Northern Territory Football League

The Northern Territory Football League (NTFL) is an Australian rules football competition, operating in Greater Darwin and the Northern Territory, formerly run by the Northern Territory Football League Incorporated and, since 3 September 2001, is a business name of the AFL Northern Territory Limited. The NTFL is currently branded "TIO NTFL" under sponsorship naming rights held by Allianz, which owns the Territory Insurance Office (TIO). It operates a semi-professional senior men's competition as well as competitions for women (NTFL Women's) and underagers (U12-U18 boys and girls) (NTFL Juniors).

It is one of few (and the highest level) Australian football competitions played during the Australian Summer with the season beginning in October and ending in March, because cricket cannot be played during the wet season, due to high levels of rain, resulting in the football and cricket seasons being swapped. It regularly attracts high-profile semi-professional players from interstate competitions due to its lack of salary cap and the timing of the season, which allows players to play extra matches during the off-season of other competitions. While most other Australian football competitions in Australia operate during the southern hemisphere winter, the NTFL chooses to play in the Northern Territory's 'wet season' from October to March, primarily due to hard playing surfaces and the need to play cricket during the 'dry season'.

History

The NTFL was founded in 1916 with The Wanderers Football Club and Waratah Football Club as founding members. Waratahs are the only club to have competed in every season of the NTFL. Darwin (Buffalos Football Club) was formed in 1917, Nightcliff in 1950, St Marys in 1952, Palmerston in 1972 (as North Darwin), Southern Districts in 1987 and the Tiwi Bombers in 2006 (with full entry in 2007).

The 1974-75 season was abandoned due to the devastation from Cyclone Tracy.

In the 1990s, it ran into financial problems, primarily due to the Northern Territory government luring the league to the new purpose-built stadium at Marrara Oval after its construction in 1991. The move pushed its operating costs up drastically despite contrary promises from the NT government. On 3 September 2001, the businesses of the formerly independent Northern Territory Football League Incorporated, which had overseen Australian Football in the NT since 1917, were taken-over by the Melbourne-based Australian Football League (AFL), causing disquiet among supporters of Australian Football in the Northern Territory. The Northern Territory Football League Incorporated was subsequently wound-up and de-registered on 19 September 2002, ending its long history and local control of Australian Football. The name, Northern Territory Football League is now owned by the AFL and licenced to AFL NT as a registered business name. NTFL board member Darryl Window orchestrated the takeover.

During its history, it has exported successful players to other Australian football competitions and leagues, notable players have included Michael McLean, Maurice Rioli and Michael Long.

In 2006, it was announced that a team representing the Tiwi Islands, called the ''Super Tiwis'' would be added to the 2006/07 season for eight games against teams that would normally have the bye. They became a permanent part of the competition in the 07/08 season as the Tiwi Bombers, clad in Essendon Football Club style guernseys of black and red.

There was also a push for an NTFL representative club to compete in the Adelaide-based South Australian National Football League (SANFL). The first of a series of trial matches was held in 2006, with a long term view of admitting a Darwin side into the SANFL. A strong crowd at Marrara Oval witnessed SANFL club North Adelaide defeat a composite NTFL squad by 27 points, demonstrating that a Darwin team could be competitive. There was a push to make the event an annual match,NTFL vs North Adelaide
/ref> however, the NTFL decided on fielding a side in the AFL Queensland State League from 2009 (which became the Northern Conference of the North East Australian Football League in 2011) and the Northern Territory Football Club was formed.

In 2010 it was decided to merge the NTFL with the Top End Australian Football Association (TEAFA) to create a three division competition in which the NTFL would make the premier League whilst the NTFL reserve competition and clubs from the TEAFA would incorporate the First Division and Second Divisions.

The 2012/2013 season saw Banks Bulldogs and the Central Australian Football Club placed on a four-match trial in the premier League, for possible full-time inclusion. The Bulldogs, originally a part of the TEAFA competition, would stay in the NTFL Division One competition. But the CAFC team would continue their trial run in the premier League, the number of games extended to 10 for the 2013/2014 season. However, the side did not become a permanent team in the competition.

