North West Football Union
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	1910
Ceased	1986; 38 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

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Full Points Footy: NWFU Summary Chart 1910 to 1986

v t e Australian rules football in Tasmania
Governing body	AFL Tasmania
Professional clubs (AFL)	Unnamed Tasmanian football club
State-wide leagues	Tasmanian State League
Teams	Tasmanian Devils (VFL; 2001–2008) Tasmania Devils (Talent League; 2019–present)
Former state-wide leagues	Winfield Statewide Cup Tasmanian State Premiership TFL Statewide League
Current leagues	Circular Head FA Darwin FA King Island FA NTFA NWFA NWFL ODFA Old Scholars FA SFL
Former leagues	GNFL Leven FA NEFU NWFU NTFA (original) Tasman FA WTFA Peninsula FA Fingal District Football Association List of former Australian rules football competitions in Tasmania
Junior leagues	Northern Tasmanian Junior Football Association Southern Tasmania Junior Football League
Masters leagues	Masters Australian Football Tasmania
Women's leagues	Tasmanian Women's Football League
Major events	Tasmania vs Victoria (1960)
Principal venues	York Park, Bellerive Oval, Macquarie Point Stadium*