# 2018 National Premier Leagues Victoria

The 2018 National Premier Leagues Victoria was the fifth season of the National Premier Leagues Victoria, the top league in Victorian football. Bentleigh Greens were the defending champions, having won their second championship title the previous season.

## Teams

Fourteen teams competed in the league – the top twelve teams from previous season and the two teams promoted from the NPL Victoria 2. The promoted teams were Dandenong Thunder from the Eastern conference and Northcote City from the Western conference. They replaced North Geelong Warriors and St Albans Saints.

### Stadiums and locations

    Note: Table lists in alphabetical order.
| Team | Suburb | Stadium | Capacity |
| Avondale | Avondale Heights | City Vista Recreation Reserve | 4,000 |
| Bentleigh Greens | Cheltenham | Kingston Heath Soccer Complex | 3,300 |
| Dandenong City | Endeavour Hills | Frank Holohan Soccer Complex | 4,000 |
| Dandenong Thunder | Danedenong | George Andrews Reserve | 5,000 |
| Green Gully | St Albans | Green Gully Reserve | 10,000 |
| Heidelberg United | Heidelberg West | Olympic Village | 12,000 |
| Hume City | Broadmeadows | ABD Stadium | 5,000 |
| Kingston City | Clayton South | The Grange Reserve | 1,000 |
| Melbourne Knights | North Sunshine | Knights Stadium | 1,000 |
| Oakleigh Cannons | Oakleigh | Jack Edwards Reserve | 5,000 |
| Pascoe Vale | Coburg North | Hosken Reserve | 1,325 |
| Port Melbourne | Altona | SS Anderson Reserve | 1,000 |
| South Melbourne | Albert Park | Lakeside Stadium | 15,000 |

## League table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Heidelberg United (C) | 26 | 19 | 2 | 5 | 60 | 29 | +31 | 59 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Finals series |
| 2 | Bentleigh Greens | 26 | 18 | 4 | 4 | 53 | 28 | +25 | 58 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Victoria Finals series |
| 3 | Avondale | 26 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 57 | 32 | +25 | 55 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Victoria Finals series |
| 4 | Pascoe Vale | 26 | 13 | 6 | 7 | 42 | 31 | +11 | 45 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Victoria Finals series |
| 5 | Oakleigh Cannons | 26 | 12 | 2 | 12 | 41 | 39 | +2 | 38 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Victoria Finals series |
| 6 | Port Melbourne | 26 | 10 | 6 | 10 | 37 | 41 | −4 | 36 | Qualification for the 2019 National Premier Leagues Victoria Finals series |
| 7 | Kingston City | 26 | 10 | 4 | 12 | 39 | 45 | −6 | 34 | |
| 8 | Dandenong Thunder | 26 | 11 | 1 | 14 | 45 | 55 | −10 | 34 | |
| 9 | Melbourne Knights | 26 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 45 | 53 | −8 | 32 | |
| 10 | South Melbourne | 26 | 8 | 4 | 14 | 48 | 53 | −5 | 28 | |
| 11 | Hume City | 26 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 29 | 43 | −14 | 28 | |
| 12 | Green Gully | 26 | 7 | 5 | 14 | 41 | 49 | −8 | 26 | Qualification for the 2019 Relegation play-offs |
| 13 | Northcote City (R) | 26 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 32 | 53 | −21 | 22 | Relegation to the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 |
| 14 | Bulleen Lions (R) | 26 | 6 | 3 | 17 | 33 | 51 | −18 | 21 | Relegation to the National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 |

## Results

| Home \ Away | AVO | BEN | BUL | DTH | GRE | HEI | HUM | KIN | NOR | MBK | OAK | PAS | PMS | SOU |
| Avondale | — | 1–2 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 1–1 | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 4–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 6–2 |
| Bentleigh Greens | 1–0 | — | 6–2 | 3–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–1 | 2–1 | 3–0 | 2–0 | 3–4 | 0–1 |
| Bulleen Lions | 5–1 | 1–3 | — | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–2 | 1–1 | 1–0 | 0–3 | 0–1 | 1–5 | 1–1 |
| Dandenong Thunder | 0–1 | 3–4 | 2–1 | — | 1–2 | 0–1 | 3–0 | 4–1 | 4–2 | 2–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 0–9 |
| Green Gully | 3–4 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 2–3 | — | 1–3 | 1–2 | 1–3 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 0–2 | 2–2 | 2–3 |
| Heidelberg United | 2–3 | 3–0 | 1–0 | 5–2 | 4–1 | — | 0–2 | 6–1 | 3–1 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | 6–1 | 4–2 |
| Hume City | 2–5 | 0–3 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–2 | 1–2 | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | 3–3 | 0–2 | 2–1 | 1–0 | 0–1 |
| Kingston City | 2–0 | 4–4 | 0–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 4–2 | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 0–1 | 0–1 | 0–2 |
| Northcote City | 1–3 | 0–0 | 2–4 | 3–2 | 2–4 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–1 | — | 1–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 3–2 |
| Melbourne Knights | 2–2 | 2–2 | 3–2 | 1–2 | 1–5 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–2 | 4–1 | — | 3–2 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 3–2 |
| Oakleigh Cannons | 2–2 | 0–1 | 2–1 | 2–1 | 0–1 | 1–3 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 5–2 | 3–4 | — | 2–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 |
| Pascoe Vale | 1–2 | 2–1 | 3–2 | 3–1 | 2–2 | 2–3 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 4–1 | 0–1 | 1–0 | — | 0–0 | 2–2 |
| Port Melbourne | 1–3 | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–3 | 3–2 | 0–1 | 1–1 | 0–4 | 2–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 1–2 | — | 4–2 |
| South Melbourne | 0–3 | 1–1 | 1–2 | 4–0 | 0–3 | 1–3 | 2–1 | 1–4 | 1–1 | 5–1 | 0–1 | 2–3 | 0–1 | — |

### Finals series
#### Grand Final
## Season statistics
### Scoring
#### Top scorers

| Rank | Player | Club | Goals |
| 1 | Brandon Barnes | Dandenong Thunder | 22 |
| 2 | Liam Boland | Avondale | 16 |
| 3 | Davey van 't Schip | Pascoe Vale | 15 |
| 4 | Thomas Cahill | Bentleigh Greens | 14 |
| 4 | Kaine Sheppard | Avondale | 14 |
| 6 | Joey Katebian | Avondale | 11 |

### Discipline
#### Player

* Most yellow cards: 8
** Blair Govan (Hume City)
** Joey Katebian (Avondale)
** Tomislav Uskok (Melbourne Knights)
** Reuben Way (Heidelberg United)
* Most red cards: 2
** Darby Dexter (Hume City)
** Lewis Hall (Heidelberg United)
** Shaun Timmins (Melbourne Knights)