NBN State Football League

The Northern New South Wales State Football League, or as it is more commonly known as the NBN State League for sponsorship purposes, is the premier association football (soccer) league in the North of New South Wales, specifically the Hunter and Newcastle. It is governed by Northern New South Wales Football. Being a regional competition it is hard to compare nationally what tier it would be on, but roughly it could be regarded as the 3rd tier of football in Australia after the A-League and New South Wales Premier League. Despite this, the League is mostly made up of semi-professional players. Broadmeadow Magic FC were crowned 2008 major premiers after deafeating Azzuri FC 5-3 in a close penalty shootout after extra-time during the grandfinal. Weston Workers Bears FC star striker Rhys Tippett was named 2008 player of the year after an outstanding display of goals and technical ability throughout the season. This caused great controversy as Broadmeadow Magic's star striker Peter Haynes scored a record number of goals totalling an outstanding 23 and was a clear front-runner for the title.

History

Recent Seasons

Format

The competition consists of 10 teams from around the Newcastle and Hunter area who each have a 1st Division side, a Reserve team, a Youth Division team and an U/17 side. A season takes place over 18 rounds, with each team playing each other at home and away. The team that finishes 1st at the end of 18 rounds is declared the Minor Premier. The top 4 teams at the end of 18 rounds contest the Finals Series, a home and away knockout system played with the away goals rule(1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd) with the winners meeting in the Grand Final. The winner of the Grand Final is crowned as the Major Premier and regarded as champions.

The 10th placed team each year is relegated to the NewFM Division only if the team finishing first in the 1st Division meets the eligibility criteria for promotion.

Changing Format

The league originally started with 12 teams, all with a first grade, reserve grade and youth grade team. The league was then downsized to 10 teams still with all three grades. However for the 2009 season it has been decide by Northern New South Wales Football, the governing body to downsize the league once again to 8 teams in order to improve the quality and give local players a chance to enter the A-league through the competition. The teams competing in the 2009 season were decided on the second of September 2008. It was decided that Highfields Azzurri FC and Lake Macquarie City Roosters FC would be relegated to the NewFM Football League. Teams were judged on criteria which included facilities/ground (30%), financial status (25%), management (20%), playing strength/coaching staff (15%) and development program (10%). An independent body, chaired by former NSW gaming minister Richard Face, was assigned to make the decision. [cite news |url=http://www.theherald.com.au/news/local/sport/soccer/azzurri-lake-macquarie-dumped-in-soccer-shakeup/1260885.aspx |title=Azzurri, Lake Macquarie dumped in soccer shake-up] |date=2008-09-02 |accessdate=2008-09-02 |publisher=The Newcastle Herald]

2009 Teams

* Broadmeadow Magic FC
* Edgeworth Eagles FC
* Hamilton Olympic Warriors FC
* South Cardiff Gunners FC
* Toronto Awaba Stags FC
* Valentine Phoenix FC
* Weston Workers Bears FC
* West Wallsend FC

References

* [http://www.northernnswsoccer.com.au/nnswbn/ NBN League Website]
* [http://www.northernnswsoccer.com.au/nnswsf/ Northern NSW Football Federation Main Site]

ee also

* NewFM Football League