Format
The league sits below the A-League and forms a part of the second tier of league football in Australia. It is primarily staged in the Australian winter, and in its current format runs between February and August. The league comprises twelve teams, every team playing each other twice over the course of a 22-round home-and-away season. The team finishing 1st after this stage is crowned the Premier, with the teams finishing 11th and 12th relegated to Victorian State League Division 1.
At the conclusion of the home-and-away season, the top five teams advance to a 4-week Finals Series, conducted using the McIntyre final five system. The team winning the Grand Final at the end of this stage is crowned the Champion and awarded the Victorian Premier League trophy.
Read more about this topic: Victorian Premier League