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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.
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.
History
In May 2017, Football Queensland confirmed the creation of the new competition and the teams to take part in the 2018 season. 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. 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. The 8 inaugural members of the new Football Queensland Premier league 2 were:
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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
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:
Australia
Queensland
Yuta Hirayama
Marek Madle
Mirko Crociati
Graham Harvey