The Football Queensland Premier League (known by its abbreviation FQPL) is a men's soccer league contested by clubs in Queensland, Australia that consists of two divisions; FQPL 1 and FQPL 2. It is administered by Football Queensland and runs as the second and third tiers of football in Queensland, operated by a system of promotion and relegation. The league is contested by 12 clubs in each division each season, the team that finishes at the top of the league is crowned premiers and they are promoted to the Queensland National Premier League for Division 1 clubs, whilst the bottom three teams are relegated to Division 2. The teams that finish in the top four qualify for a finals tournament, where the winners of the bracket are crowned FQPL champions.[1]
 | |
| Founded | 2017 |
|---|---|
| First season | 2018 |
| Country |  Australia |
| State |  Queensland |
| Confederation | AFC |
| Number of clubs | 24
|
| Level on pyramid | 3 and 4 |
| Promotion to | National Premier Leagues Queensland |
| Relegation to | FQPL – Darling Downs FQPL – Metro FQPL – South Coast FQPL – Sunshine Coast |
| Domestic cup(s) | Australia Cup |
| Current champions | Eastern Suburbs (FQLD 1) (2024) Magic United (FQLD 2) (2024) |
| Current premiers | St George Willawong (FQLD 1) (2024) Holland Park Hawks (FQLD 2) (2024) |
| Most championships | 5 teams (1 title each) |
| Most premierships | 5 teams (1 title each) |
| TV partners | FQTV YouTube |
| Website | footballqueensland.com |
The FQPL 1 was founded in 2017, with the first season held in 2018. There was previously there was no second-tier statewide competition, instead there was only the Brisbane Premier League and subsequent Capital leagues which were the highest level of football competition in the state. FQPL 2 was founded in 2020, with the first season held in 2021.
The current champions and premiers are Brisbane City, crowning the 2021 season and earning promotion to the 2022 season of the Queensland National Premier League.[2]
History
In May 2017, Football Queensland confirmed the creation of the new competition and the teams to take part in the 2018 season.[3] Peninsula Power were both premiers and champions of the inaugural Football Queensland Premier league, earning promotion into the 2019 NPL Queensland season along with runner-up team Capalaba.
Following the foundation of the FQPL 1 in 2017, Football Queensland sought to extend and link the footballing pyramid in Queensland to a third tier. At the time, there was only regional leagues across Queensland representing a 'third tier' in Queensland and a 'fourth tier' across Australia. In late 2020, the idea of a third league of Queensland football was proposed and 29 teams expressed interest in joining.[4] In November 2020, 15 teams from South-East Queensland submitted formal FQPL 2 applications and on the 25th of November 2020, Football Queensland announced that eight teams would participate in the inaugural FQPL 2 season beginning 2021.[5] The 8 inaugural members of the new Football Queensland Premier league 2 were:
- Caboolture Sports
- Coomera Colts
- Grange Thistle
- Magic United
- North Star
- Samford Rangers
- Taringa Rovers
- Virginia United
The inaugural season of the FQPL 2 saw Caboolture Sports clinching the premiership, earning promotion to the 2022 FQPL 1. However, Grange Thistle won the championship from them in a 3–1 win over the premiers. In August 2021, Football Queensland announced that all its competitions would be temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.[6] As a result, the inaugural season experienced delays which would not affect the validity competition.
In March 2020 and again in August 2021, Football Queensland announced that all its competitions would be temporarily suspended due to the COVID-19 Pandemic in Australia.[7][8] In 2021, Football Queensland announced that Albany Creek Excelsior from Football Queensland Metro and Surfers Paradise Apollo from Football Queensland South Coast would join the Football Queensland Premier League 2 for the 2022 season. These teams would join the competition along with Wynnum Wolves, Holland Park Hawks and Souths United, who were the first teams relegated from the Football Queensland Premier League.[9] Additionally, the 2022 season would see an introduction of a form of relegation where the worst performing team would be relegated out of the competition and back into their respective top-flight regional competition in South East Queensland. The regional zones as part of this streamline conference include South Coast, Darling Downs, Metro and Sunshine Coast, with the other zones located too far geographically to be sustainable.[9] The 2022 season would have 12 clubs compete, the teams placed in 11th and 12th would be relegated to their respective FQPL 3 competition, and the teams placed 1st and 2nd would be promoted to the FQPL. The team that would place third would enter a playoff competition with the 10th placed team in the FQPL for a place in the competition for the following season.
