NPL 2025

[NicCarBel]

Yoogali SC have made their first explicit comments on the matter with Capital Football - creating this video with comments from Frank Cachia's opening monologue from last Saturday's game - interestingly it was originally directly tagging the official NPL Capital Football page, before being edited to remove it after half an hour:

The reality is that we are GUTTED to be told that we have been removed from the competition in 2026

As Football Mad people, we are STUNNED that anyone who claims to love Football could arrive at this conclusion

But we find hope in the supportive words of others in the Football Community, that have flowed through thick and fast since the release of the NPL Capital Football review last week and we THANK YOU for your calls and messages...
Frank Cachia... we could not have said this better ourselves

I think it's only fair to also include Wagga City's cryptic posts - alongside showing all their teams singing their victory songs over the weekend:



Ramped and ready to go

For the 7th time this season (Already 6 more trips then any Youth opposition this year) our youth are prepping to face @woden_valley_soccer_club at Mawson

Our men also prepare to hit the road for their 5th trip (that’s 3 more then any opposition club, already) to face up against @canberrawefc at Woden Park
See you on the Highway, once again

( not that we are the ones complaining)

21 reactions · 3 comments | 🥺 | Wagga City Wanderers

🥺.

www.facebook.com

 

[HappyGuus]

The reality is that we are GUTTED to be told that we have been removed from the competition in 2026

As Football Mad people, we are STUNNED that anyone who claims to love Football could arrive at this conclusion

Football fucking over football again. Are we doomed to put up with this forever?

 

[NicCarBel]

Football fucking over football again. Are we doomed to put up with this forever?

Sadly always seems to be the way for our game..

 

[NicCarBel]

Yoogali SC have made their first explicit comments on the matter with Capital Football - creating this video with comments from Frank Cachia's opening monologue from last Saturday's game - interestingly it was originally directly tagging the official NPL Capital Football page, before being edited to remove it after half an hour:

The reality is that we are GUTTED to be told that we have been removed from the competition in 2026

As Football Mad people, we are STUNNED that anyone who claims to love Football could arrive at this conclusion

But we find hope in the supportive words of others in the Football Community, that have flowed through thick and fast since the release of the NPL Capital Football review last week and we THANK YOU for your calls and messages...
Frank Cachia... we could not have said this better ourselves

I think it's only fair to also include Wagga City's cryptic posts - alongside showing all their teams singing their victory songs over the weekend:



Ramped and ready to go

For the 7th time this season (Already 6 more trips then any Youth opposition this year) our youth are prepping to face @woden_valley_soccer_club at Mawson

Our men also prepare to hit the road for their 5th trip (that’s 3 more then any opposition club, already) to face up against @canberrawefc at Woden Park
See you on the Highway, once again

( not that we are the ones complaining)

21 reactions · 3 comments | 🥺 | Wagga City Wanderers

🥺.

www.facebook.com

Wagga City Wanderers have issued a club statement this morning



Wagga City Wanderers is shocked by the recommendations within the recently released Capital Football - Official review.
A decision to exclude Riverina clubs who are compliant, competitive and add positives to the competition, while providing pathways for regional players, is not a move to strengthen the competition.
WCWFC is surprised at the isolationist approach that Capital Football have accepted in the recently released review, considering the travel ratio is 1:13, the impact is borne by the regional players, coaches and supporters.
Football played only by clubs within 20 minutes of each other will not encourage development and growth and we hope that the messages and gestures of support we are receiving from opposition clubs, the wider football community and supporters are observed by Capital Football as they consider the impacts of the review.
To the WCWFC players from our established SAP teams, through our youth NPL teams and Senior teams, our coaches, supporters and volunteers: we know you are hurting from this review. We are resolved to respond in a factual manner showing we are a competitive, compliant club founded with development and pathway opportunities for regional players as our objectives.
Stay focused on our commitments and goals for this year and we are very sorry that this has disrupted what you love so much.
WCWFC Committee
Link to published review

https://capitalfootball.com.au/npl-review/...

 

[LFC]

seriously what a joke.
I kind of not like Cap Football NCB.
Sorry I haven't read all the info you've posted - does Cap Football decide this by themselves or do they liase with the FA of their directives ? and get given approval ?
If not endoresed by the FA therefore can't the Clubs unless already have complain to the FA for a re address ?

