The 2026 Zone Football League regular season has ended, with three clubs securing promotion to higher divisions.
Kotara South FC, Bolwarra Lorn JSC and Charlestown JFC were each promoted from their respective competitions, while Stockton Sharks and South Maitland FC were relegated.
Northern NSW Football, Newcastle Football, Macquarie Football and Hunter Valley Football announced in 2023 that the men’s Hunter football pyramid would be connected for the first time, linking the NPL Men’s NNSW and HIT106.9 Northern League One competitions through to Zone League One, Two and Three and allowing the return of promotion and relegation from 2024.
Zone Football League Three
Charlestown JFC secured promotion to Zone League Two in their final game of the season.
Charlestown were neck-and-neck with Garden Suburb FC heading into the final round but secured a 2-0 victory over Muswellbrook FC to move one point ahead of Garden Suburb and win the premiership.
Charlestown finished the season on 51 points, 13 points ahead of Medowie FC in third.
Zone Football League Two
Bolwarra Lorn JSC were promoted to Zone League One after a tight finish to the season. A dominant 7-0 victory over South Maitland FC in the final round saw Bolwarra crowned premiers.
Bolwarra finished the season on 45 points, one point ahead of Minmi Wanderers in second and two points ahead of North United Wolves in third.
South Maitland FC were relegated to Zone League Three after finishing one point behind Merewether Advance in 10th, following a season in which they recorded two wins and 18 losses.
Zone Football League One
Kotara South FC were promoted to HIT106.9 Northern League One for the 2027 season after finishing second in Zone League One.
The 2026 ZL1 premiers would normally earn automatic promotion to HIT106.9 Northern League One for 2027. However, with Newcastle Olympic crowned premiers and ineligible for promotion, the second-placed team instead secured the promotion spot.
Olympic are ineligible for promotion because they already have teams competing in the top two tiers of the Northern NSW football pyramid: NPL Men’s NNSW and HIT106.9 Northern League One.
Kotara South secured promotion in the final week of the competition after defeating Newcastle Suns 3-2 to move to 46 points and create a three-point gap over Thornton Redbacks.
At the other end of the table, Stockton Sharks finished in last position after having six points deducted due to match official abuse under NNSWF’s Zero Tolerance policy. They were subsequently relegated to Zone League Two.
HIT106.9 Northern League One
Premiers Lake Macquarie City FC were promoted to NPL Men’s NNSW for the 2027 season after finishing one point ahead of Wallsend FC in second place.
Toronto Awaba FC finished at the bottom of the table with 13 points and were relegated to Zone League One on goal difference.
The relegation battle went down to the final round, with South Cardiff FC escaping relegation after a 1-1 draw with West Wallsend SFC. South Cardiff opened the scoring within the first minute.
Toronto needed a win or draw to avoid relegation but went down 4-1 to Lake Macquarie City. The result saw Toronto relegated with a -23 goal difference, while South Cardiff finished with a -17 goal difference.
NPL Men’s NNSW
Broadmeadow Magic were crowned premiers, while Charlestown Azzurri were relegated to HIT106.9 Northern League One after finishing with 14 points from four wins, two draws and 16 losses.
Kahibah FC finished 11th on the table and were forced to fight for their place in the competition in the Promotion/Relegation Play-Off Final against HIT106.9 Northern League One club Newcastle Croatia.
Kahibah were victorious 2-1 in a hard-fought contest and will remain in NPL Men’s NNSW for the 2027 season.