North West Football League

The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season.

History

The Northern Tasmanian Football League (NTFL) was founded in 1987 to replace the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) - no relation to the current NTFA - and the North Western Football Union (NWFU) which suffered as a result of the defection of clubs joining the new TFL Statewide League in 1986 – the NTFA had lost North Launceston and East Launceston to the TFL Statewide League at the start of 1986, then lost City-South midway through that season when it merged with East Launceston; the NWFU lost Devonport and Cooee to the Statewide League at the conclusion of the 1986 season.

After the collapse of the Statewide League at the end of 2000, the northern and coastal clubs from that competition returned to the NTFL and dominated the competition for the next eight years (Burnie and Launceston won the next eight premierships between them). With the revival of the Statewide League in 2009, the same five clubs left the NTFL again (North Launceston, South Launceston, Launceston, Burnie and Devonport), resulting in the contraction of the league to a six-club coastal composition.

In the early years, the NTFL was contested by a mixture of smaller northern and north-western clubs, but the northern clubs gradually departed, and since 2009 the league has been contested solely by clubs from the north-western coast, all with a NWFU history. Consequently, at the end of the 2014 season, the name of the league was changed to the North West Football League (NWFL).

In 2015, Burnie and Devonport rejoined the competition, each fielding its reserves team in the NWFL seniors while continuing to field its senior team in the Statewide League reserves; this increased the league numbers up to eight. In early 2017, Burnie withdrew from this arrangement, which dropped the number of teams down to seven. Then, in 2018, Burnie and Devonport withdrew their senior teams from the Statewide League and each entered the NWFL proper. The league's senior premiership is now contested by seven clubs.

Timeline

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BarData=
bar:W text:Wynyard
bar:U text:Ulverstone
bar:SL text:South Launceston
bar:SB text:South Burnie
bar:SC text:Scottsdale
bar:P text:Penguin
bar:NB text:Northern Bombers
bar:LO text:Longford
bar:LC text:Launceston
bar:LT text:Latrobe
bar:GT text:George Town
bar:ED text:East Devonport
bar:DV text:Devonport
bar:DE text:Deloraine
bar:SM text:Circular Head
bar:BT text:Burnie Tigers
bar:BD text:Burnie Dockers

Colors =
id:grey value:gray(0.4)
id:lgrey value:gray(0.8)
id:vlgrey value:gray(0.95)
id:premier value:brightblue legend: Premiers
id:orange value:orange legend: Reserves_team_only
id:name value:black

DateFormat = yyyy
Period = from:1986 till:2022
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal
ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1986 gridcolor:lgrey
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1986 gridcolor:vlgrey

PlotData=
color:lgrey width:12
bar:BD
from:2001 till:2008
from:2015 till:2016 color:orange
from:2018 till:end
at:2001 mark:(line,premier)
at:2002 mark:(line,premier)
at:2003 mark:(line,premier)
at:2004 mark:(line,premier)
at:2005 mark:(line,premier)
at:2018 mark:(line,premier)
at:2019 mark:(line,premier)
at:2020 mark:(line,premier)
bar:BT
from:1987 till:1994
at:1992 mark:(line,premier)
bar:DE
from:1987 till:2003
bar:DV
from:2001 till:2008
from:2015 till:2017 color:orange
from:2018 till:end
at:2021 mark:(line,premier)
bar:ED
from:1987 till:2020
at:1988 mark:(line,premier)
bar:GT
from:1987 till:1990
bar:LT
from:1987 till:end
at:2010 mark:(line,premier)
at:2011 mark:(line,premier)
at:2013 mark:(line,premier)
at:2016 mark:(line,premier)
bar:LC
from:1987 till:1993
from:1998 till:2008
at:2006 mark:(line,premier)
at:2007 mark:(line,premier)
at:2008 mark:(line,premier)
bar:LO
from:1987 till:1987
bar:NB
from:2001 till:2008
bar:P
from:1987 till:end
bar:SC
from:1987 till:1999
at:1989 mark:(line,premier)
bar:SM
from:1987 till:2018
from:2022 till:end
at:1991 mark:(line,premier)
bar:SB
from:1997 till:1998
bar:SL
from:1998 till:2008
at:1998 mark:(line,premier)
at:1999 mark:(line,premier)
bar:U
from:1987 till:end
at:1987 mark:(line,premier)
at:1990 mark:(line,premier)
at:1993 mark:(line,premier)
at:1994 mark:(line,premier)
at:1995 mark:(line,premier)
at:1996 mark:(line,premier)
at:1997 mark:(line,premier)
at:2000 mark:(line,premier)
at:2009 mark:(line,premier)
at:2017 mark:(line,premier)
bar:W
from:1987 till:end
at:2012 mark:(line,premier)
at:2014 mark:(line,premier)
at:2015 mark:(line,premier)