 

[NicCarBel]

seriously what a joke.
I kind of not like Cap Football NCB.
Sorry I haven't read all the info you've posted - does Cap Football decide this by themselves or do they liase with the FA of their directives ? and get given approval ?
If not endoresed by the FA therefore can't the Clubs unless already have complain to the FA for a re address ?

Essentially Capital Football have put together the committee for this (not sure if it was driven by Capital Football to begin the review, or if those that ended up on the committee pushed Capital Football for the review).

Four people are on the review committee - from what I can gather, 3 are directly linked to 3 of the 4 clubs that I've outlined as being behind this (used to be in high positions with the listed clubs):

• Brindabella Blues (former secretary)
• West Canberra Wanderers (former president)
• Canberra Olympic (former technical director of 5 years)
• The fourth on the committee was a former referee - not sure of any ties to Canberra clubs.

In addition, it's listed in the review documents that:

The Review Committee engaged a wide range of stakeholders to gather input and ensure a collaborative approach. This included direct consultations with Clubs, Standing Advisory Committees, as well as key Capital Football staff.

We know from discussions and statements from both Yoogali and Wagga City that not all clubs were consulted. And this is also alluded to in the review documents:

The review committee invited Harry Hovasapian (Tigers FC), Chris Webb (Weston Molonglo), Jo Smith (Majura FC) and Matt Faulkner (Capital Football) to participate in a ‘war games’ discussion to check and challenge the review committees’ considerations.

Very clear that the 'war games discussion' would have been an echo chamber, considering where the main challenges on the considerations would have come from..

 

[LFC]

ah huh ok thanks.

 

[NicCarBel]

ah huh ok thanks.

Will be in town overnight - will update as/if I hear anything.

Interestingly, no local paper coverage on this yesterday (Newspaper is published Monday, Wednesday and Friday - unless something has changed) - so might be that they were waiting on statements from the clubs to publish Wednesday.

 

[NicCarBel]

Coach gutted as Yoogali SC vows to keep fighting despite uncertainty around future​

By Liam Warren
Updated May 20 2025 - 3:34pm, first published 2:45pm

Coach gutted as Yoogali SC vows to keep fighting despite uncertainty around future

Yoogali SC coach Luke Santolin has come out swinging

www.areanews.com.au

Yoogali SC have been left reeling after a report from Capital Football was released to the public on Friday that would see their involvement in the National Premier League come to an end at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Yoogali SC coach Luke Santolin has come out swinging in defence of his club.
"The P in NPL stands for Premier, which means you want the best teams. I don't understand how you can claim to be an elite competition when you make a decision based on everything but what happens on the field," he said.

"A lot of this review has been conducted by people who have an affiliation with clubs that are below us in the CPL (Capital Premier League) or community leagues.

"You can't tell me that jealousy and envy don't exist in the sport, and rather than do the work on the field and on your club to get better, you have done it in the shadows and in the board room.

"Anyone who calls themselves a lover of football couldn't support this decision."

The National Premier League Review outlined that no Riverina teams, meaning Yoogali SC or Wagga City Wanderers, would be invited to take part in the 2026 season, effectively leaving the clubs now looking for a new home.

It was also revealed in the report that Hanwood had put in a request in 2024 and 2025 to complete in the CPL Boys competition, which Capital Football declined.

"Whilst these Riverina-based clubs, particularly in the Men's and Boys competitions, have been competitive, there is an ongoing challenge for all clubs with the distance, cost, player availability and availability of referees to travel to the Riverina," the report read.

Yoogali SC secured promotion into the NPL after claiming the Capital Premier League title in 2023. In 2026, the club could be homeless. Picture by Andrew McLean

The travel has proven to be a sticking point for Santolin, who feels it comes down to the culture of the club involved.

"We actually have club spirit and that family and friends element, where we enjoy each other's company. It's not about money or anything else, it's a proper community and family-based club," he said.

"These guys just show up, get paid to play, show up on game day, and when the game finishes, they all go home. When it's time for them to come to Griffith, they can't think of anything worse, but we do it 13 or 14 times a year, and we don't bat an eyelid.

"We think it's great and want to keep doing it. If we can do it 14 times, why can't you come once or twice? It makes no sense. These clubs might get promoted to NPL because of a document, but it won't teach them anything; they won't understand what they are missing."

Yoogali SC have found one vocal supporter in Canberra with Canberra Olympic NPLW coach Frank Cachia coming out in support of the Riverina clubs during the coverage of the NPL game between Yoogali SC and Tigers last weekend, just two days after the report was made public.

