Australian soccer league system
Association Football league system of Australia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Australian soccer league system represents the structure of soccer leagues in Australia.[1] Both the men's and women's structures run on a straight tiered system without promotion and relegation between its national tiers, but is contained between state tiers.[2][3][4]
A map showing the nine member federations of Football Australia, which each control their respective state leagues. | |
| Country | Australia |
|---|---|
| Sport | Association football |
| Promotion and relegation | No[a] |
| National system | |
| Federation | Football Australia |
| Confederation | Asian Football Confederation |
| Top division | |
| Second division | |
| Cup competition | |
| Regional systems | |
| Federations | |
| Association football in Australia | |
The introduction of the National Premier Leagues (NPL) in 2013 introduced a direct second tier of soccer in Australia, underpinning the A-League.[5] The NPL incorporated the existing state leagues as divisions with a nationwide end of season finals series, rebranding five of the nine top state leagues.[6] The remainder – with the exception of the Northern Territory – joined in 2014.[6] In 2025, the first national second tier was introduced; the Australian Championship.
Men's system
| Level | Total clubs | League(s) / division(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 | A-League Men 12 clubs (2 from New Zealand) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 16 | Australian Championship 16 clubs – 4 groups | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | 99 | National Premier Leagues 99 clubs – 8 divisions | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The system is only defined as far as level 3. What follows is a notional structure, based on which leagues promote and relegate to each other and the connection of Football Australia's associated bodies.
| Level | Total clubs | League(s) / division(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 111 |
| ||
| 4 | 106 |
| ||
| 5 | 99 |
| ||
| 6 | 48 |
| ||
| 7 | 42 |
| ||
| 8 | 32 |
| ||
| 9 | 33 |
| ||
| 10 | 36 |
| ||
| 11 | 36 |
| ||
| 12 | 33 |
| ||
| 13 | 20 |
| ||
Women's system
The women's soccer league system in Australia is similar to that of the men's.[7][8]
| Level | Total clubs | League(s) / division(s) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | A-League Women 11 clubs (1 from New Zealand) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | 91 | National Premier Leagues Women's 91 clubs – 8 divisions | ||||||||||||||||||||||
The system is only defined as far as level 2. What follows is a notional structure, based on which leagues promote and relegate to each other and the connection of Football Australia's associated bodies.
| Level | Total clubs | League(s) / division(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 96 |
| ||
| 3 | 52 |
| ||
| 4 | 41 |
| ||
| 5 | 14 |
| ||
| 6 | 10 |
| ||
| 7 | 12 |
| ||
| 8 | 11 |
| ||
See also
- Capital Football pyramid
- Football Queensland pyramid
- Football South Australia pyramid
- Football Victoria pyramid
- League system, for a list of similar systems in other countries
- Australian Championship
- List of association football competitions
Notes
- There is no promotion and relegation between national tiers, but there are between state tiers.