In the 2023 season, Broadbeach United set the record for the highest points tally by a team in an FQPL 2 season, amassing 53 points as they won the premiership. The next season,in 2024 Holland Park Hawks also achieved a points total of 53, equaling Broadbeach's record. [10]
Format
The season consists of a regular season in which all clubs play each other twice, home and away. At the conclusion of the regular season the top of the table club progresses into the National Premier Leagues Queensland for the following season. Additionally, at the conclusion of the regular season the top four clubs play a local finals series. The local finals series consists of two semi-finals and a final. In the local finals series the top of the ladder club plays the fourth place and second place plays third. The winner of these local semi finals play each other in the Football Queensland Premier League Grand Finale.
Current members
Division 1
The following 12 clubs are participating in the 2024 season:
| Club | City | Stadium | Founded | Joined | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moreton City Excelsior Reserves | Moreton Bay | Wolter Park | 1963 | 2023 | Steve Glockner |
| Brisbane Strikers | Brisbane | Perry Park | 1994 | 2022 | Daniel Carew |
| Broadbeach United | Gold Coast | Nikiforides Family Park | 1963 | 2024 | Leighton Speechley-Price |
| Caboolture Sports | Moreton Bay | Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex | 1969 | 2022 | Terry Kirkham |
| Capalaba FC | Redlands | John Frederick Park | 1972 | 2018 | David McEvoy |
| Eastern Suburbs | Brisbane | Heath Park | 1922 | 2018 | David Booth |
| Logan Lightning | Logan | Cornubia Park | 2011 | 2018 | James Coutts |
| Mitchelton | Brisbane | Teralba Park | 1920 | 2018 | Jason Poggi |
| SWQ Thunder | Toowoomba | Clive Berghofer Stadium | 2012 | 2020 | Sam Gahan |
| Southside Eagles | Brisbane | Memorial Park | 1968 | 2018 | Vacant |
| St George Willawong | Brisbane | St George's Park | 2010 | 2024 | Danny Gnjidic |
| Ipswich FC | Ipswich | Briggs Rd Sporting Complex | 2024 | 2024 | Vacant |
Division 2
| Club | City | Stadium | Founded | Joined | Head Coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bayside United | Lota, Brisbane | Don Randall Oval | 1974 | 2024 | |
| Grange Thistle | Brisbane | Lanham Park | 1920 | 2021 | Glen Volker |
| Holland Park Hawks | Brisbane | Whites Hill Reserve | 1977 | 2022 | Gabriel Hawash |
| Ipswich Knights | Ipswich | Eric Evans Oval | 1998 | 2023 | |
| Magic United | Gold Coast | Magic FC Park | 2006 | 2021 | Adem Poric |
| Maroochydore FC | Sunshine Coast | Kunda Park | 1968 | 2022 | |
| North Lakes United | Moreton Bay | Kinsellas Park | 2022 | 2023 | |
| North Star | Brisbane | O'Callaghan Park | 1958 | 2021 | Lee Cunningham |
| Pine Hills | Bunya, Brisbane | James Drysdale Oval | 1984 | 2024 | |
| Samford Rangers | Moreton Bay | Samford Parklands | 1973 | 2021 | Paul Brownlie |
| Souths United | Brisbane | Wakerley Park | 1961 | 2022 | Vederin Becirbegovic |
| Taringa Rovers | Brisbane | Jack Speare Park | 1949 | 2021 | Marco Ahlrichs |
