THE HISTORY OF THE NORTH WESTERN FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

The North Western Football Association is the longest running Football Competition in Tasmania. Starting in 1894 it has been a valuable breeding ground for the now defunct NWFU and Statewide Football competitions and the current NTFL competition.

Started at a meeting in the Formby hotel in 1894 the first clubs were Devonport, Latrobe, Mersey and Ulverstone. The NWFA was the senior football body on the coast. In 1910 their was a break away group of teams that formed the NWFU and the NWFA was now looked as a junior competitions feeding the NWFU teams.

The Association has seen many teams come and go from all parts of the North west coast. These include Burnie, Penguin, Mole Creek, Wilmot, Barrington, Don, East Devonport, Moriarty, Sassafras, Melrose and Gowrie Park to mention a few of the 50 or so that have participated.

The Association has shown that it supports the development of football buy excepting teams all areas over the last 100 years. Teams like Rosebery, Gowrie Park, Mole Creek and Melrose are all teams that have had their competitions fold, or work has been booming in the area and teams have formed. The Association welcomes these teams for as long as the work is there or as in Rosebery's case supporting one of only two teams on the West Coast.

There have been many successful teams within the Association, now defunct club Mersey won 13 premierships between 1894 and 1949, Forth have picked up 17 flags and Wesley Vale lead the pack with 20 premierships. Three clubs have won the premiership four times in a row with Forth 1937-40, Gowrie Park 1967-70 and Spreyton 1975-78. Mersey had an amazing run between 1898 and 1909. They appeared in 11 Grand Finals for a return of 8 Premierships.

In 1970 each club started a reserves team and the Association expanded. This competition has seen many junior players grow into strong Country footballers or move onto Senior competitions and perform well.

Existing Clubs in 2008 are:

Forth




Wesley Vale




Rosebery Toorak




Spreyton




Motton Preston




East Ulverstone




West Ulverstone




Turners Beach




Sheffield

The North Western Football Association has been an important part of Tasmanian Football history and continues to breed the next generation of Australian Rules footballers.