New England Football League
FormerlyGreater Lawrence Men's Football League
SportAmerican football
Founded1994
FounderTom Torrisi
No. of teams9
CountryUnited States
HeadquartersSalisbury, Massachusetts
Official websitenefl.us

The New England Football League (NEFL) is a semi-professional american football league based in Salisbury, Massachusetts and owned by Thomas Torrisi.[1] It is the largest semi-professional league in New England.[2] The NEFL was founded in 1994 and was also known as the Greater Lawrence Men's Football League.[3] In 2023, it comprises nine teams, down from a recent high of 32, with about 2,000 players.

Since 2021, the NEFL has had single-A, and AA Conferences, with annual promotion and relegation among Conferences based on game results, so that the best teams work their way toward the AA level.

The league provides competitive football for adult players. It is a "working man's league", as most players have regular jobs during the week.[4][5] Teams practice on weeknights and play virtually all games on weekends.[2] Players are not paid for their participation, but they often pay $200 to be on the team's roster.[2][5] The league runs from July through September, followed by single-elimination championship tournaments within each Conference. Each team can dress up to 55 players.[6]

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.

The league is unrelated to the original NEFL, which operated from 1964 to 1969.[7]

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.

Current 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[3]
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[8] 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[9] 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

References

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