Football Queensland (FQ) has today confirmed the three pools for the pre-season phase of the 2020 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland junior competition.

The new NPL Queensland junior competition will run across three distinct phases throughout the season; the pre-season phase, competition phase and tournament phase.

View a detailed explanation of the 2020 NPL Queensland junior competition structure here.

Based on the initial junior grading process and rankings, clubs have been allocated to three pools for the pre-season phase; Shield, Maroon and White.

The top six ranked clubs have been allocated to the Shield Pool with the Brisbane Roar 2-star Academy, while the remaining clubs have been allocated evenly across the Maroon and White pools.

FQ Chief Executive Officer Robert Cavallucci said FQ would continue to work with all NPL clubs to ensure they are providing the best environment for junior player development.

“It is great that we are able to announce the junior NPL Queensland pre-season pools before the end of the year, and build some excitement and anticipation ahead of the 2020 season,” Cavallucci said.

“Football Queensland and the Technical Working Group’s consultation with clubs around the junior grading model and ranking process was well received, and based on feedback from clubs it was agreed that only the top six rankings would be revealed for the 2020 NPL junior season while we continue to work with all clubs to strengthen their junior development programs and pathways.

“Football Queensland is committed to supporting our clubs in providing a positive environment for junior player development, and as part of this we are currently working on the development of transparency measures for club standards, which will be released in 2020.”

The clubs allocated to each pool for the pre-season phase of the 2020 NPL junior competition can be seen below.

Watch the video below for a visual explanation of the three pools for the pre-season phase.