Football NSW (original) (raw)

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Governing body for soccer in New South Wales

Football New South Wales

Abbreviation	FNSW
Formation	1 April 2007; 18 years ago (2007-04-01)[1](1957; 68 years ago (1957) as New South Wales Federation of Soccer Clubs)
Type	State Sporting Association
Legal status	Active
Headquarters	Valentine Sports Park
Location	Sydney
Region served	New South Wales, Australia
Parent organisation	Football Australia
Website	http://www.footballnsw.com.au

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 national governing body, Football Australia. Football NSW's premier football competition is the National Premier Leagues NSW. The premier futsal competition is the Futsal Premier League. Prior to 1 April 2007, Football NSW was known as Soccer NSW.[2]

The first soccer association was founded in New South Wales in 1882 as the "South British Football Soccer Association". It was succeeded in 1898 by the "New South Wales British Football Association" and eventually in 1921 by the "Australian Soccer Football Association". The first state league in New South Wales was formed in 1928 and by 1943 a new association was formed to oversee the game in New South Wales specifically, called "New South Wales Soccer Football Association". This was formed into a company in 1945.[3][4]

By 1957 many clubs in New South Wales were left disgruntled by the way the game was run by the NSW Soccer Football Association due to numerous factors. Some migrant communities had created their own clubs when they were faced with closed doors by already established suburban clubs.[5] After a meeting led by Hakoah president, Walter Sternberg in his Bellevue Hill home, a new association was born, called the "NSW Federation of Soccer Clubs". This federation effectively took control over the game from the former NSW Soccer Football Association.[3][5][4]

The events of 1957 also led to a change in management nationally. With the Australian Soccer Football Association (ASFA) suspended by FIFA over player poaching disputes and the creation of Federations in other states, the Australian Soccer Federation (ASF) was created in 1961 to replace the old association. However, the ASF only gained control of operations from the ASFA after they sent a £5000 bond to FIFA in 1963.[4]

In 1995, "Soccer Australia" replaced the "Australian Soccer Federation" and so the governing body of New South Wales became "Soccer NSW".[4]

Soccer NSW remained in control of the game for a decade until another national change took place in 2005 when Soccer Australia changed its name to "Football Federation Australia".[4] Soccer NSW however, did not officially change its name to "Football NSW" until 1 April 2007.[1]

Valentine Sports Park

The headquarters of Football NSW are located at Valentine Sports Park, Glenwood. Valentine Sports Park is a multipurpose sporting complex which caters for various groups, as well as individuals. The complex consists of twin, triple and quad rooms accommodating up to 180 people, 5 playing fields, lecture rooms, indoor sports hall, 20 metre outdoor pool, sports medicine centre and a dining room open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. It also contains the offices of the Football NSW staff.

The majority of Football NSW's time goes into the football competitions they oversee and run. Football NSW oversees the running of numerous representative youth, Men's & Women's association football leagues and cups, a number of which are non-amateur. They also oversee the countless club and amateur competitions run by the affiliated associations around the state. For a detailed rundown of the various leagues and systems run in New South Wales see Football (soccer) in New South Wales.

Football NSW Institute

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The Football NSW Institute (FNSWI) was established in 2013 as the official elite development program for young footballers in New South Wales. It unified the Skilleroos, New South Wales Institute of Sport, and Skill Acquisition Programs into a single structure aligned with Football Federation Australia's Integrated Talented Player Pathway. Initially catering to both boys and girls, the program shifted its focus exclusively to girls' development from 2016, providing a high-performance environment for players aged U13 to U17. The FNSWI aimed to nurture talented footballers by offering top-tier coaching and training consistent with Football Australia policies, with the goal of preparing players for professional careers and national representation.[6]

Following an extensive Player Development Review during the 2024 season, Football NSW announced the cessation of the FNSWI program at the end of 2024. This decision marked a new direction for the organization's approach to youth and senior women's competitions, including the NPL NSW Women's and NSW League One Women's leagues. Throughout its operation, the FNSWI played a pivotal role in developing young female footballers and contributing to the growth of women's football in New South Wales.[6]

Football NSW is also the governing body for Futsal is New South Wales. There are two representative leagues named the "Futsal Premier League" (Known as the SELECT Futsal Premier League for sponsorship reasons) and the "Futsal Premier League 2" (Known as the SELECT FPL2). Originally there was only one representative league with 16 teams. In the 06/07 season the competition was cut into 2 separate divisions of 8 teams each. In the 07/08 season the top 8 clubs in the club championship (aggregate points of all teams) from that season were put in the First Division while the last 8 were put in the second division. Now in 18/19 there is 8 premier league teams and 8 premier league 2 teams.

