Soccer in Victoria
| Soccer in Victoria | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country | Australia |
| Governing body | Football Victoria |
| National team(s) | State team |
| First played | 1883 in Melbourne |
| Registered players | 243,956 (2023)[1] |
Club competitions | |
Women's competition
| |
Audience records | |
| Single match | 99,382 (2015) International Champions Cup, Manchester City v Real Madrid, Melbourne Cricket Ground |
Soccer in the Australian state of Victoria is organised by Football Victoria (FV). FV is a member of the national Football Australia.
National representation
[edit]Many clubs represented Victoria in the now defunct National Soccer League (NSL), three of which, South Melbourne FC, Melbourne Knights and Brunswick Juventus became champions. Along with South Melbourne, Heidelberg United, Footscray JUST and Mooroolbark United were NSL foundation clubs. At various times the following Victorian sides also competed in the NSL: Preston Lions FC; Carlton SC; Gippsland Falcons (also known as Eastern Pride); Collingwood Warriors; Sunshine George Cross; and Green Gully.
Victoria is currently represented in the top-flight A-League Men by Melbourne Victory, Melbourne City and Western United. Victory and City also have associated teams in the A-League Women and A-League Youth.
Soccer League Structure
[edit]Men's pyramid under FFV
[edit]League and Cup systems
[edit]Leagues
[edit]The highest state based league is the National Premier Leagues Victoria, which forms a division of the National Premier Leagues. The winner of which enters a national play-off series against the winners of other NPL divisions. The league below that is the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 and National Premier Leagues Victoria 3. Below that, State Leagues 1 and 2 are split into North/West and South/East divisions. Below that, three divisions of the Provisional Leagues follow, also split into North/West and South/East divisions. The participating clubs are almost entirely located within metropolitan Melbourne, however there are separate regional leagues organised by associations subsidiary to the FFV, such as the Geelong Regional Football Association, Ballarat & District Soccer Association and the Gippsland Soccer League.
Cup
[edit]The Dockerty Cup, a knockout cup competition for Victorian clubs, ran every year from 1909 until 1996, with the exception of the years 1916–18 owing to World War I. Since then it has been in recess, except for season 2004.
The idea of a Victorian Cup competition was revived in 2011 with the Mirabella Cup, which was to feature all Victorian clubs, from the A-League through to the regional leagues, however the FFA later pulled Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart from the competition. In 2012 and 2013 the competition was known as the FFV State Knockout Cup. In 2014 the competition returned to the traditional Dockerty Cup title. Since 2014 the Dockerty Cup has been used to qualify Victorian clubs, with the exception of A-League clubs which already automatically qualify, for the national FFA Cup.
Honours
[edit]Honours since reorganization with NPL in 2014.
| Year | Victoria League Champions | Victoria League Premiers | Dockerty Cup Winners | Community Shield Winners |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | South Melbourne | South Melbourne | Melbourne Knights | N/A |
| 2015 | Bentleigh Greens | South Melbourne | South Melbourne | South Melbourne |
| 2016 | South Melbourne | Bentleigh Greens | Bentleigh Greens | Bentleigh Greens |
| 2017 | Bentleigh Greens | Heidelberg United | Heidelberg United | Bentleigh Greens |
| 2018 | Heidelberg United | Heidelberg United | Bentleigh Greens | Heidelberg United |
| 2019 | Bentleigh Greens | Heidelberg United | Hume City | Bentleigh Greens |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia | Bentleigh Greens | ||
| 2021 | Not Held (COVID-19) | Oakleigh Cannons | Avondale FC | Not Held |
| 2022 | Bentleigh Greens | Not Held | ||
Community Soccer Leagues and Cups
[edit]- The Geelong Community Cup is an annual pre-season soccer tournament held in the city of Geelong since 1981.
Most successful clubs overall
[edit]| Club | National | Victoria | Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A-League Champions | NSL Champions | A-League Premiers | NSL Premiers | FFA Cup Winners | NSL Cup Winners | Victoria League Premiers | Victoria League Champions | Dockerty Cup Winners | State League Cup | Community Shield Winners | ||||
| South Melbourne | - | 4 | - | 3 | - | 2 | 10 | 1 | 8 | - | 1 | 28 | ||
| Melbourne Knights | - | 2 | - | 4 | - | 1 | 3 | - | 9 | 6 | - | 25 | ||
| Green Gully | - | - | - | - | - | - | 9 | 6 | 5 | 2 | - | 22 | ||
| Brunswick Zebras | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | 5 | 3 | - | 17 | ||
| Melbourne Hakoah | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | 8 | - | - | 12 | ||
| Footscray JUST | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | - | 3 | 3 | - | 11 | ||
| Heidelberg United | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 5 | 3 | 1 | - | 1 | 11 | ||
| Bentleigh Greens | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | 4 | 11 | ||
| Preston Lions | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 3 | 1 | - | - | 8 | ||
| Melbourne Victory | 4 | - | 3 | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | ||
| Altona Magic | - | - | - | - | - | - | 5 | 2 | - | - | - | 7 | ||
| George Cross | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 3 | 3 | - | 7 | ||
See also
[edit]
References
[edit]- ^ "Football/soccer Report". Australian Sports Commission. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 30 June 2023.
External links
[edit]| National teams |
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Soccer in Australia by state and territory | ||
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| Australian Capital Territory |  | |
| New South Wales | ||
| Northern Territory | ||
| Queensland | ||
| South Australia | ||
| Tasmania | ||
| Victoria | ||
| Western Australia | ||
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