victoria Premier League 2.

The 2024 season is the 113th season of competitive association football in Victoria. The premier of the top tier of Victorian football was South Melbourne and would loose 1-0 to Oakleigh Cannons in the NPL Victoria Grand final making Oakleigh Cannons NPL Victoria champions. South Melbourne would beat Oakleigh Cannons 5–4 on penalties after a 0–0 score line, to win the 2023 Dockerty Cup.

References

  1. 1 2 "NPLM/W 2024 Update | Football Victoria". www.footballvictoria.com.au. 4 October 2023. Retrieved 23 October 2023.
  2. "NPLM and VPLM competition structures in 2025 & 2026". Football Victoria . 2024. Retrieved 25 September 2024.
  3. "Pettys Reserve Pitch 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
  4. "Well Money Park Campbell Reserve Pitch 1". Soccerway. Retrieved 8 January 2024.