National Premier Leagues Northern NSW

The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in Northern New South Wales. The competition is conducted by Northern NSW Football, one of two organizing bodies in New South Wales. The league is a subdivision of the second tier National Premier Leagues, which sits below the national A-League. Prior to 2014, the league was known as the Northern NSW State Football League and Northern First Division.

History

After Sydney clubs broke away from the NSW Football Association in 1958, the Northern NSW Soccer Federation was created by Newcastle and Coalfields clubs.
A 12 team Northern First Division was established with: Adamstown, Awaba, Blacksmith Rangers, Cardiff, Cessnock, Charlestown United, Lake Macquarie, Mayfield United, Merewether Advance, Newcastle Austral, Wallsend and West Wallsend.
The league, jointly with other state-based leagues, formed the highest tier of soccer in Australia until the creation of a national league, the National Soccer League, in 1977.
In 1960 the league was downsized to 10 teams with the relegation of Charlestown United and Merewether Advance to Division 2.
In 1969 the league increased to 12 teams with Cardiff and Cessnock promoted from Division 2 and no relegations that season.
Between 1982 and 1991 the league fluctuated in size between 10 and 12 teams and settled at 10 teams in 1992 until 2009.
For the 2009 season it was decided by NNSW to downsize the league to 8 teams to improve the quality and give local players a chance to enter the A-league through the competition. Highfields Azzurri and Lake Macquarie City were both demoted to the Northern NSW State League. Clubs were assessed on a set criterion which included facilities/ground, financial status, management, playing strength/coaching staff and development program. An independent body, chaired by former NSW gaming minister Richard Face, was assigned to make the decision.
In 2012 the competition increased to 10 teams with the inclusion of the Newcastle Jets Youth and the promotion of Charlestown City Blues.
In 2017 the competition increased to 11 teams with Lake Macquarie promoted from the Northern League One.
The 2020 season, contracted back to 10 teams after Newcastle Jets Youth moved into the NPL New South Wales structure, playing in the Sydney-based competition.
In 2022 the competition increased back to 11 teams with the promotion of Cooks Hill United, from Northern League One.
In 2023 the competition increased to 12 teams with the promotion of New Lambton, from Northern League One.

Format

The competition consists of twelve teams from around the Lower Hunter. As part of the NPL NNSWF participation conditions, in addition to the First Grade, clubs also field a reserves team and Premier Youth League teams.
The regular season takes place over 22 rounds, with each team playing each other at home and away. The team that finishes first at the end of the regular season are Premiers. The top 5 teams at the end of the regular season qualify for a finals series, with the winner of the Grand final being crowned as the NPL NNSW Champions. An example of the finals series format is shown below from the 2024 season.

Promotion and relegation

In 2024 promotion and relegation between the NPL and Northern League One was re-introduced.
The team finishing last of the NPL will be automatically relegated to Northern League One.
The team finishing second last will enter the promotion and relegation playoffs which will follow the following format:

Playoff Semi-final 1 : NPL 11th v Northern League One 4th
Playoff Semi-final 2 : Northern League One 2nd v Northern League One 3rd
Playoff Final : Winner of Playoff Semi-final 1 v Winner of Playoff Semi-final 2

The winner of the Playoff Final will be included in the NPL for the following season, with the losing team competing in Northern League One.

Clubs

The following 12 clubs competed in the NPL NNSW for the 2025 season.

Club	Nickname	Founded	LGA	Ground	Location	Capacity
Adamstown Rosebud	Buds	1889	Newcastle	Adamstown Oval	Adamstown	1,500
Belmont Swansea United	Belswans	1935	Lake Macquarie	Blacksmiths Oval	Blacksmiths	500
Broadmeadow Magic	Magic	1966	Newcastle	Magic Park	Broadmeadow	1,500
Charlestown Azzurri	Azzurri	1963	Lake Macquarie	Lisle Carr Oval	Whitebridge	1,000
Cooks Hill United	Cookers	1997	Newcastle	Fearnley Dawes Athletic Centre / No.2 Sportsground	Newcastle West	750
Edgeworth	Eagles	1892	Lake Macquarie	Jack McLaughlan Oval	Edgeworth	1,000
Lambton Jaffas	Jaffas	1957	Newcastle	Arthur Edden Oval	Lambton	1,000
Maitland	Magpies	1961	Maitland	Cooks Square Park	East Maitland	1,000
Kahibah FC	Rams	1924	Lake Macquarie	Harry Knight Oval	Kahibah	300
Newcastle Olympic	Warriors	1976	Newcastle	Darling Street Oval	Hamilton	500
Valentine	Phoenix	1994	Lake Macquarie	CB Complex	Valentine	300
Weston Bears	Bears	1907	Cessnock	Rockwell Automation Park	Weston	1,000

Honours

NNSW NPL

Northern First Division (1959–1997)

Northern NSW State League (1998–2013)

Titles (1959 – Present)

NPL Finals series representation

Up to the 2019 season, one representative from each Member Federation participated in the NPL Championship, a knock-out competition to determine a national champion.

Australian Championship representation

From the 2025 season, one representative from each Member Federation participates in the Australian Championship. The Premiers from the NNSW NPL competition qualifies for this tournament.

Year	Team	Result
2025	Broadmeadow Magic	Group Stage