Competition structure

The competition consists of both junior and senior divisions.

The A Grade competition is known as the NTFL Men's Premier League and has nine clubs: Darwin, Nightcliff, Palmerston, PINT, Southern Districts, St Mary's, Tiwi Bombers, Wanderers, and Waratah.

The men's reserves are divided into three divisions known as Men's Premier League Reserves (B Grade), Division 1 (C Grade), and Division 2 (D Grade): Premier League Reserves consists of all Premier League teams except Tiwi, who are replaced with Banks. Divisions 1 and 2 include thirds teams of the premier League clubs, except for the Tiwi Bombers (Palmerston are affiliated with former TEAFA club University), along with the senior teams of two other clubs which were formerly in the TEAFA competition in Banks and Tracy Village, and the Jabiru Bombers.

The Women's Premier League competition has consisted of the nine Men's Premier League clubs since 2023. Division 1 (B Grade) and 2 (C Grade) Women's hold the reserves for Women's Premier League (some sides) with the addition of Banks, Tracy Village, and Jabiru.

The junior division is broken into age groups: Under 18's, Under 16's, Under 14's, Under 12's, and Under 10's with Boys and Girls divisions across all and Under 12's and 10's having mixed divisions. The Under 18's is the only junior division with a fixed number of clubs, including all Premier League clubs except for the Tiwi Bombers; While the rest of the junior divisions vary based on participation levels each year, there are eleven clubs with juniors, the nine Premier League clubs, Tracy Village and Banks.

Clubs

Current clubs

Uniforms

Former clubs

Former Premier League clubs

Other former clubs

Northern Territory Football League club songs

Coverage

Media

Television

In 2006, NTFL premier league matches were broadcast nationally for the first time ever on ABC2 each Sunday afternoon from February to March. Previously the matches had only been shown in the Territory on ABC Darwin. In 2008, it reverted to local broadcasting. During the 2014/15 season, the Saturday 3.00pm premier league match was broadcast live on ABC in Darwin. During the 2017/18 season, Southern Cross TV broadcast one game a week on Sunday afternoons. Previously, National Indigenous Television (NITV) broadcast replays of one game a week throughout the week starting Sunday afternoons. KommunityTV (NT News) has broadcast all Men's Premier League matches and one Women's Premier League match per week, with the most recent agreement signed until the conclusion of the 2023/24 season. 7Plus has streamed selected Men's Premier League Finals Matches in the 2023/24, and 2024/25 Seasons.

Radio

During the 2014/15 season, one premier league match was broadcast on ABC Local Radio, the match was either the late or early Saturday game and was an alternate match to the TV-broadcast game. In 2017/18, ABC continued to broadcast one game a week on the digital radio frequency 105.7FM with a commentary team including Dominic McCormack, Natasha Medbury and Kieran Davis. Starting in the 2021/22 season, SEN started radio broadcasts for some NTFL Premier League games.

Internet

Internet broadcasting commenced through YouTube during the 2012/2013 season, followed by its inclusion on the ABC iView on-demand service the 2013/2014 season which uses the recordings taken from the match day broadcast. The TV broadcast match was simulcast live on ABC Grandstand on YouTube during the 2014/15 season. In the 2024/25 season, the AFLNTv YouTube channel live streams some games (excluding Men's Premier League) and posts highlights of broadcast games.

Attendance

The NTFL attracts strong local crowds. The 2005 Grand final attracted a crowd of over 5,000 people. One of the biggest crowds was the 2010/11 Grand Final between St Mary's and Wanderers, with the Wanderers prevailing with a 28-point win, which attracted an over 9,000 crowd.

Men Premier League premiership tally

Wooden Spoon tally

Competition timeline

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Women's Premier League

The Woman's NTFL competition was all started in 2004 and currently has 9 teams enrolling.

Teams

Premier League Clubs

Grand Finals

See also

*AFL Northern Territory
*Australian rules football in the Northern Territory

Notes

References

External links

PlayHQ

Official Website

{{Australian rules football in Australia

Sport in Darwin, Northern Territory
Australian rules football competitions in the Northern Territory
Professional sports leagues in Australia