The National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland, National Premier Leagues Women’s (NPLW) Queensland and Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL) will welcome a number of new players for the 2020 season who are making the step up from local leagues.
NPL Queensland’s Moreton Bay United have continued to add to their squad for the coming season with the acquisition of Sean Lewis from Brisbane Premier League (BPL) side Albany Creek Excelsior.
Having spent the previous two seasons at Albany Creek, the centre-back captained their first team to back-to-back Premierships, taking out the league double in 2019 and featuring in the BPL Team of the Season.
Lewis earned a host of accolades during his two-year tenure with the club, picking up awards including Senior Men’s Club Person of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year, and Best and Fairest in 2018, as well as Football Brisbane’s Goal of the Year Award in 2019.
Moreton Bay United and incoming NPL Queensland coach Royce Brownlie will be hoping the central defender, who helped Albany Creek Excelsior keep nine clean sheets last season, can help strengthen their defence for the upcoming season.
A player who is familiar with the NPLW will return in 2020, with Mitchelton FC recently announcing that Emilie Rebelo will return to her former club.
Rebelo grew up in the United States, and at the age of 16 was called up to the U-19 Portuguese National Team.
Her career then led her to Australia, where she became an international signing for Mitchelton FC in the Mt Franklin Women’s Premier League (BWPL) in 2016.
During her first two seasons, Rebelo helped lead Mitchelton FC to back-to-back Premierships, frequently finding her way onto the scoresheet despite plying her trade at centre-back.
Rebelo made the step up to the NPLW Queensland with Mitchelton in 2018, but after making 22 appearances in the competition, she returned to the BWPL the following year joining The Lakes FC.
Rebelo helped The Lakes FC secure the BWPL Premiership last season, but will return to her former club hoping to re-establish herself in the team and propel Mitchelton FC into a finals position in 2020.
In the FQPL, Centenary Stormers’ Jason Le is leaving his BPL side in favour of a move to Mitchelton FC.
A player who rose through the ranks at Lions FC, the attacking midfielder proved a handful for defences during his time at Centenary Stormers.
Finishing 2018 as his side’s top goal scorer, Le admitted that it was a team achievement that marked the highlight of his season.
“Surviving relegation was the biggest highlight. The final six or seven games we had to get all the points we could to stay up, so winning that last game of the season to stay up was a pretty big achievement,” Le said.
After a 2018 season where his club finished tenth, Le admits he is looking forward to hopefully helping his new side to a higher spot on the table as he joins FQPL’s Mitchelton FC, with personal development of his own game also a goal of his.
“I’m really excited about playing with a bunch of like-minded people and trying to gain promotion to the NPL, in addition to pushing myself as well,” Le said.
Le joins the ranks of an exciting new-look Mitchelton FC attack that also includes international signing Linus Beilke from Germany.
Words: Darren Newell