"I look at that area, and that will be 100-odd players that we no longer have in our competition. If we are talking about growth, they will not be replaced by local players," Cachia said.

"We talk about best of the best and about players that want to achieve elite competition, and if you aren't prepared to travel to be in an elite competition, are you really fair dinkum about being an elite competition?"

Santolin thanked Cachia for his support and called on others to speak publicly about how they feel about the outcomes of the report.
"Frank has the courage to say what is right publicly," he said.

"Whilst I have had plenty of phone calls and messages, I'd love to start seeing people who claim to be as gutted as we are make a stand.

"Put your name to it, put your club's name to it, and come out and show us genuine support, not just by sending a text or Facebook message.

"Sometimes silence implies consent, and maybe they think it's unfair, but when it comes to the crunch, maybe they think life will be a bit easier without us there. That is what we are waiting to find out, whether people want us there. We know we want to be there, but at the moment it feels a bit lonely."

Yoogali will now turn their attention to an away trip to take on O'Connor Knights in a game where, if results go their way, they could find themselves in the top four of the NPL for the first time.

 

[NicCarBel]

'Compliant with requirements' and ready to fight for a place to play​

By Courtney Rees
Updated May 19 2025 - 8:20pm, first published 8:00pm

'Compliant with requirements' and ready to fight for a place to play

A Capital Football review has the power to have big consequences.

www.dailyadvertiser.com.au

Hugh Curran, 8, Kade Lyons, 17, Issy Rodney, 12, Ollie Felke, 14 and Isaac Carroll, 12, are among the Wagga City Wanderers players to remain in Capital Football. Picture by Courtney Rees

Wagga City Wanderers are ready to fight for their future survival.

It comes after Capital Football released a review into its competitions, recommending no Riverina clubs be included for the 2026 season.

It has placed both the Wanderers and Yoogali Soccer Club's future in jeopardy.

Wanderers have been playing in the Canberra-based competition since 2019, after the club spent its first four years in Football NSW's State League 2.

With a desire to continue to allow an opportunity to play at a higher level, they are looking to be granted an exemption to remain in the competition.

It's the number one priority for Wanderers president Tim Cooper.

"Our intention is to put all efforts into remaining in the Capital competition and to work with Capital and other stakeholders to ensure these findings are discussed with the full picture on the table and that we remain in the competition as competitive participants," Cooper said.

Wagga City currently has open men's and under-23 men's teams in the Capital Premier League (CPL), as well as under-14s, 15s, 16s and 18s boys teams in the National Premier League (NPL).

The CPL is the second-tier competition, but the recommendation is to remove it and increase the NPL, which Yoogali SC is currently playing in, from eight to 10 teams.

There are currently no Wanderers women's sides in Capital Football competitions after withdrawing ahead of the 2024 season.

However, Cooper said the club wanted to reignite those plans, but weren't allowed to while the review process was taking place.

The Wanderers had already met with Capital Football chief executive Samantha Farrow and a number of board members involved in the review before the review was released on Thursday.

Wagga City Wanderers want to continue to provide an avenue for players to test themselves at a higher level.

They believe the structures required under the review, including being required to have a SAP program in place, are already in place at the club.

"We feel there is nothing we can't respond to straight away, as everything we've been asked to put forward in these exemptions we've done for the last five years in that competition," Cooper said.

"We're compliant with all the requirements and just need to pull together the application."

Distance is the one thing working against them.

However, Cooper feels the impact is borne by the Wanderers, not by their opposition.

"We're compliant, we're competitive, we do everything we can to be good citizens within that competition and to purely have us thrown out based on travel when they are doing 1/11thof that travel is just disheartening for the parents who travel over every week with their kids," he said.

Wagga City Wanderers pair Nathan Singh and Maxwell Prest try to take the ball of Canberra White Eagles opponent Liam Vickers in a game last year. Picture by Tom Dennis

While the club's focus is on applying for an exemption, they've moved to reassure members they still have a future regardless of the outcome.

Despite all the uncertainty around the club's future, there were still some positive results over the weekend, including first grade scoring its first win of the season after securing a 2-0 victory against Canberra White Eagles.

However, Cooper expects better results to continue with a string of five games at Gissing Oval in a row, after having five of their first six games in Canberra.

The under-14s and 16s also won their games against Woden Valley, while the under-23s had a 1-all draw.

