2013 Victorian Premier League Explained

Competition:Victorian Premier League
Season:2013
Pixels:175px
Teams:12
Level On Pyramid:2
Winners:Northcote City
Premiers:Northcote City
Relegated:Richmond
Southern Stars
Prevseason:2012

The 2013 Victorian Premier League was the one-hundred first season of the top tier of club football in Victoria. The home and away season commenced on 6 April 2013. Dandenong Thunder were the defending champions.

Match-fixing scandal

On 15 September 2013, Victoria Police arrested ten people at the Southern Stars, including players David Obaze, Nick McKoy and Joe Woolley, and head coach Zaya Younan.

Later in September, criminal charges were laid by the Victoria Police: the FFA handed Noel, Woolley, Obaze, McKoy and coach Younan initial suspensions which prevented them from being involved in any football-related activity in Australia while the investigation was ongoing. Those bans were also extended worldwide by FIFA. Two British footballers, Reiss Noel and Joe Woolley, received lifetime bans from FIFA for their role in the incident.[1]

Gerry Subramaniam, a Malaysian national and the Australian ring-leader of the betting syndicate behind the match fixing, was sentenced to three years jail in Australia, to be followed by deportation to Malaysia.[2]

The Southern Stars were later suspended from the competition, and all 22 of their matches were declared a No Result, being recorded as 0–0 draws with zero points awarded: this ruling effectively deleted the club from the calculations of the final ladder.

However, the Bentleigh Greens had originally forfeited their Round 22 match against Southern Stars due to a lack of players: as a result of the above ruling, Bentleigh were awarded one point for the match and had a previously imposed fine of $900 for the forfeit refunded.

VPL Teams

TeamHome cityHome ground
Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
Dandenong, Melbourne George Andrews Reserve
Keilor, Melbourne Green Gully Reserve
Dingley, Melbourne Kingston Heath Soccer Complex
City of Hume, Melbourne John Ilhan Memorial Reserve
Sunshine North, Melbourne Knights Stadium
Thornbury, Melbourne John Cain Memorial Park
Oakleigh, Melbourne Jack Edwards Reserve
Richmond, Melbourne Kevin Bartlett Reserve
South Melbourne FCAlbert Park, Melbourne Lakeside Stadium
Coburg North, Melbourne CB Smith Reserve
Port Melbourne, Melbourne SS Anderson Reserve

Promotion and relegation

Teams promoted from Victorian State League Division 1:
(After the end of the 2012 season.)

Teams relegated to Victorian State League Division 1:
(After the end of the 2012 season.)

Regular season

The Victorian Premier League 2013 season was played over 22 rounds, beginning on 23 March and concluding on 16 September 2013, followed by the final series.

Finals

Grand Final

Top goalscorers

PlayerClubGoals[3]
1Milos LujicNorthcote City19
2Luke FlynnBentleigh Greens15
3Dusan BosnjakOakleigh Cannons13
4Luke HopperSouth Melbourne10
5Thomas CahillRichmond SC9

See also

References

  1. Web site: Southern Stars players in Victorian Premier League match-fixing scandal receive life-time bans from FIFA – ABC News.
  2. Web site: Soccer match-fixing ringleader sentenced to three years' jail – ABC News.
  3. Web site: Competition Statistics for Men's Victorian Premier League . SportingPulse .