National Premier Leagues Victoria 3
Founded | 2020 |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
State | Victoria |
Number of teams | 12 |
Level on pyramid | 4 |
Promotion to | NPL Victoria 2 |
Relegation to | State League 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | FFA Cup Dockerty Cup |
Current: 2021 Season |
The National Premier Leagues Victoria 3, commonly referred to as NPL Victoria 3, is a semi-professional soccer league in Victoria, Australia. The league is the third-highest in the Victorian league system, behind NPL Victoria and NPL Victoria 2, and forms part of the fourth tier of the overall Australian pyramid.
The league was created from the bottom halves of NPL Victoria 2 East and West, when the league was reorganised from two geographic conferences to two separate vertical NPL divisions.[1]
The competition is administered by Football Victoria, the governing body of the sport in the state. Due to start 2020 season NPL Victoria 3 has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Format[]
The NPL Victoria 3 is contested by 12 teams. Each team plays home and away against teams against all other teams in the league for a total of 22 fixtures per team each season. The winner of each conference gains automatic promotion to the NPL Victoria 2 while 2nd in both conferences will play off in a final; the winner to play the third last team in the NPL Victoria for entry into the top flight.
Due to the entry of Western United into the A-League, NPL Victoria competition rules contain a provision allowing the new professional side to place a development team directly into NPL Victoria 3. This will occur in 2021, so the league would compete for that season with 13 teams, with promotion/relegation rules for State League 1 temporarily modified to revert the structure back to twelve clubs per league.[2]
Current clubs (2022)[]
After the cancellation of both the 2020 season[3] and the 2021 season[4] due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was decided that no promotion/relegation would apply for the following season.
Western United FC Youth joined the league as a new team in the 2021 season.[5]
The following clubs will take part in the 2022 NPL Victoria 3 season:
Club | Location | Grounds | Capacity |
---|---|---|---|
Ballarat City | Redan | Ballarat Regional Soccer Facility | 6,000 |
Box Hill United | Box Hill South | Wembley Park | 1,000 |
Doveton | Eumemmerring | Waratah Reserve | |
Geelong | Corio | Stead Park | 500 |
Melbourne City Youth | Cranbourne East | Casey Fields | |
Melbourne Victory Youth | Epping | Epping Stadium | 10,000 |
North Sunshine Eagles | St Albans | Larissa Reserve | |
Nunawading City | Forest Hill | Mahoney's Reserve | 500 |
Preston Lions | Reservoir | B.T. Connor Reserve | 8,000 |
Springvale White Eagles | Keysborough | Serbian Sports Centre | 5,000 |
Whittlesea Ranges | Epping | Harvest Home Recreation Reserve | |
Western United FC Youth | TBD |
History[]
In 2018, pressures from member clubs and a desire to re-evaluate league structure and organisation lead Football Victoria to commission a report into how the NPL Victoria leagues could be re-worked. Among a series of recommendations on improvements to the youth structure, the report recommended that NPL Victoria 2 - then a two-conference division with ten teams each in an east-west split, contesting 28 fixtures each per season - should be reformed with NPL Victoria 2 turned into a single division of 12 teams and a new 12-team division - NPL Victoria 3 - created.[1]
The proposed changes were agreed, and to enact the split the top six teams of each NPL Victoria 2 conference in the 2019 season were given places in the 2020 Victoria 2 competition, with the bottom four of the two conferences all relegated to Victoria 3. Four additional teams were promoted from Victorian State League 1 to make up the numbers. Among the sides moved to NPL Victoria 3 were the NPL development sides of A-League duo Melbourne City and Melbourne Victory.[6]
Past winners[]
Year | Competition | Premiers | Champions |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[3] | ||
2021 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[4] |
References[]
- ^ a b "Victoria restructures its NPL competition". footballtoday.news. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ^ "FFV Men's and Boy's Football Competition Review" (PDF). Football Victoria. 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
- ^ a b "2021 Start Up". Football Victoria. 16 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
- ^ a b "Metro Melbourne 2021 season status". Football Victoria. 3 September 2021. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ Matthew Comino (9 December 2020). "Around the grounds: Stefan Nigro joins Mariners, Western United announce NPL venture". Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
- ^ "Football Victoria Announces New 2020 NPL Structures". Football Victoria. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
External links[]
- Soccer leagues in Victoria (Australia)
- Recurring sporting events established in 2020
- 2020 establishments in Australia
- Sports leagues established in 2020
- Professional sports leagues in Australia