Below are listed the Men's all member clubs of Football NSW for the National Premier Leagues competitions and Football NSW League One and Two for 2025.

The men's soccer pyramid in New South Wales comprises 4 levels below the A-League Men, with promotion and relegation between the top 3 levels. It also includes the Sydney Amateur League, which is not officially a part of the league system. In total, there are 259 clubs/teams across 28 divisions in New South Wales.

The women's soccer pyramid in New South Wales comprises 3 levels below the A-League Men, with promotion and relegation between the top 2 levels.

Associations and Branches

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As one of two state governing body for football in New South Wales, Football NSW oversees all aspects of the sport within the southern part of the state. At a local level, Football NSW works with 15 regional-based constituent association members which oversee in all aspects of the sport within their respected region. Three Football NSW branches also exist in a similar capacity.[7]

Branches[10]

• Southern NSW Football
• Football Riverina
• Western NSW Football

Past League Premiers Winners

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The sections below list previous league winners. League winners are listed as first place in the standings at the end of the regular section, not winners of the finals series (when held).

The first season of the newly formed Soccer NSW began with two divisions. Canterbury-Marrickville were the inaugural premiers of Division One.

After two seasons, a third division was added.

Division Three disbanded to form lower grade Amateur Leagues.

Amateur Leagues/Inter suburban leagues reformed to create another Division Three.

Another division was then added in 1977, creating four divisions.

The top four divisions were renamed for a few seasons.

State League reverted to Division One naming, while Division Three disbanded back to lower Inter Urban leagues, leaving three premier divisions.

Division Four was re-introduced.

Again the premier division was renamed, this time to the "Super League". Lower divisions were renamed accordingly from Division One.

2000 saw another shake-up of the league structures. Soccer NSW introduced a new "Premier League" that was to be run over summer and be aligned with the National Soccer League (NSL). The Super League would continue to run in the usual way, rebranded as the "Winter Super League". Divisions Two and Three were renamed States League 1 and 2 respectively, and were also conducted over the winter of 2001. During the demise of the NSL and rise of the A-League, the Premier League reverted to playing over winter for the 2006 season. This meant there was approximately nine months break between competitions.

Another overhaul of the league structure occurred with the introduction of the nationwide National Premier Leagues. State Federations were required to name their premier leagues as such. For Football NSW, the meant the "Premier League" was to be called "National Premier Leagues NSW" instead. The "Super League" also had to follow suit, becoming the "National Premier Leagues NSW 2". State Leagues remained the same.

Another minor change occurred for the 2016 season, with State League 1 adopting the "NPL NSW 3 moniker", thus State League 2 was reverted to simply State League.

After a further review, there was another restructure which came into effect in the 2020 season, with the branding of an NPL4 competition.[11]

The 2022 season saw more changes as the NPL 2, NPL 3 and NPL 4 competitions were renamed to League One, League Two and League Three respectively.[13]

The 2023 season saw another change as the NSW League Three competition was disbanded in favour of three larger leagues.

1. ^ a b "About". footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
2. ^ [1] Archived 21 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
3. ^ a b "1958 NSW Yearbook" (PDF). ozfootball.net. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
4. ^ a b c d e "Timeline of Australian Football". migrationheritage.nsw.gov.au. Archived from the original on 17 December 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
5. ^ a b Les Murray (9 July 2017). "The Revolution of 1957 and What the FFA Can Learn Today". theworldame.sbs.com.au. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
6. ^ a b "Football NSW Institute". Football NSW. Retrieved 25 February 2025.
7. ^ "Associations". footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
8. ^ "Football NSW Metro Associations". footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
9. ^ "Football NSW Regional Associations". footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
10. ^ "Football NSW Branches". footballnsw.com.au. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
11. ^ "COMPETITION STRUCTURES FOR NPL MEN'S, YOUTH AND SAP FOR THE 2020 SEASON". Football NSW. 27 February 2019. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
12. ^ "Football NSW Cancel 2021 National Premier Leagues Season". Football NSW. 12 August 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
13. ^ "Changes of names to Football NSW competitions". Football NSW. 24 August 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2022.

• Football NSW - Official website