Northern NSW Football and the 10 NPL clubs plan to play a 13-round season with a top-five finals series, if government restrictions allow senior soccer to start in early July. Junior soccer will be allowed from July 1 under changes announced this week.

Clubs are preparing to play the NPL season without crowds and the revenue they provide, as well as cuts to sponsorship from businesses struggling in the pandemic shutdown.

Given the financial hit, most clubs are planning to slash player payments by about two-thirds. Lake Macquarie and Broadmeadow have gone a step further and declared players and coaches will receive no payments this season.

Adamstown president John Connors confirmed his club will also not pay players this year and said "they have all pretty much agreed to play for nothing".

"It wasn't a trade-off, but they asked if they could train only two nights a week because there were some nights they were missing work to come to training, and the same with game days," Connors said.

"They said if it comes to playing soccer or having to work, we're going to have to work, so we said that's fine."

Connors said although he had no real concerns about his players "kicking up a stink", he believed a verbal agreement between the clubs to not take first-grade talent from each other this season would help squads retain rosters.

Clubs came to the agreement during meetings to discuss concerns and potential competition models for a condensed 2020 season. The NPL was set to kick off when soccer nationwide was suspended in mid-March because of COVID-19.

However, there has been at least one movement between first-grade squads since the agreement. Weston midfielder Kaleb Cox has switched to Lambton Jaffas.

Weston president Rod Henderson, though, said officials and coaches at both clubs had discussed the move and the Bears had given their approval.

Connors, meanwhile, hoped the shortened competition would give young talent a chance to shine.

"I think a few of the bigger clubs would prefer to not play the season, but we would like to play the season to give all our players a fair go," he said.

"Our youth teams over the years have done quite well and the first under 13s team we had six or seven years ago are now in the 18s and 20s, with a couple in first grade. There might be a few opportunities for kids that wouldn't have been there had this not happened."

waive regos

It's going to be hard with no gate, no canteen or beer shed.

Obviously every team is going to try to go out there and win it, but you've got a different feeling about the season because it's a 13-round comp,

And we've got a lot of kids in the youth who play cricket or do nippers.

At the end of the day, you've got to put the club first.

sponsors pay a bit up front but you can't expect more. going to ask again in four months.

courtesy call to sponsors who said they

They said we may not be able to fulfill our obligations, and I said I can't fulf

everyone's got to take a hit somewhere