The Darwin Football Association is an Australian rules football league in Tasmania. The clubs belonging to the association are from localities close to Burnie and on the West Coast 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.Burnie Advocate 1951 Yeoman and APPM were previously members of the North West Football UnionBurnie Advocate 1950 and Tewkesbury a member of the Ridgley Football Association.Burnie Advocate 1950 But in 1952 the numbers increased by three with the inclusion of Somerset, Mooreville and Ridgley.Burnie Advocate 1952 The arrival of Myalla and Yolla in 1953 increased the number again to eight clubs combined with the departure of Tewkesbury.Burnie Advocate 1953

In 1955 the number of clubs dropped back to six with Montello and Somerset departing,Burnie Advocate 1955 and then following season APPM changed their name to South Burnie.Burnie Advocate 1956 In 1959 Mooreville had merged with Somerset to form the Cam FCBurnie Advocate 1959 as the competition remained more or less stable.

In 1965 the folding of the Riana Football Association brought Natone and Cuprona to the competition.Burnie Advocate 1965 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 1973Burnie Advocate 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.Burnie Advocate 1982 The DFA introduced a final five in 1986.Burnie Advocate 1986 In 1994, Queenstown "Crows"—a merger of the Queenstown-based clubs from the Western Tasmanian Football Association—joined the competition.Burnie Advocate 1994

Numbers started to fall in 1996 when Sprent departed for the North Western Football Association,Burnie Advocate 1996 and then the following season South Burnie decided to try their luck in the Northern Tasmanian Football League,Burnie Advocate 1997 but they returned in 1999.Burnie Advocate 1999 In 2002 West Ulverstone followed Sprent to the North West Football Association, and in 2006 after many years in existence Myalla foldedBurnie Advocate 2006 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.

Natone re-entered recess prior to the 2024 season.

Clubs

Locations Club locations - Burnie & surroundsClub locations - Queenstown

Current ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in DFADFA PremiershipsTotal Premierships Cuprona BulldogsHeybridge Recreation Ground, HeybridgeRFA1911 1965-2 1977, 2000 Queenstown CrowsQueenstown Oval, Queenstown–1994 1994-5 1997, 2014, 2021, 2024, 2026 Ridgley SaintsRidgley Recreation Ground, RidgleyRFA1891 1952-12 1955, 1956, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1989, 2007, 2008, 2009 Somerset KangaroosLangley Park, Somerset–19591959-7 1960, 1961, 1963, 1972, 1982, 2010, 2019 South Burnie HawksWivenhoe Recreation Ground, WivenhoeNWFU, NWFL1941 1951-1996, 1999-16 1954, 1959, 1962, 1967, 1968, 1994, 1995, 2004, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2023, 2025 Yeoman Robins WivenhoeNWFU1890s 1951-5 1951, 1952, 1978, 1993, 1998 Yolla DemonsYolla Recreation Ground, YollaRFA1935 1951-13 1979, 1980, 1981, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1992, 2005, 2006, 2022

Former clubs ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in DFADFA PremiershipsFateTotalPremiershipsMooreville RoadKangaroosSomerset Recreation Ground, SomersetRFA19481952-19590 -Merged with Somerset to form Cam in 1960MontelloMagpies, MaulersMontello Recreation Ground, Montello–19511951-195511953Folded after 30 players were suspended for life due to violence in 1955MyallaTigersMyalla Recreation Ground, Sisters CreekTCFA19121953–200661957, 1958, 1974, 1975, 1976, 2003Folded after 2006 seasonNatoneMagpiesNatone Recreation Ground, NatoneRFA19211965–2018, 2021-202371973, 1990, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2011Entered recess in 2019, re-formed in 2021, entered recess again in 2024.Somerset (original)Ringtails–19521952-19540 -Entered recess after 1954 season, merged with Mooreville Road to form Cam in 1960Sprent(1980s)(1990s)Sprent Recreation Ground, SprentLFA19081982-19960 -Moved to North Western FA in 1997West UlverstoneLionsWest Ulverstone Football Ground, West UlverstoneLFA19731982-200111985Moved to North Western FA in 2001

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 2023 South Burnie 2024 Queenstown 2025 South Burnie 2026 Queenstown

