National Premier Leagues Victoria 3

The National Premier Leagues Victoria 3, also known as NPL Victoria 3, is a regional Australian semi-professional soccer league comprising teams from Victoria. The league sits at level three on the Victorian league system, behind the NPL Victoria and NPL Victoria 2, (levels two and three of the overall Australian league system). The competition is administered by Football Federation Victoria, the governing body of the sport in the state.

National Premier Leagues Victoria 3
Founded2020
CountryAustralia
State Victoria
Number of teams12
Level on pyramid4
Promotion toNPL Victoria 2
Relegation toState League 1
Domestic cup(s)FFA Cup
Dockerty Cup
2020 Season

NPL Victoria 3 was created from the bottom halves of the East and West divisions of NPL Victoria 2 when the league was reorganised at the end of the 2019 season.[1]

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 accession 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. Should this occur, the league would compete for one season with 13 teams, with promotion rules for State League 1 being temporarily modified at the end of the affected season to correct the structure back to the traditional twelve clubs per league.[2]

Clubs
Locations of 2020 NPL 3 Victoria clubs within metropolitan Melbourne.

The following 12 clubs will be competing in the NPL Victoria 3 during the 2020 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 Bulleen David Barro Stadium
Melbourne Victory Youth Epping Epping Stadium 10,000
Murray United West Wodonga La Trobe University Soccer Ground
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 Epping Stadium 10,000

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 be 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.[3]

References
  1. "Victoria restructures its NPL competition". footballtoday.news. 31 October 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  2. "FFV Men's and Boy's Football Competition Review" (PDF). Football Victoria. 2018. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
  3. "Football Victoria Announces New 2020 NPL Structures". Football Victoria. 11 October 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
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