National Premier Leagues South Australia

History

In 2012 it was announced that the FFSA Premier League was to become the top tier of South Australian football (below the national A-League) after the disbandment of the now defunct FFSA Super League. It was announced that the competition would consist of 14 teams. These teams would be made up of the 10 teams from the defunct Super League with the remaining 4 spots being filled by the top 4 teams from the 2012 Premier League season.

In 2013 the league joined the National Premier Leagues. From 2014 to 2019 the top-placed team after the completion of the season entered into the National Premier Leagues finals. From 2025 onwards, the top-placed team enters the Australian Championship competition.

National Premier Leagues South Australia (abbreviated as NPL SA), a subdivision of National Premier Leagues (NPL), is a semi-professional football competition in the state of South Australia. National Premier Leagues is the second-tier football competition in Australia, which sits below the Hyundai A-League and Westfield W-League on the country's football national pyramid. Football Federation Australia (FFA) embarked on a National Competition Review in October 2010, which aimed to review the football competition structure in Australia. The process of conducting the National Competition Review lasted for 20 months, and the review results were released in May 2012, in which FFA proposed to revitalise the country's state-based competitions to promote the development of elite players. As a result of this review, National Premier Leagues was established in February 2013. At the time of establishment, NPL has five subdivisions, including football teams from five corresponding state-based federations, which are Football Federation South Australia, Football Federation Tasmania, Football Queensland, Football NSW, and Capital Football. The inaugural season of NPL SA began in March 2013. Currently, this competition is run and managed by Football South Australia (formerly known as Football Federation South Australia), which is a governing body of football issues in South Australia and a competition administrator for different levels of football games in the state.

Competition format

The regular season consists of a double round robin of 22 rounds, followed by a finals series for the top 6 teams. The team who finishes first is crowned Premier and qualifies for the National Premier Leagues finals series. The teams placed 11th and 12th are relegated to the State League 1 in the following season.

In the finals, the 1st and 2nd placed teams playoff in a two-legged game to qualify for the grand final, with the loser moving to a preliminary final against the winner of playoffs by the 3rd to 6th placed teams. A grand final is held at ServiceFM Stadium, where the winner is crowned Champion.

Current clubs

The following 12 clubs are competing in the 2025 NPL South Australia season.

Honours

For details of winners pre-NPL (2006–2012):

Notes

References

References

1. (8 April 2021). "RAA becomes naming rights partner of local football's top tier competition".
2. "FFA launches National Premier Leagues (2013)". [[Football Australia.