Soccer in New South Wales
| Soccer in New South Wales | |
|---|---|
Fans at a Western Sydney Wanderers game | |
| Country | New South Wales |
| Governing body | Football NSW Northern New South Wales Football |
| Representative teams | New South Wales Metropolitan, New South Wales Country, Northern New South Wales |
| Nickname(s) | Soccer, football |
| First played | 1880, Parramatta |
| Registered players | 471,480 |
National competitions | |
Club competitions | |
| |
Soccer in New South Wales is a popular participation and spectator sport. It is organised and managed on a state level by two separate governing bodies; Football NSW and Northern New South Wales Football which are affiliated at a national level to Football Federation Australia.
New South Wales and the state historically has had a large influence on soccer in Australia. It has the most registered soccer players in the country, with over 471,480 and the most teams in the professional A-League competition.
New South Wales has the highest participation of any football playing state in the country, with a total of 7% of the population regularly playing or watching the sport.