Football Federation Victoria’s Victorian Champions League (formerly Summer League) is an important step in the participation pathway for talented footballers in the State.
Contested by teams representing the Clubs/Associations within 12 regional zones from both metropolitan and country Victoria, the Victorian Champions League (VCL) forms the selection competition for underage Victorian teams competing at National Championships. It is also a terrific opportunity for young footballers to improve their skills as they team up with the best players from their zone, to compete against the best talent from all over the State.
Each of the 12 regional zones (eight metropolitan, four country) can enter up to eight teams, split across both male and female categories and a range of age divisions, therefore providing plenty of opportunity for Victoria's talented young footballers to get involved and ultimately be identified.
Matches are contested between the Zones in a home and away round-robin competition, making it one of Victoria’s only truly state-wide sporting competitions. Participants are required to travel throughout Victoria across the season, and enjoy ‘gala’ weekends where several fixtures are completed in a single weekend against a number of opponents.
The inaugural VCL season, then known as "Summer League", kicked off in October 2008, and concluded with a finals series in March 2009 which saw seven different zones win the eight Grand Finals.
The 2009-10 season saw a number of improvements as FFV and the League's Zone Clubs worked to build the League into an enjoyable and successful representative competition. Some of the notable changes were to the 'look' of the VCL, with each Zone given a branding makeover including a new playing strip, colours, nickname and logo, with the colours and playing strips modelled on some of the world's most famous football Clubs. The format also changed, with junior players enjoying a pre-Christmas traditional home and away series to crown the 'Premier' of each age division followed by a post-Christmas championship series to crown the 'Champion' in each age category.
The VCL Gold Medal night was a great feature of the calendar in season two, with 1,000 guests gathering in the Victory Room at Etihad Stadium prior to the Melbourne Victory's fixture against North Queensland Fury to celebrate the season and award the League's Best and Fairest and Golden Boot Winners. The Premiership teams were also acknowledged as well as coaches and referees of the year.
Season three is shaping up to be bigger and better again as FFV and the Zones begin preparations for another great summer of representative football. The League welcomes KFC as a major sponsor this year and La Trobe University as a supporting partner.
Prospective participants and parents should note that the 2010-11 season will commence on the weekend of 23/24 October, 2010 and conclude in mid-February 2011. Players may ONLY represent the Zone in which their winter Club is located and ONLY players who represent their Zone in the coming season will be eligible for selection in 2010 Victorian State Squads. No exemptions or exceptions will be made.
Please continue to visit the VCL section of the new FFV website as we begin to post the most up-to-date information about the new season.