2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League

The 2019–20 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, known for sponsorship reasons as the Kumul Petroleum Resources National Soccer League,[1] is the 14th edition of the Papua New Guinea National Soccer League, the top-tier football league in Papua New Guinea. The league began on 14 December 2019,[2][3][4] after being postponed three times due to late registration fees.[5][6][7][8][9][10]

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League
Season2019–20
← 2019
2020–21 →

Lae City are the defending champions, having won their fifth title with a penalty shoot-out victory over eight-time champions Hekari United in the 2019 edition.[11]

Format

Following the successful management of the previous season, which involved 27 teams spread across all four regions of the country, PNGFA president John Kapi Natto suggested that the following season may be the first to have two connected divisions of football in the nation,[12][13] with six to eight teams in a top-level 'elite' competition, and any number of teams competing in regional divisions a level below.[12][13] Lae City manager Peter Gunemba praised this idea.[14]

In October 2019, it was confirmed that Kapi Natto intended to go ahead with an eight-team National Soccer League, taking place alongside a 'Premier Men's Conference', with four conferences representing the four regions of the country: Northern (Momase), Southern (Papua), Highlands and Islands.[7] The national league was expanded to ten in December 2019,[3] following the cancellation of the conference competition in late November due to lack of interest.[5]

Teams

On 27 November 2019, a new club, FC Kutubu, from Kutubu, were the first team to be officially confirmed ahead of the new season.[15] It was suggested that the side would be the only club representing the Highlands Region in the new season. On 5 December, reigning champions Lae City, eight-time champions Hekari United, and Port Moresby-based FC Bougainville were also confirmed.[16] On 10 December 2019, the remaining six teams were confirmed.[2][3]

This was the first season since 2009–10 that Besta PNG United did not participate in the competition.

Papua New Guinea National Soccer League 2019–20
Team Region Previous Best Other Honours
Hekari United Southern 2006–14: Champions (8x) 2009–10 OFC Champions League: Champions

2017 National Premier League: Champions

2007 Port Moresby Premier League: Champions

Lae City
(name changed from Toti City)		 Northern 2015–19: Champions (5x) 2018, 2019 OFC Champions League: Quarter-Finalists
Morobe United Northern 2009–10: Runners-up 1998 National Club Championship: Runners-Up

2001, 2005 Lae Regional Championship: Champions

Morobe Wawens Northern 2018: 3rd None
Gulf Komara Southern 2015–16: Southern Conference: 4th 2018 National Premier League: Champions
FC Bougainville Southern 2019: Southern Conference: 4th None
Star Mountain Southern 2019: Southern Conference: 7th 1999 North Fly District: Champions
Tusbab Stallions Northern 2019: Northern Conference: 8th None
Vitiaz United Southern N/A 2019 Port Moresby Division One: Champions
FC Kutubu Highlands N/A None

Regular season

League table
Pos Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Lae City 11 8 2 1 35 10 +25 26 Qualification to Playoffs
2 Hekari United 11 8 2 1 22 6 +16 26
3 Vitiaz United 11 8 2 1 18 10 +8 26
4 Tusbab Stallions 11 5 3 3 20 9 +11 18
5 Gulf Komara 11 4 1 6 13 18 −5 13
6 Morobe Wawens 11 4 0 7 13 23 −10 12
7 FC Bougainville 11 3 2 6 18 20 −2 11
8 Star Mountain 11 2 3 6 15 29 −14 9
9 Morobe United 11 1 4 6 11 20 −9 7
10 FC Kutubu 11 2 1 8 13 33 −20 7
Updated to match(es) played on 8 August 2020. Source: [4]


Results
Home \ Away BOU GUK HEK KUT LAE MOU MOW STM TUS VIT
FC Bougainville — 1–2 3–1 2–3 1–1 1–2 2–0
Gulf Komara 2–3 — 0–2 2–0 0–1 2–1 0–1
Hekari United 2–0 — 3–0 2–1 0–0
FC Kutubu 1–4 — 1–0 2–2 1–2
Lae City 5–0 1–1 8–1 — 6–1 1–2
Morobe United 2–2 1–1 0–2 1–0 1–3 — 1–3 0–0 1–2
Morobe Wawens 3–2 0–4 0–3 1–5 2–0 — 0–1 0–1
Star Mountain 2–4 2–2 3–0 — 0–5 1–3
Tusbab Stallions 3–0 5–0 0–1 — 0–2
Vitiaz United 2–2 —
Updated to match(es) played on 8 August 2020. Source: [4]
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

Season statistics
As of 8 August 2020

Top scorers
Rank Player Club Goals
1 Stahl Gubag Tusbab Stallions/Lae City 9
2 Jonathan Allen FC Bougainville/Vitiaz United 8
3 Raymond Gunemba Lae City/Hekari United 6
Emmanuel Simon Lae City
Kolu Kepo Hekari United
6 Nigel Dabinyaba Lae City/Hekari United 5


References
  1. "Kumul Petroleum takes naming rights to NSL". Post Courier. 2019-01-31. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  2. Mogi, Jeremy (2019-12-10). "Big Announcements Ahead of NSL Opener". EMTV Online. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  3. "10-Team PNG NSL kicks off this weekend". Oceania Football Center. 2019-12-10. Retrieved 2019-12-10.
  4. "Papua New Guinea 2019/20". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 2019-12-20.
  5. "Planned PNG 'Conference Competition' cancelled due to lack of interest". Oceania Football Center. 2019-11-27. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  6. "Defending champions to fly in today". Post Courier. 2019-05-30. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  7. "PNGFA adds comps". The National. 2019-10-01. Retrieved 2019-10-01.
  8. "PNG National Soccer League Plans Two-Tier Expansion". Oceania Football Center. 2019-10-13. Retrieved 2019-10-14.
  9. "Twelve Must Become Eight in Delayed Papua New Guinea NSL". Oceania Football Center. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  10. "Eight spots up for grab in Kumul Petroleum NSL Premier Competition". PNGFootball.com.pg. 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2019-11-14.
  11. "Papua New Guinea 2019". www.rsssf.com. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  12. "PNGFA eyes tier-one competition". The National. 2019-05-31. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  13. "NSL winners to attend OFC Cup". Post Courier. 2019-05-29. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  14. "Sport: Further changes proposed for PNG's National Soccer League". RNZ. 2019-06-08. Retrieved 2019-06-30.
  15. "FC Kutubu is the new franchise in NSL". Post Courier. 2019-11-26. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
  16. "Non submission of registration requirements by franchise clubs cause delay". PNGFootball.com.pg. 2019-12-05. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
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