About us
The Victorian Champions League (VCL) is the premier participation pathway for Football Federation Victoria in identifying and nurturing talented junior footballers throughout the State.
Launched in October 2008 as the ‘Summer League’, the first season saw seven different zones take out the eight Grand Finals. In season two, the competition was renamed the Victorian Champions League, coupled with a branding ‘makeover’ featuring new playing strips, colours, nicknames and logos, with the colours and strips reflecting some of the world’s most famous football clubs.
Season three was a notable success, with wonderful support from KFC and Latrobe University, as well as all zone committee members, coaches, parents, players and referees. Further improvements made to the VCL increased not only the level of enjoyment for participants but also its value as a talented player development program. Extensive observation of players in all zones by panels of state squad selectors saw the 2010/11 VCL competition continue its growth in prominence on the Victorian football calendar.
The VCL is contested by teams representing the clubs/associations located within twelve geographical zones, throughout metropolitan and country Victoria. It forms the selection competition for underage Victorian teams to compete at the National Championships. It is also a terrific opportunity for young footballers to improve their skills by teaming up with the best players from their zone and competing against the best talent in their age group state-wide.
Eight of the twelve VCL zones are located in metropolitan Melbourne, namely Central City, Eastern FC, North East Diamonds, North West Wanderers, Northern Allstars, South Eastern Cougars, Southern Blue Tongues and Western Wolves, while the remaining four zones, Gippsland Knights, Loddon Mallee Lightning, Rivers FC and Wimmera South Coast Eagles are country based. Each zone 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 during the VCL season and enjoy ‘gala’ weekends where several fixtures are completed in a single weekend against a number of opponents.
Each VCL season concludes with the VCL Gold Medal Night, which for the 2010/11 season was took place prior to the Melbourne derby blockbuster between Melbourne Victory and Melbourne Heart. Held in the Victory Room at Etihad Stadium, this event was a great feature of the calendar in season three, with 1,000 guests gathering to celebrate the season and award the league's Best and Fairest and Golden Boot Winners.
The 2011/12 VCL season will kick off over the weekend of October 15th/16th, 2011, concluding on the weekend of February 25th/26th, 2012. 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 2012 Victorian State Squads. No exemptions or exceptions will be made.
Trials for all zones will commence mid-September, although it is recommended that prospective players visit their respective zone website for confirmation of trial dates. For trial dates for each zone please click here. All individuals who have their details accurately recorded in the MyFootballClub system would have received an email newsletter promoting trial dates and registration information within their zone. To check that your details are up-to-date within the MyFootballClub system, please click here.
The team at Football Federation Victoria look forward to the launch of the 2011/12 Victorian Champions League season. We wish all trialling players the very best of luck and cannot wait to see you back out on pitch shortly for another exciting VCL competition this summer!
