The Darwin Football Association is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

league in

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

. The clubs belonging to the association are from localities close to

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popul ...

and on the

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of Tasmania. This includes Queenstown, making this competition the only competition in Australia to play some of its games on a gravel surface.

History

The current form of the Darwin Football Association (DFA) was created in 1951. A previous version existed from 1938 to 1944 but appears unrelated despite two of the DFA's foundation clubs being in the competition. The first season featured just four clubs: Yeoman, Tewkesbury, APPM and Montello. Yeoman and APPM were previously members of the

North West Football Union The North West Football Union (NWFU) was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football Asso ...

and Tewkesbury a member of the Ridgley Football Association. But in 1952 the numbers increased by three with the inclusion of Somerset, Mooreville and Ridgley. The arrival of Myalla and Yolla in 1953 increased the number again to eight clubs combined with the departure of Tewkesbury. In 1955 the number of clubs dropped back to six with Montello and Somerset departing, and then following season APPM changed their name to South Burnie. In 1959 Mooreville had merged with Somerset to form the Cam FC as the competition remained more or less stable. In 1965 the folding of the Riana Football Association brought Natone and Cuprona to the competition. This brought the competition up to eight clubs, and has never dropped below that number since. Another period of stability followed with only Cam reverting to Somerset FC in 1973 to create any ripples. In 1982 the competition expanded to ten clubs with the inclusion of Sprent and West Ulverstone from the Leven Football Association. The DFA introduced a final five in 1986. In 1994, Queenstown "Crows"—a merger of the Queenstown-based clubs from the

Western Tasmanian Football Association The Western Tasmanian Football Association was an Australian Rules Football competition based on the West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. The competition was made up of mostly miners living and working on the State's West Coast. Of all the club ...

—joined the competition. Numbers started to fall in 1996 when Sprent departed for the

North Western Football Association The North Western Football Association is an Australian rules football competition based on the North West Coast of Tasmania, Australia. Origins The North Western Football Association was formed at a meeting at the Formby Hotel in 1894 and i ...

, and then the following season South Burnie decided to try their luck in the

Northern Tasmanian 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 ...

, but they returned in 1999. In 2002 West Ulverstone followed Sprent to the North West Football Association, and in 2006 after many years in existence Myalla folded bringing the number of clubs back to eight for the first time since 1981. Due to a shortage of players Natone went into recess for the 2019 season. Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic during 2020, the complete 2020 DFA Season was cancelled. Natone have re-joined the league for the 2021 season.

Premiers

*1951 Yeoman *1952 Yeoman *1953 Montello *1954 APPM *1955 Ridgley *1956 Ridgley *1957 Myalla *1958 Myalla *1959 South Burnie *1960 Cam *1961 Cam *1962 South Burnie *1963 Cam *1964 Ridgley *1965 Ridgley *1966 Ridgley *1967 South Burnie *1968 South Burnie *1969 Ridgley *1970 Ridgley *1971 Ridgley *1972 Cam *1973 Natone *1974 Myalla *1975 Myalla *1976 Myalla *1977 Cuprona *1978 Yeoman *1979 Yolla *1980 Yolla *1981 Yolla *1982 Somerset *1983 Yolla *1984 Yolla *1985 West Ulverstone *1986 Yolla *1987 Yolla *1988 Yolla *1989 Ridgley *1990 Natone *1991 Yolla *1992 Yolla *1993 Yeoman *1994 South Burnie *1995 South Burnie *1996 Natone *1997 Queenstown *1998 Yeoman *1999 Natone *2000 Cuprona *2001 Natone *2002 Natone *2003 Myalla *2004 South Burnie *2005 Yolla *2006 Yolla *2007 Ridgley *2008 Ridgley *2009 Ridgley *2010 Somerset *2011 Natone *2012 South Burnie *2013 South Burnie *2014 Queenstown *2015 South Burnie *2016 South Burnie *2017 South Burnie *2018 South Burnie *2019 Somerset *2020 Season cancelled (Covid-19) *2021 Queenstown *2022 Yolla

Clubs

Former Clubs

2009 Ladder

2010 Ladder

2011 Ladder

2012 Ladder

2013 Ladder

2014 Ladder

Footnotes

External links

Darwin Football Association official website

DFA scores repository

Football Tasmania list of associations
{{Authority control Australian rules football competitions in Tasmania North West Tasmania Western Tasmania