The National League (also known as Red Bull National League) is a club-level association

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 ...

competition in Nepal. The champions secured qualification to a continental cup, previously the

AFC President's Cup The AFC President's Cup was an annual international association football competition between domestic clubs sides run by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) held between 2005 and 2014. The competition targeted emerging football nations, and wa ...

(now

AFC Cup The AFC Cup is an annual continental club football competition organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Under its current rules, the competition is played primarily between clubs from nations that did not receive direct qualifying s ...

). It took place for two seasons in 2011–12 and

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

. In other years the

Martyr's Memorial A-Division League Martyr's Memorial A-Division League ( Nepali: शहीद स्मारक ए- डिभिजन लिग; formerly known as the Kathmandu League Championship) is the top divisions of football in Nepal. Contested by 12 to 16 clubs, it operat ...

was and still is the highest level league in Nepal, together with

franchise Franchise may refer to: Business and law * Franchising, a business method that involves licensing of trademarks and methods of doing business to franchisees * Franchise, a privilege to operate a type of business such as a cable television p ...

based

Nepal Super League The Nepal Super League is Nepal's first professional franchise based football league organised by ''Nepal Sports and Events Management'' (NSEM) in technical support with ANFA. A total of seven franchises participated in the first tournament w ...

. Due to the

April 2015 Nepal earthquake The April 2015 Nepal earthquake (also known as the Gorkha earthquake) killed 8,964 people and injured 21,952 more. It occurred at on Saturday, 25 April 2015, with a magnitude of 7.8 Mw or 8.1 Ms and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of X (''Extreme ...

, the 2015 season was halted for several mothns, before professional level football was paused in Nepal due to the earthquake's aftermath, until the next season of the 2018–19 Martyr's Memorial A-Division League.

History

The first season of National League was played in a single round-robin format in the first season in a single venue. The top eight teams from the 2011 A-Division League were joined by two invitational teams from outside the

Kathmandu Valley The Kathmandu Valley ( ne, काठमाडौं उपत्यका; also known as the Nepal Valley or Nepa Valley ( ne, नेपाः उपत्यका, Nepal Bhasa: 𑐣𑐾𑐥𑐵𑑅 𑐐𑐵𑑅, नेपाः गाः)), ...

. A-Division champions

Nepal Police Club Nepal Police Club (formerly known as Mahendra Police Club) is a sports club owned and managed by Nepal Police. The club competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepali club football. History Established in 1952 and ...

won the league undefeated and became the inaugural National League champions. The second season was played after a hiatus of three years in a double round-robin format with teams playing home and away. The top 10 teams from the 2013-14 A-Division League were joined by four teams from outside the Kathmandu Valley.

Sankata BSC Sankata Boys Sports Club, commonly known as Sankata Club, is a Nepalese professional football club based in Kathmandu, that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. Named after Sankata Temple, the club has won the national championship ...

pulled out of the tournament and Machhindra,

Himalayan Sherpa Club Himalayan Sherpa Club is a Nepali professional football club based in the city of Kathmandu (originally from Hattigauda), that competes in the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, top flight of Nepali football. They play at the Dasarath Rangasal ...

Saraswati Youth Club Saraswoti Youth Club is a Nepali football club from the Koteshwor neighborhood of Kathmandu that competes in the Martyr's Memorial B-Division League. They play at the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium, which has a capacity of 25,000 spectators. League fin ...

and

Friends Club Friends Club is a Nepali professional football club from the Kopundole neighborhood of Lalitpur. The club is known for nurturing young talent of Nepalese Football. Friends Club has produced more than 200 national football players to date. It al ...

were banned by

ANFA Anfa (Berber language: ''Anfa'' or ''Anaffa'', ⴰⵏⴼⴰ; ar, أنفا; es, Anafe; pt, Anafé) was the ancient toponym for Casablanca during the classical period. The city was founded by Berbers around the 10th century BC, with the Romans un ...

and the league was played by nine teams. The 2015 season of the League was heavily affected by the

, with play being suspended for several months.

Three Star Club Three Star Club is a Nepali professional football club based in Patan, Lalitpur, that competes in the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League, the top flight of Nepalese football. The club was previously known as the ''Laxmi Bank ...

won the league winning their first National League title. The third season of the National League was scheduled to be played in April 2020 but was postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. The top six teams from the 2019-20 A-Division League will be joined by the top four teams from the ANFA President's League in the ten team league.

Clubs

Current clubs

Former clubs

Champions

National League clubs in Asia

The

All Nepal Football Association The All Nepal Football Association (ANFA) (Nepali language, Nepali: अखिल नेपाल फुटबल संघ (एन्फा)) is the governing body of football in Nepal. It is responsible for the Nepal national football team, natio ...

failed to register

by the competition deadline for the qualifying play-offs.

Lower levels

Second Tier

In its initial season, Nepal National League also hosted a second division, 2012 B-Division National League made up with the 2011 Martyr's Memorial B-Division Leagues top six teams and two teams that qualified through a separate qualification tournament.

Third Tier

In its initial season, Nepal National League also hosted a third division, 2012 C-Division National League made up with the 2011 Martyr's Memorial C-Division Leagues top four teams and two teams that qualified through a separate qualification tournament.

References

External links

RSSSF.com - Nepal - List of Champions and Cup Winners
{{AFC Leagues Top level football leagues in Asia 1 Sports leagues established in 2011 2011 establishments in Nepal