 | |
| Founded | 1896 |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Number of clubs | 12 |
| Level on pyramid | 2 |
| Relegation to | State League 1 |
| Domestic cup(s) | Football West State Cup Australia Cup |
| Current champions | Bayswater City (2025) |
| Current premiers | Bayswater City (2025) |
| Most championships | Perth SC (Azzurri, Italia) (25 titles) |
| Broadcaster(s) | Streamer TV |
| Website | Football West NPL |
| Current:2025 NPL Western Australia | |
TheNational Premier Leagues Western Australia (NPL WA) is a regional Australian semi-professionalsoccer league comprising teams fromWestern Australia. As a subdivision of theNational Premier Leagues, the league is the highest level of the Western Australian league system (Level 2 of the overallAustralian league system). The competition is administered byFootball West, the governing body of the sport in the state. In 2014, the league – formerly known as the Football West State League Premier Division – was rebranded into what exists today.
NPL WA traces its origin to the formation of a league by the Perth British Football Association in 1896.[1] By the 1950s, the association was known as the Western Australian Soccer Football Association (WASFA). In, 1960 eight teams formed their own association, the Soccer Federation of Western Australia (SFWA). The WASFA and SFWA ran rival leagues between 1960 and 1962 before the SFWA prevailed.[2] Ahead of the 1991 season, 11 SFWA clubs broke away, forming the Soccer Administration of Western Australia (SAWA). The SAWA ran the rebel Professional Soccer League (PSL) in parallel with the SFWA first division until merging before the 1993 season to form the Professional Soccer Federation of Western Australia (PSF).[3][4]
Several of the clubs currently playing in the league were formed as the soccer arm of cultural associations of recently migrated Australians, with certain teams having associations with particularly nationalities e.g.Swan Italian Club (now Swan United),Bayswater Inter (now Bayswater City) andPerth Italia (now Perth SC) withItalian Australians,Morley Windmills withDutch Australians,Floreat Athena withGreek Australians, Benfica United withPortuguese Australians,Inglewood Kiev (now Inglewood United) withUkrainian Australians,North Perth Croatia (now Western Knights) withCroatian Australians, Spearwood Dalmatinac (now part ofCockburn City) withYugoslav Australians, Carramar Shamrock Rovers and East Perth FC withIrish Australians,Dianella White Eagles withSerbian Australians,Stirling Macedonia withMacedonian Australians andOlympic Kingsway withGreeks Macedonians Australians. In 1994 clubs were forced by the sport's governing body to remove all references to ethnicities from their names, which resulted in several forced name changes. Some clubs reverted back to their former names after 2019, when the National Club Identity Policy was revoked. More recently, new clubs have begun to be based geographically, such as with Armadale SC andCockburn City.
The West Australian National Training Centre included a team for the 2011–2013 seasons. They did not play for competition points, and were mostly used for development of the upcoming youth players.
In 2013 Football Federation of Australia introduced the new second tier competition for football in Australia, theNational Premier Leagues. In 2014 Football West then reorganised the former State Premier League into theNational Premier Leagues Western Australia conference and the State League (Division One andDivision Two). The NPL WA competition fields a Senior first team, as well as youth teams from U12 to U20 age groups. ThePerth Glory FC Youth team competes in the Senior category and has additional age restrictions.[5]
Promotion and relegation between the NPL and theState League Division 1 became possible for the first time at the end of the 2015 season, provided the winner of the State Division 1 met Football West's promotion requirements.[5] Two teams were promoted after the 2016 season to expand the league into a 14 team competition.[6] After a further competition review the 2019 NPLWA season returned to a twelve-team competition.[7] In 2020, promotion and relegation was suspended for the season, due to the impacts on the competition from theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[8]
The following 12 clubs will compete in the2026 NPL WA season.
| Club | Location | Ground | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Armadale SC | Armadale | Alfred Skeet Oval | 500 |
| Balcatta | Balcatta | Grindleford Reserve | 1,000 |
| Bayswater City | Bayswater | Frank Drago Reserve | 5,000 |
| Dianella White Eagles | Dianella | Dianella Reserve | 1,500 |
| Fremantle City | Fremantle | Hilton Park | 1,000 |
| Olympic Kingsway | Madeley | Kingsway Sporting Complex | 2,500 |
| Perth Glory Youth | Queens Park | Sam Kerr Football Centre | 2,000 |
| Perth RedStar | Joondalup | RedStar Arena | 2,500 |
| Perth SC | West Perth | Dorrien Gardens | 4,000 |
| Sorrento FC | Duncraig | Percy Doyle Reserve | 5,000 |
| Stirling Macedonia | Balcatta | Macedonia Park | 5,000 |
| Western Knights | Mosman Park | Nash Field | 1,000 |
| Year | Premiers | Champions | NPL finals series representation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Bayswater City | Bayswater City | Bayswater City – Quarter Finalist |
| 2015 | Bayswater City[a] | – | Bayswater City – Runners up |
| 2016 | Perth SC | Perth SC | Perth SC – Semi Finalist |
| 2017 | Bayswater City | Bayswater City | Bayswater City – Quarter Finalist |
| 2018 | Perth SC | Perth SC | Perth SC – Quarter Finalist |
| 2019 | Perth SC | Perth SC | Perth SC – Semi Finalist |
| 2020 | —[b] | ECU Joondalup[c] Floreat Athena[d] | Cancelled due to theCOVID-19 pandemic in Australia.[9] |
| 2021 | Perth SC | Perth SC | |
| 2022 | Floreat Athena | Perth RedStar | Not held |
| 2023 | Perth RedStar | Stirling Macedonia | |
| 2024 | Olympic Kingsway | Olympic Kingsway | |
| Year | Premiers | Champions | Australian Championship representation |
| 2025 | Bayswater City | Bayswater City | Bayswater City |
| National teams |
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| League competitions |
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| Cup competitions | |||||
| Others | |||||
| Lists | |||||
| NPL Western Australia | |
|---|---|
| State League Division 1 |
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| State League Division 2 |
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| Amateur League Premier Division |
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| NPL Western Australia Women |
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| Other teams | |
| League seasons | |
| WA State Cup | |
