Number of teams 20 (2 conferences) Promotion to NPL | Founded 2014 Level on pyramid 3 Relegation to State League 1 | |
The National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 is a regional Australian semi-professional soccer league comprising teams from Victoria. The league sits at Level 2 on the Victorian league system, behind the National Premier Leagues Victoria, (Level 3 of the overall Australian league system). The competition is administered by Football Federation Victoria, the governing body of the sport in the state.
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Format
In 2014, the competition was a 14 team league.
As of the 2015 season, the league will be divided into 2 conferences, East and West, of 10 teams each. Each team plays home and away against teams in their conference and then plays just one game against each team in the opposite conference. The winner of each conference gains automatic promotion to the NPL Victoria 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.
Clubs
The following 20 clubs will be competing in the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 during the 2017 season:
History
Avondale FC were the inaugural champions of the National Premier Leagues Victoria 1 division in 2014, while North Geelong finished the season as runners up with both sides earning promotion to the National Premier Leagues Victoria.
On 6 November 2014, Football Federation Victoria announced Melbourne City FC NPL and Melbourne Victory FC Youth would join the league in 2015. Eastern Lions SC, Murray United FC, Nunawading City FC and Moreland City FC all also joined the expanded competition for the 2015 season. FC Bulleen Lions and Richmond SC were 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 up Moreland Zebras FC in the NPL2 preliminary promotion playoff, and then North Geelong in the promotion playoff, with North Geelong joining automatically relegated sides Werribee City FC and Dandenong Thunder SC in NPL2 for 2016.
In 2016, St Albans Saints SC and Kingston City FC won 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 and Northcote City FC were the relegated sides from NPL, joining the NPL2 for 2017.
Past Winners
Notes:
E: East
W: West