2009 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts Ridgley 13 0 1 0 1857 942 197.13 52 Elimination Natone 13 20 98 Somerset 5 7 37 South Burnie 9 0 5 0 1593 1162 137.09 36 Qualifying South Burnie 10 13 73 Yolla 9 15 69 Yolla 9 0 5 0 1358 1111 122.23 36 1st Semi Natone 11 15 81 Yolla 5 12 42 Natone 8 0 6 0 1388 1130 122.83 32 2nd Semi Ridgley 11 9 75 South Burnie 6 10 46 Somerset 8 0 6 0 1588 1315 120.76 32 Preliminary Natone 13 15 93 South Burnie 12 10 82 Yeoman 4 0 10 0 1151 1460 78.84 16 Grand Ridgley 8 9 57 Natone 6 12 48 Queenstown Crows 4 0 10 0 1024 1742 58.78 16 Cuprona 1 0 13 0 1092 2189 49.89 4 2010 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts South Burnie 16 0 2 0 2503 1216 205.84 64 Elimination Somerset 22 15 147 Ridgley 17 12 114 Natone 15 0 3 0 2308 1282 180.03 60 Qualifying Natone 16 11 107 Yolla 12 14 86 Yolla 11 0 7 0 2064 1201 171.86 44 1st Semi Somerset 14 10 94 Yolla 6 9 45 Somerset 11 0 7 0 2181 1373 158.85 44 2nd Semi Natone 9 9 63 South Burnie 4 8 32 Ridgley 9 0 9 0 1586 1658 95.66 36 Preliminary Somerset 10 8 68 South Burnie 9 7 61 Queenstown Crows 5 0 13 0 1358 1977 68.69 20 Grand Somerset 16 7 103 Natone 10 13 73 Yeoman 3 0 15 0 1112 2116 52.55 12 Cuprona 2 0 16 0 1086 3375 32.18 8 2011 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts Yolla 14 0 4 0 2252 1271 177.18 56 Elimination Natone 14 10 94 South Burnie 11 20 86 Queenstown Crows 14 0 4 0 2188 1383 158.21 56 Qualifying Queenstown Crows 14 10 94 Ridgley 13 11 89 Ridgley 12 0 5 1 2179 1355 160.81 50 1st Semi Natone 17 14 116 Ridgley 11 12 78 Natone 10 0 7 1 1992 1626 122.51 42 2nd Semi Queenstown Crows 12 16 88 Yolla 7 22 64 South Burnie 10 0 8 0 2230 1602 139.20 40 Preliminary Natone 14 14 98 Yolla 14 11 95 Somerset 9 0 9 0 2174 1547 140.53 36 Grand Natone 12 17 89 Queenstown Crows 11 10 76 Yeoman 1 0 17 0 927 2723 34.04 4 Cuprona 1 0 17 0 919 3354 27.40 4

2012 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts Ridgley 16 0 2 0 2687 1077 249.49 64 Elimination Queenstown Crows 19 13 127 Somerset 6 13 49 South Burnie 14 0 4 0 2241 1228 182.49 56 Qualifying South Burnie 9 10 64 Natone 5 14 44 Natone 13 0 5 0 2529 1231 205.44 52 1st Semi Natone 25 7 157 Queenstown Crows 12 15 87 Queenstown Crows 9 0 9 0 2120 1451 146.11 36 2nd Semi Ridgley 20 9 129 South Burnie 11 16 82 Somerset 8 0 10 0 2048 1760 116.36 32 Preliminary South Burnie 10 14 74 Natone 6 11 47 Yolla 8 0 10 0 1841 1597 115.28 32 Grand South Burnie 15 17 107 Ridgley 10 15 75 Yeoman 4 0 14 0 1341 2495 53.75 16 Cuprona 0 0 18 0 422 4390 9.61 0 2013 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts South Burnie 16 0 2 0 2781 1082 257.02 64 Elimination Yeoman 11 12 78 Somerset 10 6 66 Ridgley 15 0 3 0 2534 1189 213.12 60 Qualifying Ridgley 14 13 97 Queenstown Crows 7 15 57 Queenstown Crows 13 0 5 0 2139 1609 132.94 52 1st Semi Queenstown Crows 13 17 95 Yeoman 7 14 56 Somerset 11 0 7 0 2168 1587 136.61 44 2nd Semi Ridgley 16 13 109 South Burnie 16 9 105 Yeoman 9 0 9 0 1922 1789 107.43 36 Preliminary South Burnie 21 19 145 Queenstown Crows 9 10 64 Yolla 5 0 13 0 1437 2084 68.95 20 Grand South Burnie 18 11 119 Ridgley 10 9 69 Cuprona 2 0 16 0 983 3067 32.05 8 Natone 1 0 17 0 1147 2704 42.42 4 2014 Ladder DarwinFA Wins Byes Losses Draws For Against % Pts Final Team G B Pts Team G B Pts South Burnie 16 0 2 0 3261 861 378.75 64 Elimination Ridgley 19 18 132 Natone 4 6 30 Queenstown Crows 15 0 2 1 2864 943 303.71 62 Qualifying Queenstown Crows 16 14 110 Somerset 14 10 94 Somerset 14 0 4 0 2656 1185 224.14 56 1st Semi Somerset 23 19 157 Ridgley 11 12 78 Ridgley 10 0 7 1 2275 1599 142.28 42 2nd Semi Queenstown Crows 14 21 105 South Burnie 16 7 103 Natone 7 0 11 0 1577 2297 68.65 28 Preliminary Somerset 23 9 147 South Burnie 12 13 85 Yeoman 6 0 12 0 1247 2492 50.04 24 Grand Queenstown Crows 12 13 85 Somerset 11 9 75 Yolla 2 0 16 0 851 3486 24.41 8 Cuprona 1 0 17 0 995 2863 34.75 4 See also Queenstown Oval, Tasmania

Footnotes

Further reading

External links Darwin Football Association official website DFA scores repository Football Tasmania list of associations