The Summerland Australian Football League or SAFL was an Australian rules football competition in the Northern Rivers and New England region of New South Wales, Australia, in existence from 1984 to 2011. It now is reformed under the AFL Queensland banner under various QFA divisions, currently QFA Division 2 South/Northern Rivers.
History The Northern Rivers region is a competitive area for sports including football, rugby league and rugby union. This has caused a continual struggle for strong numbers at all the clubs and therefore has caused several teams to fold over its history.
The Summerland AFL was formed in 1984, with Ballina, Byron, the Goonellabah Swans and Lismore Kangaroos as foundation clubs. Ballina and Byron are the only clubs to have continued in the same form for the entire history of the league, and the two clubs have dominated the competition for most of its history, being premiers 17 out of 27 seasons and winning every flag between 1999 and 2009.
The Murwillumbah Hawks joined in 1985, and the league continued in this form until 1994.
In 1995 the Grafton Tigers joined from the North Coast AFL, temporarily bringing the number of clubs to six, until Murwillumbah folded after the 1999 season.
The Nimbin Demons first joined in 1988 making it to the preliminary final the first two years but after disbanding in the mid 90's re-joined in 2001, bringing the number of clubs back up to six. However, at the end of this season, Grafton returned to the North Coast AFL, and the Lismore Kangaroos went bankrupt and merged with Goonellabah to form the Lismore Swans.
The Casino Lions formed in 2003 and competed for the next five seasons. Murwillumbah also rejoined for the seasons 2004–06.
In 2009, the Tweed Coast Tigers joined the league. Byron won the premiership for the third year running, but not until after Lismore lodged an appeal against the umpires' decision that disallowed a goal after the game concluded. The appeal was dismissed.
In 2010, the league featured six senior clubs, after the admission of Coolangatta-Tweed Heads. Coolangatta field two senior teams in the AFL Queensland, and their third senior side, based around under 23 and developing players, in the Summerland AFL.Coolangatta Enter Team The Tweed Coast Tigers won the premiership in that season, the first team to break the Byron-Ballina stranglehold on the cup since 1998.
In 2011, the league started with six teams again but midway through the season Coolangatta and Nimbin withdrew from the competition. This forced a re draw for the rest of the season. After the Home and Away season Tweed Coast finished first, followed by Ballina, Lismore and Byron Bay. The grand final was played between Tweed Coast and Lismore and Lismore won their first premiership as a merged club.
In 2012, all four clubs joined AFL South East Queensland and commenced the season in Division 4 South.
Clubs
Final clubs ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer LeagueEst.Years in SAFLSAFL Senior PremiershipsFate Total Years Ballina BombersFripp Oval, Ballina–1984 1984–2011 5 1995, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2006Formed Queensland FA Northern Rivers division in 2011 Byron MagpiesCavanbah Centre, Byron Bay–1984 1984–2011 12 1985, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009Formed Queensland FA Northern Rivers division in 2011 Coolangatta Tweed Heads thirds BluesLen Peak Oval, Coolangatta–1962 2010–2011 0 –Disbanded midway through 2011 season Lismore SwansGloria Mortimer Oval, Lismore–1984 2002–2011 2 1984, 2011Formed Queensland FA Northern Rivers division in 2011 Nimbin DemonsNimbin Showgrounds, Nimbin–1988 1988–1992, 2001–2005, 2007–2011 0 –Recesses in 1993–2000 and 2006. Folded midway through 2011 season. Re-formed in Northern Rivers Cup in 2025 Tweed Coast TigersBarry Sheppard Oval, Bogangar–2009 2009–2011 1 2010Formed Queensland FA Northern Rivers division in 2011
Former clubs ClubColoursNicknameHome GroundFormer leagueEst.Years in SAFLSAFL Senior PremiershipsFate Total Years Casino LionsQueen Elizabeth Park, Casino–2003 2003–2007 0 –Entered recess after 2007 season, re-formed in AFL North Coast in 2021 Grafton TigersEllem Oval, GraftonNCAFL1982 1996–2001 0 –Returned to North Coast AFL in 2002 Lismore Kangaroos KangaroosGloria Mortimer Oval, Lismore–1984 1984–1999 5 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990Folded due to financial issues following 1999 season Murwillumbah HawksJohn Rabjones Oval, Murwillumbah–1985 1985–1999, 2004–2006 3 1991, 1997, 1998Recess between 2000 and 2003, folded after 2006 season
Grand Finals +YearPremierScoreRunner upScoreBob Hill Medal1984Goonellabah SwansLismore Kangaroos1985Byron MagpiesLismore Kangaroos1986Lismore Kangaroos1987Lismore Kangaroos (2)1988Lismore Kangaroos (3) 17.16. (118)Murwillumbah Hawks 17.14. (1116)1989Lismore Kangaroos (4)Murwillumbah Hawks1990Lismore Kangaroos (5)12.21. (93)Murwillumbah Hawks6.14. (50)1991Murwillumbah Hawks18.13. (121)Byron Magpies7.11. (53)Ben Sloan1992Byron Magpies (2)19.14. (128)Lismore Kangaroos13.10. (88)1993Byron Magpies (3)Ballina Bombers1994Byron Magpies (4)1995Ballina Bombers13.15. (93)Byron Magpies 12.18. (90)1996Ballina Bombers (2)6.16. (52)Lismore Kangaroos5.19. (49)1997Murwillumbah Hawks (2)20.8. (128)Ballina Bombers13.6. (84)1998Murwillumbah Hawks (3)1999Byron Magpies (5)2000Byron Magpies (6) 8.8. (56)Ballina Bombers 7.2. (44)2001Byron Magpies (7) 18.8. (116) Ballina Bombers 8.7. (55)2002Ballina Bombers (3) 11.3. (69)Byron Magpies 7.6. (48)2003Byron Magpies (8) 15.12. (102)Nimbin Demons 12.11. (83)2004Byron Magpies (9) 21.8. (134)Ballina Bombers 6.6. (42)2005Ballina Bombers (4) 12.6. (78)Lismore Swans 7.17. (59)2006Ballina Bombers (5)13.16. (94)Lismore Swans13.11. (89)Brian Walsh2007Byron Magpies (10) 8.8. (56)Ballina Bombers 5.7. (37)2008Byron Magpies (11)13.16. (94)Ballina Bombers9.11. (65)2009Byron Magpies (12)12.9. (81)Lismore Swans12.4. (76)George Massa2010Tweed Coast Tigers11.16. (82)Lismore Swans8.6. (54)Ash Gemmill2011Lismore Swans (2)17.10. (112)Tweed Coast Tigers16.8. (104)Ben Hughes
See also AFL NSW/ACT Australian rules football in New South Wales
References
External links Official Summerland AFL website