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TextData=
pos:(320,350) fontsize:L text:NTFL/NWFL Clubs

Clubs

Current clubs (2021)

Former NTFL/NWFL clubs

;Notes

Grand Finals

*2022 Devonport 7.17 (59) def Wynyard 7.10 (52) at Latrobe
*2021 Devonport 6.8 (44) def Penguin 5.11 (41) at Latrobe
*2020 Burnie 11.16 (82) def Devonport 6.7 (43) at Latrobe
*2019 Burnie 9.17 (71) def Devonport 9.8 (62) at Latrobe
*2018 Burnie 10.14 (74) def Ulverstone 8.10 (58) at Latrobe
*2017 Ulverstone 11.10 (76) def Latrobe 7.10 (52) at Latrobe
*2016 Latrobe 10.12 (72) def Penguin 9.15 (69) at Latrobe
*2015 Wynyard 19.14 (138) def Ulverstone 11.10 (76) at Latrobe
*2014 Wynyard 24.16 (160) def Ulverstone 6.8 (44) at Latrobe
*2013 Latrobe 22.16 (148) def Wynyard 14.17 (101) at Latrobe
*2012 Wynyard 11.12 (78) def Latrobe 8.17 (65) at Latrobe
*2011 Latrobe 18.15 (123) def Penguin 17.17 (119) at Latrobe
*2010 Latrobe 20.13 (133) def Ulverstone 16.7 (103) at Latrobe
*2009 Ulverstone 22.14 (146) def Smithton 8.10 (56) at Latrobe
*2008 Launceston 17.18 (120) def Burnie Dockers 14.23 (107) at Latrobe
*2007 Launceston 19.9 (123) def Ulverstone 16.12 (108) at Latrobe
*2006 Launceston 22.14 (146) def Devonport 13.11 (89) at Latrobe
*2005 Burnie Dockers 8.15 (63) def Devonport 6.10 (46) at Latrobe
*2004 Burnie Dockers 23.19 (157) def Devonport 7.8 (50) at Latrobe
*2003 Burnie Dockers 14.11 (95) def North Launceston 6.13 (49) at Latrobe
*2002 Burnie Dockers 14.5 (89) def Ulverstone 5.12 (47) at Latrobe
*2001 Burnie Dockers 17.14 (116) def North Launceston 7.10 (52) at Latrobe
*2000 Ulverstone 13.8 (86) def Latrobe 7.10 (52) at Latrobe
*1999 South Launceston 11.19 (85) def Smithton 7.8 (50) at Latrobe
*1998 South Launceston 9.11 (65) def East Devonport 9.4 (58) at Latrobe
*1997 Ulverstone 21.8 (134) def East Devonport 8.8 (56) at Latrobe
*1996 Ulverstone 18.13 (121) def Wynyard 8.11 (59) at Latrobe
*1995 Ulverstone 18.15 (123) def Wynyard 14.9 (93) at Latrobe
*1994 Ulverstone 11.8 (74) def Latrobe 7.8 (50) at Latrobe
*1993 Ulverstone 14.12 (96) def Scottsdale 8.7 (55) at Latrobe
*1992 Burnie Tigers 18.10 (118) def Penguin 10.5 (65) at West Park
*1991 Smithton 18.9 (117) def Ulverstone 10.9 (69) at West Park
*1990 Ulverstone 18.13 (121) def Scottsdale 12.7 (79) at West Park
*1989 Scottsdale 13.10 (88) def Smithton 10.10 (70) at West Park
*1988 East Devonport 20.7 (127) def Burnie Tigers 18.15 (123) at Devonport Oval
*1987 Ulverstone 13.19 (97) def East Devonport 12.12 (84) at West Park

Attendance

The Northern Tasmanian Football League is considered to be one of the strongest leagues in the state and has a strong supporter following.
Games in the NTFL average around 500 spectators.

References

External links

Official North Western Football League Website

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Australian rules football competitions in Tasmania