Soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

is a popular participation and spectator sport. It is organised and managed on a state level by two separate governing bodies;

Football NSW Football NSW is the governing body for soccer in the Australian state of New South Wales, with the exception of the northern regions of NSW (the governing body for which is Northern New South Wales Football). Football NSW is a member of the nat ...

and

Northern New South Wales Football Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...

which are affiliated at a national level to

Football Federation Australia Football Australia is the governing body of soccer, futsal, and beach soccer within Australia, headquartered in Sydney. Although the first governing body of the sport was founded in 1911, Football Australia in its current form was only esta ...

. New South Wales and the state historically has had a large influence on soccer in Australia. It has the most registered soccer players in the country, with over 457,285 players, and the most teams in the professional

A-League A-League Men (known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons) is the highest-level professional men's soccer league in Australia and New Zealand. At the top of the Australian league system, it is the country's premier men's competiti ...

competition. New South Wales has the highest participation of any football playing state in the country, with a total of 7% of the population regularly playing or watching the sport.

National Representation

Current top level teams

Five of the twelve teams in the

are based in New South Wales:

Western Sydney Wanderers Western Sydney Wanderers Football Club (colloquially known as Western Sydney, or simply as Wanderers) is an Australian professional soccer club based in the Western Sydney region of Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier ...

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

Macarthur FC Macarthur Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in South Western Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in Australia's premier soccer competition, the A-League, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). On ...

Newcastle Jets Newcastle United Jets Football Club, commonly known as Newcastle Jets, is an Australian professional soccer club based in Newcastle, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier competition, the A-League, under licence from The Australia ...

and

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

. NSW is represented in the national women's W-League by Newcastle Jets, Sydney FC and Western Sydney Wanderers associated women's teams. Central Coast Mariners also had a team in the W-League between 2008–2010. New South Wales sends teams to the annual national youth competitions in the form of New South Wales Metropolitan and New South Wales Country (run by

) and Northern New South Wales (run by

Northern NSW Football Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) is the governing body of soccer in the north of New South Wales, Australia. It is a member of the national governing body, Football Australia. The Federation was established the 9 September 1884 as the Northern Dist ...

Defunct National Soccer League

New South Wales had many different teams in the NSL over the years. NSW usually had at least the first or second most clubs in the league and also got many premierships over the years. There is a list below of clubs from NSW that participated in the NSL and are still running today in NSW competitions. *

A.P.I.A. Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...

Blacktown City Demons Blacktown City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional football club based in Blacktown, New South Wales. Founded in 1953, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. Blacktown City's home ground is Blacktown City S ...

Canterbury-Marrickville The Canterbury Bankstown Football Club is a soccer club based in Bankstown, New South Wales. The club currently plays in the NSW League Two after being relegated from the formerly NPL NSW 2 in 2019.(from 2022 known as NSW League One) Canterbury ...

Marconi Stallions Marconi Stallions Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Fairfield, Sydney, New South Wales. The club has been crowned Australian champion four times. The Stallions are the soccer team of Club Marconi, a social ...

Newcastle Rosebud United Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England * Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastl ...

Parramatta Eagles Parramatta Football Club, commonly known as Parramatta Melita Eagles or just Melita, are a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in South Granville, New South Wales. The club was established by Maltese migrants in 1956 and played sever ...

St George Saints St George FC, commonly called Saints or Budapest, is a semi-professional Australian soccer club based in the St George district in the south of Sydney. The club was founded by Hungarian immigrants in 1957 as Budapest Club and by 1965 was rename ...

Sydney Olympic Sydney Olympic Football Club is an Australian semi-professional association football, soccer club, based in Belmore, New South Wales, Belmore, Sydney, New South Wales, that plays in the National Premier Leagues NSW. The Club was founded as Pan- ...

Sydney United Sydney United 58 Football Club is a semi-professional soccer club and current NSW NPL Champions based in Edensor Park, Sydney, New South Wales Australia. The club was formed as Sydney Croatia in 1958, by Croatian Australians in the area, but it ...

Wollongong Wolves Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wat ...

Football NSW Competitions

In the main the Youth and Senior competitions are divided into two sections: Club or Amateur Soccer which is run by each association, and Representative or Semi-Pro soccer which is run by

. In 2008 there was a major restructuring of the New South Wales Men's, Women's and Youth competitions. The youth teams were restructured to be aligned with their Senior Clubs. The Men's Senior competitions was restructured to add new teams to the NSW Premier League and a new Promotion/Relegation system was introduced. In 2019 this system was again restructured, this time separating the Youth and Senior clubs from each other. This allowed Senior results to only affect the Senior portion of a club, and not the youth portion (e.g. if a first grade team was relegated to NPL 2, their youth would remain in their current league and not be relegated as well).

Youth/Senior - Amateur

These are the branches and associations that make up all of Football NSW's youth and senior, women and men Amateur competitions around the state. Each of the associations run their own competitions for various age groups. 16 of the associations also have teams in the Metropolitan League (11s & 12s boys). Some also act as feeder associations or give their backing to certain semi-pro or Representative clubs.