 

[Brenton1986]

17 rescheduled fixtures NPL NNSW as it stands due to recent severe weather in Hunter region,

Round 6:
Weston Bears v Lambton Jaffas – new date TBA

Round 9:
Maitland v Broadmeadow Magic – new date TBA

Round 10:
Adamstown Rosebud v Charlestown Azzurri – new date TBA
Edgeworth Eagles v Weston Bears – new date TBA
Belmont Swansea United v Maitland – new date TBA
Newcastle Olympic v New Lambton – new date TBA
Valentine v Broadmeadow Magic – Tuesday May 27th 8.00pm*

Round 11:
Charlestown Azzurri v Edgeworth Eagles – new date TBA
Cooks Hill United v Broadmeadow Magic – new date TBA
Newcastle Olympic v Belmont Swansea United – new date TBA
New Lambton v Adamstown Rosebud – new date TBA

Round 12:
New Lambton v Lambton Jaffas – new date TBA
Adamstown Rosebud v Belmont Swansea United – new date TBA
Weston Bears v Charlestown Azzurri – new date TBA
Valentine v Maitland – new date TBA
Broadmeadow Magic v Edgeworth Eagles – new date TBA
Cooks Hill United v Newcastle Olympic – new date TBA

*if goes ahead given wild weather occurring across the Hunter region.

 

[NicCarBel]

NPL ACT this upcoming weekend:

Sat 24 May
O'Connor Knights v Yoogali - O'Connor Enclosed 3pm
Queanbeyan City v Tigers FC - High Street Oval 3pm
Monaro Panthers v Gungahlin United - Riverside Stadium 5:45pm

Sun 25 May
Canberra Croatia v Tuggeranong United - Deakin Stadium 3pm

CPL ACT
Sat 24 May
Wagga City Wanderers v West Canberra Wanderers - Gissing Oval (Wagga Wagga) 12:15pm
ANU FC v Canberra Olympic - ANU South Oval 1:30pm
Canberra White Eagles v Belconnen United - Woden Park 3pm
Brindabella Blues v Canberra Juventus - Calwell 3pm

All 4 clubs pushing for the NPL changes in the CPL in separate matches - will personally find it hilarious if they all lose this weekend.

NPL Table


CPL Table

 

[NicCarBel]

 

[LFC]

yep lot of rescheduling going to happen up this way and NNSW.
Rain rain rain, shedloads.
Syns will be ok to play this weekend but no way will any turf grounds be open.
If any are mud slides to be.

 

[NicCarBel]

yep lot of rescheduling going to happen up this way and NNSW.
Rain rain rain, shedloads.
Syns will be ok to play this weekend but no way will any turf grounds be open.
If any are mud slides to be.

Yep, I have a feeling Canberra might be the same.. lots of training grounds washed out tonight I’m seeing. The rain only started here today.

Although, very possible that Capital Football arranges for games to be played out of the two main synthetic grounds (AIS and Melrose) as they’ve done in the past. I believe there is one in Hume/Jerrabombera available as well.

 

[NicCarBel]

 

[Beretta]

expect a few wash outs cause of the floods.

 

[NicCarBel]

View attachment 1927

expect a few wash outs cause of the floods.

Expecting the same here in Canberra - There are a synthetic grounds I gather that they can/will use as much as possible - priority for CF seems to be the NPL + CPL games.

Am expecting:

• NPL Youth to be split up across Nicholls and Hawker. Possibly even ANU if they can wrangle it?
• NPL + CPL + NPLW Seniors to be split up across AIS Synthetic Pitch, Melrose High, and possibly even the new one in Jerrabombera/Hume

 

[Brenton1986]

all NPL NNSW games called off this weekend (except Weston Bears v Newcastle Olympic - as it stands remain on despite torrential rain has fallen in the Hunter region this week) that is now 22 fixtures currently now rescheduled at minimum so far and with only 1 catch up round available (held July 25-26-27).

 

[Keeper66]

all NPL NNSW games called off this weekend (except Weston Bears v Newcastle Olympic - as it stands remain on despite torrential rain has fallen in the Hunter region this week) that is now 22 fixtures currently now rescheduled at minimum so far and with only 1 catch up round available (held July 25-26-27).

Welcome to the SEQ situation, where two early complete rounds were postponed and re-scheduled to the two catchup weekends. Since then at least two other games (more for some clubs) have been weather-affected and are/will be re-scheduled to mid-week.

My team (FQPL2) has had one game postponed three times, all weather affected. The fourth attempt to play is now in mid-June.

The NPL teams are playing round 11 this weekend - one club has played 5 games, four have played 6, two have played 7, four have played 8, and one has played 9.