Northern NSW Football will break new ground this season by introducing equal prizemoney for their men's and women's premier competitions.
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The National Premier Leagues (NPL) Men kicks off on Friday night while NPL Women starts with all four games this Saturday.
And, for the first time, the premiership and championship clubs will pocket the same amounts.
Premiers will get $10,000, up from $1500 in the women's game last season.
Grand final winners will receive $4000, an increase of $3000 for the women's champions.
"We're working really hard to make sure that we're positioning our men's and women's NPL competition on equal footing, something that we're committed to doing, and equal prizemoney is just one component of that," Northern NSW Football (NNSWF) chief Peter Haynes said on Monday.
"It's something that is overdue to a certain extent. It's something that our clubs and players deserve and is a relatively easy part of the process for us of aligning the two leagues, and something that we're happy and proud to do."
NNSWF's top-flight women's premier competition transitioned to NPL status in 2022.
Also new this year is the introduction of player transfer windows for NPLW. Clubs had until February 12 to submit a list of their players. The next opportunity to register players will be in May.
"Up until this year, players for NPLW could register right up until our 30th of June deadline, but as we move towards professionalising both the men's and women's game at the top level in our state we are moving towards essentially professional windows," NNSWF general manager football operations Liam Bentley told the Newcastle Herald.
"That means there's a window to register your players at the start of the season and a window to change mid-season, as in most professional leagues around the world.
"It stops that community-style movement of players at any time throughout the season and brings the alignment with the men's game."
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The men's and women's competitions are amateur status but NNSWF is moving towards professional status for both.
Promotion and relegation has been reintroduced for NNSWF men's competitions this year in what Haynes described as "the biggest NPL season we have ever had".
NPL competitions feature first and reserve grade and are underpinned by Premier Youth Leagues.
However, Mid Coast, who play in NPLW, will not field a team in reserve grade this year after losing around a dozen players from their senior squad in the off-season.