New England Football League

New England Football League

Formerly	Greater Lawrence Men's Football League
Sport	American football
Founded	1994
Founder	Tom Torrisi
No. of teams	10
Country	United States
Headquarters	Salisbury, Massachusetts
Most recent champion(s)	Middleboro Cobras
Official website	nefl.us

The New England Football League (NEFL) is a semi-professional American football league based in Salisbury, Massachusetts, and is a Non-profit Corporation founded by Thomas Torrisi. ^[1] It is the second largest semi-professional league in New England, and formerly of the biggest leagues in the United States. ^{[2] [3]} The NEFL was founded in 1994 and was also known as the Greater Lawrence Men's Football League. ^[4] In 2024, the league briefly shifted to one conference, before the addition of a number of new teams in early 2025.

From 2021-2023, the NEFL has had single-A, and AA Conferences, and from 2013-2019 with a AAA Conference, with annual promotion and relegation among Conferences based on game results, so that the best teams work their way toward the AA level. In 2025 the league is returning to its multi-level format with the addition of a number of new teams, featuring A, AA, and AAA conferences.

The league provides competitive football for adult players. It is a "working man's league", as most players have regular jobs during the week. ^{[5] [6]} Teams practice on weeknights and play virtually all games on weekends. ^[2] Players are not paid for their participation, but they often pay up to $200 to be on the team's roster. ^{[2] [6]} The league runs from July through September, followed by single-elimination championship tournaments within each Conference. Each team can dress up to 55 players. ^[7]

The league is unrelated to the original NEFL, which operated from 1964 to 1969. ^[8]

The 2023 NEFL season finished with two league champions in AA and A; the Rhode Island Riptide won the Maritime (A) Conference by defeating the New England Bombers 28-21, their second NEFL Championship (2011). The Glens Falls Greenjackets won the North Atlantic Conference (AA), their first in program history in the NEFL, by beating the Middleboro Cobras 12-6 in overtime. It was the first season playing in the NEFL for the Greenjackets, who along with the Middleboro Cobras are two of the longest tenured football teams in the US. The 2024 Season culminated in an NEFL Championship win for the Middleboro Cobras 10-7 over the S. Vermont Storm.

League history

The New England Football League was founded in 1994 by League President and Director of Marketing, Tom Torrisi, Chairman Matt Brien, Commissioner Bob Oreal, Vice-President and Treasurer John Motta and Secretary Christine Torrisi. ^[2] It started its 1994 season with four teams. By 1997, the number of teams tripled to twelve; in 2002, the league had at least one team in each New England state, and started its three-conference alignment with three different skill levels, one for each conference. The 2006 was the first season with at least 30 teams, making the NEFL one of the largest semi-pro football leagues in the country.

Game rules

The NEFL describes its rule set as "modified NCAA rules". Most rules are adopted from the NCAA rulebook, but there are also a few NFL rules and NEFL-specific rules. Games use a free-running clock until five minutes left in either half or overtime, at which time the clock stops according to NFL rules. Game time is usually kept by an official on the field, but for some games is kept on the scoreboard by a paid, uniformed official operating it.

2024 Teams

Team	Stadium	City/Area
Glens Falls Greenjackets	East Field	Glens Falls, New York
Middleboro Cobras	Battis Field	Middleborough, Massachusetts
New England Bombers	Alumni Stadium at Braintree High School	Braintree, Massachusetts
Rhode Island Riptide	Stebbins Field at Cranston Stadium	Cranston, Rhode Island
Southern Vermont Storm	Storm Stadium	Bennington, Vermont
Worcester Wildcats	Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium	Worcester, Massachusetts
Vermont Ravens	South Burlington High School	South Burlington, Vermont

2023 Teams

North Atlantic Conference (AA) (2023)

Team	Stadium	City/Area
Glens Falls Greenjackets	East Field	Glens Falls, New York
Mass Warriors	Wayland High School	Wayland, Massachusetts
Middleboro Cobras	Battis Field	Middleborough, Massachusetts
Western Mass Blitzin Bears	Roberts Sports Complex	Holyoke, Massachusetts
Worcester Wildcats	Commerce Bank Field at Foley Stadium	Worcester, Massachusetts

