North West Football Union

North West Football Union

Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1910
Ceased	1986;37 years ago (1986)
Replaced by	North West Football League
Country	Australia
Most titles	Burnie Dockers Latrobe Ulverstone Robins (12 titles each)

The North West Football Union (NWFU) was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football Association representing the rest of the state. Burnie, Latrobe and Ulverstone were the most successful clubs with 12 premierships each.

The league disbanded after the 1986 season after major clubs such as Cooee and Devonport defected to the TFL Statewide League. In 1987 the NWFU effectively merged with the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) to form the Northern Tasmanian Football League, which exists today as the North West Football League.

NWFU premierships

Winners by year

The NWFU intrastate representative team in Hobart, 1930 The TFL (southern) team photo. Charlesworth in front and Gorringe 3rd from the end. players in a North vs South fixture at Hobart, 1927 Joe Littler played as many as 500 league games, mostly in the NWFU Year Premiers Runner-up Year Premiers Runner-up 1910 Ulverstone 8.13 (61) def. Mersey 5.8 (38) 1952 Wynyard 9.12 (66) def. Ulverstone 7.14 (56) 1911 Mersey 7.8 (50) def. Latrobe 1.9 (15) 1953 Ulverstone 8.14 (62) def. Wynyard 7.14 (56) 1912 Mersey 2.8 (20) def. Ulverstone 1.7 (13) 1954 Burnie 9.13 (67) def. Wynyard 8.10 (58) 1913 Latrobe (No Final Played) 1955 Ulverstone 11.14 (80) def. Burnie 10.15 (75) 1914 Devonport 9.9 (63) def. Latrobe 5.1 (31) 1956 Ulverstone 13.15 (93) def. Cooee 7.14 (56) 1915 Devonport 3.2 (20) def. Ulverstone 2.6 (18) 1957 Ulverstone 29.17 (191) def. Latrobe 9.11 (65) 1916–19 No Competition due to WWI and Spanish Flu Epidemic 1958 Burnie 19.15 (129) def. East Devonport 13.13 (91) 1920 Latrobe 8.11 (59) def. Ulverstone 5.6 (36) 1959 Burnie 16.10 (106) def. East Devonport 11.10 (76) 1921 Diggers 7.11 (53) def. Latrobe 4.6 (30) 1960 Burnie 12.10 (82) def. Cooee 7.15 (57) 1922 Latrobe 5.12 (52) def. Burnie 4.12 (36) 1961 Cooee 8.10 (58) def. Burnie 8.5 (53) 1923 Ulverstone 9.6 (60) def. Latrobe 7.11 (53) 1962 Burnie 12.20 (92) def. Devonport 13.4 (82) 1924 Latrobe 10.11 (71) def. Devonport 8.9 (57) 1963 Burnie 15.15 (105) def. Ulverstone 13.11 (89) 1925 Devonport 11.11 (77) def. Ulverstone 6.13 (49) 1964 Cooee 17.12 (114) def. Ulverstone 5.14 (44) 1926 Latrobe 12.14 (86) def. Ulverstone 12.8 (80) 1965 Cooee 12.14 (86) def. Ulverstone 7.9 (51) 1927 Burnie 13.8 (86) def. Devonport 12.12 (84) 1966 Burnie 7.7 (49) def Latrobe 5.11 (41) 1928 Burnie 7.11 (53) def. Devonport 4.13 (37) 1967 Wynyard 13.7 (85) def. Cooee 7.7 (49) 1929 Circular Head 8.8 (56) def. Burnie 6.14 (50) 1968 East Devonport 15.16 (106) def. Ulverstone 10.18 (78) 1930 Latrobe 9.15 (69) def. Burnie 6.10 (46) 1969 Latrobe 9.10 (64) def. Ulverstone 4.5 (29) 1931 Latrobe 8.19 (67) def. Ulverstone 8.10 (58) 1970 Latrobe 14.19 (103) def. Wynyard 12.5 (77) 1932 Penguin 14.10 (94) def. Latrobe 10.13 (73) 1971 Latrobe 14.16 (100) def. East Devonport 5.9 (39) 1933 Latrobe 14.13 (97) def. Penguin 6.10 (46) 1972 Latrobe 11.16 (82) def. Burnie 8.12 (60) 1934 Devonport 17.14 (116) def. Burnie 8.13 (61) 1973 Cooee 14.12 (96) def. Latrobe 10.10 (70) 1935 Ulverstone 9.16 (70) def. Devonport 8.8 (56) 1974 Burnie 14.15 (99) def. Latrobe 9.12 (66) 1936 Devonport 14.11 (95) def. Burnie 9.19 (73) 1975 Wynyard 15.10 (100) def. Ulverstone 12.8 (80) 1937 Burnie 14.14 (98) def. Devonport 13.15 (93) 1976 Ulverstone 14.9 (93) def. Penguin 7.19 (61) 1938 Devonport 13.22 (100) def. Burnie 9.9 (63) 1977 Penguin 11.18 (84) def. Cooee 11.14 (80) 1939 Burnie 16.10 (106) def. Latrobe 8.13 (61) 1978 Cooee 20.11 (131) def. Wynyard 13.30 (108) 1940–44 No Competition Due To World War II 1979 Wynyard 21.24 (150) def. Cooee 15.7 (97) 1945 W APPM 10.20 (80) def. Wynyard 11.12 (78) 1980 Penguin 12.11 (83) def. Wynyard 11.5 (71) 1945 E East Devonport 8.15 (63) def Devonport 6.16 (52) 1946 W Burnie 13.11 (89) def. Wynyard 12.10 (82) 1981 Devonport 13.9 (87) def. Penguin 10.12 (72) 1946 E East Devonport 18.14 (122) def Ulverstone 12.4 (76) 1947 W Burnie 10.17 (77) def. Cooee 11.8 (74) 1982 Cooee 16.15 (111) def. Penguin 16.5 (101) 1947 E Ulverstone 15.17 (107) def Latrobe 8.17 (65) 1948 W Wynyard 8.13 (61) def. Cooee 8.9 (57) 1983 Smithton 20.17 (137) def. Cooee 21.10 (136) 1948 E East Devonport 10.7 (67) def Ulverstone 6.8 (44) 1949 APPM 14.12 (96) def. Ulverstone 9.15 (69) 1984 Cooee 18.16 (124) def. Smithton 17.13 (115) 1950 Ulverstone 7.8 (50) def. Devonport 7.7 (49) 1985 Penguin 21.9 (135) def. Smithton 13.9 (87) 1951 Ulverstone 17.22 (124) def. Cooee 8.11 (59) 1986 Ulverstone 9.10 (64) def. Smithton 7.7 (49) Reforming after the war there were two divisions, East and West, Both Divisional premiers would play off. Most premierships NWFU representative coach Ivor Warne-Smith Club Premierships Burnie 12 Latrobe 12 Ulverstone 12 Cooee 7 Devonport 7 Penguin 4 Wynyard 4 East Devonport 3 APPM 2 Mersey 2 Circular Head 1 Diggers 1 Smithton 1 Tasmanian State Premiership Main article: Tasmanian State Premiership This was contested regularly between the premiers of the Tasmanian Football League and the Northern Tasmanian Football Association and then the NWFU from 1954 until 1978. The six winners from the NWFU were: 1955 – Ulverstone 1963 – Burnie 1964 – Cooee 1970 – Latrobe 1976 – Ulverstone 1978 – Cooee Best and Fairests The Wander Medal was awarded annually to the best and fairest player in the NWFU, every year from 1948 to 1986. Prior to 1948, the league's best and fairest award was known under various names and given out semi regularly. From 1945 to 1947, an award was given to best and fairest player from the western region but the name of it is unknown. Len Hayes won it in the first two years and Alan Crawford the last. Wander Medal 1948 – Dave Jeffrey 1949 – Len Hayes 1950 – Lou Redman 1951 – Jack Rough 1952 – Max Berryman, Peter Gillam 1953 – Darrel Eaton 1954 – Ray Stokes 1955 – Arthur Hodgson 1956 – Joe Murphy 1957 – Darrel Baldock 1958 – Colin Moore 1959 – Darrel Baldock 1960 – Terry Pierce 1961 – Lloyd Robson 1962 – Jock O'Brien 1963 – John Bingley 1964 – Wally Clark 1965 – Len Lawson 1966 – Bob Hickman 1967 – Bob Hickman 1968 – Brian Waters 1969 – Darrel Baldock 1970 – John Jillard 1971 – John Jillard 1972 – Ricky Smith 1973 – Graeme Shephard 1974 – Cec Rheinberger 1975 – Ricky Watt 1976 – Kerry Coates 1977 – Ricky Smith 1978 – Jim Prentice 1979 – Tom Lee 1980 – Lindsay Bell 1981 – John Murphy 1982 – Richard Lynch 1983 – Stephen Parsons 1984 – John Korporshoek 1985 – Neville Muir 1986 – Peter Borlini Cheel Medal 1923 – Stan Trebilco 1924 – Fred Odgers 1925 – Bill Berryman 1926 – Rupert Stott 1927 – H. O. "Nip" Smith (Penguin) 1928 – Charlie Hallam 1929 – Tas Langmaid Royal Medal Awarded only to players from the eastern region of the NWFU 1930 – Bill Berryman Wright Medal Awarded only to players from the western region of the NWFU 1930 – Jimmy Brown (Ulverstone) 1931 – Gerry Plapp Alford Medal 1937 – Clem Riggs References Full Points Footy: NWFU Summary Chart 1910 to 1986