Associations

*Bankstown District Amateur Football Association *Blacktown & District Soccer Football Inc. *

Canterbury District Soccer Football Association Canterbury District Soccer Football Association is a governing body and football (soccer) competition located in the Canterbury, New South Wales, Canterbury suburbs of Sydney. Its administrative headquarters are located at Pratten Park, Pratten P ...

Central Coast Football Central Coast Football is a governing body and football (soccer) competition located in the Central Coast region of New South Wales. Its administrative headquarters are based at Pluim Park, Lisarow, New South Wales. The association consists of ...

*Eastern Suburbs Football Association *Gladesville-Hornsby Football Association *Granville & Districts Soccer Football Association *Hills Football Association *Northern Suburbs Football Association (formerly Ku-Ring-Gai & District Soccer Association) *Macarthur Districts Soccer Football Association *Manly Warringah Football Association *Nepean Football Association *North West Sydney Women's Football *

Football South Coast Football South Coast is a sport governing body and soccer competition based in the Illawarra and South Coast regions of New South Wales. All competitions and soccer activity of Football South Coast is under control of Football New South Wales. ...

*Southern Districts Soccer Football Association *St George Football Association Inc *Sutherland Shire Junior SFA Inc. *Sydney Amateur Football League Inc.

Branches

Football Riverina

*Albury Wodonga Football Association *Wagga Wagga Football Association *Griffith & District Amateur Football Association *South West Slopes Football Association

Southern NSW Soccer

Controlling Body - Football NSW Southern Branch *Eurobodalla Football Association *Far South Coast Football Association *Highlands Soccer Association Inc. *Shoalhaven District Football Association Inc. *Southern Tablelands Football Association

Western NSW Football

*Bathurst District Football Association
Dubbo & District Football Association
*Lachlan Amateur Soccer Association *Lithgow District Football Association
Orange Football Association
*Western Plains Soccer Association

Youth - Representative

The Youth Men's Representative system which is run by Football NSW caters for the ages between 11 and 18. It is divided into 3 main leagues. The representative Youth leagues are seen as the best soccer a youth player can get in New South Wales. The Association Youth League is the third-strongest in the state, the National Premier Leagues Youth 2 is the second - strongest, and the National Premier Leagues Youth 1 is the strongest league of youth football in NSW, as well as the most prestigious. For the Association Youth League (AYL), there is no relegation or promotion. However, there is a relegation/promotion system between the NSW National Premier Leagues Youth 1 and 2, which branches off the competition structure: Before the beginning of each National Premier Leagues Youth season, Football NSW creates a Blue and White group in NPL Youth 1, and NPL Youth 2 (each group composed of 12 teams) for the first half of the competition. These groups are made based on each clubs’ success across the Under 14s to Under 18s age groups in the previous season. For the first half of the season, each club plays against every club in their respective group once (11 rounds). Whilst the rounds progress, each of the points that each age group earn are added to a Club Championship table. Although each age group has their own ladder for the first half of the competition, the Club Championship table ultimately determines the second half of the season for each club. At the end of the first 11 rounds (the completion of the first half of the season), each age group’s final point tally is added with their other age groups in the club to make an overall point total for the club (this is the club championship). The top six teams from each group in National Premier Leagues Youth 1 based on the Club Championship combine to produce a National Premier Leagues 1.1, and the bottom six combine from each group to produce a National Premier Leagues 1.2. The same applies for National Premier League 2 to produce a 2.1 group and 2.2. In the second half of the season, the 1.1, 1.2, 2.1, and 2.2 teams again play against each other club in their group once (a further 11 rounds where they again verse 5 clubs from their original groups and a new 6 from the other group). At the end of the 11 rounds (22 overall), the top 5 teams in each age group’s ladder in the 1.1 and 2.1 tiers play a finals series to determine the champion for National Premier Leagues Youth 1 and 2 in their age group. Meanwhile, a new Club Championship for the second half of the season determines which clubs get relegated and promoted from 1.2 and 2.1. The top 3 clubs from NPL Youth 2.1 in terms of club championship are promoted to National Premier Leagues Youth 1 for the next season, and the bottom 3 teams in terms of club championship in NPL Youth 1.2 are relegated to National Premier Leagues Youth 2 for the next season.

Football NSW Senior Leagues

These are the Senior Men's and Women's competitions. Many of the Senior Men's competitions below are semi-professional.

Senior Men's

All Senior Men's teams are linked with their counterparts of Under 20s, Under 18s and all Open Age competitors. Top New South Wales competitions: *

National Premier Leagues NSW The National Premier Leagues NSW is a semi-professional soccer competition in New South Wales, Australia. The competition is conducted by Football NSW, the organising body in New South Wales (the other being the National Premier Leagues Northern ...

(12 Teams)
Premier League
*

NSW League One The NSW League One Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league sits at Level 2 on the New South Wales league system, behind the National Premier Leagues NSW The Nationa ...

