| North West Football League | |
| Last Season: | 2022 |
| Upcoming Season: | 2023 |
| Formerly: | Northern Tasmania Football League (1987–2014) |
| Sport: | Australian rules football |
| Ceo: | Morgan Hughes |
| President: | Andrew Richardson |
| Inaugural: | 1987 |
| Teams: | 7 |
| Country: | Australia |
| Continent: | or |
| Continents: | --> |
| Champion: | Devonport Football Club |
| Most Champs: | Ulverstone Robins (9 titles) |
| Website: | nwfl.com.au |
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.
Throughout and after the 1986 season, Northern Tasmania's two senior football competitions – the Launceston-based Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) and the north western coast's North Western Football Union (NWFU) – each lost several clubs to the new TFL Statewide League in 1986. The NTFA had lost North Launceston, East Launceston and City-South: and the NWFU had lost Devonport and Cooee. As a result, the two leagues were wound up, and the Northern Tasmanian Football League was established in 1987 to feature all of the remaining clubs. The NTFL was considered a lower tier than the Statewide League, unlike its predecessors which were of equal seniority.
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).[1]
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.[2] In early 2017, Burnie withdrew from this arrangement, which dropped the number of teams down to seven.[3] Then, in 2018, Burnie and Devonport withdrew their senior teams from the Statewide League and each entered the NWFL proper.[4] The league's senior premiership is now contested by seven clubs.
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
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DateFormat = yyyyPeriod = from:1986 till:2022TimeAxis = orientation:horizontalScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:1986 gridcolor:lgreyScaleMinor = 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) Legend = left:50 top:20 columnwidth:90
TextData= pos:(320,350) fontsize:L text:NTFL/NWFL Clubs
| Colours | width=170px | Club | Nickname | width=120px | Region | width=200px | Home Ground | width=150px | League years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnie | Dockers | 2001–08, 2015–16, 2018–present | |||||||
| Circular Head | Saints | Smithton Football Ground | 1987–2018, 2022–present | ||||||
| Magpies | 2001–08, 2015–present | ||||||||
| Latrobe | Demons | Darrel Baldock Oval | 1987–present | ||||||
| Penguin | Two Blues | Dial Park | 1987–present | ||||||
| Ulverstone | Robins | Ulverstone Recreation Ground | 1987–present | ||||||
| Wynyard | Cats | Wynyard Football Ground | 1987–present |
| Colours | Club | Mascot | League years | Fate | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burnie | Tigers | 1987–93 | Merged with the Burnie Hawks to form Burnie Dockers | ||
| Deloraine | Kangaroos | 1987–2003 | Joined the NTFA Division I | ||
| Swans | 1987–2020 | Club seniors in recess since 2021 | |||
| George Town | Saints | 1986-1990 | Joined the NTFA | ||
| Blues | 1987–93, 1998–2008 | Joined the Tasmanian State League | |||
| Longford | Tigers | 1987 | Joined the NTFA Division I | ||
| Bombers | 2001–08 | Joined the Tasmanian State League | |||
| Bulldogs | 1998–2008 | Joined the Tasmanian State League | |||
| Magpies | 1987–99 | Joined the NTFA Division I | |||
| South Burnie | Hawks | 1997–98 | Joined the Darwin Football Association |
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.