Over the past 8 months, Football Victoria has undertaken a comprehensive review of the senior women’s football pathway to ensure that our leagues offer competition and enjoyment for everyone, regardless of their skill level.
We surveyed over 400 senior women’s players, consulted with our clubs and worked closely with both the FV Football Development Committee and Football Advisory Panel to understand what our players love, what they don’t like and what they would like to see in the future.
Feedback included concerns about one-sided results, frustrations at the numerous forfeits, the travel requirements, the need for more clarity on why each league exist and the need for a competition for players less concerned about promotion and relegation and more interested in the social and health benefits of community sport.
Following this feedback, we are excited to announce the new Football Victoria Senior Women’s structures for 2027.
The previous Senior Women’s competition model, where our eight State League competitions fed into the Victorian Premier League Women and National Premier League Women competitions, will now be split into two streams.
The NPLW, VPLW and State League 1-4 competitions will have a closed pyramid in place with the following changes in place:
- One team per Club, with the exception of university teams
- Promotion & Relegation to remain in place
- A play-off series will also be introduced between State League Women 1 and VPLW:
- At the end of the 2027 season, the teams that finish 2nd in State League Women 1 N/W & S/E will play-off against each other. The winner will then play off against third last in VPLW to determine promotion & relegation between those two leagues.
There will be vacancies created within this structure - an application process to fill those vacancies will commence shortly.
We can also confirm that all VPLW and State League 1 Women clubs will still have reserves.
Launching alongside these changes will be the new Senior Women’s Community League, offering players a competitive experience, with silverware on the line, but without the promotion and relegation pressure associated with the current model.
With the inclusion of four geographic zones, this will alleviate the large-scale travel involved in the current structure. Additionally, Clubs may enter multiple teams within the Women's Community League.
The Women's Community League structure will be confirmed after a grading period to ensure each team is playing at the level that best suits their skills.
We hope this change will even out the competition and lead to more enjoyable games and less forfeited fixtures.
Expansion of the Women's Community League can occur in a sustainable manner that grows with women’s football, alongside our strategic priorities.
The Women's Metropolitan League will also now form part of the Women's Community League.
And the Senior Women’s Community Competition clubs will still be eligible to participate in our Cup Competitions, like the Nike FC Cup.
FV Executive Manager of Operations and Membership Frank Karatzas looks forward to launching the new competition in 2027 and believes it will be a massive win for both the clubs and players involved.
“Our senior women’s community has been crying out for a more considered competition structure for some time, so we are incredibly excited to launch this next year.
“The goal was always to build the Community League into something which supports a community that is after a more flexible and approachable way to play the beautiful game, and we believe that we have achieved that with the new structure.
“This has been one of the largest consultation pieces undertaken by Football Victoria, with feedback received from many stakeholders in the community, and we are confident that the new structure meets the demands of our participants and our clubs.
“We look forward to bringing this to life with our clubs and players next season.”
We look forward to launching the new Football Victoria Senior Women’s Structure in 2027 - For more information, please contact the FV Competitions department.