The Zone Football League season kicks off this weekend with promotion and relegation back to connect the football pyramid to shake things up for another season.
The competition is run by the three Hunter member zones including Newcastle Football, Macquarie Football and Hunter Valley Football.
NNSWF and the three member zones announced in that the men’s Hunter football pyramid would be connected from NPL Men’s NNSW and HIT106.9 Northern League One competitions down to Zone League One, Two and Three, with the return of promotion and relegation from 2024.
Zone Football League One
The race for promotion is on again for Zone Football League One teams, with the 2025 premiers automatically promoted to HIT106.9 Northern League One competition in 2026.
Dudley Redhead United was promoted to HIT106.9 Northern League One in 2025, with grand final winners Newcastle Suns, Cardiff City FC and Kotara South FC eager to finish at the top of the table and get promoted for the 2026 season.
Newly promoted Zone Football League Two sides Stockton Sharks and Newcastle Croatia will hope to ruffle some feathers with their sights on HIT106.9 Northern League One.
Minmi FC was relegated to Zone Football League Two for 2025, with the other bottom four teams of 2024 Westlakes FC, Hamilton Azzurri and Mayfield United Senior FC desperate for much-improved campaigns. The 12th-placed side at the end of the season will be relegated.
Zone Football League Two
Zone Football League Two’s 12 teams will compete for a chance to be promoted to Zone Football League One in 2026 and will hope to avoid relegation, which has been introduced into the competition this season.
With Newcastle Croatia and Stockton Sharks promoted to Zone Football League One, Southern United, Cooks Hill United, North United Wolves and Croudace Bay United will all be in the hunt for promotion.
Newly promoted Lambton Jaffas from Zone Football League Three will hope that they can retain their spot in the competition and avoid relegation.
Mayfield United JSFC, South Maitland FC and Merewether Advanced SFC finished in the bottom three last season and will look for a better season in 2025, with the 12th-placed team relegated to Zone Football League Three in 2026.
Zone Football League Three
Zone Football League Three’s 11 teams will vie for a place in Zone Football League Two next season, with a number of teams eying off promotion.
With premiers Lambton Jaffas promoted to Zone Football League Two, runners up Kurri Kurri FC will hope to do one better and get themselves promoted for 2026 after they finished second on goal difference last season.
Lake Macquarie City FC has left the competition, but Fletcher FC and Rutherford FC have entered the Zone Football League Three competition for the 2025 season and will set their sights finals and promotion.
NNSW Men’s NPL
After four rounds of the NPL Men’s competition, New Lambton FC, Valentine FC, Maitland FC and Lambton Jaffas are most at risk of relegation early on. New Lambton is without a point, Valentine has two points, while Maitland and Lambton Jaffas have four points each.
The team who comes last in NPL will be relegated to HIT106.9 Northern League One in 2026, while the team that finishes 11th must survive the Promotion/Relegation Play Offs to feature in the NPL next season.
HIT106.9 Northern League One
After one round of HIT106.9 Northern League One, West Wallsend SFC, Kahibah FC, Singleton Strikers, South Cardiff FC and Toronto Awaba FC all have three points and have an early lead in the race for the premiership and automatic promotion.
The team that finishes 11th in NPL Men’s NNSW will join the teams that finish second, third and fourth in HIT106.9 Northern League One in a promotion/relegation play-off series to determine the 12th team in NPL Men’s NNSW in 2026.
From 2025, the team that finishes 10th will be relegated to Zone Football League One.
