Nepal Domestic Football Hub: ANFA A-Division League & Nepal Super League

Club football in Nepal is overseen by the All Nepal Football Association (ANFA), formed in 2030 BS (1973 AD), which is a member of both the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and FIFA. ANFA administers a tiered domestic pyramid whose apex, for traditional club football, is the Martyr's Memorial A-Division League. Below it sit the B-Division and C-Division leagues, with promotion and relegation connecting the tiers so that a club can rise season by season from the lower divisions to the top flight.

The A-Division League is the historic championship of Nepali football and, for most of its life, the primary route through which clubs qualify for continental competition such as the AFC Cup (now AFC Challenge League). Alongside it, ANFA and its partners have introduced newer formats, most prominently the franchise-based Nepal Super League (NSL), which runs as a short, city-branded tournament rather than a long home-and-away season.

Because the two competitions differ in structure, ownership model and calendar, it is best to think of them as complementary rather than as a single ladder. The A-Division is a club-membership league contested over several months; the NSL is a franchise event owned by investors and organised with commercial branding. Both draw strong domestic interest, particularly in season, and both are centred on the Kathmandu Valley's major stadiums.

The Martyr's Memorial A-Division League traces its roots to early tournaments organised to honour Nepal's martyrs, with the modern league's inaugural season dated to 1954-55 (2011 BS), won by Mahabir Club. Administered by ANFA, it is the top tier of traditional club football in Nepal and has been played, with periodic interruptions caused by financial and organisational disputes, ever since. For sponsorship reasons the competition has carried names such as the Qatar Airways Martyr's Memorial A-Division League.

The league is typically contested by 14 teams playing a double round-robin, meaning each side faces every other club twice, home and away, across a season that has generally run in the November-to-March window (though disputes have repeatedly shifted these dates). The champion is the club topping the table at the season's end; the lowest-placed teams are relegated to the B-Division, while B-Division sides earn promotion in their place.

Most A-Division football is staged at Kathmandu Valley venues, chiefly the Dasarath Rangasala (Dasharath Stadium) in Tripureshwar, the ANFA Complex in Satdobato, Lalitpur, and Chyasal Stadium in Lalitpur. Continental qualification has historically been tied to league position, though clubs must also meet AFC club-licensing criteria to actually enter Asian competition, which has occasionally changed which Nepali side represents the country abroad.

Since its inception the A-Division League has produced champions from a range of Kathmandu-based clubs, with a handful of sides dominating. Manang Marshyangdi Club is the record holder, having won the national championship a reported eight times, with title-winning campaigns including 1986, 1987, 1989, 2000, 2003, 2005-06, 2013-14 and 2018-19. Traditional powers such as the New Road Team, Nepal Police Club and Ranipokhari Corner Team also feature heavily in the historical roll of honour.

The most recent seasons illustrate how the competitive picture has broadened. Machhindra FC won back-to-back titles in 2019-20 and 2021-22, its most successful spell. Then, in the 2023 season, Church Boys United completed what the Kathmandu Post called a 'fairytale run', winning the A-Division title in its debut top-flight season after consecutive promotions; Machhindra finished runner-up on 45 points that year.

Because Church Boys United could not secure AFC club licensing after its 2023 triumph, Machhindra FC took the country's continental slot for the 2023-24 AFC Cup instead, a reminder that in Nepal the league champion and the continental representative are not always the same club.

Manang Marshyangdi Club was established in 1982 in the Kathmandu Valley by members of the Manang community and quickly grew into the most decorated name in Nepali club football. Officially based around Swayambhu, Kathmandu, the club plays its home matches primarily at the Dasharath Stadium and has, since around the 2021-22 season, also staged some fixtures in Pokhara. Its record haul of national titles has made 'Manang' a byword for domestic success.

Three Star Club was formed in 2031 BS (1974 AD) and rose through the divisions, reaching the A-Division in the early 1980s. The Kathmandu club won the A-Division League four times, in 1997, 1998, 2004 and 2013, and added the Red Bull National League title in 2015. Three Star has also been a strong performer in Nepal's many invitational gold-cup tournaments, winning the Budha Subba Gold Cup on several occasions.

These two clubs, along with departmental and institutional sides, defined the pre-franchise era of Nepali football. Their long histories, loyal followings and repeated title challenges are a large part of why searches for 'Manang Marshyangdi' and 'Three Star Club' remain steady among domestic football fans during the season.

Machhindra FC is a Kathmandu club based in the Keltole area of the old city, with a founding year commonly given as 1973. For much of its history it was a mid-table top-flight side, but it broke through with consecutive A-Division championships in 2019-20 and 2021-22, and it has become one of the more consistent Nepali sides in continental qualifying, playing home matches at the Dasarath Rangasala.

Church Boys United is a newer force whose ascent captured national attention. The club climbed from the lower divisions through successive promotions and, on 6 June 2023, won the A-Division title in its first top-tier season, an unusually rapid rise for a Nepali club. Reports place the club's base in the Lalitpur area, with matches played at the Dasharath Stadium.

The contrasting stories of these clubs, an established Kathmandu side and a fast-rising newcomer, show how the A-Division has remained competitive even as the franchise NSL has drawn commercial attention. Both clubs supply players to the national team and feature regularly in domestic cup competitions.

The Nepal Super League (NSL) is Nepal's first professional franchise club football league. Launched on 21 February 2021, it is organised by Nepal Sports and Events Management (NSEM) with technical support from ANFA, and it borrows the city-franchise model popular in South Asian cricket. Rather than promotion and relegation, NSL teams are investor-owned franchises tied to Nepali cities, assembled partly through a player draft or auction and topped up with foreign signings.

The competition is short and playoff-driven. In its 2025 edition, badged the Ncell Nepal Super League for sponsorship reasons, seven franchises played a single round-robin league stage, after which the top four advanced to qualifier and eliminator playoff matches to decide the two finalists. Most matches are staged at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu, giving the tournament a concentrated, festival-like feel over a few weeks.

The seven core franchises are Kathmandu Rayzrs (Kathmandu), Lalitpur City FC (Lalitpur), FC Chitwan (Bharatpur/Chitwan), Pokhara Thunders (Pokhara), Butwal Lumbini FC (Butwal), Dhangadhi FC (Dhangadhi) and, more recently, Jhapa FC (Jhapa). Ownership sits with prominent Nepali business houses and entrepreneurs; for example, Pokhara Thunders has been associated with the Laxmi Group, FC Chitwan with the IME/Global group's Dhakal family, and Dhangadhi FC with interests linked to the Chaudhary Group.

Kathmandu Rayzrs won the inaugural NSL in 2021, beating Dhangadhi FC in the final on 15 May 2021. Lalitpur City FC then won the 2023-24 edition, again defeating Dhangadhi in the final, and successfully defended the crown in 2025, beating Pokhara Thunders 2-1 at the Dasharath Stadium to become the league's most successful franchise with two titles. Dhangadhi FC holds the unwanted distinction of two runner-up finishes.

The key differences from the A-Division are structural. The A-Division is an open, membership-based league with promotion and relegation, a long double round-robin season and continental qualification tied to league position and AFC licensing. The NSL is a closed, franchise-based tournament with fixed teams, a short single round-robin plus playoffs, and a commercial ownership model built around city branding and player auctions.

For fans and searchers, the two competitions serve different needs. The A-Division carries decades of club heritage and the weight of national records, while the NSL offers a compact, high-profile spectacle that has helped raise the commercial profile of Nepali football. Both remain central to the domestic season, and both are covered here so readers can find champions, clubs and formats in one place.