The 2021 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, for sponsorship reasons also known as the Kumul Petroleum Holdings Limited National Soccer League, is the 15th edition of the
Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, the top-tier
football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
league in
Papua New Guinea. The league started on 24 July.
The defending champions are
Lae City, who won their sixth consecutive title with a 1–0 victory over
Vitiaz United in the previous season's Grand Final.
Format
After initially deciding the league format would be the same as the previous season – one national league consisting of ten teams – the
Papua New Guinea Football Association and NSL board eventually reverted to a format that they had previously used in the
2015–16 season, splitting the league into two regional divisions, a ''Northern Conference'' and a ''Southern Conference'', each with seven teams.
Clubs
Seven clubs returned from the previous season: six-time reigning champions Lae City, eight-time champions
Hekari United
Hekari United, formerly known as POM Souths, Souths United, PRK Souths United and Hekari Souths United, is a professional football club formed in 2006, based in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
The club holds the record for most titles in the Pa ...
, fourth-placed side
Komara Gulf,
Morobe United,
Morobe Wawens,
Star Mountain and
Tusbab Stallions. Grand Final runners-up
Vitiaz United withdrew, citing financial difficulties.
Kutubu and
Bougainville also withdrew from the league. A ''
phoenix'' side, Lae City Dwellers, led by sacked Lae City FC coach Peter Gunemba, announced their return to the league in May 2021, although there was an element of confusion as to which of the two sides had the right to claim the franchise's previous titles. There were returns to the league for
Tavur FC (also known as WNB Tavur),
Sepik FC, and
Port Moresby Strikers (also known as Southern Strikers), while
Central Dabari FC was a late acceptance into the league.
There was also room for two development sides in each of the conferences.
References
{{2021 in Oceanian football (OFC)
Football in Papua New Guinea
2021 in Papua New Guinea