Victoria Premier League 1

Victoria Premier League 1

Organising body	Football Victoria
Founded	2014 asNational Premier Leagues Victoria 2
Country	Australia
State	Victoria
Number of teams	14
Level on pyramid	3
Promotionto	NPL Victoria
Relegationto	Victoria Premier League 2
Domestic cup(s)	Australia Cup Dockerty Cup
Current champions	Dandenong City
Most championships	Dandenong City(2 titles)

TheVictoria Premier League 1(formerlyNational Premier Leagues Victoria 2,2014-2024), commonly referred to asVPL 1,is a semi-professionalsoccerleague inVictoria,Australia.The league is the second-highest in the Victorian league system, behind theNational Premier Leagues Victoria,and forms the third tier of the overallAustralian league system.

Originally founded asNPL 1in 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 ofNPL Victoria 3in 2020, a state-wide second division was re-founded, comprising 12 clubs. Beginning from the 2024 season, NPL Victoria 2 andNPL Victoria 3have reverted toVictoria Premier League,the name prior to the formation of theNational Premier Leagues.

In the 2024 season,Football Victoriahas included a provision where relegation of the bottom two teams is suspended for that season, under the condition that aNational Second Divisioncommences in 2025.Under this provision, the bottom placed team may be relegated in the 2025 season.

The competition is administered byFootball 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.

For 2023 seasons, the competition returns to a 14 team league.

Current clubs (2024)

The following clubs will take part in the 2024 VPL 1 season:

Bulleen

Langwarrin

Preston

Melbourne City

Northcote

Eastern Lions

Brunswick

Werribee

Kingston

Western United

Bentleigh

North Geelong

George Cross

Melbourne Victory

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Locations of 2024 NPL 2 Victoria clubs within metropolitan Melbourne.

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	Club Heritage
Bentleigh Greens	Cheltenham	Kingston Heath Soccer Complex	3,300	Cypriot (Greek)
Brunswick City	Brunswick West	Dunstan Reserve	1,000	Greek
Bulleen Lions	Bulleen	David Barro Stadium	3,000	Italian (Venetian)
Caroline Springs George Cross	Fraser Rise	City Vista Recreation Reserve	3,000	Maltese
Eastern Lions	Burwood	Gardiners Reserve	1,500	British
Kingston City	Clayton South	The Grange Reserve	2,000	Greek
Langwarrin	Langwarrin South	Lawton Park Reserve	5,000	Dutch
Melbourne City(youth)	Cranbourne East	CFA Melbourne	1,500	N/A
Melbourne Victory(youth)	Epping	Epping Stadium	10,000	N/A
Northcote City	Thornbury	John Cain Memorial Park	5,000	Greek
North Geelong Warriors	Lara	Elcho Park	5,000	Croatian
Preston Lions	Reservoir	B.T. Connor Reserve	5,000	Macedonian
Werribee City	Werribee	Galvin Park Reserve	1,000	Italian
Western United(youth)	Point Cook	Wyndham Regional Football Facility	5,000	N/A

History

Avondale FCwere the inaugural champions of the National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 division in 2014, whileNorth Geelongfinished the season as runners up with both sides earning promotion to theNational Premier Leagues Victoria.

On 6 November 2014,Football Federation VictoriaannouncedMelbourne City FC NPLandMelbourne Victory FC Youthwould join the league in 2015.Eastern Lions SC,Murray United FC,Nunawading City FCandMoreland City FCall also joined the expanded competition for the 2015 season.FC Bulleen LionsandRichmond SCwere 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 upMoreland Zebras FCin the NPL2 preliminary promotion playoff, and then North Geelong in the promotion playoff, with North Geelong joining automatically relegated sidesWerribee City FCandDandenong Thunder SCin NPL2 for 2016.

In 2016,St Albans Saints SCandKingston City FCwon 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 andNorthcote City FCwere the relegated sides from NPL, joining the NPL2 for 2017.

Past winners

For the Pre-NPL 2 (1929-2013) past winners, seeVictorian State League 1 § Past Winners.

Year	Competition	Premiers	Champions
2014	NPL 1	Avondale Heights
2015	NPL 1	East:Richmond West:Bulleen Lions	Richmond
2016	NPL 2	East:Kingston City West:St Albans Saints	Kingston City
2017	NPL 2	East:Dandenong Thunder West:Northcote City	Dandenong Thunder
2018	NPL 2	East:Dandenong City West:Altona Magic	Dandenong City
2019	NPL 2	East:Eastern Lions West:St Albans Saints	St Albans Saints
2020	Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
2021	Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia.
2022	NPL 2	Moreland City
2023	NPL 2	Dandenong City

External links

• Football Victoria website