Maritime Conference (A) (2023)

Team	Stadium	City/Area
Connecticut Reapers	Crosby High School Field	Waterbury, Connecticut
New England Bombers	Alumni Stadium at Braintree High School	Braintree, Massachusetts
Rhode Island Riptide	Stebbins Field at Cranston Stadium	Cranston, Rhode Island
Vermont Ravens	South Burlington High School	South Burlington, Vermont

League champions

Annual League Champions Based on Conference ^[4]

Year	Team	A	AA	AAA
1994	Lawrence Lightning
1995	North Shore Rage
1996	Massachusetts Havoc
1997	Massachusetts Havoc
1998	Lowell Nor'easter
1999	Lowell Nor'easter
2000		Seacoast Hawks	Lowell Nor'easter
2001		Southern Maine Raging Bulls	Boston Bandits
2002		Connecticut Thunder	Vermont Ice Storm	Lowell Nor'easter
2003		Seacoast Hawks	New England Stars	Boston Bandits
2004		Hampton Hurricanes	Connecticut Thunder	Lowell Nor'easter
2005		Rhode Island Raptors	Seacoast Hawks	Boston Bandits
2006		Notre Dame Cobras	North Attleboro Renegades	Boston Bandits
2007		Leominster Razorbacks	Whaling City Clippers [9]	Middleboro Cobras
2008		Tri City Charge	Whaling City Clippers	Middleboro Cobras
2009	Connecticut Spartans	New Hampshire Wolfpack	Tri City Charge	Lowell Nor'easter
2010	Seacoast Hawks	Connecticut Panthers	Western Mass Warriors	Lowell Nor'easter
2011		Rhode Island Riptide	New Hampshire Wolfpack	Connecticut Bearcats
2012	Connecticut Bearcats	Cape Cod Seadogs	South Shore Outlaws [10]	Western Mass Warriors
2013		Central Mass Sabercats	Pioneer Valley Knights	Connecticut Panthers
2014		Brass City Brawlers	Rhode Island Wardogs	Connecticut Panthers
2015		Port City Vipers	Somerville Rampage	Boston Bandits
2016		Mass State Wolverines	South Coast Outlaws	Western Connecticut Militia
2017		Southern Vermont Storm	Mass State Wolverines	Connecticut Panthers
2018		Seacoast Warhawks	Worcester Wildcats	Boston Bandits
2019		Connecticut Brawlers	Worcester Wildcats	Marlboro Shamrocks
2020		Green Valley Blackhawks	Boston Bandits
2021		Hartford Colts	Western Mass Blitzin Bears
2022		Mass Warriors	Western Mass Blitzin Bears
2023		Rhode Island Riptide	Glens Falls Greenjackets
2024		Middleboro Cobras

External links

• Official league website

References

1. "North Shore Generals Football - League Information". north-shore-generals.com.
2. "Love of the game drives semipro football players - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 2015-07-26. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
3. "East Coast Football League (ECFL) Joins American Football Association for 2022 and Becomes Largest AFA Member League In United States". PRWeb . American Football Association. Retrieved 2024-07-01.
4. "New England Football League - Champions". www.semiprofootball.org. Retrieved 2015-12-14.
5. Gasper, Christopher L. (2004-08-29). "Blue-collar bruisers". Boston.com. Retrieved 2015-12-12.
6. "Semipro football players in it for love of the game - The Boston Globe". BostonGlobe.com. 2014-09-09. Retrieved 2016-01-26.
7. COLLINS, ED. "Foundation set for South Coast Outlaws semi-pro football team". southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
8. William J. Ryczek. Connecticut Gridiron: Football Minor Leaguers of the 1960s and 1970s, McFarland & Company, 2014. ISBN   0786478330
9. THOMAS, BUDDY. "McCann has Clippers 'D' primed for title game". southcoasttoday.com. Retrieved 2016-03-02.
10. Correspondent, Rob Duca. "SOUTH COAST OUTLAWS: The boys are back in town". Wicked Local Wareham. Retrieved 2016-04-01.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)