The Northern Football Netball League (NFNL), formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League (DVFL) and later the Northern Football League (NFL), 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 (Diamond Creek, Greensborough, Heidelberg West, Lalor, Macleod-Rosanna, Montmorency, North Heidelberg, Reservoir-Lakeside, Templestowe and Watsonia) for the 1981 season. Division Two was formed by the 4 bottom placed teams from the 1980 season (Eltham, Epping, Heidelberg and South Morang) and 4 new teams making their debut (Bundoora, Northcote Park, Reservoir and West Preston) 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 Name Start End R.Rogers 1922 1922 A.Santon 1923 1928 S.W.Kirkland 1928 1941 F.Smith 1946 1947 R.R.Scott 1948 1953 G.J.Gilberg 1954 1954 W.Hart 1955 1979 R.G.Ward 1980 2006 B.Treager 2007 2007
Secretaries Name Start End W.S.Laurie 1922 1940 G.J.LeBrocq 1941 1975 B.A.Tooth 1976 1983 P.G.Floyd 1983 2006 D.Collings 2007 2007
Senior competition
Clubs Division 1 ClubJumperNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in NFNLNFNL Senior PremiershipsTotal Most recentBanyuleBearsR.J Brockwell Oval, HeidelbergVAFA19672015-22022 Bundoora Bulls Yulong Reserve, Bundoora PHFL 1974 1981-6 2017 Diamond Creek Demons Coventry Oval, Diamond Creek HDFL 1904 1922-1937, 1946-8 2025ElthamPanthersEltham Central Park, ElthamVFLSD19091922-1935, 1938-132023 Greensborough Boro War Memorial Park, Greensborough HDFL 1893 1922-18 2014 Heidelberg Tigers Warringal Park, HeidelbergVFLSD 1876 1923-1925, 1928-1934, 1937-25 2026 Hurstbridge Bridges, Blues Ben Frilay Memorial Oval, Hurstbridge PHFL 1914 1923-1924, 1929, 1931, 1937-1938, 1988-3 2016 Montmorency Magpies Montmorency Park, North Oval, Montmorency – 1924 1925-1930, 1936-1940, 1946-4 1979 North Heidelberg Bulldogs Shelley Street Reserve. Heidelberg Heights – 1958 1958-1972, 1974-8 2017Old ParadiansRaidersGarvey Oval, BundooraVAFA19292024-2 2026
Division 2 ClubJumperNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in NFNLNFNL Senior PremiershipsTotal Most recentFitzroy StarsStarsSir Douglas Nicholls Oval, ThornburyMNFL19732008-1 2025 IvanhoeHoersIvanhoe Park, IvanhoeVAFA19102024-1 2026 Lower Plenty Bears Montmorency Park, South Oval, Montmorency SFL 1961 1995-3 2018 Macleod Kangaroos De Winton Park, Rosanna – 1946 1947-3 2015Northcote ParkCougarsBill Lawry Oval, NorthcotePHFL19521981-82012South Morang LionsMill Park Lakes Reserve, South Morang–1955-32024 St Mary's Burra Whatmough Park, Greensborough – 2009 2010-1 2018 Thomastown Bears Main Street Reserve, Thomastown VAFA 1976 2001-2 2014 West Preston Lakeside Roosters J E Moore Park, Reservoir – 1998 1998-4 2019WhittleseaEaglesWhittlesea Showgrounds, WhittleseaRDFNL18961934-1939, 1946, 1992-42019
Division 3 ClubJumperNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in NFNLNFNL Senior PremiershipsTotal Most recentEppingBlues, PingersEpping Recreation Reserve, EppingBEFL19041933-92012 Heidelberg West Hawks Heidelberg Park, Heidelberg VAFA 1936 1941-1 1941 Kilmore Blues JJ Clancy Reserve, Kilmore RDFL 1887 2016-0 - Kinglake Lakers Kinglake Memorial Reserve, Kinglake YVMDFL, OEFNL 1925 1996-2000, 2002-2007, 2023- 0 - Lalor Bloods Lalor Reserve, Lalor PHFL 1955 1968-8 2007 Laurimar Power Laurimar Reserve, Doreen – 2017 2017-1 2023 Mernda (1941,1946) (1987-1999) (2018-) Demons Mernda PHFL 1891 1937-1939, 1941, 1946, 1987-2 2012 Old Eltham Collegians Turtles Eltham College Reserve, Research VAFA 1986 2019-0 - Panton Hill Redbacks Cracknell Reserve, Panton Hill YVMDFL 1926 1929-1930, 1997-2 2019 Reservoir Mustangs Crispe Park, Reservoir PHFL 1923 1946-1948, 1981-2006, 2008-2015, 2017-4 2015 Watsonia Saints A K Lines Reserve, Watsonia PHFL 1967 1969-2 2016
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 TimelineNote
Division Promotion and Relegation TimelineNote
