The Capital Football Board (the Board) makes this public statement in relation to the 2027 National Premier Leagues (NPL) youth competitions.

The NPL is the national second tier competition in Australia which underpins the A-Leagues. The NPL is a direct outcome of Football Australia’s National Competition Review which, among other things, aims to:

• Create greater consistency across the Member Federation top leagues across
  Australia; and
• Recognise the role that State League clubs are playing to develop players, and
  showcase local talent.

These are elite competitions. Many clubs may aspire to play NPL, but not every club can. Participation, or not, in the NPL is not a matter of gender equity.

The NPL differs from community leagues where, although they are competitive competitions, the goal is participation, enjoyment and social engagement. There is theoretically no limit on the number of teams allowed to participate in community leagues. However, in order to keep the NPL’s focus on elite talent, necessarily the number of teams admitted to the NPL must be limited to ensure the competitiveness of those competitions.

We on the Board – both past and present – take our responsibilities to the Canberra & Region football community seriously and personally. As our recently released strategic plan makes clear – our ‘Path to 2030’ – we have aspirations to build football participation locally, and particularly for women and girls.

After the interim committee of Gungahlin United Football Club (GUFC) decided to wind up the club – a decision in which Capital Football played no part – the Board had an emergency meeting in December 2025 about how to best keep players of the former GUFC engaged with football. We did not feel that we had the time to consult broadly. We made decisions based on the information at hand on the time. We accept that some in the football community were not pleased with the decisions we made at that time, and that some remain displeased. In football, it is rare to be able to please everyone all of the time.

Most pertinently, the Board made decisions at that time to:

• expand certain competitions and return otherwise relegated clubs to competitions; and
• promise that there would be no promotion or relegation for the 2027 season.

We know that these decisions disappointed a number of clubs who had aspirations to compete in the NPL.

Nevertheless, as we have stated multiple times since, those decisions were made to provide stability to the competitions, and certainty to those clubs involved, in circumstances where there was significant uncertainty for local players and football lovers following GUFC’s demise.

At the request of clubs, the Board’s decision there would be no promotion or relegation for the 2026 and 2027 seasons has been revisited twice this year. Notwithstanding our reconsideration of the matter twice, we stand by our decision. The Board does not intend to revisit this decision again.

We did have cause recently to make enquiries of two youth clubs – Majura Football Club in the NPL Boys, and BellaMonaro Women’s Football Club in the NPL Girls – as to whether their retention in their respective competitions would promote the Board’s goals of competitive and stable competitions. Both clubs were required to show cause as to why they should be retained in the 2027 competition. Both clubs met with the Board directly and provided written submissions and evidence in support of those submissions. In fairness, both clubs had already commenced significant strategic planning to improve their 2027 youth teams prior to the Board issuing the show cause notices.

For each club, the Board was ultimately satisfied by their submission to the Board that issues that arose for the club in the 2026 season will not be repeated for the 2027 season.

In Majura Football Club’s case, we were particularly impressed by the club’s commitment to increased investment in coaching, player development and football leadership in light of them being one of the largest junior clubs in our region.

In BellaMonaro Women’s Football Club’s case, we were satisfied that the new operating model, which represented a fundamental change from that deployed in 2026, and had a greater focus upon integrated technical leadership and greater organisational capability, met the concerns the Board had about their ongoing viability. BellaMonaro’s NPL Girls 2027 program will operate through Monaro Panthers Football Club to provide a stronger and more sustainable pathway for female players through every stage of their football journey.

Capital Football has also committed to regular meetings with each club to monitor their progress and provide support as appropriate.

Further decisions about the form and structure of the 2028 NPL competitions – including whether or not the NPL branding and structure is to be retained – will be the subject of consultation with clubs. That consultation is anticipated to commence following the 2026 finals series. We invite all clubs and lovers of local football to participate in that consultation process.