Football Federation Victoria (FFV) has today announced the Playstation 4 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Victoria 2015 senior and junior league structures.

With the introduction of Murray United, Nunawading City, Eastern Lions, Moreland City, Melbourne Victory Youth and Melbourne City Youth to the NPL 1 competition, the 20-team NPL 1 has been split into two geographical conferences; East and West.

Each conference will consist of 10 teams comprising two regional teams, one National Youth League team, one 2014 State League 1 champion and a spread of teams from the NPL 1 2014.

The top six NPL teams at the conclusion of the home-and-away season will play a finals series commencing August 22, with more details to follow in coming weeks.

The top team of each NPL 1 conference will contend the NPL 1 Grand Final on September 20, with the runner-up of each NPL 1 conference to play off for the chance to come up against the 12th-placed NPL team for a spot in the NPL 2016.

Round 1 of the NPL and NPL 1 2015 senior leagues will begin on the weekend of February 21-22, while the junior NPL leagues – also split into two geographical conferences which will see all teams play at least 30 matches throughout the season - will commence on March 15 (Eastern conference) and March 22 (Western conference).

FFV will release fixtures for all NPL 2015 leagues by the end of November.

Liam Bentley, Head of NPL and WPL, explained the reasons behind the new structures.

“We believe this structure [NPL 1] will provide the most geographically local leagues within reason, as well as an even balance of competition,” Bentley said.

“As per discussions with the current NPL and NPL 1 clubs, the NPL 1 competition will see each club play home and away against the nine remaining teams in their conference, with one match against each club from the opposing conference.

“This will ensure that all clubs in NPL 1 play a minimum of 28 matches throughout the 2015 season.”

Bentley said gala weekends would also be introduced in the junior NPL 2015 leagues.

“With the increased window of season preparation, 2015 will now see all junior teams play a full home-and-away season,” he said.

“In order to accommodate the extra games, there will be a number of gala weekends throughout the season in which teams will play two to three games.”

2015 LEAGUE STRUCTURES

PS4 NPL
Avondale Heights (promoted)
Bentleigh Greens
Dandenong Thunder
Green Gully
Heidelberg United
Hume City
Melbourne Knights
North Geelong Warriors (promoted)
Northcote City
Oakleigh Cannons
Pascoe Vale
Port Melbourne Sharks
South Melbourne
Werribee City

PS4 NPL 1 East
Box Hill United
Dandenong City
Eastern Lions (new)
Goulburn Valley Suns (relegated from NPL)
Kingston City
Melbourne Victory Youth (new)
Murray United (new)
Nunawading City (new)
Richmond
Springvale White Eagles

PS4 NPL 1 West
Ballarat Red Devils (relegated from NPL)
Brunswick City
FC Bendigo
FC Bulleen Lions
Melbourne City Youth (new)
Moreland City (new)
Moreland Zebras
St Albans Saints
Sunshine George Cross
Whittlesea Ranges

PS4 NPL Juniors East
Bentleigh Greens
Box Hill United
Dandenong City
Dandenong Thunder
Eastern Lions
Goulburn Valley Suns
Heidelberg United
Kingston City
Murray United
FC Bulleen Lions
Victorian National Training Centre
Nunawading City
Oakleigh Cannons
Port Melbourne Sharks
Richmond
South Melbourne
Springvale White Eagles
Bye

PS4 NPL Juniors West
Ballarat Red Devils
Brunswick City
FC Bendigo
Northcote City
Moreland City
Moreland Zebras
St Albans Saints
Sunshine George Cross
Whittlesea Ranges
Avondale Heights
Green Gully
Hume City
Melbourne Knights
North Geelong Warriors
Werribee City
Pascoe Vale

Click here to see the NPL Victoria 2015 season calendar.