Honours
2018–2020
| Season | Champions | Premiers |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Peninsula Power | Peninsula Power |
| 2019 | Rochedale Rovers | Sunshine Coast Wanderers |
| 2020 | Logan Lightning | Logan Lightning |
2021–present
|
|
Awards
Golden Boot
| Year | FQPL 1 | FQPL 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Club | Goals | Winner | Club | Goals | |
| 2018 | Youeil Shol[9] |
Eastern Suburbs | 35 | — | ||
| 2019 | Jeremy Stewart[11] |
Sunshine Coast Wanderers | 21 | |||
| 2020 |  Yuta Hirayama[12] |
Western Pride | 16 | |||
| 2021 | Shuto Kuboyama[13] |
Mitchelton | 16 | Sean Karambasis[11] |
Taringa Rovers | 19 |
| 2022 |  Marek Madle[14] Guilherme Santana |
Rochedale Rovers Redlands United |
18 | Teddy Watson | Surfers Paradise Apollo | 30 |
Player of the Year
| Year | FQPL 1 | FQPL 2 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Club | Ref. | Winner | Club | Ref. | ||
| 2018 | Youeil Shol |
Eastern Suburbs | [9] | — | |||
| Ryo Ono |
Capalaba FC | ||||||
| 2019 | Jeremy Stewart |
Sunshine Coast Wanderers | [11] | ||||
| 2020 | Matthew Green |
Logan Lightning | [12] | ||||
| 2021 | Scott Halliday |
Brisbane City | [13] | Tom Baresic |
Samford Rangers | [11] | |
| 2022 |  Mirko Crociati |
SWQ Thunder | [14] | Jacob Krayem | Wynnum Wolves | ||
Young Player of the Year
| Year | FQPL 1 | FQPL 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Club | Ref. | Winner | Club | Ref. | |
| 2018 | Zander Guy |
Logan Lightning | [9] | — | ||
| 2019 | Jed Brown |
Logan Lightning | [11] | |||
| 2020 | Maximilian Mikkola |
Wynnum Wolves | [12] | |||
| 2021 | Jacob Krayem |
Wynnum Wolves | [13] | Tom Baresic |
Samford Rangers | [11] |
| 2022 | Oli Williams |
Sunshine Coast | [14] | Jacob Krayem | Wynnum Wolves | |
Coach of the Year
| Year | FQPL 1 | FQPL 2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Club | Ref. | Winner | Club | Ref. | |
| 2018 | Aaron Philp |
Peninsula Power | [9] | — | ||
| 2019 | Scott MacNicol |
Rochedale Rovers | [11] | |||
| 2020 | Rick Coghlan |
Logan Lightning | [12] | |||
| 2021 | Matt Smith |
Brisbane City | [13] | Terry Kirkham |
Caboolture Sports | [11] |
| 2022 |  Graham Harvey |
Redlands United | [14] | Alex Morrison | Surfers Paradise Apollo | |
Goalkeeper of the Year
| Year | Winner | Club | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Denver Crickmore |
Sunshine Coast Wanderers | [9] |
| 2019 | Chris Parsons |
Ipswich Knights | [11] |
| 2020 | Zayne Freiberg |
Ipswich Knights | [12] |
| 2021 | Duro Dragicevic |
Brisbane City | [13] |
| 2022 | Jerrad Tyson |
Sunshine Coast | [14] |
Fair Play Award
| Year | FQPL 1 | FQPL 2 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winner | Ref. | Winner | Ref. | ||
| 2018 | not awarded | [9] | — | ||
| 2019 | Southside Eagles | [11] | |||
| 2020 | Ipswich Knights | [12] | |||
| 2021 | Ipswich Knights | [13] | Samford Rangers | [11] | |
| 2022 | not awarded | [14] | Virginia United | ||
See also
References
External links
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