Note: In 1938, Diamond Creek and Hurstbridge lacked senior players due to WWII. Having a number of boys still wanting to play, they decided to merge their clubs and play as 'Diamond Valley Juniors' against other junior teams in the Melbourne Boys League. In 1939, enough senior players were found to form a team and Diamond Valley Juniors entered a senior team into the DVFL competition from 1939 to 1941. After WWII, Diamond Creek and Hurstbridge returned to playing as separate clubs. In 1987, Watsonia won the Division 2 Premiership, but declined to compete in Division 1 due to concerns regarding financial stability and competitiveness: the DVFL allowed Reservoir-Lakeside (the 1987 runners-up) to be promoted to Division 1 for the 1988 season to avoid a bye. In 1997, Reservoir-Lakeside asked to be relegated to Division 2 due to an exodus of players, leaving a nine team Division 1 and a bye for that season: Greensborough avoided relegation since Reservoir-Lakeside had dropped before the season began. At the end of the 1997 season, Reservoir-Lakeside (Div 2) and West Preston (Div 1) merged to become West Preston-Lakeside and played the 1998 season in Division 1. In 2015, Reservoir won the Division 3 Premiership, but went into recess before the 2016 season, leaving Division 2 with seven teams and requiring a bye. In 2018, Lalor requested relegation to Division 3 due to an exodus of players, so that the club could survive and rebuild. The NFL granted Lalor's request, trading places with Epping who agreed to be promoted from Division 3 to Division 2 for the 2018 season to avoid a bye. In 2019, the league decided to move to a ten team Division 1 & 2 and an eight team Division 3 structure for the 2020 season with Old Eltham Collegians's successful transfer from the VAFA into the NFNL's Division 3 for the 2019 season. This decision created a nine team Division 2 and 3 for the 2019 season: the league thus promoted the 2018 Division 3 premier, St Mary's, to Division 2 and allowed the last placed 2018 Division 2 team, Watsonia to avoid relegation. At the conclusion of the 2019 season, Panton Hill were promoted to Division 2 after winning the Division 3 premiership and last placed Epping avoided relegation, thus completing the competition restructure. In 2021, the season commenced but was interrupted several times due to Victoria being locked down due to COVID-19 outbreaks. A lengthy lock down occurred at the end of the home and away season which caused the finals series to be cancelled. It was subsequently decided that there would be no promotion or relegation between the divisions, however the Best and Fairest and Leading Goal Kicker awards were presented.
Premiers
Premiership Table Seniors Reserves Thirds Club Div 1 Div 2 Div 3 Div 1 Div 2 Div 3 Div 1 Div 2 Div 3 Heidelberg 25 1 - 18 1 - 4 1 - Greensborough 17 1 - 7 2 - 13 2 - Eltham 8 7 - 3 4 - 3 - - Epping 6 3 - 1 2 - 2 - - North Heidelberg 6 2 - 11 1 - 5 1 - Northcote Park / Northcote Park – Alphington 6 2 - - 2 - 6 2 - Lalor 5 3 - 3 3 - 4 2 - Bundoora 5 1 - 13 - - 4 1 - Diamond Creek 4 4 - 1 6 - - 3 - Montmorency 4 - - 7 - - 7 - - West Preston Lakeside 4 - - 2 - - 3 - - Reservoir – Lakeside 3 - - 6 2 - 7 1 - Reservoir 2 1 1 - 2 1 - 3 - Macleod – Rosanna / Macleod 2 1 - 5 - - 2 3 -Templestowe 2 - - - - - 1 - - Heidelberg West 1 - - 1 - 1 1 - - Whittlesea - 4 - - 3 - - 3 - West Preston - 3 - - 6 - - 1 - Lower Plenty - 3 - - 1 - - 4 - Hurstbridge - 21 - -1Note -1 - South Morang - 1 2 1 2 2 - 2 - Mernda / Plenty Rovers - 1 1 - 2 1 - 1 - Thomastown - 1 1 - 2 - - 1 1 Watsonia - 1 1 - - 1 1 - 1 Banyule - 1 1 - - 1 - 1 1 Old Paradians - 1 1 - - - - - - Panton Hill - - 2 - - 1 - - - Fitzroy Stars - - 1 - 1 - - - - St Mary's - - 1 - - 3 - 2 - Ivanhoe - - 1 - - 1 - - - Laurimar - - 1 - - 1 - - - Parkside - - 1Note - - - - - - Research - - - - 1 - - 1 - Kilmore - - - - - 1 - - 1 Old Eltham Collegians - - - - - 1 - - - Thornbury - - - - - - - 1 - Wallan - - - - - - - 1 - West Lalor - - - - - - - 1 - Total 99 44 16Note 78 44 16Note 63 39 4
Clubs in Italics no longer participate in the NFNL due to merging, folding or transferring to another league.
Division 1 NFL Seniors Captain Coach Reserves Under 19s2026 Heidelberg Keenan Posar Vin Dattoli Montmorency Heidelberg 2025 Heidelberg Keenan Posar Vin Dattoli Heidelberg Heidelberg 2024 Heidelberg Keenan Posar Vin Dattoli Heidelberg Heidelberg 2023 Heidelberg Sam Gilmore Vin Dattoli Heidelberg Greensborough 2022 Heidelberg Sam Gilmore Danny Nolan Bundoora Montmorency 2020 Competition and 2021 Finals suspended due to COVID-19 pandemic 2019 West Preston-Lakeside Nathan Valladares Ahmed Saad Rob Maiorana Bundoora Eltham 2018 West Preston-Lakeside Nathan Valladares