Northern Football Netball League

The Northern Football Netball League, formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League and later the Northern Football League, is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in the Diamond Valley region of suburban Melbourne, Victoria.

History

The league was founded in 1922, originally having six clubs, three of whom still participate. In 1941 the league went into recess for five years as a result of World War II, the competition recommencing in 1946. After the war the league continued to grow.

Formation of Division Two

In 1981 the league was split into two divisions. The top 10 teams at the end of the 1980 season formed Division One for the 1981 season. Division Two was formed by the 4 bottom placed teams from the 1980 season and 4 new teams making their debut for the 1981 season.

Renaming of the League

The entire DVFL board resigned over the summer of 2006–2007 and was replaced by officials from AFL Victoria until suitable replacements were found before the start of the 2008 season. At the end of the 2017 season, the NFL was renamed the NFNL to incorporate Netball under the one banner- the NFNL.

Formation of Division Three

In 2008, the NFL added an open-age netball competition and announced an intention that a third division would be added for the 2009 season with the old 14 team second division to be split into eight and six team divisions, however Kinglake and Wallan both left the league so the NFL did not proceed. In 2009, the NFL stated that a permanent Division Three for 2010 would be dependent on at least one more club joining the league. With St Mary's indicating that they intended to field a senior team in 2010, the NFL announced a stand-alone Division Three to commence from 2010. Reversing an earlier decision, the NFL decided that Division Two would be split during the 2009 season based on ladder position after the 13th round once all teams had played each other once, with the top 8 teams remaining in Division Two and the bottom 6 teams forming Division Three for the remaining games of the season. It was also decided that the newly formed Division Three would play a finals series in 2009, but the premier would not gain promotion to Division Two as these teams had already been relegated for the 2009 season. At the end of Round 13, Diamond Creek, Epping, Fitzroy Stars, Lower Plenty, Macleod, Mernda, Watsonia and Whittlesea formed the top 8 teams and remained in Division Two, whilst Heidelberg West, Hurstbridge, Panton Hill, Parkside, Reservoir and South Morang were the bottom 6 teams and formed the new Division Three.

League details

AFL Victoria Community Championships

In 2016, the Northern Football Netball League began playing in the AFL Victoria Community Championships for metropolitan and country competitions to challenge each other for the title of best football league in Victoria. In 2016, the league were defeated by the Mornington Peninsula Nepean Football League to be fifth. The next year the league defeated the Western Region Football League and were ranked fourth. In 2018, the league avenged its 2016 defeat by the MPNFL to be ranked second. In 2019, the Northern Football Netball League defeated the Geelong Football League to become the number one ranked league in Victoria.

Key people

Chairman – Scott Walker
CEO – Peter McDougall
Presidents

Secretaries

Senior competition

Clubs

Division 1

Division 2

Division 3

Promotion and Relegation

At the end of each year the Premiers of Division 2 and 3 are promoted, while the clubs that finish bottom in Division 1 and 2 are relegated.

Premiership Timeline^Note">Northern Football League (Australia)#Footnote">^Note

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text:Competition renamed NFL