(12 Teams)
Super League
*

NSW League Two The NSW League Two Men is an Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league sits at Level 3 on the New South Wales league system (Level 4 of the overall Australian league system). The c ...

(12 Teams)
Division One
*

NSW League Three The NSW League Three Men is a defunct regional Australian semi-professional association football league comprising teams from New South Wales. The league was sits at Level 4 on the New South Wales league system (Level 5 of the overall Australian ...

(12 teams)
Division Two

Senior Women's

Both Women's leagues comprise 1st Grade, Reserve Grade, U17, U15 and U14. Football NSW Senior Women's Competitions (in descending order in terms of significance) * National Premier Leagues NSW Women’s (12 Teams) * NSW League One Women's (12 Teams)

Northern NSW Competitions

National Premier Leagues Northern NSW

The

National Premier Leagues Northern NSW The National Premier Leagues Northern NSW is a regional Australian Professional association football league comprising teams from Northern New South Wales. As a subdivision of the National Premier Leagues, the league sits at Level 1 on the Nort ...

which is made of 8 teams from the

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...

and

Hunter Valley The Hunter Region, also commonly known as the Hunter Valley, is a region of New South Wales, Australia, extending from approximately to north of Sydney. It contains the Hunter River and its tributaries with highland areas to the north and so ...

areas is the premier Northern NSW League.

North Coast Football

North Coast Football North Coast Football is an association football competition on the north coast of New South Wales extending from Iluka in the north to Macksville Macksville is a small town on the Nambucca River in the Nambucca Valley, New South Wales, Aus ...

is a league extending from Iluka to Macksville with over 5000 registered players. It contains the two largest clubs on the north coast of NSW, Woolgoolga F.C. and Northern Storm F.C. (each with over 400 registered players).

Northern Inland Football

Northern Inland Football Northern Inland Football is an association football competition based in the Northern Inland Region of New South Wales extending from Quirindi in the South to Tenterfield in the North. The association was established in its current form in 2006, ...

is a soccer association based in the Northern Inland region of New South Wales extending from Quirindi in the South to Tenterfield in the North

Other Leagues

Other leagues which are supervised by Northern New South Wales Football include Hunter Valley Football, Macquarie Football, Newcastle Football, Football Mid North Coast and

Football Far North Coast Football Far North Coast (FFNC) is the governing body controlling Association Football on the Far North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. The name of the organization was changed in late 2005 from Soccer Far North Coast in line with the n ...

Cup Competitions

Following is an incomplete list of Cup competitions in New South Wales.

The Waratah Cup

The

Waratah Cup The Waratah Cup is a knockout cup competition in New South Wales, run by the governing body of football in NSW, Football NSW. Teams competing in the Waratah Cup come from the National Premier Leagues NSW, National Premier Leagues NSW 2, Natio ...

is a statewide knockout competition open to men's teams from the NSW Premier, Super, Division 1 and Conference Leagues as well as local Association men's teams. Since 2014 preliminary rounds have been used to determine the NSW entrants to the national

FFA Cup The Australia Cup, formerly known as the FFA Cup until the 2021 season, is the national football knockout cup competition in Australia. This annual competition is organised by Football Australia, formerly known as Football Federation Australia ...

knockout competition.

Johnny Warren Cup

The Johnny Warren Cup is the pre-season tournament for the NSW Premier League. The teams are divided into two pools with the winner of each pool contesting the final

The State Robertson & Cullinan Cups

The SRC Cups competition is open to Association club teams. The following age categories have cup competitions: *Male 12-14-16-18-21-All Age & O35 *Female 12-14-16-18 & All Age. Baulkham Hills Kookaburra's are defending champions after taking the title in a close affair in 2007. An extra time winner sealing the victory. Although Baulkham Hills were lucky to finish the match with 11 men after their right back was lucky to escape a second yellow.

Harry Williams Cup

Named after Harry Williams, the former Socceroo and only indigenous man to represent Australia at the World Cup, The Harry Williams Cup aims to unearth Australia’s next crop of indigenous soccer stars with a four-day tournament open to Boys in the Under 12, 14 and 16 age categories. The Indigenous teams play against school and association based club sides with all indigenous sides accommodated during the tournament on-site.

Frank Broughton Cup

The Frank Broughton Cup is open to Grade 11 Association Representative teams and Invitees

Centenary Cup

The Centenary Cup is open to Grade 12 Association Representative teams and Invitees

Champion of Champions

The Champion of Champions tournament is an annual tournament run throughout late September and October. The champion side from each association's division 1 in each age group is entered in a cup competition to determine an overall amateur champion for the year within the state.

NSWIS

The NSW Institute of Sport (NSWIS), located at Sydney Olympic Park, operates men's and women's soccer programs. The men's program is aimed at identifying and nurturing talented 15- and 16-year-olds across the state, while the women's program is an individual skills based program for identified U20 and Senior athletes.

References

External links

Football NSWNorthern NSW Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Association Football In New South Wales

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