2026 National Premier Leagues Victoria Men's

National Premier Leagues Victoria
Season2026
Dates13 February – 20 September 2026
Teams14
PremiersOakleigh Cannons
RelegatedBentleigh Greens
Dandenong Thunder
Green Gully
Matches182
Goals543 (2.98 per match)
Top goalscorerBruno Fornaroli
(21 goals)
Biggest home winAvondale FC 11–0 Dandenong Thunder
20 Jun 202
Biggest away winBentleigh Greens 0–7 Melbourne City Youth
8 May 2026
Highest scoringAvondale FC 11–0 Dandenong Thunder
20 Jun 2026
← 2025
2027 →
All statistics correct as of 29 August 2026.

The 2026 National Premier Leagues Victoria season is the 118th season of top-flight Victorian football, and the 13th since the competition was re-badged to National Premier Leagues Victoria. The season begins on the 13th of February,[1] and ends on the 20th September.[2]

Oakleigh Cannons are the season premiers after finishing five points clear of second-placed Hume City, qualifying them for the 2026 Australian Championship.

Teams

Team Changes

The following teams have changed division since the 2025 season.[3]

Stadiums and Locations

Team Head Coach Location Stadium Capacity
Altona Magic Goran Lozanovski[note 1] Melbourne (Altona North) Paisley Park 5,000
Avondale FC Jonatan Germano Melbourne (Parkville) Avenger Park 1,000
Bentleigh Greens Adam Piddick Melbourne (Cheltenham) Kingston Heath Soccer Complex 3,300
Caroline Springs George Cross Eric Vassiliadis Melbourne (Fraser Rise) City Vista Recreation Reserve 3,000
Dandenong City Nick Tolios Melbourne (Endeavour Hills) Frank Holohan Soccer Complex 4,000
Dandenong Thunder Ilir Qaniu[note 2] Melbourne (Dandenong) George Andrews Reserve 5,000
Green Gully Andy Vargas Melbourne (Keilor Downs) Green Gully Reserve 10,000
Heidelberg United John Anastasiadis Melbourne (Heidelberg West) Olympic Village 12,000
Hume City Nick Hegarty Melbourne (Broadmeadows) Hume City Stadium 3,000
Melbourne City Youth Alessandro Diamanti Melbourne (Cranbourne East) City Football Academy 1,500
Oakleigh Cannons Chris Taylor Melbourne (Oakleigh) Jack Edwards Reserve 4,000
Preston Lions Zoran Markovski Melbourne (Reservoir) B.T. Connor Reserve 6,500[4]
South Melbourne Sinisa Cohadzic Melbourne (Albert Park) Lakeside Stadium 12,000
St Albans Saints Cameron Watson Melbourne (St Albans) Churchill Reserve 3,500

Managerial changes

Team Outgoing manager Manner of departure Date of vacancy Position in table Incoming manager Date of appointment
Green Gully David Chick Sacked 21 March 2026 14th Andy Vargas[5] 23 April 2026
Dandenong Thunder Adam Piddick Mutual Agreement 13 May 2026[6] 11th Ilir Qaniu[note 2] 1 July 2026[7]
South Melbourne Sinisa Cohadzic Sacked 30 May 2026[8] 6th Sinisa Cohadzic 3 June 2026[9][10]
Bentleigh Greens George Katsakis Resignation 3 July 2026 12th Adam Piddick 6 July 2026

Regular season

League Table

Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Promotion, qualification or relegation
1 Oakleigh Cannons 26 16 6 4 56 24 +32 54 Qualification to Australian Championship and Finals series
2 Hume City 26 15 4 7 51 36 +15 49 Qualification to Finals series
3 Avondale FC[a] 26 15 2 9 65 34 +31 47
4 South Melbourne[a] 26 13 2 11 39 36 +3 41
5 Heidelberg United 26 11 7 8 42 34 +8 40
6 Preston Lions[a] 26 15 6 5 41 19 +22 39[b]
7 Caroline Springs George Cross 26 9 11 6 35 34 +1 38
8 Dandenong City 26 11 6 9 35 31 +4 35[c]
9 St Albans Saints 26 9 7 10 36 43 −7 34
10 Melbourne City Youth[d] 26 8 6 12 42 42 0 30
11 Altona Magic 26 7 7 12 28 42 −14 28
12 Bentleigh Greens (R) 26 6 6 14 27 51 −24 24 Relegation to Victorian Premier League 1
13 Green Gully (R) 26 4 5 17 23 52 −29 17
14 Dandenong Thunder (R) 26 4 3 19 23 65 −42 15
Source: Dribl
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored; 4) aggregate head-to-head results; 5) away goals; 6) alphabetical order/coin toss at the end of the season.
(R) Relegated
Notes:
  1. 1 2 3 Team pre-qualified to the Australian Championship as a foundation club.
  2. ↑ Preston Lions were deducted six points, due to conduct in a previous fixture during the 2025 NPL Victoria preliminary final.[11] Preston were also deducted another three points due to fan conduct occurring during a league fixture with South Melbourne on 18 July 2026.[12] Further sanctions were announced on 19 August, with Preston receiving an additional three point deduction, which came into effect on 28 August.[13]
  3. ↑ Dandenong City were deducted four points due to conduct during the 2025 National Premier Leagues Victoria final.[14]
  4. ↑ Team is ineligible to qualify for the 2026 Australian Championship as the youth team of an A-League club.

