The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW is a regional Australian Professional

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league comprising teams from Northern

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. As a subdivision of the

National Premier Leagues The National Premier Leagues (NPL) is a national association football competition in Australia which acts as the second tier of the sport in the country below the A-League. The NPL consists of the highest level state league in each state-based ...

, the league sits at Level 1 on the Northern New South Wales league system (Level 2 of the overall Australian league system). The competition is administered by

Northern NSW Football Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...

, the governing body of the sport in the northern region of the state (the southern region is mostly governed by

Football NSW Football NSW is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of New South Wales, with the exception of the northern regions of NSW (the governing body for which is Northern New South Wales Football). Football NSW is a member of the nat ...

). Prior to 2014, the league was formerly known as the Northern NSW State Football League.

History

The league originally started with 12 teams, all with a first grade, reserve grade and youth grade team. The league was then downsized to 10 teams still with all three grades. For the 2009 season it was decided by

Northern New South Wales Football Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...

(the governing body) to downsize the league once again to 8 teams in order to improve the quality and give local players a chance to enter the

A-league A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

through the competition. The teams competing in the 2009 season were decided on the second of September 2008, with Highfields Azzurri FC and Lake Macquarie City Roosters FC being relegated to the Northern NSW Division One. Teams were judged on criteria which included facilities/ground (30%), financial status (25%), management (20%), playing strength/coaching staff (15%) and development program (10%). An independent body, chaired by former NSW gaming minister Richard Face, was assigned to make the decision. From the 2017 season onward the competition once again expanded to 11 teams with

Lake Macquarie The City of Lake Macquarie is a local government area in Greater Newcastle and part of the Hunter Region in New South Wales, Australia. It was proclaimed a city from 7 September 1984. The area is situated adjacent to the city of Newcastle and i ...

being promoted from the HIT Northern League One (formerly 'NewFM Football League'). From the 2020 season onward the competition contracted back to 10 teams after Newcastle Jets Youth transferred into the NPL New South Wales structure, now playing in the NPL NSW 4 competition. The reason was because the

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australian ...

and

believed that transferring the Youth Jets to the Sydney-centred competition would help develop their youth players. From the 2022 season onward the competition once again expanded to 11 teams with the inclusion of Cooks Hill United being promoted from the HIT Northern League One.

Format

The competition consists of 11 teams from around the Newcastle, Hunter and Lake Macquarie area who each have a 1st-division side, a reserve/u20's team, u18's team and youth teams. A season takes place over 18 rounds, with each team playing each other at home and away. The team that finishes 1st at the end of 18 rounds is declared the minor premier and qualifies for the National Premier Leagues Finals Series. The top 5 teams at the end of 18 rounds contest in a finals series, a home and away knockout system played with the away goals rule, with the winners meeting in the grand final. The winner of the grand final is crowned as the major premier. Nominally the last-placed team each year is relegated to the HIT Northern League One, however promotion/relegation has been placed on hold indefinitely until Northern League One clubs are eligible to play in the NPL competition.

Clubs

The following 11 clubs will compete in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW during the 2022 season.

Honours NNSW NPL

Honours pre-NPL (1999-2013)

Notes

References

External links

Northern NSW Football website

{{Association football in New South Wales Soccer leagues in New South Wales National Premier Leagues