Football Queensland (FQ) has today released the competition structures for the remainder of the 2020 National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland Men’s, NPL Women’s and Football Queensland Premier League (FQPL) First Grade competitions.
Following the suspension of football activity in March due to COVID-19, FQ has been working in consultation with Queensland NPL Men’s, NPL Women’s and FQPL clubs to determine how best to facilitate the remainder of the 2020 season across all competitions.
“I’d like to thank and congratulate all of our clubs for their collaborative and constructive approach in meeting the challenges confronting football this season,” FQ CEO Robert Cavallucci said.
“It is fantastic that together we’ve been able to allow players to continue their development journey by delivering a full season across all FQ competitions in 2020.
“We look forward to seeing our competitions back underway very soon.”
Pre-season contact training and practice matches will commence from July 10 across FQ competitions in line with current Queensland Government guidelines.
NPL Men’s
The 2020 First Grade NPL Men’s competition will complete a full 26 round season, with teams playing a total of 24 matches each with two byes.
Following the agreed withdrawal of Magpies Crusaders from the NPL Men’s competition for the remainder of the 2020 season, Magpies Crusaders’ place in the draw will be replaced with a bye. Matches already played against Magpies Crusaders in the 2020 NPL Men’s competition will also revert to a bye.
With six rounds already completed in 2020, the NPL Men’s regular season will recommence from Friday, 24 July.
The remaining 20 rounds will be completed over 17 competition weekends and three mid-week rounds.
Following the conclusion of the regular season on Sunday, November 15, the NPL Men’s Finals Series will be contested by the Top 4 teams, culminating in a Grand Final to be held on Saturday, 28 November.
As only 13 teams will compete for the remainder of the 2020 season, this year’s NPL Men’s competition will see one team relegated to the FQPL following the completion of the regular season.
NPL Women’s
First Grade NPL Women’s teams will play a further 18 rounds to complete a full home and away regular season in 2020, recommencing from Friday, 24 July and running until Sunday, November 15.
With four rounds completed in 2020 prior to the suspension of the season, the teams will play across 16 weekend rounds with two mid-week fixtures completing the regular season.
The 2020 NPL Women’s Finals Series will kick off on Saturday, 21 November with two Semi Finals to be played and the winners advancing to the decider on Saturday, 28 November.
FQPL
With four rounds already completed, the remainder of the 2020 First Grade FQPL regular season will consist of 18 rounds, commencing from Friday, 24 July.
The FQPL competition will be played across weekends through to Sunday, November 15, with two mid-week rounds scheduled during the season to complete the regular season fixtures.
The 2020 FQPL Finals Series will kick off on Saturday, 21 November and run until the weekend commencing Friday, 27 November.
This year’s FQPL competition will see one team promoted to the NPL Men’s competition following the completion of the regular season.
Additional mid-week games will be scheduled across the three competitions if necessary due to wet weather.
Full competition draws will be released in the coming weeks.
