Football Victoria have announced the cancellation of NPL Victoria, state league and community seasons due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns in Victoria.
This is the second consecutive season that Victorian competitions have been cancelled, with the NPL Victoria Men’s competition playing only five rounds last season, with 18 out of the 26 rounds completed for the 2021 campaign.
As a result, no relegation or promotion up the pyramid will occur with no premiers, champions or runners-up named.
Additionally no finals series in metropolitan competitions will go ahead, with the Bentleigh Greens considered premiers and Heidelberg United considered current premiers of the NPL Victoria having captured respective titles in 2019.
Football Victoria CEO Kimon Taliadoros made a statement in a press release:
“We would like to express our gratitude to our football community, who have engaged in roundtable discussions, completed surveys and provided direct feedback to the team, all of which has been absolutely essential for us to best align with the needs of our community.
“Many of the planned scenarios have been eliminated in recent weeks, due to the key dates passing with extended lockdowns across the state. Unfortunately, the most recent Government announcement means our options to complete the 2021 season for our metropolitan Melbourne competitions have now reached an end.”
There is scope for the regional competitions to continue with the Nike F.C Cup and Dockerty Cup possibly being completed prior to the end of the calendar year.