Matches

Home \ Away ALT AVO BEN CSG DAN DTH GGL HEI HUM MCY OAK PRE SMB SAL
Altona Magic — 0–2 0–2 1–1 1–0 2–4 1–1 0–0 1–3 0–3 0–2 1–0 1–2 0–1
Avondale FC 5–1 — 4–0 3–2 4–1 11–0 5–0 2–1 2–0 3–1 1–1 2–3 0–2 1–1
Bentleigh Greens 0–1 2–0 — 0–0 2–1 2–1 4–0 2–2 1–5 0–7 0–0 1–1 1–5 2–4
Caroline Springs George Cross 1–1 3–2 0–0 — 3–2 2–1 0–0 0–3 2–4 1–0 1–1 0–2 1–0 2–1
Dandenong City 2–0 3–1 3–0 0–0 — 0–1 2–1 4–1 1–1 2–4 1–1 0–0 0–2 2–1
Dandenong Thunder 0–2 0–1 2–1 2–3 0–3 — 1–1 0–1 1–3 1–1 0–5 0–1 3–0 2–2
Green Gully 1–3 0–2 3–0 0–2 0–3 3–1 — 0–1 1–1 1–3 0–5 0–4 0–1 1–2
Heidelberg United 2–2 2–1 2–0 0–0 1–2 4–2 2–1 — 4–5 1–1 0–1 0–1 4–0 1–1
Hume City 1–3 3–0 1–0 3–2 0–0 3–1 3–2 2–1 — 1–0 0–1 3–2 1–1 0–1
Melbourne City Youth 1–1 2–3 2–6 1–1 0–1 2–0 1–2 2–2 0–1 — 1–1 0–3 0–3 5–0
Oakleigh Cannons 3–1 2–0 4–0 2–1 2–3 2–0 4–1 2–3 3–2 3–1 — 1–3 1–2 2–2
Preston Lions 1–1 2–1 1–0 1–1 1–0 3–0 2–2 0–1 2–1 4–0 0–1 — 0–3 3–0
South Melbourne 2–3 0–4 1–0 0–4 4–2 1–0 1–2 2–1 1–2 1–2 0–3 0–0 — 2–0
St Albans Saints 2–1 2–3 1–1 2–2 0–0 6–0 1–0 2–1 3–2 0–2 1–3 0–1 0–4 —
Source: Dribl
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Finals series

Bracket

Elimination finals Preliminary finals Grand final
1 Oakleigh Cannons
3 Avondale  
6 Preston Lions  
 
2 Hume City
4 South Melbourne  
5 Heidelberg United

Elimination Finals

Avondale FCvPreston Lions
Report
Avenger Park, Parkville

Preliminary Finals

Oakleigh CannonsvWinner of EL1
Report
Hume CityvWinner of EL2
Report

Grand Final

TBDvTBD
Report

Statistics

Last updated 29 August 2026 (round 26).

Goals

Rank[15] Player Team Goals
1 Bruno Fornaroli Avondale FC 21
2 Roland Ballah Melbourne City Youth 14
Maki Petratos Bentleigh Greens
4 Adisu Bayew Hume City 12
Adem Duratovic Oakleigh Cannons
6 Leo Mazis Caroline Springs George Cross 11

Discipline

Yellow Cards

Rank Player Team Yellow Cards
=1 Jamie Latham Dandenong City 8
Anthony Leban St Albans Saints
=2 Kur Kur Green Gully 7
Kalilou Kamara Bentleigh Greens
Aaron Anderson St Albans Saints
Jack Webster Dandenong City

Red Cards

Rank Player Team Red Cards
1 Diego Cuba Green Gully 2
2 15 players 1

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Devon Bonne is temporarily replacing Goran Lozanovski as head coach for the rest of the 2026 NPL Victoria season, as Lozanovski received a 17-game suspension, due to an incident with a referee on the 13th May, 2026.
  2. 1 2 Ilir Qaniu previously served as the assistant coach prior to, as well as after the departure of former head coach Adam Piddick, to the club's official announcement of his appointment on the 1st of July, 2026.

References

  1. ↑ "Fixtures - Dribl Match Centre".
  2. ↑ "Football Victoria 2026 Season Calendar | Football Victoria". footballvictoria.com.au. 2025-10-24. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
  3. ↑ "2026 Football Victoria Provisional Declaration of Leagues | Football Victoria". footballvictoria.com.au. 2025-10-17. Retrieved 2025-10-25.
  4. ↑ "BT Connor Reserve | Austadiums". Austadiums. Archived from the original on 2025-01-22. Retrieved 2025-02-15.
  5. ↑ "CLUB ANNOUNCEMENT: ANDY VARGAS APPOINTED GULLY HEAD COACH". Green Gully SC. 23 April 2026. Retrieved 10 May 2026.
  6. ↑ "Thunder parts ways with Piddick amidst relegation battle". Dandenong Star Journal. 2026-05-19. Retrieved 2026-05-22.
  7. ↑ HIGHPRESS (2026-07-01). "17 players left. Now Dandenong Thunder have their coach and he's one of their own". HIGHPRESS. Retrieved 2026-07-27.
  8. ↑ "Club Statement: Sinisa Cohadzic". South Melbourne FC. 2026-05-30. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
  9. ↑ "South Melbourne FC reinstates Sinisa Cohadzic as head coach after brief separation". The Greek Herald. 2026-06-03. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  10. ↑ "South Melbourne FC and Sinisa Cohadzic Confirm Continued Partnership". South Melbourne FC. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
  11. ↑ "HUFC v PLFC Appeal Board Outcomes". Football Victoria. 4 December 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  12. ↑ "Preston Lions FC issued with second strike under FV's Three Strike Policy". Football Victoria. 13 August 2026. Retrieved 13 August 2026.
  13. ↑ "Independent Tribunal confirms sanctions imposed on Preston Lions FC". Football Victoria. 19 August 2026. Retrieved 29 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Outcome of investigation: NPL Victoria Men's Grand Final 2025". Football Victoria. 11 December 2025. Retrieved 20 February 2026.
  15. ↑ "Highest Goal Scorer". Football Victoria. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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