CHANGES TO THE LEAGUES BEING USED BY UK FOOTBALL POOLS  IN 2014

This page usually has a listing of the promotions/relegations and other minor changes. However there are major changes to the way the Football Pools will operate in 2014 and the Leagues that will be used.

Firstly coupons will feature matches that will be played over a weekend ie Saturday/Sunday instead of just using Saturday games. This means a complete results check will not be available until around 13:00 BST on Sundays. The pools results page will still be updated as usual with results posted as final whistles blow across Australia. The closing time for entries has been brought forward and is now generally 04:00 BST Saturdays.

The State League game in Australia has recently undergone vast changes with a new layer of leagues established to underpin the very successful A-League. Clubs competing in these National Premier Leagues (NPL's) have to meet high standards in terms of facilities, coaching, players, finance and junior structure. These eight NPL's, along with two second divisions, will form the backbone of the ten weeks of Australian fixtures which will ensure consistency for the punter with the same teams appearing most weeks.

Using these higher profile games will also ensure much more information is available to punters and this site's Facebook page carries direct links to match reports, photos, video, club news and previews for the majority of matches that will be used.

So lets take a look around the leagues State by State

New South Wales's Premier One saw the Central Coast Mariners Academy relegated and St George FC promoted from Premier Two. There was no other changes to this league.

Travelling north the Queensland NPL sees an expansion to thirteen clubs which originally was fourteen but CQ FC had their licence revoked after three matches and were expelled so consequently we have a Bye team each week. The Queensland Academy of Sport were replaced by Brisbane Roar's youth side while SWQ Thunder is a new team based in Toowoomba. Another newcomer is Harimau Muda A who are, in fact, the Malaysian Under 22 side who have moved to Queensland for the season. They last played competitively in 2012 in the S-League in Singapore. Their name translates as "Young Tigers".

Victoria, whose matches have played a significant part on the pools for many years, has undergone major changes with the league structure completely re-organised. The top tier is the new NPL which includes many of the old Premier League teams along with country teams such as Ballarat Red Devils (who in 2013 played in Division Three) and Goulburn Valley Suns based in Shepparton.

Below the NPL is NPL One which comprises most of the old Division one sides along with a few teams from the old lower leagues together with newly formed country side FC Bendigo.

Over in Western Australia their NPL sees the NTC removed in favour of the Perth Glory youth team and Bunbury Forum Force being relegated with their place taken by Subiaco who were in Division Two last season. The first division features twice to make up the numbers when there are breaks in other States fixtures. Here Rockingham City were relegated and no side was promoted from division two.

Back in Adelaide the NPL is now comfortably into its second season and the changes were the relegation of Adelaide Cobras and Enfield City to the State League. Sadly just prior to the season commencing Enfield City folded leaving an odd number of sides in the second tier of football in South Australia. West Adelaide went through 2013 winning 28 of their 30 matches and drawing the other two and they were promoted from the State League along with South Adelaide. The State League matches feature most weeks and are used to fill the gap when there is not sufficent fixtures in the nationwide NPL's.

On the "Apple" there have been no changes to Tasmania's Victory League line-up.

Games from Northern NSW have not appeared on the pools for many season but they make a return with the new NPL structure. Based in the Hunter Valley area around Newcastle many older people will remember the likes of Adamstown Rosebud from the 60's and 70's.

Another first will be the use of games from the Capital Football NPL which is based in and around Australia's capital city Canberra. This is a new venture from the coupon compilers.

So thats the run down on how things have changed since the UK pools were last in Australia. Enjoy the 2014 eleven week visit.